Patent ID: 8015566

Claim:
A data processing system, comprising: a processor to execute a first thread during a first portion of a measurement interval and a second thread during a second portion of the measurement interval; an energy monitor to determine the total energy consumed by the processor during the measurement interval absent separate measurement of energy consumed during the first and the second portions of the measurement interval; and energy attribution code, stored in a processor readable storage medium, to estimate a first amount of the total energy attributable to the first thread and a second amount of the total energy attributable to the second thread comprising: determining from the execution time of the first thread a maximum and minimum energy constraint for the first thread, wherein the maximum and minimum energy constraint for the first thread represent constraints on the amount of the total energy attributable to the first thread; determining from the execution time of the second thread a maximum and minimum energy constraint for the second thread, wherein the maximum and minimum energy constraint for the second thread represent constraints on the amount of the total energy attributable to the second thread; using the first and second thread maximum and minimum energy constraints and the total energy to define a range for the amount of the total energy attributable to the first thread; and using a point within the defined range as the estimate of the amount of the total energy attributable to the first thread.