GB2257313A - Variable intensity digital display - Google Patents

Variable intensity digital display Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2257313A
GB2257313A GB9206273A GB9206273A GB2257313A GB 2257313 A GB2257313 A GB 2257313A GB 9206273 A GB9206273 A GB 9206273A GB 9206273 A GB9206273 A GB 9206273A GB 2257313 A GB2257313 A GB 2257313A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
display
digits
internal state
output
fault
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
GB9206273A
Other versions
GB9206273D0 (en
GB2257313B (en
Inventor
Brian Denson Wells
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Fujitsu Services Ltd
Original Assignee
Fujitsu Services Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Fujitsu Services Ltd filed Critical Fujitsu Services Ltd
Publication of GB9206273D0 publication Critical patent/GB9206273D0/en
Publication of GB2257313A publication Critical patent/GB2257313A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of GB2257313B publication Critical patent/GB2257313B/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F11/00—Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring
    • G06F11/07—Responding to the occurrence of a fault, e.g. fault tolerance
    • G06F11/0703—Error or fault processing not based on redundancy, i.e. by taking additional measures to deal with the error or fault not making use of redundancy in operation, in hardware, or in data representation
    • G06F11/0751—Error or fault detection not based on redundancy
    • G06F11/0754—Error or fault detection not based on redundancy by exceeding limits
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F11/00—Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring
    • G06F11/30—Monitoring
    • G06F11/32—Monitoring with visual or acoustical indication of the functioning of the machine
    • G06F11/324—Display of status information
    • G06F11/325—Display of status information by lamps or LED's
    • G06F11/326—Display of status information by lamps or LED's for error or online/offline status
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F11/00—Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring
    • G06F11/30—Monitoring
    • G06F11/32—Monitoring with visual or acoustical indication of the functioning of the machine
    • G06F11/324—Display of status information
    • G06F11/328—Computer systems status display
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G08—SIGNALLING
    • G08B—SIGNALLING OR CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
    • G08B5/00—Visible signalling systems, e.g. personal calling systems, remote indication of seats occupied
    • G08B5/22—Visible signalling systems, e.g. personal calling systems, remote indication of seats occupied using electric transmission; using electromagnetic transmission
    • G08B5/36—Visible signalling systems, e.g. personal calling systems, remote indication of seats occupied using electric transmission; using electromagnetic transmission using visible light sources
    • G08B5/38—Visible signalling systems, e.g. personal calling systems, remote indication of seats occupied using electric transmission; using electromagnetic transmission using visible light sources using flashing light
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
    • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
    • G09G3/00—Control arrangements or circuits, of interest only in connection with visual indicators other than cathode-ray tubes
    • G09G3/04—Control arrangements or circuits, of interest only in connection with visual indicators other than cathode-ray tubes for presentation of a single character by selection from a plurality of characters, or by composing the character by combination of individual elements, e.g. segments using a combination of such display devices for composing words, rows or the like, in a frame with fixed character positions

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Quality & Reliability (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Computing Systems (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Testing, Inspecting, Measuring Of Stereoscopic Televisions And Televisions (AREA)
  • Accessory Devices And Overall Control Thereof (AREA)
  • Control Of Positive-Displacement Air Blowers (AREA)

Abstract

A display device is used to convey additional information about the internal state of an electronic apparatus, by varying the intensity of the display in a pattern related to the state. For example, a hexadecimal digit display 10, for displaying a diagnostic code for a computer, may additionally be used to indicate cooling fan 18 failure by flashing the digits 12, 14 in a particular pattern when fan failure is detected. One digit 12 may flash at a predetermined rate to indicate the presence of a fault condition whilst another 14 may be caused to flicker at a rate determined by the severity of the fault with the two digits 12, 14 flashing alternately when the fault is at a maximum. <IMAGE>

