JP2009005534A - Power controlling device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a power controlling device that monitors a load state inside communication equipment and supplies electric power with a minimum electric power value to a power module for which power supply is not required in the communication equipment on which a plurality of power modules are mounted, and to provide a method thereof. <P>SOLUTION: The power controlling device includes a plurality of power modules, which adjust electric power, an electric power value calculation circuit 40, which monitors a load state inside communication equipment and calculates an electric power value inside the communication equipment, and a power-module control circuit 50. Power modules have two kinds of modes; a mode in which electric power is supplied in accordance with a sequentially-fluctuating electric power value of the communication equipment and another mode in which electric power is always supplied with a minimum electric power value so as to cope with a sharp increase in electric power. The power-module control circuit has mode determination information in which a mode is set for each power module in accordance with an electric power value range of the communication equipment. It judges a mode for each power module based on the mode determination information using the electric power value transmitted from the electric power value calculation circuit 40 and instructs each power module to adjust output electric power. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a power control apparatus and method for a communication device such as a router and a switch, and more particularly, to a device that includes a plurality of power supply modules and performs power control according to a load state in the communication device, and a power control method thereof. .

  Conventionally, in a power control apparatus and method for a communication device equipped with a plurality of power supply modules, a parallel operation method for equalizing the power supplied from each power supply module has been known. However, in this method, the number of power supply modules that supply power does not change even when the load in the communication device decreases, so that each power supply module supplies much less power than the maximum output power. The power supply module has the characteristic that the higher the output power, the better the conversion efficiency of the power supply, and the lower the output power, the worse the conversion efficiency of the power supply. Was wasted. In addition, to reduce wasted power, the load status in the equipment is monitored, and the power switch is turned on only for the power supply module that requires power supply by controlling the on / off of the power switch of the power supply module according to the load. There was a method of supplying power. This technique is described in Patent Document 1.

JP 2002-189540 A

  In the power supply method by turning on the power switch only for the power supply module that needs power supply by the on / off control of the power supply switch of the power supply module, the power supply switch that is not supplying power is turned off. For this reason, when a sudden increase in power occurs, it takes time to start up the power supply module, and there is a problem that power supply is delayed. In particular, in the case of communication devices such as routers and switches, the power is greatly affected by the amount of received packets, the amount of received packets is constantly changing, and there is a high possibility that a sudden increase in power will occur. If the power supply is delayed, a loss of the received packet may occur. However, in the case of a communication device such as a router and a switch, the communication performance is deteriorated. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid this packet loss.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a power control apparatus and method capable of suppressing the delay in power supply even in the case of a sudden increase in power while improving the conversion efficiency of the power supply as a whole device. .

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a power control device that supplies power in accordance with a load state of a communication device, and includes a plurality of power supply units that supply power to the communication device, A power value calculation unit that calculates a power value required according to a load; and a power supply control unit that gives an operation instruction to the plurality of power supply units according to the power value. According to the power value, the first power supply unit that operates in a first mode that performs power supply according to the varying power value among the plurality of power supply units, and the varying power value. There is provided a power control apparatus characterized by selecting a second power supply unit that operates in a second mode in which constant power supply is performed.

  The power control apparatus and method of the present invention can respond to a rapid increase in power and suppress delays in power supply by supplying power with a minimum power value even for power supply modules that do not originally need to be supplied with power. can do.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication device to which a power control method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. The communication device in the present embodiment includes a power supply circuit 60 and a power supply module 70-1 to power supply module 70-4.

  The power supply circuit 60 includes a communication circuit 10-1 to a communication circuit 10-8, a communication port 11-1 to a communication port 11-8, a CPU 20, a switching circuit 30, a power value calculation circuit 40, and a power supply module control circuit 50. Is done.

  The communication circuit 10-1 to the communication circuit 10-8 receive the packet from the communication port 11-1 to the communication port 11-8 and transmit the packet to the switching circuit 30. Further, the packet switched by the switching circuit 30 is received, and the packet is transmitted to the communication port 11-1 to the communication port 11-8.

