JP2018181115A - Electronic equipment and management program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress that supply power to extension equipment becomes excessive.SOLUTION: Electronic equipment of an embodiment has: a power monitoring part; and a transmission part. The power monitoring part monitors electric energy to be supplied to extension equipment which is connected via a bus. The transmission part transmits a signal showing a state of the extension equipment in which the extension equipment is to reduce power consumption to the extension equipment when the electric energy exceeds a predetermined value.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  Embodiments of the present invention relate to an electronic device and a management program.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, some electronic devices such as PCs (personal computers) connect expansion devices such as graphic cards via a bus. The extension device connected to the electronic device provides the electronic device with various functions such as image processing by the power supplied from the electronic device.

  As described above, in the device protection of the electronic device to which the extension device is connected, the temperature abnormality at any place in the device rack mounted with the function board is detected, and when the temperature abnormality is high temperature, the clock frequency in the board is A technology that diminishes is known.

JP 7-319574 A

  However, in the above-described conventional technology, there is a problem that the power supplied from the electronic device to the extension device continues to be excessive and an excessive load may be generated in the electronic device that supplies power.

  For example, the amount of power consumption may be increased by the expansion device stepping up the clock frequency to perform a lot of processing. In such a case, the supply power continues to be excessive until the high temperature is detected and the expansion device decreases the clock frequency. In addition, if the electronic device side unilaterally limits the power supplied to the extension device while the extension device is increasing the clock frequency, the operation of the extension device may become unstable.

  In one aspect, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic device and a management program that can prevent excessive supply of power to the extension device without changing the extension device.

  In a first proposal, the electronic device includes a power monitoring unit and a transmission unit. The power monitoring unit monitors the amount of power supplied to the expansion device connected via the bus. The transmitting unit transmits a signal indicating the state of the extension device, which causes the extension device to reduce power consumption, to the extension device when the amount of power exceeds a predetermined value.

  According to one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to prevent excessive supply of power to the extension device without changing the extension device.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the electronic device according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view for explaining a functional configuration of the electronic device according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the electronic device according to the embodiment. FIGS. 4-1 is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the sample code of API initialization. 4-2 is explanatory drawing which shows an example of a temperature information structure. FIG. 4-3 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a function for downloading / uploading temperature information. FIG. 4-4 is an explanatory diagram of an example of sample code for acquiring temperature information. FIGS. 4-5 is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the sample code which updates temperature information.

  Hereinafter, the electronic device and the management program according to the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The components having the same functions in the embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the redundant description will be omitted. Note that the electronic device and the management program described in the following embodiments are merely an example, and the embodiments are not limited. In addition, each of the following embodiments may be appropriately combined within the scope of no contradiction.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the electronic device according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic device 1 is a computer, such as a tower PC (personal computer), for connecting an expansion device 20 such as a graphic card 20a and a storage device 20b to a motherboard 10 on the main body side. The graphic card 20a and the storage device 20b in the expansion device 20 are an example, and may be, for example, a function board such as an operation board.

  The motherboard 10 includes a CPU 11 (CPU: Central Processing Unit), a memory 12, a PCH 13 (PCH: Platform Controller Hub), a bus 14, a connector 15, a power supply unit 16, and a power monitoring unit 17.

  The CPU 11 is a central processing unit and plays a central role in system control in the electronic device 1. The CPU 11 includes a memory controller and is connected to the memory 12. The CPU 11 centrally controls the operation of the electronic device 1 by sequentially executing the programs 12 a stored in the memory 12.

  The memory 12 is a storage device of the electronic device 1 and is, for example, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive (HDD) or the like. The memory 12 stores the program 12a. The program 12 a includes, in addition to a basic program such as an operating system (OS), a management program related to management of the expansion device 20.

  The PCH13 is a chip that integrates the functions of Northbridge and Southbridge. The PCH 13 has an interface between the expansion device 20 and the CPU 11. Specifically, the PCH 13 is connected to the expansion device 20 via the bus 14 and the connector 15.

  For example, the PCH 13 is connected to the graphic card 20a attached to the PCIe slot 15a via the PCIe bus 14a. PCIe is an abbreviation of PCI Express (PC Eye Express (registered trademark)), and is a serial interface developed by PCI-SIG. The PCH 13 is also connected to the storage device 20b attached to the USB connector 15b via the USB bus 14b (USB: Universal Serial Bus).

  The connection between the motherboard 10 and the expansion device 20 is not limited to PCIe or USB. For example, it may be a serial interface such as Thunderbolt (Thunderbolt).