Description

VISUAL INDICATION Background to the invention This invention relates to visual indicators for electronic equipment.
Electronic equipment, such as digital computers, may have various digital displays to indicate the internal state of the equipment. For example, in one existing digital computer, a pair of hexadecimal digit displays is used to display a diagnostic code, indicating the nature of any fault condition, such as the voltage of the power supply going out of the normal operating range.
When an existing design of electronic equipment is modified or upgraded, it may be required to display further visual information about the internal state. However, there may not be enough room on the existing control panel to accommodate any additional display devices.
The object of the present invention is to provide a way of overcoming or alleviating this problem, without requiring redesign of the control panel.
Summary of the invention According to the present invention there is provided electronic apparatus having a digital display for displaying information about the internal state of the apparatus and means for displaying further information about the internal state of the apparatus by causing the intensity of the digital display to vary in a pattern related to said internal state.
Thus, it can be seen that the invention allows an existing display device to be used to convey further information about the internal state of the apparatus, avoiding the need for additional display devices.
Brief description of the drawing Figure 1 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the invention.
Description of an embodiment of the invention One embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with references to the accompanying drawing.
Referring to the drawing, this illustrates part of a digital computer, having a diagnostic display on an external control panel 10. The diagnostic display comprises two hexadecimzrl digit display devices 12, 14, such as seven-segment LED (light-emitting diode) displays. These have their inputs connected to a monitoring circuit 16, which monitors the internal state of the computer and causes the devices 12, 14 to display a diagnostic code indicating the nature of any detected fault condition. For example, the code "00" may indicate normal operation, while other codes may indicate that the voltage of the power supply is outside the normal operating range, or that the temperature of the equipment is outside its normal range.
The display devices 12, 14 are also used to provide an indication of the state of cooling fans in the computer, as follows.
In this example, the computer has four fans 18. Each fan has a tachometer 20 which produces one output pulse at each revolution of the fan. The normal speed of operation of the fans is approximately 1700 revolutions per minute, and so each tachometer produces approximately 30 pulses per second.
The output of each tachometer is fed to a retriggerable delay line 22. This is triggered by each input pulse, and when triggered produces an output which remains high for a predetermined time interval T.
This time interval T is chosen such that, when the fan is running at normal speed, the tachometer pulses continually retrigger the associated delay line 22, so that its output remains at a constant high level If the fan speed drops below a threshold level, the delay line is not retriggered until after its output has dropped by to a low level. Hence, the output of the delay line becomes a series of pulses, as illustrated in the drawing.
As the speed of the fan drops, the markispace ratio of these pulses decreases, until eventually, if the fan comes to halt, the output of the delay line assumes a constant low level.
The outputs of the retriggerable delay lines 22 are fed to the inputs of four NOR gates 24. A second input of each of the NOR gates is connected to the output of the an oscillator circuit 26, which produces a train of pulses with a repetition rate of approximately 5 pulses per second and a mark/space ratio of approximately 1:4.
The outputs of the NOR gates 24 are combined in pairs by two further NOR gates 28, the outputs of which are, in turn, combined in a NAND gate 30.
The output of the NAND gate 30 is fed to one input of a NOR gate 32, the other input of which normally receives a constant low level signal. The output of the NOR gate 32 is fed, by way of an inverter 34, to the enable input of the first hexadecimal display device 12.
The output of the NAND gate 30 is also fed to the input of a further retriggerable delay line 36, similar to the delay lines 22, but with a longer delay period, of the order of 1 second. The output of the delay line 36 is combined in a NAND gate 38, with the output of the oscillator 26. The output of the NAND gate 38 is fed to one input of NAND gate 40, the other input of which normally receives a constant high level signal, by way of an inverter 42. The output of the NAND gate 40 is fed to the enable input of the second hexadecimal display device 14.
It can be seen that, in normal operation, when all the fans are running at their correct speeds, the outputs of all the delay lines 22 are high, and in this state the enable inputs of both hexadecimal display devices are held at a constant low signal level, so that both devices are enabled. Hence, in this condition, the two devices simply display the status code generated by the monitor circuit 16.
If the speed of any of the fans drops below a threshold level, the output of the corresponding delay line 22 will start to pulsate. As a result, it can be seen that the first hexadecimal display device 12 will start to flicker at a rate proportional to the speed of the fan. The slower the fan, the more pronounced the flicker.
At the same time, the second hexadecimal display device 14 will start to flash, at a rate determined by the pulse rate of the oscillator 26, being mainly lit but going off briefly during each oscillator pulse.
If the speed of any of the fans reaches zero, the output of the corresponding delay line 22 remains at a constant high signal level. In this state, the second display device 14 flashes as before, while the first display device 12 now flashes in the inverse pattern, ie. going off when device 14 is on, and vice versa.
In summary, it can be seen that if the two hexadecimal display devices are continuously lit, this indicates that the fans are all operating correctly. If the second device starts to flash, this indicates that a fault is developing in one of the fans, the severity of the fault being indicated by the degree of flicker in the first display device. If the two display devices flash on and off alternately, this indicates that one of the fans has stopped completely.