  The CPU 20 performs management in the power supply circuit 60. Further, the CPU usage rate is notified to the power value calculation circuit 40.

  The switching circuit 30 performs switching of packets received by the communication circuit 10-1 to the communication circuit 10-8. Furthermore, the link-up state of the communication port 11-1 to the communication port 11-8 is managed. Furthermore, the information of the packets received by the communication circuit 10-1 to the communication circuit 10-8 is managed.

  The power value calculation circuit 40 periodically monitors the load state in the power supplied circuit 60 and calculates the usage rate of the power supplied circuit 60. Further, the power value of the power supplied circuit 60 corresponding to the usage rate is calculated, and the power value is notified to the power supply module control circuit 50.

  Based on the power value notified from the power value calculation circuit 40, the power supply module control circuit 50 instructs the output power value to each of the power supply modules 70-1 to 70-4.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the switching circuit 30. The switching circuit 30 includes a link-up state management unit 31 and a received packet counter unit 32.

  The link-up state management unit 31 selects one of the ports that are linked up among the communication ports 11-1 to 11-8 based on the link state notified from the communication circuit 10-1 to the communication circuit 10-8. Manage numbers.

  The reception packet counter unit 32 manages information on packets received by the communication circuit 10-1 to the communication circuit 10-8. The packet information is the total length of the packets received at the communication port 11-1 to the communication port 11-8. Instead of managing the length of the received packet for each communication port, the total length of all the packets received by the eight ports of the communication port 11-1 to the communication port 11-8 is managed. The unit of the received packet counter is a byte. At the same time as the packet is transmitted from the communication circuit 10-1 to the communication circuit 10-8 to the switching circuit 30, the length of the packet is calculated, and the length is added to the reception packet counter. When the power value calculation circuit 40 reads the received packet counter, the counter value returns to zero.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the power value calculation circuit 40. The power value calculation circuit 40 includes a CPU load power value calculation unit 41, a communication port power value calculation unit 42, a packet usage rate calculation unit 43, a packet load power value calculation unit 44, and a device power value calculation unit 45.

  The CPU load power value calculation unit 41 calculates the CPU load power value from the CPU usage rate notified from the CPU 20 using predetermined CPU load power value information. The CPU load power value calculation unit 41 has a correspondence table of CPU load power values corresponding to the CPU usage rate shown in FIG.

  The communication port power value calculation unit 42 periodically monitors the link-up state management unit 31 in the switching circuit 30 to grasp the number of link-up ports. Based on the number of link-up ports, a communication port power value is calculated using predetermined communication port power value information. The communication port power value calculation unit 42 has a communication port power value correspondence table corresponding to the number of link-up ports shown in FIG.

  The packet usage rate calculation unit 43 periodically monitors the received packet counter unit 32 in the switching circuit 30 and calculates a packet usage rate using predetermined packet usage rate information based on the value of the counter. The packet usage rate calculation unit 43 has a correspondence table of packet usage rates corresponding to the received packet counter values shown in FIG.

  The packet load power value calculation unit 44 calculates a packet load power value from the packet usage rate notified from the packet usage rate calculation unit 43 using predetermined packet load power value information. The packet load power value calculation unit 44 has a correspondence table of packet load power values corresponding to the packet usage rate shown in FIG.

  The device power value calculation unit 45 is notified from the CPU load power value notified from the CPU load power value calculation unit 41, the communication port power value notified from the communication port power value calculation unit 42, and the packet load power value calculation unit 44. The communication device power value is calculated by adding the four power values of the packet load power value and the power value not depending on the load state of the power supplied circuit 60. Furthermore, the communication device power value is notified to the power supply module control circuit 50.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the power supply module control circuit 50. The power supply module control circuit 50 includes a mode determination unit 51 and an output power calculation unit 52.

  The mode determination unit 51 uses the mode determination information for the power supply module determined in advance from the communication device power value notified from the device power value calculation unit 45 of the power value calculation circuit 40, and uses the power supply module 70-1 to power supply module. Determine the mode to 70-4. There are two modes, a normal mode in which power is supplied in accordance with the power value of communication equipment that changes sequentially, and a standby mode in which power is always supplied with a minimum power value. The mode determination unit 51 includes mode determination information corresponding to the communication device power value shown in FIG.

