JP5740454B2 - Computer system and computer system operation method for AC malfunction detection - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a computer system having a power supply unit that generates at least one secondary supply voltage and an auxiliary voltage based on an AC supply voltage, and a system board electrically connected to the power supply unit. The invention further relates to a method of operating a computer system.

  Computer systems such as those described above are widely known in the field of information technology systems. In particular, most computer systems that can be switched on and off electronically are usually supplied with an auxiliary voltage in a so-called soft-off or standby state. In this way, restarting of the computer system is enabled by, for example, a timer, a keyboard key, or a remote request. As a result, at least some components of the computer system remain powered at all times.

  However, in special circumstances, such as a power outage or unintentional interruption of the AC supply line, the supply of auxiliary voltage is stopped. To allow automatic restart of the computer system, the chipset may detect an interruption in operating voltage. In addition, many firmware components, such as BIOS programs, allow for automatic entry to a predetermined operating mode of the computer system upon initial supply of operating voltage. For example, many computer systems provide firmware settings that define operational states according to the ACPI standard to be entered at power up.

  However, despite the above mechanism, the prior art suffers from several drawbacks. In particular, it cannot guarantee that an AC malfunction is detected in all operating states of the computer system. For example, the auxiliary voltage may not be interrupted if a relatively short power failure occurs during computer system initialization. However, in this case, some components of the computer system, such as a system board chipset, cannot detect the presence of an AC fault. Furthermore, a computer system may fall into a predetermined state when the operating voltage is interrupted for some components but not for other components. For example, a power supply unit that has already received a command to be activated cannot complete the activation operation if the AC supply voltage supplied from the outside is interrupted during the activation operation. However, the chip set to which the auxiliary voltage is supplied cannot recognize the AC malfunction. In this case, the chip set of the connected system board may wait for an indefinite amount of time for the supply of the power good signal by the power supply unit. This creates a “hanging” or deadlock condition for the computer system.

  In such a situation, a manual restart of the computer system, for example, by pressing a reset button or by disconnecting the computer system from the AC supply voltage for a long time, is necessary to properly restart the computer system. Is done. Such a manual restart operation can result in relatively high maintenance costs, especially in integrated computer systems that are located remotely, such as ATMs, self-service terminals or control computers.

  There is a need for improved systems and methods for AC fault detection in computer systems for at least the reasons described above.

  In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, a computer system is described having a power supply unit that generates at least one secondary supply voltage and at least one auxiliary voltage based on an alternating supply voltage. The computer system further comprises a system board electrically connected to the power supply unit, the system board comprising a sequencing microcontroller that selectively activates further components of the system board; The further component comprises a chipset. The sequencing microcontroller monitors the state of at least one control signal of the power supply unit and / or the system board to detect a fault in the AC supply voltage and to detect a fault in the AC supply voltage at least in the chip Configured to inform the set.

  By performing the monitoring of at least one control signal by means of a sequencing microcontroller rather than a more sophisticated component such as a chipset, an AC supply voltage failure can be accounted for by all of the computer systems including the initialization phase. It can be detected in the operating state. Furthermore, the described system is independent of the internal control operations of the power supply unit and the specific initialization sequence of the chipset.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, a method of operating a computer system is described. The computer system includes a power supply unit and a system board electrically connected to the power supply unit, and the system board includes a sequencing microcontroller and a chipset. According to a second aspect, the sequencing microcontroller is
Detecting the connection of the power supply unit to an AC supply voltage;
Activating a timer in response to a request to enter a predetermined operating mode of the computer system;
Monitoring at least one power good signal at least for a predetermined period of time;
If the at least one power good signal is not received within the predetermined period of time from the request to enter the predetermined operating mode of the computer system, notifying the chipset of at least a malfunction of the AC supply voltage Run and.

  By monitoring the supply of power good signals through a sequencing microcontroller within a predetermined period of time after a request to enter a predetermined operating mode of the computer system, a potential deadlock condition can be detected and avoided.

