US Patent 10078363 Non main CPU/OS based operational environment

An apparatus is provided that includes a microcontroller to facilitate data communication within a system comprising a plurality of peripheral devices, a power manager to put the microcontroller into a sleep state to save power, and an I/O controller to enable communication between two or more particular peripheral devices in the plurality of peripheral devices without involvement of the microcontroller while the microcontroller is in the sleep state. The microcontroller is to wake from the sleep state in response to at least one signal from a component of the system external to the microcontroller and communication between at least some of the plurality of peripheral devices is facilitated using the microcontroller when in an awake state.