Patent ID: 8156350

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, at a first component, a power control request originated by a further component related to a shared power resource on a computing device, wherein all further components requiring access to the shared power resource can only do so by making requests of the first component; and managing, by the first component, the shared power resource in response to the power control request, wherein in an instance in which the shared power resource is a binary resource having an off state and an on state, managing the shared power resource in response to the power control request comprises: decrementing a usage counter maintained by the first component in an instance in which the power control request comprises a request to release the shared power resource and switching off the shared power resource in an instance in which the counter is decremented to zero; incrementing the usage counter in an instance in which the power control request comprises a request to access the shared power resource and fulfillment of the power control request would not cause the shared power resource to exceed its maximum acceptable load; and refusing the power control request in an instance in which the power control request comprises a request to access the shared power resource and fulfillment of the power control request would cause the shared power resource to exceed its maximum acceptable load.