  According to a further embodiment of the invention, the sequencing microcontroller selectively supplies the at least one secondary supply voltage and / or the at least one auxiliary voltage to the further components of the system board. And at least the auxiliary voltage supply to all further components of the system board is interrupted for a predetermined period of time in order to notify the malfunction of the AC supply voltage. By interrupting at least the auxiliary voltage supply, the components of the system board can be brought into a well-defined state to allow a subsequent restart of the computer system.

  According to another embodiment of the present invention, the sequencing microcontroller is configured to activate a reset control signal supplied to the chipset at a predetermined amount of time to signal a fault in the AC supply voltage. . By providing a reset control signal, an initialization sequence of the components of the computer system can be actively triggered.

  The computer system may further include a firmware component configured to activate a predetermined operating mode of the computer system after a power failure according to the stored firmware settings. The sequencing microcontroller is further configured to provide a control signal to the firmware component to signal a malfunction of the AC supply voltage. By supplying control signals from the sequencing microcontroller to the firmware component, a firmware component such as a BIOS chip can then select a predetermined operating mode, such as a standby mode or a normal operating mode. , AC power failure can be recognized.

  Among the control signals monitored by the sequencing microcontroller may be one or more mode control signals provided by the chipset for a request to enter a predetermined operating mode of the computer system. In addition, it may have one or more power good signals supplied by the power supply unit or by a voltage comparator on the system board indicating that the secondary supply voltage has reached a predetermined level.

  According to a further embodiment, the sequencing microcontroller continuously monitors the at least one power good signal during a normal operating mode of the computer system, wherein the at least one power good signal is a signal of the computer system. When deactivated in the normal operation mode, at least the chipset may be informed of the malfunction of the AC supply voltage.

  According to embodiments of the present invention, an improved system and method for AC fault detection of a computer system may be provided.

1 shows a schematic diagram of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a state diagram of operating states of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  Further details and advantages of the system and method according to the invention are described below with respect to embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a layout of the computer system 1. The computer system 1 includes a power supply unit 2 and a system board 3 that is electrically connected to the power supply unit 2.

The power supply unit 2 has one or more AC / DC converters 4 such as a main converter and an auxiliary converter. The AC / DC converter 4 may be implemented as, for example, one or more switched mode power supplies. For efficient control of the power supply unit 2, the microcontroller 5 has a respective AC / DC converter 4 to supply one or more secondary supply voltages V _cc and one or more auxiliary voltages V _aux. May be selectively activated and deactivated and / or set.

In addition, the microcontroller 5 monitors the proper operation of the AC / DC converter 4 and supplies a corresponding control signal, often called a power good signal PG _PSU , via the corresponding control signal output 8. You can do it. In particular, it may supply the power good signal PG _PSU after the voltage V _cc at the supply voltage terminal 6 exceeds a predetermined voltage level. Further, the power supply unit 2 has a control signal input unit 9 for receiving a control signal S _on for selectively switching the power supply unit 2 from the standby mode to the normal operation mode and vice versa. In the standby mode, the power supply unit 2 supplies only the auxiliary voltage V _aux via the auxiliary voltage terminal 7. In the normal operation mode, the power supply unit 2 further supplies a secondary supply voltage _Vcc at one or more supply voltage terminals 6.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the system board 3 includes a CPU 10, a firmware component 11, a chipset 12, a sequencing microcontroller 13, a voltage comparator 14, and a voltage regulator 15. In normal operation of the computer system 1, the CPU 10 and further components of the system board 3 not shown in FIG. 1 are operated directly or indirectly by the secondary supply voltage _Vcc . In the case of the CPU 10, a secondary supply voltage _Vcc of, for example 12, 5 or 3.3 volts may be further converted by the voltage regulator 15 to meet the input requirements of the CPU 10. For example, a secondary supply voltage _Vcc of 12 volts may be converted by a DC converter into a _CPU input voltage VCPU of 1.5, 1.25 or 1.1 volts.

