JP2007011835A - Computer mother board - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress the service life degradation of a voltage conversion circuit by optimizing the use of the voltage conversion circuit in a mother board mountable with a plurality of CPUs. <P>SOLUTION: Connection between the plurality of CPUs and the voltage conversion circuit is made variable by switches. The pattern of the voltage conversion circuit is held as a table, and connection between the plurality of CPUs and the voltage conversion circuit is controlled to be adjusted in an optimum manner based on the connected state immediately before. Further, the pattern of the voltage conversion circuit and the integrated time of connection are held as a table, and connection between the plurality of CPUs and the voltage conversion circuit is controlled to be adjusted in the optimum manner referring to the integrated time of the connected state up to immediately before. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a computer motherboard, and more particularly to a computer motherboard that supplies power through a plurality of central processing units (CPUs) and a voltage conversion circuit that supplies power to the computer, and requires long-term durability. The present invention relates to a technique suitable for use on a computer motherboard.

  The computer system is mainly composed of a main board (motherboard) and a power source, and a CPU can be mounted on the mother board. In a high-performance computer system, a plurality of CPUs can be mounted on a motherboard.

  The computer motherboard converts the power supplied from the power source into a voltage level suitable for the CPU by a voltage conversion circuit on the motherboard and supplies the converted voltage to the CPU. Even in a motherboard on which a plurality of CPUs can be mounted, each CPU has an individual voltage conversion circuit. One component of the voltage conversion circuit is a capacitor. The lifetime of the capacitor is greatly influenced by the ambient temperature of the capacitor and the applied ripple current.

  In computer systems, CPU performance has been improved with the development of technology, and the power consumption of CPUs has been increasing. However, an increase in CPU power consumption causes an increase in CPU ambient temperature and an increase in ripple current applied to the capacitor of the voltage conversion circuit, and this is a factor that shortens the life of the capacitor of the voltage conversion circuit. That is, the capacitor of the voltage conversion circuit is an element that greatly affects the life of the motherboard and the life of the computer system.

  A motherboard on which a plurality of CPUs can be mounted may be operated with a smaller number of CPUs than the number of CPUs that can be mounted depending on the operation mode.

  Hereinafter, an outline of a computer system according to the prior art will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a computer system according to the prior art.

  For example, in FIG. 5, only one CPU may be mounted and operated on a motherboard (102) on which two CPUs can be mounted. In this case, since it is mounted only on the CPU 1 (111), only the voltage conversion circuit 1 (110) is used, and the voltage conversion circuit 2 (120) is not used. That is, even if the capacitor used in the voltage conversion circuit 1 (110) reaches the end of its life, the capacitor used in the voltage conversion circuit 2 (120) remains unused.

  Even when the same number of CPUs as the number of CPUs that can be mounted are mounted, the CPU load factor applied to each CPU varies in the operation. For example, in FIG. 5, there are cases where two CPUs are mounted and operated on a motherboard on which two CPUs can be mounted. It is assumed that the average CPU load factor of CPU1 (111) is 90% and the average load factor of CPU2 (121) is 50%, for example, depending on the software to be operated.

  Generally, since the power consumption of the CPU is proportional to the CPU load factor, the power consumption of the CPU 1 (111) tends to be high, and the capacitor used in the voltage conversion circuit 1 (110) is the power conversion circuit 2 (120 ) Will reach the end of its life earlier than the capacitor used in

  In general, a computer system equipped with a high-performance CPU is often used in a backbone system as a server device, and thus requires high reliability for long-time operation. On the other hand, the higher the CPU, the higher the power consumption of the CPU. Therefore, the designer of the computer system uses a higher-performance and higher-quality capacitor so that the life of the capacitor of the voltage conversion circuit can be sufficiently maintained. There is a need.

  In Patent Document 1 below, a method of switching the power supply between the main system and the sub system and managing the number of switching operations and the remaining life of the capacitor in order to extend the life of the electrolytic capacitor for smoothing used in the power supply system. Is disclosed.

JP 7-184373 A

  As described above, in a computer system equipped with a high-performance CPU, a high-performance and high-quality capacitor needs to be adopted as a capacitor of the voltage conversion circuit. In particular, a mother board on which a plurality of CPUs can be mounted is often used in a backbone system as a server device, so that a capacitor with higher performance and higher quality needs to be employed. However, high-performance and high-quality capacitors are generally expensive and problematic.

