The Advanced Configuration and Power Interface

Advanced Configuration and Power Interface is an open industry specification -- defining a flexible and extensible interface -- that enables system designers to select appropriate cost/feature trade-offs for power management. The Advanced Configuration and Power Interface will be the mechanism by which Intel Architecture (IA) systems will configure and power manage system platforms.

This interface enables and supports reliable power management through improved hardware and operating system (OS) coordination. Simply put, the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface specifies a certain manner in which the OS, motherboard hardware, and peripheral devices, such as CD-ROMs, hard drives, etc., talk to each other about power usage.

The primary goal of Advanced Configuration and Power Interface is to enable Operating System Directed Power Management, whereby the operating system manages all power activities -- providing power to devices only on an as-needed basis. Previous power management systems were BIOS-based, turning off devices only after certain periods of inactivity.

• The migration to the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface power management is in full swing in the mobile PC industry. Systems using the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface are already available, and more will be introduced soon.

• The Advanced Configuration and Power Interface will become required soon on most x86 systems, including servers, by many PC-related standards, such as PC98, draft PC99, WFM, HDG-NT.