diff --git a/drivers/acpi/processor_idle.c b/drivers/acpi/processor_idle.c
index 71066066..0a395fc 100644
--- a/drivers/acpi/processor_idle.c
+++ b/drivers/acpi/processor_idle.c
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include <linux/dmi.h>
 #include <linux/moduleparam.h>
 #include <linux/sched.h>	/* need_resched() */
+#include <linux/latency.h>
 
 #include <asm/io.h>
 #include <asm/uaccess.h>
@@ -453,7 +454,8 @@
 	 */
 	if (cx->promotion.state &&
 	    ((cx->promotion.state - pr->power.states) <= max_cstate)) {
-		if (sleep_ticks > cx->promotion.threshold.ticks) {
+		if (sleep_ticks > cx->promotion.threshold.ticks &&
+		  cx->promotion.state->latency <= system_latency_constraint()) {
 			cx->promotion.count++;
 			cx->demotion.count = 0;
 			if (cx->promotion.count >=
@@ -494,8 +496,10 @@
       end:
 	/*
 	 * Demote if current state exceeds max_cstate
+	 * or if the latency of the current state is unacceptable
 	 */
-	if ((pr->power.state - pr->power.states) > max_cstate) {
+	if ((pr->power.state - pr->power.states) > max_cstate ||
+		pr->power.state->latency > system_latency_constraint()) {
 		if (cx->demotion.state)
 			next_state = cx->demotion.state;
 	}
@@ -1009,9 +1013,11 @@
 
 	seq_printf(seq, "active state:            C%zd\n"
 		   "max_cstate:              C%d\n"
-		   "bus master activity:     %08x\n",
+		   "bus master activity:     %08x\n"
+		   "maximum allowed latency: %d usec\n",
 		   pr->power.state ? pr->power.state - pr->power.states : 0,
-		   max_cstate, (unsigned)pr->power.bm_activity);
+		   max_cstate, (unsigned)pr->power.bm_activity,
+		   system_latency_constraint());
 
 	seq_puts(seq, "states:\n");
 
@@ -1077,6 +1083,28 @@
 	.release = single_release,
 };
 
+static void smp_callback(void *v)
+{
+	/* we already woke the CPU up, nothing more to do */
+}
+
+/*
+ * This function gets called when a part of the kernel has a new latency
+ * requirement.  This means we need to get all processors out of their C-state,
+ * and then recalculate a new suitable C-state. Just do a cross-cpu IPI; that
+ * wakes them all right up.
+ */
+static int acpi_processor_latency_notify(struct notifier_block *b,
+		unsigned long l, void *v)
+{
+	smp_call_function(smp_callback, NULL, 0, 1);
+	return NOTIFY_OK;
+}
+
+static struct notifier_block acpi_processor_latency_notifier = {
+	.notifier_call = acpi_processor_latency_notify,
+};
+
 int acpi_processor_power_init(struct acpi_processor *pr,
 			      struct acpi_device *device)
 {
@@ -1093,6 +1121,7 @@
 			       "ACPI: processor limited to max C-state %d\n",
 			       max_cstate);
 		first_run++;
+		register_latency_notifier(&acpi_processor_latency_notifier);
 	}
 
 	if (!pr)
@@ -1164,6 +1193,7 @@
 		 * copies of pm_idle before proceeding.
 		 */
 		cpu_idle_wait();
+		unregister_latency_notifier(&acpi_processor_latency_notifier);
 	}
 
 	return 0;
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ipw2100.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ipw2100.c
index 6c5add7..9793780 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ipw2100.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ipw2100.c
@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@
 #include <linux/firmware.h>
 #include <linux/acpi.h>
 #include <linux/ctype.h>
+#include <linux/latency.h>
 
 #include "ipw2100.h"
 
