CN107480024B

CN107480024B - Hard disk simulator

Info

Publication number: CN107480024B
Application number: CN201710680311.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 纪丽萍; 王淑敏; 黄丽红; 钱艳玲
Original assignee: Inventec Pudong Technology Corp; Inventec Corp
Current assignee: Inventec Pudong Technology Corp; Inventec Corp
Priority date: 2017-08-10
Filing date: 2017-08-10
Publication date: 2021-05-28
Anticipated expiration: 2037-08-10
Also published as: CN107480024A

Abstract

The invention discloses a hard disk simulator which comprises a circuit board, a shell, a connecting port and a plurality of power consumption simulation units. The circuit board has a first surface and a second surface. The shell is provided with a first cover body and a second cover body. The first cover covers the first surface. The second cover body covers the second surface. An accommodating space is arranged between the first cover body and the second cover body. At least part of the circuit board is positioned in the accommodating space. The connection port is exposed to the housing. The connection port is used for being electrically connected with the mainboard in a pluggable mode. The hard disk simulator is used for obtaining a control signal and a power supply from the main board through the connecting port. The power consumption simulation units are respectively arranged on the first surface or the second surface. The power consumption simulation units are respectively electrically connected with the connection ports. The power consumption simulation unit is used for selectively providing a plurality of power consumption data according to the power supply.

Description

Hard disk simulator

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a hard disk simulator, and more particularly, to a hard disk simulator for power consumption or temperature of a hard disk.

Background

For computers, servers, or devices with computing capabilities, it is currently the most common practice to store data on a physical hard disk. With the evolution of storage technology, various specifications of hard disk interfaces are gradually renovated, and no mention is made that the coming-out of solid state disks in recent years brings the wind direction of the technology industry.

In the product manufacturing process, the product quality can be ensured only by detecting various test items of the product by a testing department. Various environmental tests are necessary to ensure the reliability of the hard disk, either for the hard disk itself or for the electronic product using the hard disk. For example, a server as a data center must be provided with a considerable number of hard disks, so that a large number of hard disks must be used in the project test of the server. In the case of the daily change of the hard disk specification, once the design is changed, the test cost of the server is also higher than that of the water-rising ship.

As for the current popular Solid State Disk (SSD) with Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVME), the price of such a Solid State Disk is high, and if eighty blocks are installed in a set of system, it is necessary to cost hundreds of thousands, and the testing cost is high. Moreover, some destructive tests consume a large number of hard disks and waste a large amount of money.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a hard disk simulator for reducing the test cost of electronic products.

The invention discloses a hard disk simulator which comprises a circuit board, a shell, a connecting part and a plurality of power consumption simulation units. The circuit board is arranged in the accommodating space. The circuit board has a first surface and a second surface. The shell is provided with a first cover body and a second cover body. The first cover covers the first surface. The second cover body covers the second surface. The connection port is exposed to the housing. The connection port is used for being electrically connected with the mainboard in a pluggable mode. The hard disk simulator is used for obtaining a control signal and a power supply from the main board through the connecting port. The power consumption simulation units are respectively arranged on the first surface or the second surface. The power consumption simulation units are respectively electrically connected with the connection ports. The power consumption simulation units are respectively arranged on the first surface or the second surface. The power consumption simulation units are respectively electrically connected with the connecting ports. Each power consumption simulation unit is provided with a simulation circuit and a power consumption detector. Each analog circuit is selectively operated according to the power supply. Each power consumption detector is used for selectively generating power consumption data according to the operation of the corresponding analog circuit.

In summary, the present invention provides a hard disk simulator, which is used to simulate the power consumption and heat loss of an actual hard disk. According to the architecture provided by the invention, the cost of the hard disk simulator is much lower than that of an actual hard disk, and the power consumption and the heat loss of the hard disk can be faithfully realized. Therefore, even if the electronic product is changed in design, the testing department does not need to consume a large amount of cost for new testing elements, thereby reducing the overall cost of the electronic product and having practicability.