  The above Patent Document 1 is intended to extend the life of the electrolytic capacitor by switching the power supply system of the main / sub system, but as an application thereof, as described in paragraph No. 0011, “for example, a copying machine, etc. In a switching power supply with a relatively large power capacity used in system equipment that has both a control system and a drive system, a secondary power supply system that supplies the minimum necessary power for the control system and a main power supply that supplies power during operation It is not necessarily suitable for extending the life of a plurality of CPUs on a motherboard and a capacitor of a voltage converter that supplies power to the CPUs.

  In addition, the accumulated number of switching times and energization time are stored and managed, but this data is not dynamically fed back to switching.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to optimize the use of the voltage conversion circuit in a motherboard on which a plurality of CPUs can be mounted, thereby improving the lifetime of the capacitor of the voltage conversion circuit. It is in suppressing deterioration.

  In order to solve the problem of deterioration of the lifetime of a capacitor of a voltage conversion circuit in a motherboard on which a plurality of CPUs can be mounted, the motherboard of the present invention includes a plurality of CPUs and a voltage conversion circuit that supplies power to the CPU. The connection is variable by a switch.

  Further, the voltage conversion circuit pattern is held as a table, and control is performed based on the previous connection state so that the connection between the plurality of CPUs and the voltage conversion circuit can be optimally varied.

  In addition, the voltage conversion circuit pattern and connection integration time are stored as a table, and the connection between the multiple CPUs and the voltage conversion circuit can be optimally varied by referring to the integration time of the previous connection state. It is made to control.

  According to the present invention, in a motherboard on which a plurality of CPUs can be mounted, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the lifetime of the capacitor of the voltage conversion circuit by optimizing the use of the voltage conversion circuit.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

First, the configuration of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
1 and 2 are configuration diagrams of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a management table that holds connection patterns between the CPU and the voltage conversion circuit.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a management table that holds the accumulated time of each connection pattern.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the computer system according to the present embodiment includes a power source 201 and a mother board 202, and can be configured to mount n CPUs 211, 221, and 231.

  The output of the voltage conversion circuit 1 (210) can supply power to any one of the CPU1 (211), the CPU2 (221), and the CPUn (231), and the supply destination is determined by the control controller 203. Be controlled. Similarly, the output of the voltage conversion circuit 2 (220) and the voltage conversion circuit n (230) can supply power to any of the CPU1 (211), the CPU2 (221), and the CPUn (231). Thus, the CPU can use an arbitrary voltage conversion circuit instead of a specific voltage conversion circuit.

  The controller 203 resets the connection between the voltage conversion circuit and the CPU when the computer system is turned on / off or rebooted. In order to explain the resetting means, FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of a model in which three CPUs can be mounted in the computer system of FIG.

  In the computer system shown in FIG. 2, the controller 303 holds a management table that defines the connection pattern between the CPU and the voltage conversion circuit shown in FIG.

  When the connection pattern 1 is selected in the management table of FIG. 3, this means that the voltage conversion circuit 1 (310) is connected to the CPU 1 (311) in the computer system shown in FIG. Is turned on, and a control signal for turning off the switch 322 and the switch 332 is output. Similarly, it represents that the voltage conversion circuit 2 (320) is connected to the CPU 2 (321), and outputs a control signal that turns on the switch 323 and turns off the switch 313 and the switch 333. Similarly, the voltage conversion circuit 3 (330) is connected to the CPU 3 (331), and the switch 334 is turned on, and the control signal for turning off the switch 314 and the switch 324 is output.

  When the computer system shown in FIG. 2 is turned ON / OFF or rebooted, if the previous connection is, for example, the connection pattern 1 shown in FIG. 3, the control controller uses the ON / OFF or reboot as the connection pattern. Transition to 2. As a result, the output of the voltage conversion circuit 1 (310) changes to the CPU 2 (321), and the switch is similarly controlled. Further, the output of the voltage conversion circuit 2 (320) is changed to the CPU 3 (331), and the output of the voltage conversion circuit 3 (330) is changed to the CPU 1 (311). Thus, when the computer system is turned ON / OFF or rebooted, the control controller changes the connection pattern from connection pattern 1 to connection pattern 2, from connection pattern 2 to connection pattern 3, and from connection pattern 3 to connection pattern 1. By making the transition in order, it is possible to control the relationship between the CPU and the voltage conversion circuit so as not to be one-to-one.

  Thus, even between CPUs having different power consumptions, the use of the voltage circuit is averaged, so that the life of the mother board 202 can be extended as a whole.

