Remote Power Management of Intel® Active Management Technology (Intel® AMT) Devices with InstantGo

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Introduction

InstantGo, also known as Connected Standby, creates a low OS power state that must be handled differently from how remote power management was handled in the past. This article provides information on how to support the InstantGo feature.

How to support Remote Power Management of Intel® Active Management Technology (Intel® AMT) enabled devices with InstantGo

InstantGo, formerly known as Windows* Connected Standby, is a Microsoft power-connectivity standard for Windows* 8 and 10. This hardware and software specification defines low power levels while maintaining network connectivity and allows for a quick startup (500 milliseconds). InstantGo replaces the s3 power state.

To verify if a system supports InstantGo, type “powercfg /a” from a command prompt. If you have InstantGo you’ll see the Standby (Connected) as an option.

Intel AMT and InstantGo

Intel AMT added support for InstantGo in version 10.0, but the manufacturer must enable the feature.

How are Intel AMT and "InstantGo" related? Intel AMT has to properly handle the various power states by communicating with the firmware, however in this case the OS, not the hardware, controls the low power state.

Intel AMT and InstantGo prerequisites

The only platforms fully compatible with InstantGo run Windows* 8.1 or newer with Intel AMT 10.0 or later. To remotely determine if a device OS is in a low power state, use the OSPowerSavingState method.

One way of determining the Intel AMT version is to inspect the CIM_SoftwareIdentity.VersionString property as shown in the Get Core Version Use Case.

Remote Verification of Device Power State

In order to verify power state in the past we looked at the hardware power state using the CIM_AssociatedPowerManagementService.PowerState method. Now when a system is in a low OS power of InstantGo, the hardware power state will be return s0 (OS powered on) You now need to make an additional query for the OSPowerSavingState in order to determine if the OS is in FULL or low power mode.

The Power Management Work Flow in Intel AMT

Previous work flow for Power-On operations

1. Query for Intel AMT Power State 
2. If system is in s0 (power on), do nothing
3. If system is in s3, s4 or s5, then issue a power on command using the Change Power State API

Current recommendation to properly handle Intel AMT Devices with InstantGo

1. Query for Intel AMT Power State 
2. If system is in s3, s4 or s5 then issue a power on command using the Change Power State API
3. If a system is in s0 (power on) then:
   • If Intel AMT version is 9.0 and below, do nothing
   • If Intel AMT version is 10.0 and above, query the OSPowerSavingState method
     1. If OSPowerSavingState is full power, do nothing
     2. If OSPowerSavingState is in a low power state, wake up the system to full power using RequestOSPowerSavingState method.

There is also a sample PowerShell Script demonstrating this available for download. The script has 4 basic sections:

1. Establishes the connection and identifies the Intel AMT Version
2. Queries the Intel AMT device’s current power state (hardware) – Note: script assumes Intel AMT 10 and is in InstantGo low power mode
3. Queries for the OS Power State
4. Wakes up the Device

For information on running PowerShell scripts with the Intel® vPro™ module please refer to the Intel AMT SDK and related Intel AMT Implementation and Reference Guide.

Additional Resources

• Intel AMT Implementation and Reference Guide
• Intel AMT PowerShell Module
• Intel AMT SDK Download
• Intel blog MEI and Connected Standby:
• Intel blog on Connected Standby:
• MSDN website on System Power States.

Summary

As more devices support InstantGo, integration of this technology with remote power management methodology will become critical. You want to avoid cases where devices may be detected in powered On (s0) state, when the system is actually running at a lower power state. Fortunately, supporting of InstantGo technology isn’t a difficult task, just a few additional steps to determine the actual power state.

About the Author

Joe Oster has been active at Intel around Intel® vPro™ technology and Intel AMT technology since 2006. He is passionate about technology and is a MSP/SMB technology advocate. When not working, he is a Dad and spends time working on his family farm or flying drones and RC Aircraft.