Abstract: The memory content may be cached in the non-volatile cache when a computing system is entering S4 state. The non-volatile cache may be coupled to a bus that connects the disk drive with the disk controller. When resuming from S4 state, the memory content may be read from the non-volatile cache rather than from the slow disk drive, which facilitates instant-on resuming for the system. The caching process may be performed in an OS-transparent manner. During the caching process, data with contiguous addresses may be merged into a block of data. A mapping table may be created and stored in the non-volatile cache which includes multiple entries, each for a block of data. The mapping table facilitates data reading from the non-volatile cache to provide instant-on resuming from S4 state.

Abstract: A new audio playback architecture may be used, which allows the use of much larger buffering than that used by a typical audio subsystem in a computing system to improve power efficiency of the system and at the same time allows to maintain the quality (e.g., fidelity and responsiveness) of the audio playback. The audio controller in the new architecture may be made to report back to the host system a more accurate indication of which audio frame is being set to the audio codec than a currently available audio controller does. Additionally, the controller is capable of re-fetching previously buffered (but not yet transmitted) data. Furthermore, the controller may dynamically adjust the size of its local buffer.