  In the output power calculation unit 52, the communication device power value notified from the device power value calculation unit 45 of the power value calculation circuit 40 and the mode determination of the power supply modules 70-1 to 70-4 notified from the mode determination unit 51. Using the information, the output power value of each power supply module of the power supply modules 70-1 to 70-4 is calculated. In the normal mode, the output power value of each power supply module is calculated in accordance with the numerical value of the overall device power value within a range of 10% to 90% of the maximum output power of the power supply module. In the standby mode, the output power value is fixedly calculated as 10% of the maximum output power of the power supply module. The calculated output power values of the power supply modules 70-1 to 70-4 are notified to the power supply modules 70-1 to 70-4, respectively.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the power supply module 70-1. The power supply module 70-1 includes an output power adjustment unit 71-1 and an AC / DC conversion unit 72-1. Similarly, the power supply module 70-2 includes an output power adjustment unit 71-2 and an AC / DC conversion unit 72-2, and the power supply module 70-3 includes an output power adjustment unit 71-3 and an AC / DC conversion unit. The power supply module 70-4 includes an output power adjustment unit 71-4 and an AC / DC conversion unit 72-4.

  The output power adjustment unit 71-1 to output power adjustment unit 71-4 adjust the output power based on the output power value notified from the output power calculation unit 52 of the power supply module control circuit 50.

  The AC / DC converter 72-1 to AC / DC converter 72-4 convert the AC voltage into a DC voltage, and supply the DC voltage to the power supply circuit 60. Further, the output power value supplied to the power supply circuit 60 is adjusted according to the output power instruction from the output power adjustment unit 71-1 to output power adjustment unit 71-4.

  Here, the power control method for the communication device in the present embodiment will be specifically described.

  A configuration premised on the communication device according to the present embodiment will be described. Each of the communication circuits 10-1 to 10-8 is configured to be capable of receiving 10 Gbits of data per second and simultaneously transmitting 10 Gbits of data per second with one communication circuit. The switching circuit 30 is configured to be able to switch received data of 80 Gbits per second. Each of the power supply modules 70-1 to 70-4 is one power supply module, and the maximum output power is 200W.

  Based on the above configuration, a flow for calculating a communication device power value will be described with reference to FIG. The communication device power value is calculated by the power value calculation circuit 40. The CPU load power value, the communication port power value, and the packet load power value are calculated in this order. Regardless of the value of the number of link-up ports shown in FIG. 6, the time interval from the calculation start of the communication device power value to the next calculation start is 10 seconds. Notification of the communication device power value to the power supply module control circuit 50 is also performed at 10-second intervals.

  First, when calculation of the communication device power value is started at intervals of 10 seconds (step 601), the CPU load power value calculation unit 41 calculates the CPU load power value (step 602). This calculates the CPU load power value from the CPU usage rate notified from the CPU 20 using the CPU load power value information of FIG. The CPU load power value is 0 W when the CPU usage rate is 0%, 10 W when the CPU usage rate is 10%, and 20 W when the CPU usage rate is 11 to 20%. It is 100 W when the CPU usage rate is 91-100%.

  Subsequently, the communication port power value calculation unit 42 checks the number of link-up ports in the link-up state management unit 31 (step 603). It is confirmed whether or not the number of linkup ports is 0 (step 604). If the number of linkup ports is 1 or more, the communication port power value is calculated using the communication port power value information of FIG. 9 (step 605). . The communication port power value is 20W when the number of link-up ports is 1, 40W when the number of link-up ports is 2, 60W when the number of link-up ports is 3, and 20W as the number of link-up ports increases by 1 To increase. When the number of linkup ports is 8, 160W. If the number of link-up ports is 0, the communication port power value and the packet load power value are set to 0 W, and only the CPU load power value is calculated (step 602) until the number of link-up ports becomes 1 or more.