@@ -1697,6 +1698,11 @@
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+	/* the ipw2100 hardware really doesn't want power management delays
+	 * longer than 175usec
+	 */
+	modify_acceptable_latency("ipw2100", 175);
+
 	/* If the interrupt is enabled, turn it off... */
 	spin_lock_irqsave(&priv->low_lock, flags);
 	ipw2100_disable_interrupts(priv);
@@ -1849,6 +1855,8 @@
 	ipw2100_disable_interrupts(priv);
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&priv->low_lock, flags);
 
+	modify_acceptable_latency("ipw2100", INFINITE_LATENCY);
+
 #ifdef ACPI_CSTATE_LIMIT_DEFINED
 	if (priv->config & CFG_C3_DISABLED) {
 		IPW_DEBUG_INFO(": Resetting C3 transitions.\n");
@@ -6534,6 +6542,7 @@
 
 	ret = pci_register_driver(&ipw2100_pci_driver);
 
+	set_acceptable_latency("ipw2100", INFINITE_LATENCY);
 #ifdef CONFIG_IPW2100_DEBUG
 	ipw2100_debug_level = debug;
 	driver_create_file(&ipw2100_pci_driver.driver,
@@ -6554,6 +6563,7 @@
 			   &driver_attr_debug_level);
 #endif
 	pci_unregister_driver(&ipw2100_pci_driver);
+	remove_acceptable_latency("ipw2100");
 }
 
 module_init(ipw2100_init);
diff --git a/include/linux/latency.h b/include/linux/latency.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c08b52b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/linux/latency.h
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+/*
+ * latency.h: Explicit system-wide latency-expectation infrastructure
+ *
+ * (C) Copyright 2006 Intel Corporation
+ * Author: Arjan van de Ven <arjan@linux.intel.com>
+ *
+ */
+
+#ifndef _INCLUDE_GUARD_LATENCY_H_
+#define _INCLUDE_GUARD_LATENCY_H_
+
+#include <linux/notifier.h>
+
+void set_acceptable_latency(char *identifier, int usecs);
+void modify_acceptable_latency(char *identifier, int usecs);
+void remove_acceptable_latency(char *identifier);
+void synchronize_acceptable_latency(void);
+int system_latency_constraint(void);
+
+int register_latency_notifier(struct notifier_block * nb);
+int unregister_latency_notifier(struct notifier_block * nb);
+
+#define INFINITE_LATENCY 1000000
+
+#endif
diff --git a/kernel/Makefile b/kernel/Makefile
index d62ec66..e210e8c 100644
--- a/kernel/Makefile
+++ b/kernel/Makefile
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 	    signal.o sys.o kmod.o workqueue.o pid.o \
 	    rcupdate.o extable.o params.o posix-timers.o \
 	    kthread.o wait.o kfifo.o sys_ni.o posix-cpu-timers.o mutex.o \
-	    hrtimer.o rwsem.o
+	    hrtimer.o rwsem.o latency.o
 
