Importance

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Abstract

A network computer including a motherboard powered by a power supply via a single power supply plane, a clock generator, a processor, a system memory, and a network interface. The network computer is configured to assume a low power state in response to a low power event and further configured to transition from the low power state to a full power state in response to a wake up event. The wake up event may comprise a LAN wake up in the form of a command issued by a server computer coupled to the network computer via a network. In one embodiment, the network computer lacks a disk based storage device, but includes local permanent storage comprising a compact flash card. Preferably, the network computer's clock generator is configured to produce a clock signal for the processor when the network computer is in the full power mode, and further configured to produce no clock signal in the low power mode. In one embodiment, the network computer further includes at least one peripheral device coupled to the processor via a peripheral bus, such as a PCI bus. In this embodiment, the computer is preferably configured to transition each peripheral device on the peripheral bus to a power management mode when the network computer enters low power mode. The wake up event may be a LAN wake up event in which a wake up signal is received via the network interface, or a 'wake on ring' event in which the wake up signal is received via a modem connection to the computer.

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First Claim