At least some of the components of the system board 3 are connected to the auxiliary voltage V _aux . For example, the components of the chipset 12 required to restart the computer system 2 from standby or from an electronically switched off state when the power supply unit 2 is connected to the _AC supply voltage VAC. An auxiliary voltage V _aux is supplied. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, in addition to the components of the chipset 12, a sequencing microcontroller 13 is also connected to the auxiliary voltage V _aux . The sequencing microcontroller 13 is configured to selectively activate and deactivate additional components of the system board 3. For example, the sequencing microcontroller 13 may optionally interrupt the supply of the secondary supply voltage V _cc or the auxiliary voltage V _aux to the components 10, 11, 12 and 15 directly. Alternatively, these components may be connected directly to their respective supply lines of the auxiliary voltage V _aux and the secondary supply voltage V _cc and are activated or activated by the sequencing microcontroller 13 by means of a predetermined control signal. May be deactivated.

FIG. 1 is merely known to be a layout diagram of an exemplary computer system 1. It shows only the relevant components for an understanding of the present invention. In practice, the computer system may have a power supply unit disposed on the system board, a system board, and any number of components disposed on the system board. For example, in a server computer system, a number of extra power supply units may be used to supply a single system board with multiple CPUs. Further, some components shown as separate entities in FIG. 1 may be integrated with each other. For example, firmware component 11 and chipset 12 may be combined into a single component. Conversely, in particular, chipset 12 may be embodied in a number of functionally and physically separate components. Furthermore, the voltage comparator 14 and the voltage regulator 15 may be integrated. However, at least in some embodiments, voltage comparator 14 or voltage regulator 15 may not be present at all. For example, when the power supply unit 2 supplies the power good signal PG _VC to the sequencing microcontroller 13, the installation of the additional voltage comparator 14 on the system board 3 is not necessary. Furthermore, if the power supply unit 2 supplies the appropriate secondary supply voltage V _cc for CPU10 is the installation of the voltage regulator 15 is not required.

  In the following, the operation of the computer system 1 according to FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the state diagram of FIG.

At the first connection of the computer system 1 to the _AC supply voltage VAC, generally the computer system 1, in particular the sequencing microcontroller 13, enters a so-called AC failure state 20. AC failure state 20, for example, by the supply of the preceding auxiliary voltage _{V aux} to sequencing microcontroller 13 after interruption of the auxiliary voltage _{V aux,} may be detected.

In this connection, it should be noted that not all interruptions of the primary _AC supply voltage VAC necessarily result in interruptions of the secondary auxiliary voltage _Vaux . In particular, the power supply unit 2 typically has one or more buffering capacitors or other energy storage elements that supply the auxiliary voltage V _aux during a predetermined period of time after the malfunction of the _AC supply voltage VAC. Good. For example, in the power supply unit 2 normally used in a server system, the auxiliary voltage V _aux may be supplied for about 30 seconds after the primary supply voltage _VAC is interrupted.

The detection of an AC failure results in the generation of a corresponding control signal after the power supply unit 2 is reconnected to the _AC supply voltage VAC. To this end, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the sequencing microcontroller 13 supplies a failure signal S _fail to the chipset 12 and / or the firmware component 11.

After a predetermined waiting period, the sequencing microcontroller 13 may supply the auxiliary voltage V _aux to the chipset 12. In response to the supply of the auxiliary voltage V _aux , the chip set 12 is initialized, and the computer system 1 enters a predetermined standby mode 21. In the diagram of FIG. 2, the computer system 1 enters the ACPI standby state S5. Alternatively, the computer system 1 may enter the ACPI suspend state S3. If the auxiliary voltage V _aux is deficient in the standby mode 21, the computer system 1 returns to the AC malfunction state 20.

If the power supply is not interrupted, after an arbitrary waiting time, the chipset 12 may issue a control signal _Son to the microcontroller 5 to activate the supply of the secondary supply voltage _Vcc . Alternatively, activation of the power supply unit 2 may also be requested by the sequencing microcontroller 13. As a result, the computer system 1 changes to the initialization state 22. In response to the control signal S _on , the microcontroller 5 activates or resets the AC / DC converter 4 to supply the secondary supply voltage V _cc in addition to the auxiliary voltage V _aux .

