A power state broadcast mechanism. A master device may broadcast a message
through the use of a protocol to each of one or more slave devices to
inform the slave devices of the power state of a computer system. The
broadcast message may include a protocol header indicating the start of
the broadcast transaction, a function type parameter indicating the type
of broadcast transaction, and power state data indicating the power state
of the computer system. Each of the slave devices may read the protocol
header to detect the start of a broadcast transaction, and the function
type parameter to determine the type of broadcast transaction. If the
function type parameter indicates a power state broadcast transaction,
each of the slave devices may read the power state data included in the
broadcast message and determine whether to adjust the current power state
of the slave device.