Patent ID: 7313706

Claim:
A power allocation electronic system comprising: a power delivery subsystem; a processor module comprising a plurality of processors; a power supply subsystem adapted to distribute power from the power delivery subsystem to the processor module; sense circuitry configured to provide a plurality of power information signals including a first feedback signal that represents a brownout condition, a second feedback signal that represents a thermal value, a third feedback signal that represents a total system power consumption, and a plurality of fourth feedback signals that each represents a power consumption of one of the processors, each of the feedback signals being allocated to a corresponding power management priority, wherein the first, second and third feedback signals are associated with a higher power management priority than any of the plurality of fourth feedback signals; and programmable control circuitry configured to receive the feedback signals from the sense circuitry and to provide control signals governing operation of the processors on the basis of the feedback signals, the programmable control circuitry being configured to manage power consumption at the processor module by adjusting processor module operations by applying rules to the plurality of power management priorities determined in association with the power information signals for the purpose of resolving power management conflicts by at least one of reducing clock speed and issuing a pause command for at least one of the processors.