Improving Monitoring of Power Saving States in Linux

Explore the challenges and future directions for monitoring power-saving states in Linux systems, particularly focusing on ChromeOS. Delve into the complexities of retrieving accurate data from the Linux kernel regarding CPU idle, module idle, and system deep sleep power state residencies and behaviors. Examine the limitations of standardized interfaces like cpuidle and the difficulties in reading module idle and system sleep state counters across different SoC vendors, architectures, and kernel versions. Learn about the importance of this data for optimizing power and performance policies, especially for battery-powered devices. Discuss potential improvements to kernel interfaces to better meet the needs of modern OS health monitoring, including addressing issues of data accuracy, atomicity, and standardization. This talk, presented by experts from Google at the Linux Plumbers Conference, offers valuable insights for developers and system administrators working on power management in Linux environments.