MPSC An apparatus and method for saving the energy consumption in a computer system by using the controling signals of a memory power supply controllerMPSC

摘要

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for saving energy of a computer system using a control signal of a memory power supply controller (MPSC), more specifically, to an apparatus which has a technology more advanced than a technology for blocking standby power which is currently being developed in a computer system having various operation modes (e.g., S0 to S5 modes) to minimize power consumption by using a 5VSB power source for driving a circuit during only a normal operation, and using 1.2 V for driving the remainder, and implements the same with only one switching device, and recognizes a sleep mode and blocks 5VSB in a software scheme. According to an aspect of the present invention, the apparatus for saving energy of a computer system using a control signal of an MPSC, which comprises: a main board (10) including a central processing unit (CPU) (11), a system IO (SIO) (19), a chipset (14), a memory (10a, 10a), and an MPSC (17) for controlling power supply of the memory; a switching mode power supply (SMPS) (20) connected to the main board through an advanced technology x-trended (ATX) power connector (16); and various peripheral devices. The apparatus of the present invention further comprises a lowest voltage supply unit (50) for blocking the supply of a 5VSB standby power to the ATX power connector (16) of the SMPS (20), and supplying the lowest voltage to the memory (10a, 10a) of the main board in the sleep mode. The determination of whether the lowest voltage supply unit (50) is in the sleep mode, is performed by a control signal of the MPSC.