  Further, it is assumed that the controller has a time management function. In the above-described method, when the computer system is rebooted or turned ON / OFF, the control controller changes the connection pattern from connection pattern 1 to connection pattern 2, from connection pattern 2 to connection pattern 3, and from connection pattern 3 to connection pattern 1. It was made to change in order. However, according to this transition method, if the computer system is turned ON / OFF or rebooted irregularly, the time for a specific connection pattern may be increased. Therefore, the control controller stores the accumulated time during which each connection pattern is selected as a table shown in FIG. This table holds the accumulated connection time immediately before the computer system is turned ON / OFF or rebooted. According to the example of FIG. 3, the connection pattern 2 is not selected most. Therefore, the control controller selects connection pattern 2 when the computer system is turned ON / OFF or rebooted. As a result, each voltage conversion circuit can be used after being more averaged.

  With such a configuration, a plurality of voltage conversion circuits on the motherboard can be used evenly regardless of the number of CPUs mounted. As a result, it is possible to avoid a state in which a capacitor of a specific voltage conversion circuit is deteriorated and a capacitor of another voltage conversion circuit is unused.

  Further, it is possible to avoid a state in which a capacitor of a specific voltage conversion circuit is significantly deteriorated due to a bias of a plurality of mounted CPU load factors and a capacitor of another voltage conversion circuit is not deteriorated so much.

  As described above, the average life of the capacitor can be extended without using a high-performance and high-quality capacitor, and as a result, the life of the motherboard and the computer system is extended. Therefore, the reliability of the computer system can be improved.

It is a block diagram of the computer system of one Embodiment which concerns on this invention (the 1). It is a block diagram of the computer system of one Embodiment which concerns on this invention (the 2). It is a figure which shows an example of the management table holding the connection pattern of CPU and a voltage conversion circuit. It is a figure which shows an example of the management table holding each integration time of a connection pattern. It is a schematic diagram of the computer system which concerns on a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Power supply 102 ... Conventional motherboard 110 ... Voltage conversion circuit 1
111 ... CPU1
120: Voltage conversion circuit 2
121 ... CPU2
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 201 ... Power supply 202 ... Mother board 203 of this invention ... Controller 204 ... Circuit connection / disconnection switch 210 ... Voltage conversion circuit 1
211 ... CPU1
220 ... Voltage conversion circuit 2
221 ... CPU2
230 ... Voltage conversion circuit n
231 ... CPUn
301: Power supply 302: Mother board of the present invention (in the case of three CPUs and voltage conversion circuits)
303 ... Controller 310 ... Voltage conversion circuit 1
311 ... CPU1
312... Connection / non-connection switch 313 between voltage conversion circuit 1 and CPU 1... Connection / non-connection switch 314 between voltage conversion circuit 2 and CPU 1... Connection / non-connection switch 320 between voltage conversion circuit 3 and CPU 1. Voltage conversion circuit 2
321 ... CPU2
322... Connection / non-connection switch 323 between voltage conversion circuit 1 and CPU 2... Connection / non-connection switch 324 between voltage conversion circuit 2 and CPU 2... Connection / non-connection switch 330 between voltage conversion circuit 3 and CPU 2. Voltage conversion circuit 3
331: CPU 3
332... Connection / non-connection switch 333 between voltage conversion circuit 1 and CPU 3... Connection / non-connection switch 334 between voltage conversion circuit 2 and CPU 3... Connection / non-connection switch between voltage conversion circuit 3 and CPU 3.

Claims (3)

In a computer motherboard equipped with a plurality of CPUs and supplying power to the CPUs from a power source via a voltage conversion circuit,
A computer motherboard having a plurality of voltage conversion circuits and comprising a switch for switching connection between the CPU and the voltage conversion circuit.   A table for holding a connection pattern between the CPU and the voltage conversion circuit is provided. With reference to a table for holding a connection pattern between the CPU and the voltage conversion circuit, when the computer system is turned ON / OFF or rebooted, 2. The computer motherboard according to claim 1, wherein the connection pattern of the CPU connected to the voltage conversion circuit is changed in order by switching the switch. A table for holding a connection pattern between the CPU and the voltage conversion circuit; and a table for holding an accumulated time connected to the CPU and the voltage conversion circuit.
The CPU and the voltage conversion circuit are connected with reference to a table holding a connection pattern between the CPU and the voltage conversion circuit and a table holding an accumulated time connected to the CPU and the voltage conversion circuit. 2. The computer motherboard according to claim 1, wherein a switch for switching connection between the CPU and the voltage conversion circuit is turned on in order from the one with the shortest integration time to connect the CPU and the voltage conversion circuit. .

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