  The power supply unit 16 supplies power supplied from a power supply such as a commercial power supply to each part of the electronic device 1 including the extension device 20. For example, the power supply unit 16 supplies power to the expansion device 20 with so-called bus power that supplies power via the bus 14. Power supply from the power supply unit 16 to the expansion device 20 is not limited to bus power, and power may be supplied via a power plug (not shown), and both bus power and power plug are used. Power may be supplied.

  The power monitoring unit 17 is a circuit that measures the amount of power, and monitors the amount of power that the power supply unit 16 supplies to each unit. The power monitor unit 17 notifies power information indicating the amount of power being monitored in response to an access from the CPU 11.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a functional configuration of the electronic device 1 according to the embodiment. Although FIG. 2 illustrates the connection between the mother board 10 and the graphic card 20a by way of example, it goes without saying that the case of the expansion device 20 other than the graphic card 20a (for example, the storage device 20b) is the same. is there. Also, bold arrows in FIG. 2 indicate the flow of power. Also, white arrows indicate control, and arrows other than bold or white indicate flows of information such as signals and data.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the electronic device 1, power is supplied from the power supply unit 16 to the graphic card 20 a and the other devices 18 other than the graphic card 20 a. The power monitoring unit 17 monitors the amount of power to the graphic card 20 a supplied from the power supply unit 16 via the PCIe bus 14 a. That is, the power monitoring unit 17 is an example of the power monitoring unit.

  The CPU 11 executes the processing of S1 to S3 by executing a management program related to management of the expansion device 20 such as the graphic card 20a. Specifically, the CPU 11 accesses the power monitoring unit 17 and acquires power information indicating the amount of power supplied to the graphic card 20a (S1).

  Next, based on the acquired power information, the CPU 11 determines whether the amount of power supplied to the graphic card 20a is equal to or greater than a preset threshold (S2). The threshold value is set, for example, as a standard value that the amount of power supplied to the graphic card 20a becomes excessive.

  When the amount of power is equal to or greater than the threshold (S2: YES), the CPU 11 transmits a signal indicating the state of the graphic card 20a for reducing the amount of power consumption of the graphic card 20a to the graphic card 20a. That is, the CPU 11 is an example of a transmission unit.

  Specifically, the CPU 11 sets the graphic card 20a in the high temperature state with respect to the controller 22 of the graphic card 20a in which the power consumption is reduced when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 23 is the high temperature state equal to or higher than the predetermined value. Temperature information indicating that it is (S3).

  Either a software method or a hardware method may be used to transmit a signal (for example, temperature information) from the CPU 11 to the controller 22. For example, as a software method, an application programming interface (API) for accessing the expansion device 20 is a call that utilizes a software interface.

  The vendor of the expansion device 20 such as the graphic card 20 a may provide (publish) an API for accessing the expansion device 20. Therefore, by calling the API related to the graphic card 20a, the CPU 11 can access the state of the graphic card 20a and the like, and can acquire the temperature state of the graphic card 20a and rewrite it, for example.

Further, as a hardware method, there is a method in which a signal line from the CPU 11 to the controller 22 is AND-connected to a transmission path from the temperature sensor 23 to the controller 22. For example, the CPU 11 transmits a signal to the graphic card 20 a via I ² C (eye squared sea) or the like. The graphic card 20 a receives the signal from the CPU 11 and the signal from the temperature sensor 23 by an AND circuit and outputs the signal to the controller 22.

  The controller 22 of the graphic card 20a receives the temperature information detected by the temperature sensor 23 and the temperature information transmitted from the CPU 11 (S4). Next, based on the temperatures received from the temperature sensor 23 and the CPU 11, the controller 22 determines whether the temperature of the graphic card 20a is a high temperature state equal to or higher than a predetermined value (S5).

  For example, when temperature information indicating that the temperature is higher than a predetermined value is transmitted from the CPU 11, the controller 22 determines that the graphic card 20a is in the high temperature state.

  When the temperature is high (S5: YES), the controller 22 switches the operation mode of the GPU 21 (GPU: Graphics Processing Unit) to an operation mode in which the amount of power consumption is reduced, in order to suppress the temperature rise. Specifically, the controller 22 performs frequency reduction or throttling with Low Clk on the GPU 21 (S6). As a result, the amount of power consumption of the graphic card 20a is reduced. Therefore, in the electronic device 1, it is possible to prevent the power supplied to the graphic card 20a from becoming excessive.

