Patent ID: 7574613

Claim:
A method for performing power management on a component of a computing device, the component being operated based on a clock signal oscillating at a frequency, the method comprising adjusting the frequency of the clock signal applied to the component when warranted and also idling the component when the component experiences a period of inactivity longer than an idle detection metric scaled according to the adjusted frequency, wherein adjusting the frequency of the clock signal includes: obtaining a maximum frequency of the clock signal and a maximum idle detection metric; monitoring the component; determining from the monitored component that the frequency of the clock signal can be adjusted to a resulting frequency that is reduced as compared to the maximum frequency, wherein the resulting frequency is determined as a percentage of the maximum frequency of the clock signal (% of maximum frequency); determining the resulting frequency; applying the resulting frequency to the clock signal; and adjusting the scaled idle detection metric based on the percentage of the maximum frequency that the resulting frequency of the clock signal is of the maximum frequency such that the scaled idle detection metric bears a corresponding relationship with the resulting frequency of the clock signal and is reduced as compared to the maximum idle detection metric, whereby the component is more likely to be idled based on the scaled and reduced idle detection metric even though the component is more likely to experience shorter periods of inactivity when the frequency of the clock signal is reduced as compared to the maximum frequency.