 obj-$(CONFIG_STACKTRACE) += stacktrace.o
 obj-y += time/
diff --git a/kernel/latency.c b/kernel/latency.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..258f255
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kernel/latency.c
@@ -0,0 +1,279 @@
+/*
+ * latency.c: Explicit system-wide latency-expectation infrastructure
+ *
+ * The purpose of this infrastructure is to allow device drivers to set
+ * latency constraint they have and to collect and summarize these
+ * expectations globally. The cummulated result can then be used by
+ * power management and similar users to make decisions that have
+ * tradoffs with a latency component.
+ *
+ * An example user of this are the x86 C-states; each higher C state saves
+ * more power, but has a higher exit latency. For the idle loop power
+ * code to make a good decision which C-state to use, information about
+ * acceptable latencies is required.
+ *
+ * An example announcer of latency is an audio driver that knowns it
+ * will get an interrupt when the hardware has 200 usec of samples
+ * left in the DMA buffer; in that case the driver can set a latency
+ * constraint of, say, 150 usec.
+ *
+ * Multiple drivers can each announce their maximum accepted latency,
+ * to keep these appart, a string based identifier is used.
+ *
+ *
+ * (C) Copyright 2006 Intel Corporation
+ * Author: Arjan van de Ven <arjan@linux.intel.com>
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2
+ * of the License.
+ */
+
+#include <linux/latency.h>
+#include <linux/list.h>
+#include <linux/spinlock.h>
+#include <linux/slab.h>
+#include <linux/module.h>
+#include <linux/notifier.h>
+#include <asm/atomic.h>
+
+struct latency_info {
+	struct list_head list;
+	int usecs;
+	char *identifier;
+};
+
+/*
+ * locking rule: all modifications to current_max_latency and
+ * latency_list need to be done while holding the latency_lock.
+ * latency_lock needs to be taken _irqsave.
+ */
+static atomic_t current_max_latency;
+static DEFINE_SPINLOCK(latency_lock);
+
+static LIST_HEAD(latency_list);
+static BLOCKING_NOTIFIER_HEAD(latency_notifier);
+
+/*
+ * This function returns the maximum latency allowed, which
+ * happens to be the minimum of all maximum latencies on the
+ * list.
+ */
+static int __find_max_latency(void)
+{
+	int min = INFINITE_LATENCY;
+	struct latency_info *info;
+
+	list_for_each_entry(info, &latency_list, list) {
+		if (info->usecs < min)
+			min = info->usecs;
+	}
+	return min;
+}
+
+/**
+ * set_acceptable_latency - sets the maximum latency acceptable
+ * @identifier: string that identifies this driver
+ * @usecs: maximum acceptable latency for this driver
+ *
+ * This function informs the kernel that this device(driver)
+ * can accept at most usecs latency. This setting is used for
+ * power management and similar tradeoffs.
+ *
+ * This function sleeps and can only be called from process
+ * context.
+ * Calling this function with an existing identifier is valid
+ * and will cause the existing latency setting to be changed.
+ */
+void set_acceptable_latency(char *identifier, int usecs)
+{
+	struct latency_info *info, *iter;
+	unsigned long flags;
+	int found_old = 0;
+
+	info = kzalloc(sizeof(struct latency_info), GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (!info)
+		return;
+	info->usecs = usecs;
+	info->identifier = kstrdup(identifier, GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (!info->identifier)
+		goto free_info;
+
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&latency_lock, flags);
+	list_for_each_entry(iter, &latency_list, list) {
+		if (strcmp(iter->identifier, identifier)==0) {
+			found_old = 1;
+			iter->usecs = usecs;
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+	if (!found_old)
+		list_add(&info->list, &latency_list);
+
+	if (usecs < atomic_read(&current_max_latency))
+		atomic_set(&current_max_latency, usecs);
+
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&latency_lock, flags);
+
+	blocking_notifier_call_chain(&latency_notifier,
+		atomic_read(&current_max_latency), NULL);
+
+	/*
+	 * if we inserted the new one, we're done; otherwise there was
+	 * an existing one so we need to free the redundant data
+	 */
+	if (!found_old)
+		return;
+
+	kfree(info->identifier);
+free_info:
+	kfree(info);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(set_acceptable_latency);
+
+/**
+ * modify_acceptable_latency - changes the maximum latency acceptable
+ * @identifier: string that identifies this driver
+ * @usecs: maximum acceptable latency for this driver
+ *
+ * This function informs the kernel that this device(driver)
+ * can accept at most usecs latency. This setting is used for
+ * power management and similar tradeoffs.
+ *
+ * This function does not sleep and can be called in any context.