  The state of the graphic card 20a for reducing the power consumption of the graphic card 20a is not limited to the temperature state of the graphic card 20a. For example, the temperature state may be other than the temperature state such as the rotation state of the cooling fan of the graphic card 20a and the power state of the graphic card 20a.

  As an example, the graphic card 20a may switch to an operation mode in which the amount of power consumption is reduced, assuming that the cooling capacity by the cooling fan is reduced due to the rotation state (for example, rotation stop) of the cooling fan. For such graphic card 20a, when the amount of power is equal to or greater than the threshold (S2: YES), for example, the CPU 11 transmits a signal indicating that the rotation of the cooling fan is stopped to the graphic card 20a. As a result, as in the case of the high temperature state, the operation mode of the GPU 21 is switched to the operation mode in which the power consumption is reduced, and the power consumption in the graphic card 20a is reduced. Therefore, in the electronic device 1, it is possible to prevent the power supplied to the graphic card 20a from becoming excessive.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the electronic device 1 according to the embodiment. More specifically, FIG. 3 shows an operation example in the case of using an API.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the process is started, the CPU 11 initializes an API applied to the graphic card 20a (S11). FIGS. 4-1 is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the sample code of API initialization.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, for the initialization of the API, for example, one that is successfully initialized by sequentially initializing the API of a vendor (NVIDIA (registered trademark), AMD (registered trademark), etc.) is adopted. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the vendor of the graphic card 20a is NVIDIA, and employs an API (NVAPI) provided by NVIDAI.

  Next, based on the power information acquired from the power monitoring unit 17, the CPU 11 determines whether the amount of power supplied to the graphic card 20a is equal to or greater than a preset threshold (S12). If not (S12: NO), the CPU 11 waits for processing.

  If the threshold value is exceeded (S12: YES), the CPU 11 calls the function of the API and downloads the temperature information 22a from the graphic card 20a (S13).

  4-2 is explanatory drawing which shows an example of a temperature information structure. The temperature information 22a is managed in the graphic card 20a as a structure as shown in FIG. For example, the current temperature value (currentTemp) in the graphic card 20a is managed.

  FIG. 4-3 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a function for downloading / uploading the temperature information 22a. As shown in FIG. 4-3, when downloading the temperature information 22a, a function such as "NvAPI_GPU_GetThermalSettings" is called. When uploading the temperature information 22a, a function such as "NvAPI_GPU_SetThermalSettings" is called.

  FIG. 4-4 is an explanatory diagram of an example of sample code for acquiring the temperature information 22a. By executing the sample code as shown in FIG. 4-4, the CPU 11 can acquire the temperature information 22a from the graphic card 20a.

  Next, the CPU 11 rewrites the temperature value (currentTemp) in the temperature information 22a into a temperature value that causes a high temperature state equal to or higher than a predetermined value (S14). Next, the CPU 11 calls the function of the API (see FIG. 4-3), and uploads the temperature information 22a after rewriting the temperature value to the graphic card 20a (S15).

  The graphic card 20a has a plurality of operation modes for reducing the power consumption according to the plurality of temperatures (for example, a stepwise operation mode for reducing the power consumption according to the temperature increase). In S14, among the temperatures corresponding to the plurality of operation modes, the temperature value is rewritten to a temperature value closer to the temperature information 22a while being higher than the downloaded temperature information 22a. As a result, the amount of power consumption of the graphic card 20a can be reduced within the range where the amount of power is equal to or less than the threshold and without excessively reducing the capability of the graphic card 20a.

  FIGS. 4-5 are explanatory diagrams showing an example of sample code for updating the temperature information 22a. By executing the sample code as shown in FIG. 4-5, the CPU 11 rewrites the temperature value in the downloaded temperature information 22a. Next, the CPU 11 uploads the rewritten temperature information 22a, and updates the temperature information 22a.

  The controller 22 of the graphic card 20a determines that the graphic card 20a is in the high temperature state based on the uploaded temperature information 22a, and switches the GPU 21 to an operation mode in which the power consumption is reduced. Therefore, since the amount of power consumption in the graphic card 20a is reduced, the electronic device 1 can prevent the power supplied to the graphic card 20a from becoming excessive.

  As described above, the electronic device 1 includes the power monitoring unit 17 that monitors the amount of power supplied to the extension device 20 connected via the bus 14. Further, the electronic device 1 generates a signal indicating the state of the extended device 20 which causes the extended device 20 to reduce the amount of power consumption when the amount of power supplied to the extended device 20 exceeds the predetermined value by the processing of the CPU 11. Transmit to the extension device 20.