The foregoing summary of the invention, as well as the following detailed description of the embodiments, is provided to illustrate and explain the principles and spirit of the invention, and to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a functional block diagram of a hard disk simulator according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a hard disk simulator according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a circuit diagram of an analog circuit according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a top view of a circuit board and related components of a hard disk emulator according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a bottom view of a circuit board and related components of a hard disk simulator according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a functional block diagram of a hard disk simulator according to another embodiment of the invention.

Wherein, the reference numbers:

1 hard disk simulator

10 circuit board

12 outer cover

121 first cover

122 second cover body

110 temperature monitoring circuit

120 connecting port

130 contact monitoring circuit

140 control circuit

160 a-160 c power consumption analog unit

1610a to 1610c analog circuit

1630a 1630c power consumption detector

2 mainboard

3 external device

C1-C3 heat conduction cover

CFd-CFf heat-conducting fin

g 1-g 4 weight member

E1, E2, EC terminal

NC and NS node

R11-R16 first resistor

R2 second resistor

S1 first surface

S2 second surface

SW switch element

First through holes V11-V16

A second through hole V21-V24

Detailed Description

The detailed features and advantages of the present invention are described in detail in the following embodiments, which are sufficient for a person skilled in the art to understand the technical contents of the present invention and to implement the present invention, and the related objects and advantages of the present invention can be easily understood by those skilled in the art from the disclosure of the present specification, claims and drawings. The following examples further illustrate aspects of the present invention in detail, but are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way.

Referring to fig. 1 and fig. 2, fig. 1 is a functional block diagram of a hard disk simulator according to an embodiment of the invention. The relative positions of some of the elements of the hard disk simulator 1 are illustrated in fig. 2. As shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, the hard disk simulator 1 includes a circuit board 10, a housing 12, a connection port 120, a plurality of power consumption simulation units, and a control circuit 140. In this embodiment, the power consumption simulation units 160a to 160f are taken as an example for explanation, but the number of the power consumption simulation units is not limited to this.

The circuit board 10 has a first surface S1 and a second surface S2. The first surface S1 and the second surface S2 are provided with corresponding circuit elements, respectively. In one embodiment, the circuit board 10 is a single circuit board. In this embodiment, the circuit board 10 itself has a first surface S1 and a second surface S2. In another embodiment, the circuit board 10 is composed of a main circuit board (main board) and a sub circuit board (daughter board). In this embodiment, the first surface S1 and the second surface S2 belong to the main circuit board and the sub circuit board respectively. The manner of forming the circuit board 10 is not limited herein.

The housing 12 has a first cover 121 and a second cover 122. When the first cover 121 and the second cover 122 are assembled on the circuit board 10, an accommodating space is formed between the first cover 121 and the second cover 122, and the circuit board 10 is located in the accommodating space. The first cover 121 is used to cover the first surface S1. The second cover 122 is used for covering the second surface S2. The relative engagement relationship between the first cover 121 and the second cover 122 and the circuit board 10 is not limited herein.

The connection port 120 is exposed to the housing 12. The connection port 120 is used for being electrically connected to the motherboard 20 in a pluggable manner. The hard disk emulator 1 is used for obtaining control signals and power from the main board 20 through the connection port 120. The specification of the connection port 120 is, for example, a nonvolatile memory interface. The motherboard is, for example, a motherboard of a server or a motherboard of any computer. The above description is exemplary only, and not intended to be limiting.

The power consumption simulation units 160a to 160f are respectively disposed on the first surface S1 or the second surface S2. In this embodiment, the power consumption analog units 160a to 160c are located on the first surface S1, and the power consumption analog units 160d to 160f are located on the second surface S2. The power consumption simulation units 160a to 160f are electrically connected to the connection port 120, respectively. Each of the power consumption analog units 160 a-160 f includes an analog circuit and a power consumption detector. For the power consumption simulation unit 160a, the power consumption simulation unit 160a has a simulation circuit 1610a and a power consumption detector 1630 a. The analog circuit 1610a is used to selectively operate according to the power provided by the motherboard 2. The power detector 1630a is used for selectively generating power consumption data according to the operation of the corresponding analog circuit 1610 a. In practice, the power consumption detector 1630a generates related power consumption data according to the voltage or current flowing through the analog circuit, for example. The power consumption data is used for the user to compare with the ideal value for verification.