+ * Trying to use a non-existing identifier silently gets ignored.
+ *
+ * Due to the atomic nature of this function, the modified latency
+ * value will only be used for future decisions; past decisions
+ * can still lead to longer latencies in the near future.
+ */
+void modify_acceptable_latency(char *identifier, int usecs)
+{
+	struct latency_info *iter;
+	unsigned long flags;
+
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&latency_lock, flags);
+	list_for_each_entry(iter, &latency_list, list) {
+		if (strcmp(iter->identifier, identifier) == 0) {
+			iter->usecs = usecs;
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+	if (usecs < atomic_read(&current_max_latency))
+		atomic_set(&current_max_latency, usecs);
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&latency_lock, flags);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(modify_acceptable_latency);
+
+/**
+ * remove_acceptable_latency - removes the maximum latency acceptable
+ * @identifier: string that identifies this driver
+ *
+ * This function removes a previously set maximum latency setting
+ * for the driver and frees up any resources associated with the
+ * bookkeeping needed for this.
+ *
+ * This function does not sleep and can be called in any context.
+ * Trying to use a non-existing identifier silently gets ignored.
+ */
+void remove_acceptable_latency(char *identifier)
+{
+	unsigned long flags;
+	int newmax = 0;
+	struct latency_info *iter, *temp;
+
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&latency_lock, flags);
+
+	list_for_each_entry_safe(iter,  temp, &latency_list, list) {
+		if (strcmp(iter->identifier, identifier) == 0) {
+			list_del(&iter->list);
+			newmax = iter->usecs;
+			kfree(iter->identifier);
+			kfree(iter);
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+
+	/* If we just deleted the system wide value, we need to
+	 * recalculate with a full search
+	 */
+	if (newmax == atomic_read(&current_max_latency)) {
+		newmax = __find_max_latency();
+		atomic_set(&current_max_latency, newmax);
+	}
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&latency_lock, flags);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(remove_acceptable_latency);
+
+/**
+ * system_latency_constraint - queries the system wide latency maximum
+ *
+ * This function returns the system wide maximum latency in
+ * microseconds.
+ *
+ * This function does not sleep and can be called in any context.
+ */
+int system_latency_constraint(void)
+{
+	return atomic_read(&current_max_latency);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(system_latency_constraint);
+
+/**
+ * synchronize_acceptable_latency - recalculates all latency decisions
+ *
+ * This function will cause a callback to various kernel pieces that
+ * will make those pieces rethink their latency decisions. This implies
+ * that if there are overlong latencies in hardware state already, those
+ * latencies get taken right now. When this call completes no overlong
+ * latency decisions should be active anymore.
+ *
+ * Typical usecase of this is after a modify_acceptable_latency() call,
+ * which in itself is non-blocking and non-synchronizing.
+ *
+ * This function blocks and should not be called with locks held.
+ */
+
+void synchronize_acceptable_latency(void)
+{
+	blocking_notifier_call_chain(&latency_notifier,
+		atomic_read(&current_max_latency), NULL);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(synchronize_acceptable_latency);
+
+/*
+ * Latency notifier: this notifier gets called when a non-atomic new
+ * latency value gets set. The expectation nof the caller of the
+ * non-atomic set is that when the call returns, future latencies
+ * are within bounds, so the functions on the notifier list are
+ * expected to take the overlong latencies immediately, inside the
+ * callback, and not make a overlong latency decision anymore.
+ *
+ * The callback gets called when the new latency value is made
+ * active so system_latency_constraint() returns the new latency.
+ */
+int register_latency_notifier(struct notifier_block * nb)
+{
+	return blocking_notifier_chain_register(&latency_notifier, nb);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(register_latency_notifier);
+
+int unregister_latency_notifier(struct notifier_block * nb)
+{
+	return blocking_notifier_chain_unregister(&latency_notifier, nb);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(unregister_latency_notifier);
+
+static __init int latency_init(void)
+{
+	atomic_set(&current_max_latency, INFINITE_LATENCY);
+	/*
+	 * we don't want by default to have longer latencies than 2 ticks,
+	 * since that would cause lost ticks
+	 */
+	set_acceptable_latency("kernel", 2*1000000/HZ);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+module_init(latency_init);