  As a result, since the extension device 20 reduces the amount of power consumption, the electronic device 1 can prevent the power supplied to the extension device 20 from being excessive without changing the extension device 20. Further, since the extension device 20 itself reduces the amount of power consumption, it is possible to prevent the operation of the extension device 20 from becoming unstable and to suppress the power supplied to the extension device 20 from being excessive.

  Moreover, in the electronic device 1, the power consumption is reduced by the temperature state of itself by using the signal to be transmitted when the amount of power supplied to the extension device 20 exceeds the predetermined value as temperature information applied to the temperature of the extension device 20. It can respond to the extension device 20 to be

  Moreover, in PCIe, while there is a prescription (for example, 75 W) for the upper limit of the maximum supply power, the control method of the power supply is not defined. For this reason, in the expansion device 20 connected via the PCIe bus, the supplied power may be larger than specified. However, in the present embodiment, excessive power supply to the extension device 20 can be suppressed.

  Each component of each unit illustrated does not have to be physically configured as illustrated. That is, the specific form of the dispersion and integration of each part is not limited to the illustrated one, and all or a part thereof is functionally or physically dispersed or integrated in any unit according to various loads, usage conditions, etc. Can be configured.

  Furthermore, all or any part of various processing functions performed by each device may be executed on a CPU (or a microcomputer such as an MPU or an MCU (Micro Controller Unit)). In addition, various processing functions may execute all or any part of them on a program analyzed or executed by a CPU (or a microcomputer such as an MPU or an MCU) or on hardware by wired logic. Needless to say. For example, although the configuration in which the CPU 11 executes the management program is illustrated in the present embodiment, a chip such as an MCU in the PCH 13 may execute the management program.

  Also, the program 12 a does not necessarily have to be stored in the memory 12. For example, the electronic device 1 may read out and execute the program 12 a stored in a storage medium readable by the electronic device 1. The storage medium readable by the electronic device 1 corresponds to, for example, a CD-ROM, a DVD disk, a portable recording medium such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, a semiconductor memory such as a flash memory, a hard disk drive or the like. Alternatively, the program 12a may be stored in a device connected to a public line, the Internet, a LAN, or the like, and the electronic device 1 may read and execute the program 12a from them.

  Further, the following appendices will be disclosed regarding the above embodiment.

(Supplementary Note 1) A power monitoring unit that monitors the amount of power supplied to expansion devices connected via a bus;
A transmitter configured to transmit a signal indicating a state of the expansion device that causes the expansion device to reduce power consumption when the amount of power exceeds a predetermined value;
Electronic equipment characterized by having.

(Supplementary Note 2) The signal is temperature information on the temperature of the extension device, which causes the extension device to reduce power consumption.
The electronic device according to Additional Note 1, characterized in that

(Supplementary Note 3) The bus is PCI Express.
The electronic device according to any one of supplementary notes 1 and 2, characterized in that

(Supplementary Note 4) Obtain the amount of power supplied to the expansion device connected via the bus,
When the amount of power exceeds a predetermined value, the extension device transmits, to the extension device, a signal indicating a state of the extension device that reduces power consumption.
A management program that causes a computer to execute a process.

(Supplementary Note 5) The signal is temperature information on the temperature of the extension device, which causes the extension device to reduce power consumption.
The management program according to appendix 4, characterized in that

(Supplementary Note 6) The bus is PCI Express.
The management program according to appendix 4 or 5, characterized in that

1 ... electronic device 10 ... motherboard 11 ... CPU
12: Memory 12a: Program 13: PCH
14 bus 14a PCIe bus 14b USB bus 15 connector 15a PCIe slot 15b USB connector 16 power supply unit 17 power monitor unit 18 other device 20 expansion device 20a graphic card 20b storage device 21 GPU
22 ... controller 22a ... temperature information 23 ... temperature sensor

Claims (4)

A power monitoring unit that monitors the amount of power supplied to the expansion device connected via the bus;
A transmitter configured to transmit a signal indicating a state of the expansion device that causes the expansion device to reduce power consumption when the amount of power exceeds a predetermined value;
Electronic equipment characterized by having. The signal is temperature information related to the temperature of the extension device that causes the extension device to reduce power consumption.
The electronic device according to claim 1, The bus is PCI Express,
The electronic device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: Obtain the amount of power supplied to the expansion device connected via the bus,
When the amount of power exceeds a predetermined value, the extension device transmits, to the extension device, a signal indicating a state of the extension device that reduces power consumption.
A management program that causes a computer to execute a process.

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