ABSTRACT
Most software utilizes only a low percentage of available hardware resources; either the software does not need the resources to perform the task or the software does not handle the resources in an efficient manner. This is the case for server applications [1] as well as for desktop applications [2]. Low utilization is problematic, because the utilization and power consumption of hardware are not proportional [1]. To deal with unneeded resources, hardware vendors reacted with low-power states, which can be activated when the hardware is idle, meaning zero utilization. But this solves the problem only partially, because infrequently and inefficiently utilized hardware still consumes a high percentage of the maximum power. Unfortunately, there is no energy-proportional hardware available yet [3].