The control circuit 140 is disposed on the circuit board 10. The control circuit 140 is electrically connected to the connection port 120 and the power consumption simulation units 160a to 160 f. The control circuit 140 selectively uses the power consumption detectors 1630 a-1630 f to obtain corresponding power consumption data according to the control signal provided by the motherboard 2 and provides the obtained power consumption data to the motherboard 2. In practice, the control circuit 140 is, for example, a Micro Control Unit (MCU), a Central Processing Unit (CPU), or a related circuit disposed in a circuit board. From another perspective, the control circuit 140 may be a separate electronic component disposed on the circuit board 10, or the control circuit 140 may be one of the portions of the wiring of the circuit board 10. In practice, the control circuit 140 is an optional design, that is, the hard disk simulator 1 may not have the control circuit 140, and the power consumption simulation unit directly obtains the control signal from the connection port 120 to operate.

Next, referring to fig. 3, a circuit structure of the analog circuit is described, and fig. 3 is a circuit schematic diagram of the analog circuit according to an embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the analog circuit 1610a is taken as an example for illustration, and those skilled in the art can analogize or adjust to other analog circuits according to the circuit structure shown in fig. 3 after going through the present specification. The analog circuit 1610a has a switching element SW, at least a first resistor and a second resistor, and the first resistor R11-R16 and the second resistor R2 are exemplified in this embodiment.

The switching element SW has a first terminal E1, a second terminal E2 and a control terminal EC. The control terminal EC is electrically connected to the control circuit 140 through the node NC. The switch element SW is used for selectively conducting the first terminal E1 to the second terminal E2 according to the indication of the control circuit. The first resistors R11-R16 are directly or indirectly electrically connected with the first end E1. The resistance values of the first resistors R11 to R16 are related to the heat generation power of the analog circuit 1610 a. On the other hand, when the switch SW is turned on, the analog circuit 1610 obtains power from the node NS, and the first resistors R11 to R16 selectively generate heat according to the power obtained by the analog circuit 1610. The second resistor R2 is electrically connected to the second terminal E2 and the control terminal EC. The second resistor R2 is used to prevent the switch SW from malfunction. By selecting the first resistors with proper resistance values or properly designing the connection mode of each first resistor, each analog circuit can have corresponding heat generation efficiency. That is, the user can make the hard disk simulator 1 simulate the actual hard disk heating by providing an appropriate control signal to each analog circuit to make each analog circuit generate heat. In practice, a single power consumption analog unit may also have multiple sets of analog circuits to adjust the heat generation and power consumption.

Fig. 2, fig. 4, and fig. 5 are also shown to illustrate relative positions of the components, fig. 4 is a top view of a circuit board and related components of the hard disk simulator according to an embodiment of the invention, and fig. 5 is a bottom view of the circuit board and related components of the hard disk simulator according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 4 and 5 are top and bottom views, respectively, of fig. 2. Fig. 4 and 5 show the relative positions of some elements of the hard disk simulator, respectively. As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the power consumption simulation units 160a to 160f are respectively located on different regions of the first surface S1 and the second surface S2. In other words, by providing the corresponding control signals to the power consumption simulating units 160a to 160f, the heating status of each element in the hard disk and the power consumption of each element during the operation of the real hard disk can be simulated by the power consumption simulating units 160a to 160 f.