In the initialization state 22, the chip set 12 waits for supply of a so-called power good signal from the power supply unit 2, the comparator 14, or both. However, if a further interruption of the _AC supply voltage VAC occurs in this state, the power supply unit 2 cannot supply the requested secondary supply voltage _Vcc so that the computer system 1 The initialization procedure cannot continue.

To avoid detecting deadlock sequencing microcontroller 13, a mode control signal S _on supplied to the microcontroller 5, the power good signal PG which are respectively supplied by the power supply unit 2 and the voltage comparator 14 Actively monitor _PSU and PG _VC . In particular, after the startup of the power supply unit 2 is requested by using a control signal S _on, sequencing the microcontroller 13 activates the timer. The timer times out after a predetermined period of time T _max , eg, 500 milliseconds. Usually this time should be sufficient for the power supply unit 2 to supply the requested secondary supply voltage _Vcc .

However, in the case of a further AC failure, either the control signal PG _PSU or the control signal PG _VC is not supplied within a predetermined time period. In this way, the sequencing microcontroller 13 detects the occurrence of an AC malfunction while the power supply unit 2 is being activated. In response to this, the sequencing microcontroller 13 informs other components of the system board 3 of the occurrence of a malfunction, particularly, the malfunction of the _AC supply voltage VAC. In particular, the sequencing microcontroller 13 may supply the failure signal S _fail to the chipset 12 as before and return to the AC failure state 20.

The malfunction of the _AC supply voltage VAC may be signaled in different ways. According to the first embodiment, the sequencing microcontroller 13 interrupts the auxiliary supply voltage V _aux to all components connected to the sequencing microcontroller 13. In particular, the chipset 12 is disconnected from the auxiliary voltage V _aux for a predetermined period of time that causes a complete system reset. In response to such an interruption of the auxiliary voltage V _aux , the chipset 12 starts its initialization sequence again. Alternatively, when the chipset 12 is directly connected to the auxiliary voltage V _aux , the sequencing microcontroller 13 may supply an appropriate control signal, eg, a resume-reset signal, to the chipset 12. . This signal is asserted and deasserted after a predetermined amount of time to actively request reinitialization of the chipset 12 and potentially further components of the system board 3.

If further power failure of the power supply unit 2 should occur during the subsequent initialization phase, the sequencing microcontroller 13 again signals an AC failure so that a deadlock condition occurs. Assuming a primary alternating supply voltage V _AC is eventually stabilized, other components of the chip set 12 and the system board 3 is finally advances the normal initialization process. In particular, both the power supply unit 2 and the voltage comparator 14 generate the respective power good signals PG _PSU and PG _VC within a predetermined period of time T _max from the supply of the mode control signal S _on . In response, the computer system 1 enters a normal operating mode 23, particularly the ACPIS0 state, in which the CPU 10 begins to operate.

Therefore, the firmware component 11 starts executing so-called BIOS code in the CPU 10. During execution of the BIOS code, the assertion of the appropriate control signal by the sequencing microcontroller 13 or the chipset 12 allows the BIOS component 11 to recognize the occurrence of a previous AC failure. In response to the corresponding BIOS setting, the BIOS code of the firmware component 11 causes the computer system 1 to remain in the operating mode 23, i.e. the ACPIS0 state, or to return to the standby mode 21, e.g. To instruct. For example, the computer system 1, when configured to enter the ACPIS5 state after an AC failure, the corresponding mode change back to standby mode 21 may be requested by deasserting a mode control signal S _on.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the normal operation mode 23, the sequencing microcontroller 13 continues to monitor one or both power good signals PG _PSU and PG _VC . If one or both of the power good signals should be deficient, the system returns to the AC failure state 20.