  Next, the packet load power value is calculated by the packet usage rate calculation unit 43 and the packet load power value calculation unit 44. After the communication port power value calculation unit 42 calculates the communication port power value in step 605, the packet usage rate calculation unit 43 confirms the length of the packet received by the reception packet counter unit 32 (step 606). Based on the packet length, the packet usage rate is calculated using the packet usage rate information of FIG. The packet usage rate is 0% when the packet length is 0 bytes, 10% when the packet length is 1 to 10000000000000 bytes, 20% when the packet length is 10000000001 to 20000000000000 bytes, and 10000000000000 units. Increase by 10%. When the length of the packet is 90000000001 to 100000000000000 bytes, it is 100%. Note that the value of the counter becomes 0 after the reception packet counter is read. Further, the received packet counter has a time interval of 10 seconds from one reading to the next reading. Next, the packet load power value calculation unit 44 calculates a packet load power value from the packet usage rate calculated by the packet usage rate calculation unit 43 using the packet load power value information of FIG. 11 (step 607). The packet load power value is 0 W when the packet usage rate is 0%, 30 W when the packet usage rate is 10%, 60 W when the packet usage rate is 20%, and increases by 30 W as it increases by 10%. It is 300 W when the packet usage rate is 100%.

  Here, the load power value corresponding to the usage rate in FIGS. 8 and 11 is a power value depending on the load state in the communication circuit 10-1 to the communication circuit 10-8, the CPU 20, and the switching circuit 30. Independent power values are not included. The power value not depending on the load state in the power receiving circuit 60 is 160 W.

  Considering the power value that does not depend on the load state, the device power value calculation unit 45 calculates the communication device power value. The device power value calculation unit 45 calculates the communication device power value by adding the four power values of the CPU load power value, the communication port power value, the packet load power value, and the power value independent of the load state, The calculated communication device power value is notified to the power supply module control circuit 50 (step 608).

  Next, FIG. 7 shows a flow of calculating the communication device power value and supplying power to the power receiving circuit 60. The communication device power value calculation start (step 701) and communication device power value calculation / notification (step 702) shown in FIG. 7 correspond to steps 601 to 608 in FIG. After performing the communication device power value calculation shown in FIG. 6, the power value calculation circuit 40 notifies the power supply module control circuit 50 of the communication device power value. First, the mode determination unit 51 determines the modes of the power supply modules 70-1 to 70-4 based on the notified communication device power values (step 703).

  FIG. 12 shows mode determination information corresponding to the communication device power value. Since the power value that does not depend on the load state in the power receiving circuit 60 is 160 W, the minimum value of the communication device power value is 160 W even when the power receiving circuit 60 is not operating at all. When the communication device power value is 160 to 240 W, the power supply module 70-1 is in the normal mode, and the power supply modules 70-2 to 70-4 are in the standby mode. In the case of 241W to 400W, the power supply module 70-1 and the power supply module 70-2 are in the normal mode, and the power supply module 70-3 and the power supply module 70-4 are in the standby mode. In the case of 401W to 560W, the power supply modules 70-1 to 70-3 are in the normal mode, and the power supply module 70-4 is in the standby mode. In the case of 561W to 720W, the power supply modules 70-1 to 70-4 are in the normal mode.

The modes of the power supply modules 70-1 to 70-4 determined by the mode determination unit 51 are notified to the output power calculation unit 52, and the output power calculation unit 52 notifies the mode and power value notified from the mode determination unit 51. Based on the communication device power value notified from the calculation circuit 40, the output power value of each power supply module is calculated and notified to each power supply module (step 704). In the normal mode, the output power value is calculated according to the numerical value of the communication device power value in the range of 10% to 90% of the maximum output power of the power supply module, that is, in the range of 20W to 180W. When there are a plurality of normal mode power supply modules, all the normal mode power supply modules are operated in parallel, and a value is calculated so that the output power is equalized.
In the standby mode, 10% of the maximum output power of the power supply module is fixed, that is, the output power value is calculated as 20 W.

  As a result, only the minimum number of power supply modules required to supply the necessary power as communication device power values need to be operated in the normal mode, and the conversion efficiency of the power supply modules operating in the normal mode can be improved. it can.