As shown in fig. 2, the hard disk emulator 1 further has a plurality of heat conducting covers (not shown in fig. 4 and 5). In this embodiment, the heat conductive covers C1-C3 are taken as examples. The heat conductive covers C1-C3 cover the power consumption analog units 160 a-160C, respectively. In other words, the heat conductive covers C1-C3 are equivalently located on the first surface S1 of the circuit board 10. The heat conducting covers C1-C3 are coated with heat conducting glue. The heat conductive covers C1 to C3 contact the first cover 121 through a heat conductive adhesive. Therefore, the heat dissipation efficiency of each analog circuit is improved. In one embodiment, the first cover 121 has a first heat-conducting plate, and the second cover 122 has a second heat-conducting plate. The first heat-conducting strip of the first cover 121 contacts the corresponding one or more heat-conducting covers through the heat-conducting glue. The second heat-conducting strip of the second cover 122 contacts the corresponding one or more heat-conducting covers through the heat-conducting glue. Taking fig. 2 as an example, the second cover 122 has second heat-conducting fins CFd, CFe, CFf, and the positions of the second heat-conducting fins CFd, CFe, CFf respectively correspond to the positions of the power consumption simulation units 160d to 160 f. Therefore, the heat dissipation efficiency of each analog circuit can be further improved.

On the other hand, the circuit board 10 is provided with the weights g 1-g 6, the weights g 5-g 6 are not shown in the drawings, but those skilled in the art can understand the relative relationship between the weights g 5-g 6 and the circuit board 10 according to the related descriptions of the weights g 1-g 4 and the circuit board 10. The weights of the weights g 1-g 6 may be the same or different, and the relative positions of the weights g 1-g 6 and the circuit board 10 are not limited to the drawings. The circuit board 10 further has a first through hole V11-V17 and a second through hole V21-V24. The weight pieces g1 to g4 are fixed to the first through holes V11 to V14, for example. The weight pieces g5 to g6 are fixed to the first through holes V15 to V16, for example. In practice, the weight members g 1-g 6 have threaded bosses, for example, and the first through holes V11-V16 have threads corresponding to the weight members g 1-g 6, so that the weight members g 1-g 6 can be locked and fixed to the first through holes V11-V16. Or the weight pieces g 1-g 6 are provided with convex columns, and the weight pieces g 1-g 6 are fixedly connected with the first through holes V1-V4 by properly configuring the relative sizes of the convex columns of the weight pieces g 1-g 6 and the first through holes V1-V4. The circuit board 10 is fixedly connected to at least one of the first cover 121 and the second cover 122 through the second through holes V21-V24. By selecting a weight with a proper weight, the weight of the hard disk simulator 1 can be similar to that of an actual hard disk, so that the hard disk simulator can be applied to more measurement items, and the related measurement result is more true. However, the weights and the corresponding through holes are of an optional design, and the hard disk simulator 1 is not necessarily provided with weights or through hole structures.

Referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a functional block diagram of a hard disk simulator according to another embodiment of the invention. The hard disk simulator 1 further comprises a temperature monitoring circuit 110 and a contact monitoring circuit 130. The temperature monitoring circuit 110 and the contact monitoring circuit 130 are respectively disposed on the circuit board 10.

The temperature monitoring circuit 110 is used to monitor the operating temperature of the hard disk simulator 1 and provide the operating temperature to the motherboard. More specifically, the temperature monitoring circuit 110 has, for example, a temperature sensor for generating a corresponding electrical signal according to the temperature of a local area of the hard disk simulator 1, and the temperature monitoring circuit 110 is configured to provide the electrical signal to the main board 2. In practice, the temperature monitoring circuit 110 may provide the electrical signal to the motherboard 2 through the control circuit 140.

The contact monitoring circuit 130 is used for monitoring whether all the pins of the connection port 120 are electrically connected to the motherboard 2. The contact monitoring circuit 130 has, for example, an indicator light. When one of the pins of the connection port is not electrically connected with the mainboard 2, the indicator light is lighted. In practice, the contact monitoring circuit 130 may provide the relevant determination result to the motherboard 2 through the control circuit 140. In one embodiment, the control circuit 140 is electrically connected to the external device 3 through the connection port 120. The external device 3 changes the operation of each analog circuit according to the script (script) to simulate the power consumption of various hard disks. The external device 3 is, for example, a computer or other electronic device with computing capability.

