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+===========================
+Power Management Strategies
+===========================
+
+::
+
+ Copyright (c) 2017 Intel Corp., Rafael J. Wysocki <rafael.j.wysocki@intel.com>
+
+The Linux kernel supports two major high-level power management strategies.
+
+One of them is based on using global low-power states of the whole system in
+which user space code cannot be executed and the overall system activity is
+significantly reduced, referred to as :doc:`sleep states <sleep-states>`.  The
+kernel puts the system into one of these states when requested by user space
+and the system stays in it until a special signal is received from one of
+designated devices, triggering a transition to the ``working state`` in which
+user space code can run.  Because sleep states are global and the whole system
+is affected by the state changes, this strategy is referred to as the
+:doc:`system-wide power management <system-wide>`.
+
+The other strategy, referred to as the :doc:`working-state power management
+<working-state>`, is based on adjusting the power states of individual hardware
+components of the system, as needed, in the working state.  In consequence, if
+this strategy is in use, the working state of the system usually does not
+correspond to any particular physical configuration of it, but can be treated as
+a metastate covering a range of different power states of the system in which
+the individual components of it can be either ``active`` (in use) or
+``inactive`` (idle).  If they are active, they have to be in power states
+allowing them to process data and to be accessed by software.  In turn, if they
+are inactive, ideally, they should be in low-power states in which they may not
+be accessible.
+
+If all of the system components are active, the system as a whole is regarded as
+"runtime active" and that situation typically corresponds to the maximum power
+draw (or maximum energy usage) of it.  If all of them are inactive, the system
+as a whole is regarded as "runtime idle" which may be very close to a sleep
+state from the physical system configuration and power draw perspective, but
+then it takes much less time and effort to start executing user space code than
+for the same system in a sleep state.  However, transitions from sleep states
+back to the working state can only be started by a limited set of devices, so
+typically the system can spend much more time in a sleep state than it can be
+runtime idle in one go.  For this reason, systems usually use less energy in
+sleep states than when they are runtime idle most of the time.
+
+Moreover, the two power management strategies address different usage scenarios.
+Namely, if the user indicates that the system will not be in use going forward,
+for example by closing its lid (if the system is a laptop), it probably should
+go into a sleep state at that point.  On the other hand, if the user simply goes
+away from the laptop keyboard, it probably should stay in the working state and
+use the working-state power management in case it becomes idle, because the user
+may come back to it at any time and then may want the system to be immediately
+accessible.