Computer based systems are becoming more mobile. This mobility often places an emphasis on usability. Usability is often extended by the ability to operate the equipment for longer periods of time. This time period is often related to the power consumption of the equipment, particularly in battery operated equipment. Thus, high power consumption may pose problems.
Numerous approaches to reducing power consumption have been tried. Powering off equipment when not in active use is one approach. Other approaches involve putting equipment in various lower power states, such as, idle mode, sleep mode, hibernation mode, etc. Such approaches may involve turning off portions of circuits or components, powering down subsystems and/or the main system, lowering supply voltages, altering clocking mechanisms, transferring data from, for example, random access memory (RAM) to disk storage, etc.
Upon exiting such lower power states the computer based system may resume or boot up the operating system. After booting up or resuming operation of the operating system an application may be executed to perform operations. Time required to boot up the operating system may present a problem for a subsystem that needs a rapid response. Power consumed during the boot up process may also present a problem for battery operated equipment.