Continuing from the above idea, the present invention further provides an emulation apparatus, wherein the hard disk emulator has a motherboard, at least one storage module, and the hard disk emulator according to the foregoing embodiments. The at least one storage module is electrically connected with the mainboard. The hard disk simulator is electrically connected with the mainboard. The main board is used for providing a control signal and a power supply to the at least one storage module and the hard disk simulator.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention. All changes and modifications that come within the spirit and scope of the invention are desired to be protected by the following claims. With regard to the scope of protection defined by the present invention, reference should be made to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A hard disk emulator, comprising:

a circuit board having a first surface and a second surface;

a housing, comprising:

a first cover body covering the first surface; and

a second cover body covering the second surface, an accommodating space is arranged between the first cover body and the second cover body, and at least part of the circuit board is positioned in the accommodating space;

the hard disk simulator is used for acquiring a control signal and a power supply from the mainboard through the connecting port; and

the power consumption simulation units are respectively arranged on the first surface or the second surface and are respectively electrically connected with the connecting port, each power consumption simulation unit comprises a simulation circuit and a power consumption detector, each simulation circuit is used for selectively operating according to the power supply and the control signal, and each power consumption detector is used for selectively generating power consumption data according to the operation of the corresponding simulation circuit;

wherein one of the analog circuits comprises:

a switch element having a first end, a second end and a control end, wherein the control end is electrically connected to the control circuit, and the switch element is used for selectively conducting according to the indication of the control circuit;

at least one first resistor electrically connected to the first end, wherein the resistance value of the at least one first resistor is related to the heating power of the analog circuit; and

a second resistor electrically connected to the second terminal and the control terminal.

2. The hard disk simulator of claim 1, further comprising a control circuit disposed on the circuit board and electrically connected to the connection port and the power consumption simulation units, the control circuit being configured to selectively obtain the power consumption data from the power consumption detectors according to the control signal and provide the power consumption data to the motherboard.

3. The hard disk emulator of claim 1, wherein the first cover has a first heat conductive sheet, the second cover has a second heat conductive sheet, and the hard disk emulator further comprises a plurality of heat conductive covers respectively covering the power consumption emulation units, the heat conductive covers being coated with a heat conductive adhesive, the heat conductive covers contacting the first heat conductive sheet of the first cover or the second heat conductive sheet of the second cover through the heat conductive adhesive.

4. The hard disk simulator of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of weights respectively disposed on the first surface or the second surface.

5. The hard disk simulator of claim 4, wherein the circuit board has a plurality of first through holes and a plurality of second through holes, the weight members are fixed to the first through holes, and the circuit board is fixed to at least one of the first cover and the second cover through the second through holes.

6. The hard disk simulator of claim 1, further comprising a temperature monitoring circuit disposed on the circuit board, the temperature monitoring circuit being configured to monitor an operating temperature of the hard disk simulator and provide the operating temperature to the motherboard.

7. The hard disk simulator of claim 1, further comprising a contact monitoring circuit disposed on the circuit board, the contact monitoring circuit being configured to monitor whether all pins of the connection port are electrically connected to the motherboard;

the contact monitoring circuit comprises an indicator light, and when one of the pins of the connecting port is not electrically connected with the mainboard, the indicator light is lightened.

8. The hard disk simulator of claim 1, wherein the control circuit is electrically connected to an external device through the connection port, and the external device changes operations of the simulation circuits according to a script to simulate power consumption of a plurality of hard disks.

9. A simulation apparatus, comprising:

a main board;

the at least one storage module is electrically connected with the mainboard; and

a plurality of hard disk emulators as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, the hard disk emulators being electrically connected to the motherboard;

the main board is used for providing the control signal and the power supply to the at least one storage module and the hard disk simulators.