Claims (5)

1. Electronic apparatus having a digital display for displaying information about the internal state of the apparatus, and means for displaying information about the internal state of the apparatus by causing the intensity of the digital display to vary in a pattern related to said internal state.
2. Apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein said display comprises two digits and comprising means for causing one of the digits to flash at a predetermined rate to indicate the presence of a fault condition, and means for causing the other digit to flicker at a rate determined by the severity of the fault condition.
3. Apparatus according the Claim 2 wherein, when said fault condition reaches a maximum value, the two digits are caused to flash on and off alternately.
4. Apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein said further information relates to the operation of at least one cooling fan in the apparatus.
5. Electronic apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
GB9206273A 1991-06-26 1992-03-23 Visual indication Expired - Fee Related GB2257313B (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9113783A GB9113783D0 (en) 1991-06-26 1991-06-26 Visual indication

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB9206273D0 GB9206273D0 (en) 1992-05-06
GB2257313A true GB2257313A (en) 1993-01-06
GB2257313B GB2257313B (en) 1995-01-04

Family

ID=10697346

Family Applications (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB9113783A Pending GB9113783D0 (en) 1991-06-26 1991-06-26 Visual indication
GB9206273A Expired - Fee Related GB2257313B (en) 1991-06-26 1992-03-23 Visual indication

Family Applications Before (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB9113783A Pending GB9113783D0 (en) 1991-06-26 1991-06-26 Visual indication

Country Status (1)

Country Link
GB (2) GB9113783D0 (en)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2322774A (en) * 1997-02-28 1998-09-02 Fujitsu Ltd Error indicator for data modem
EP1113364A2 (en) * 1999-11-29 2001-07-04 Chang, Fa-Hsun A diagnostic method and device of a computer system
GB2379058A (en) * 2001-06-07 2003-02-26 Dell Products Lp System for displaying computer system status information

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2061586A (en) * 1979-08-24 1981-05-13 Nissan Motor Digital display device for vehicle use
EP0082028A1 (en) * 1981-12-15 1983-06-22 Peugeot Outillage Electrique, Société dite: Machine, especially an electric drilling machine
US4587753A (en) * 1984-03-16 1986-05-13 Harper Douglas M House signaling device
EP0253709A1 (en) * 1986-07-11 1988-01-20 FERCO INTERNATIONAL Usine de Ferrures de BÀ¢timent Société à responsabilité limitée Monitoring installation with detectors in the form of a loop
US4929936A (en) * 1988-03-21 1990-05-29 Home Security Systems, Inc. LED illuminated sign
GB2247118A (en) * 1990-08-13 1992-02-19 Brother Ind Ltd Multi-function status and fault indicator for a recording device

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2061586A (en) * 1979-08-24 1981-05-13 Nissan Motor Digital display device for vehicle use
EP0082028A1 (en) * 1981-12-15 1983-06-22 Peugeot Outillage Electrique, Société dite: Machine, especially an electric drilling machine
US4587753A (en) * 1984-03-16 1986-05-13 Harper Douglas M House signaling device
EP0253709A1 (en) * 1986-07-11 1988-01-20 FERCO INTERNATIONAL Usine de Ferrures de BÀ¢timent Société à responsabilité limitée Monitoring installation with detectors in the form of a loop
US4929936A (en) * 1988-03-21 1990-05-29 Home Security Systems, Inc. LED illuminated sign
GB2247118A (en) * 1990-08-13 1992-02-19 Brother Ind Ltd Multi-function status and fault indicator for a recording device

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2322774A (en) * 1997-02-28 1998-09-02 Fujitsu Ltd Error indicator for data modem
GB2322774B (en) * 1997-02-28 2002-05-01 Fujitsu Ltd Data modulator-demodulator and indicating method of light e mitter therein
EP1113364A2 (en) * 1999-11-29 2001-07-04 Chang, Fa-Hsun A diagnostic method and device of a computer system
EP1113364A3 (en) * 1999-11-29 2002-07-24 Chang, Fa-Hsun A diagnostic method and device of a computer system
GB2379058A (en) * 2001-06-07 2003-02-26 Dell Products Lp System for displaying computer system status information
GB2379058B (en) * 2001-06-07 2004-07-21 Dell Products Lp System and method for displaying computer system status information
SG139513A1 (en) * 2001-06-07 2008-02-29 Dell Products Lp System and method for displaying computer system status information

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB9113783D0 (en) 1991-08-14
GB9206273D0 (en) 1992-05-06
GB2257313B (en) 1995-01-04

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PCNP Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee

Effective date: 20040323