  The output power values of the power modules 70-1 to 70-4 determined by the output power calculator 52 are notified to the output power adjusters 71-1 to 71-4 of each power module.

  The output power adjustment unit 71-1 to output power adjustment unit 71-4 supplies power according to the output power value notified from the output power calculation unit 52 (step 705).

  In the AC / DC conversion unit 72-1 to AC / DC conversion unit 72-4, electric power is supplied to the power-supplied supply circuit 60 in accordance with an instruction from each output power adjustment unit.

  According to the power control method and communication device in the present embodiment described above, it is only necessary to operate only the minimum number of power supply modules for supplying power necessary as the communication device power value in the normal mode. Compared with operating all power supply modules in the normal mode, the power conversion efficiency is improved, and wasteful power can be reduced. On the other hand, in the standby mode, the power supply efficiency is deteriorated, but since the supplied power value is small, the communication device power value is hardly affected. Thereby, the conversion efficiency of the power supply as the whole communication apparatus can be improved. In the standby mode, by supplying a minimum amount of power, when switching from the standby mode to the normal mode, it is possible to cope with a sudden increase in power and to suppress a delay in power supply. .

It is a block diagram of the communication apparatus to which the power control method which is one Embodiment of this invention is applied. 2 is a block diagram of a switching circuit 30. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a power value calculation circuit 40. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a power supply module control circuit 50. FIG. It is a block diagram of the power supply module 70-1. It is a detailed flowchart of communication apparatus electric power value calculation. It is a whole flowchart of the power control method of the communication apparatus in this invention. It is CPU load power value information of the CPU load power value calculation part 41 in FIG. It is the communication port power value information of the communication port power value calculation unit 42 in FIG. It is packet usage rate information of the packet usage rate calculation unit 43 in FIG. It is packet load power value information of the packet load power value calculation unit 44 in FIG. It is the mode determination information of the power supply module control circuit 50 in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  10-1 to 10-8: communication circuit, 11-1 to 11-8: communication port, 20: CPU, 30: switching circuit, 31: link-up state management unit, 32: received packet counter unit, 40: power value Calculation circuit, 41: CPU load power value calculation unit, 42: Communication port power value calculation unit, 43: Packet usage rate calculation unit, 44: Packet load power value calculation unit, 45: Device power value calculation unit, 50: Power supply module Control circuit 51: Mode determination unit 52: Output power calculation unit 60: Power supply circuit 70-1 to 70-4: Power supply module 71-1 to 71-4: Output power adjustment unit 72-1. To 72-4: AC / DC converter

Claims (6)

A power control device that supplies power according to the load state of a communication device,
A plurality of power supply units for supplying power to the communication device;
A power value calculation unit for calculating a power value required according to the load of the communication device;
A power control unit that gives an operation instruction to the plurality of power supply units according to the power value;
The power control unit is configured to change a first power supply unit that operates in a first mode that performs power supply according to the varying power value among the plurality of power supply units, according to the power value. The second power supply unit that operates in the second mode in which constant power supply is performed regardless of the power value to be selected is selected. The power control apparatus according to claim 1,
The second mode is a mode in which less power is supplied than in the first mode. The power control apparatus according to claim 1,
The load state of the communication device includes any one of a CPU usage rate, a link-up status indicating the number of link-ups of the communication port, and a packet usage rate indicating the amount of packets received from the communication port. A power control method in which a power control device supplies power according to a load state of a communication device,
Supplying power to the communication device;
Calculating a power value required according to the load of the communication device;
Giving an operation instruction to the plurality of power supply units according to the power value;
According to the power value, the first power supply unit that operates in a first mode that performs power supply according to the varying power value among the plurality of power supply units, and the varying power value. And a step of selecting a second power supply unit that operates in a second mode in which constant power supply is performed. A power control method according to claim 4, wherein
The second mode is a mode in which less power is supplied than in the first mode. A power control method according to claim 4, wherein
The load state of the communication device includes any one of a CPU usage rate, a link-up status indicating the number of link-ups of the communication port, and a packet usage rate indicating the amount of packets received from the communication port.

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