Patent ID: 7337339

Claim:
A global-monitoring and local-throttling power manager comprising: a plurality of local blocks that generate events as power is consumed; a plurality of local power tables that have event entries storing local power estimates for the events; a plurality of local power managers, each coupled to a local power table in the plurality of local power tables, for generating a local power estimate in response to an event from a local block that is power-controlled by the local power manager; a global power summer that receives the local power estimates from the plurality of local power managers and generates a global power estimate as a sum of the plurality of local power estimates for the plurality of local blocks; a global power filter, receiving the global power estimate from the global power summer, for generating a filtered global power estimate; a global power table that stores a global power threshold; a global comparator for comparing the filtered global power estimate to the global power threshold from the global power table and enabling a throttling mode when the filtered global power estimate exceeds the global power threshold; the plurality of local power managers being enabled to reduce power consumption of the plurality of local blocks in response to enabling of the throttling mode by the global comparator; wherein each local power manager comprises: a local power target table that stores a local power target; a local filter that receives the local power estimate read from the local power table and generates a filtered local power estimate; and a local comparator that compares the filtered local power estimate to the local power target from the local power target table and enables a reduced-power mode of the local block when the filtered local power estimate exceeds the local power target; whereby each local power manager causes its local block to reduce power consumption in response to enabling of the throttling mode by the global comparator and the filtered local power estimate exceeding the local power target and whereby power is estimated and reduced locally and monitored globally.