Processor power management associated with workloads

1. A method comprising:

determining a processor performance characteristic associated with a first workload by reading at least one of an operating system counter, a processor counter, a chipset counter, or a device-level counter, and wherein the at least one of an operating system counter, a processor counter, a chipset counter, or a device-level counter is associated with efficiency of a processor with respect to a workload;

determining a processor performance state for the first workload based on the performance characteristic,

wherein determining the processor performance characteristic comprises:

instructing a processor to execute the first workload at the first processor performance state;

instructing the processor to execute the first workload at a second processor performance state, the second processor performance state associated with a higher power consumption than the first processor performance state;

determining a second processor performance characteristic associated with the first workload executed at the second processor performance state;

determining a performance degradation based on the first processor performance characteristic and the second processor performance characteristic; and

associating a third processor performance state with the first workload if the performance degradation is greater than a threshold value,

wherein the third processor performance state is different from the first processor performance state.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the processor performance characteristic comprises a level two cache miss ratio.

3. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the processor performance characteristic comprises an input/output queue depth.

4. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a second processor performance characteristic associated with a second workload; and

determining a second processor performance state for the second workload based on the performance characteristic.

5. A method according to claim 4 , wherein the second processor performance state is identical to the first processor performance state.

6. A method according to claim 4 , further comprising:

determining a similarity between the first performance characteristics and the second performance characteristics;

determining a cluster comprising the first workload and the second workload; and

associating a third processor performance state with the cluster,

wherein the third processor performance state is identical to the first processor performance state and to the second processor performance state.

7. A method according to claim 6 , further comprising:

instructing a processor to execute the first workload and the second workload at the third processor performance state.

8. An apparatus comprising:

a memory storing processor-executable program code; and

a processor in communication with the memory and operative in conjunction with the stored program code to:

determine a processor performance characteristic associated with a first workload by reading at least one of an operating system counter, a processor counter, a chipset counter, or a device-level counter, and wherein the at least one of an operating system counter, a processor counter, a chipset counter, or a device-level counter is associated with efficiency of a processor with respect to a workload;

determine a processor performance state for the first workload based on the performance characteristic;

prior to determination of the processor performance characteristic, instruct a processor to execute the first workload at the first processor performance state;

instruct the processor to execute the first workload at a second processor performance state, the second processor performance state associated with a higher power consumption than the first processor performance state;

determine a second processor performance characteristic associated with the first workload executed at the second processor performance state;

determine a performance degradation based on the first processor performance characteristic and the second processor performance characteristic; and

associate a third processor performance state with the first workload if the performance degradation is greater than a threshold value,

wherein the third processor performance state is different from the first processor performance state.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the processor performance characteristic comprises a level two cache miss ratio.

10. An apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the processor performance characteristic comprises an input/output queue depth.

11. An apparatus according to claim 8 , the processor further operative in conjunction with the stored program code to:

determine a second processor performance characteristic associated with a second workload; and

determine a second processor performance state for the second workload based on the performance characteristic.

12. An apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the second processor performance state is identical to the first processor performance state.

13. An apparatus according to claim 11 , the processor further operative in conjunction with the stored program code to:

determine a similarity between the first performance characteristics and the second performance characteristics;

determine a cluster comprising the first workload and the second workload; and

associate a third processor performance state with the cluster,

wherein the third processor performance state is identical to the first processor performance state and to the second processor performance state.

14. An apparatus according to claim 13 , the processor further operative in conjunction with the stored program code to:

instruct a processor to execute the first workload and the second workload at the third processor performance state.

15. An apparatus comprising:

a double data rate memory storing processor-executable program code; and

a processor in communication with the memory and operative in conjunction with the stored program code to:

determine a processor performance characteristic associated with a first workload by reading at least one of an operating system counter, a processor counter, a chipset counter, or a device-level counter, and wherein the at least one of an operating system counter, a processor counter, a chipset counter, or a device-level counter is associated with efficiency of a processor with respect to a workload;

determine a processor performance state for the first workload based on the performance characteristic;

prior to determination of the processor performance characteristic, instruct a processor to execute the first workload at the first processor performance state;

instruct the processor to execute the first workload at a second processor performance state, the second processor performance state associated with a higher power consumption than the first processor performance state;

determine a second processor performance characteristic associated with the first workload executed at the second processor performance state;

determine a performance degradation based on the first processor performance characteristic and the second processor performance characteristic; and

associate a third processor performance state with the first workload if the performance degradation is greater than a threshold value,

wherein the third processor performance state is different from the first processor performance state.

16. An apparatus according to claim 15 , the processor further operative in conjunction with the stored program code to:

determine a second processor performance characteristic associated with a second workload;

determine a second processor performance state for the second workload based on the performance characteristic;

determine a similarity between the first performance characteristics and the second performance characteristics;

determine a cluster comprising the first workload and the second workload; and

associate a third processor performance state with the cluster,

wherein the third processor performance state is identical to the first processor performance state and to the second processor performance state.

17. An apparatus according to claim 16 , the processor further operative in conjunction with the stored program code to:

instruct a processor to execute the first workload and the second workload at the third processor performance state.