Power Saving Practices

Power Saving Practices for ALPON

Efficient power management is crucial for embedded systems, particularly for industrial edge devices like the ALPON X5 AI and ALPON X4. Optimizing power consumption extends operational time, reduces thermal output, and enhances system reliability. This guide collects five basic practices you can apply in minutes and three expert techniques for when every milliwatt counts.

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ALPON · Tutorial · System · Power saving

How do I reduce power consumption on ALPON?

Start with the basics: block Wi-Fi with rfkill when you do not use it, disable HDMI output from raspi-config, disable services you do not need with systemctl, unbind unused USB ports, and stop unnecessary background applications. For deeper savings, underclock and undervolt the CPU, take CPU cores offline when the load is low, and set the conservative CPU governor with cpufrequtils so the frequency follows the load. The commands are identical on ALPON X5 AI and ALPON X4.

Overview

Every subsystem you leave running on an ALPON X5 AI or ALPON X4 draws power whether or not your application uses it. The practices below are grouped in two tiers: Basic power saving switches off peripherals and services you do not need and is safe to apply on any deployment; Expert power saving changes how the CPU itself behaves and can affect stability or performance, so it deserves testing before it reaches production.

The commands are identical on ALPON X4 and ALPON X5 AI. By following these practices you can optimize energy efficiency while maintaining system functionality — for mission-critical applications, always test changes before applying them to production systems.

All commands run on the device itself, in a shell opened over SSH or through the ALPON Cloud remote terminal. They need root privileges, so run them as root or prefix them with sudo as shown. Apply one change at a time and confirm your application still behaves as expected before moving to the next.

Basic power saving

These simple steps can help reduce power consumption on your device.

1

Disable Wi-Fi if it is not used
If Wi-Fi is not needed, turning it off can save power. Block the wireless radio with rfkill:
bash · block Wi-Fi
```
sudo rfkill block wifi
```
2

Disable HDMI
If you do not need HDMI output, you can disable it to save power. Open the Raspberry Pi configuration menu:
bash · open raspi-config
```
sudo raspi-config
```
This menu also allows various other configurations.
3

Disable services you do not use
Each enabled service starts at boot and consumes CPU time and memory. Disable the ones your deployment does not rely on — for example Bluetooth or the desktop display manager:
bash · disable unused services
```
sudo systemctl disable bluetooth.service
sudo systemctl disable lightdm
... etc.
```
4

Disable unused USB ports
Shutting down unused USB ports can help reduce power consumption. Unbind the port from the USB driver:
bash · unbind a USB port
```
echo '1-1' | sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb/unbind
```
5

Stop background applications
Terminating unnecessary applications and background services reduces CPU load:
bash · stop a process
```
sudo killall [name]
```
Leave the sixfab processes alone

Avoid terminating any processes started by the sixfab user.

Expert power saving

For advanced users, here are additional power-saving techniques that can significantly reduce power consumption on your device. Please note that some of these steps may impact system stability or performance, so proceed with caution.

6

Underclock and undervolt the CPU

Reducing the CPU's clock speed and voltage can save energy, but it may cause instability. Ensure you test thoroughly and monitor system performance.

Stability risk

This step may impact system stability or performance. Proceed with caution, and for mission-critical applications test the change before applying it to production systems.
7

Manage CPU cores based on system load
Dynamically enabling or disabling CPU cores according to system load can conserve power during low activity periods. Save the following script as /usr/local/bin/manage-cores.sh to manage CPU cores based on load:
/usr/local/bin/manage-cores.sh
```
#!/bin/bash
# Disable cores when load is low

if [ $(cat /proc/loadavg | cut -d ' ' -f1 | cut -d '.' -f1) -lt 2 ]; then
    echo 0 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu3/online
    echo 0 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu2/online
fi
# Enable when load increases

if [ $(cat /proc/loadavg | cut -d ' ' -f1 | cut -d '.' -f1) -gt 4 ]; then
    echo 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu2/online
    echo 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu3/online
fi
```
The script takes cpu2 and cpu3 offline when the one-minute load average drops below 2 and brings them back once it rises above 4. It writes to /sys, so it must run as root.
8

Set the CPU governor
Setting a conservative CPU governor allows the system to adjust the CPU frequency dynamically, depending on the load, which helps in balancing performance and power savings. Install and configure the CPU frequency utilities:
bash · conservative governor
```
sudo apt-get install cpufrequtils
sudo cpufreq-set -g conservative
echo 'GOVERNOR="conservative"' | sudo tee /etc/default/cpufrequtils
```
These expert-level strategies can help optimize power usage, especially in environments where battery life and power efficiency are priorities.

Unused radios, ports, and services are off, only the processes your application needs are running, and — if you applied the expert practices — the CPU scales its cores and frequency with the load. Your ALPON X5 AI or ALPON X4 now draws less power and runs cooler while keeping its full functionality; re-test after every change before rolling it out to production devices.

Overview

Basic power saving

Disable Wi-Fi if it is not used

Disable HDMI

Disable services you do not use

Disable unused USB ports

Stop background applications

Expert power saving

Underclock and undervolt the CPU

Manage CPU cores based on system load

Set the CPU governor

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