In fact, by monitoring the control signal _PG PSU, _{PG VC} and / or _{S on} supplied by components of the power supply unit 2 and the system board 3, sequencing the microcontroller 13 includes an initialization state 22 The occurrence of an AC power failure can be detected in all operating states of the computer system 1. By notifying other components of the system board 3 of the detection of an AC failure, in particular the chipset 12, even a short AC power failure that does not cause an interruption of the auxiliary voltage V _aux can be detected by all components. Yes, make sure that the components of the system board 3 can reach a clear state. This is particularly important for remotely located computer systems where manual restart is not possible or very expensive.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Computer system 2 Power supply unit 3 System board 4 AC / DC converter 5 Microcontroller 6 Supply voltage terminal 7 Auxiliary voltage terminal 8 Control signal output part 9 Control signal input part 10 CPU
11 Firmware component 12 Chipset 13 Sequencing microcontroller 14 Voltage comparator 15 Voltage regulator 20 AC failure state 21 Standby mode 22 Initialization state 23 Normal operation mode PG _PSU (PSU) power good signal PG _VC (system board) power good signal _{S fail} signal faults _{S on} the mode control signal _{T max} predetermined time period _{V AC} AC supply voltage _{V aux} auxiliary voltage _{V cc} secondary supply voltage

Claims (12)

A power supply unit that generates at least one secondary supply voltage and at least one auxiliary voltage based on an alternating supply voltage;
A system board electrically connected to the power supply unit,
The system board has a sequencing microcontroller that selectively activates further components of the system board;
The further component comprises a chipset;
The sequencing microcontroller monitors at least a mode control signal provided by the chipset for a request to enter a predetermined operating mode of the computer system and is responsive to detecting the request to enter the predetermined operating mode. A timer is activated to monitor at least one power good signal provided by the power supply unit and / or the system board at least for a predetermined period of time, the at least one power good signal being the predetermined power of the computer system. Configured to notify at least the chipset of a malfunction of the AC supply voltage if not received within the predetermined period of time from the request to enter the operation mode of
Computer system. The sequencing microcontroller selectively supplies the at least one secondary supply voltage and / or the at least one auxiliary voltage to the further components of the system board, and the AC supply voltage is defective. Configured to interrupt the supply of at least the auxiliary voltage to all further components of the system board at a predetermined period of time to inform
The computer system according to claim 1. The sequencing microcontroller is configured to supply a resume-reset signal to the chipset at a predetermined amount of time to signal a fault in the AC supply voltage.
The computer system according to claim 1. The further component comprises a firmware component, the firmware component further causing the sequencing microcontroller to supply a failure signal to the firmware component to inform the AC supply voltage of the failure. When configured, configured to activate a predetermined operating mode of the computer system after a power failure according to stored firmware settings,
The computer system according to claim 1. The sequencing microcontroller further monitors the supply of the secondary supply voltage from the power supply unit to the system board, and the AC supply if the supply of the secondary supply voltage is not detected within a predetermined period of time. Configured to signal voltage faults,
The computer system according to claim 1. The sequencing microcontroller is
Supplied by the power supply unit, supplied by a first power good signal indicating that a secondary supply voltage at an output terminal of the power supply unit has reached a first predetermined voltage level, and a voltage comparator of the system board; Configured to monitor at least one of a second power good signal indicating that a secondary supply voltage on a supply line of the system board has reached a second predetermined voltage level;
The computer system according to claim 1 . A computer system having a power supply unit and a system board electrically connected to the power supply unit, wherein the system board includes a sequencing microcontroller and a chipset,
The sequencing microcontroller is
Detecting the connection of the power supply unit to an AC supply voltage;
Activating a timer in response to a request to enter a predetermined operating mode of the computer system;
Monitoring at least one power good signal at least for a predetermined period of time;
If the at least one power good signal is not received within the predetermined period of time from the request to enter the predetermined operating mode of the computer system, notifying the chipset of at least a malfunction of the AC supply voltage A method of operating a computer system that executes and. The activating step and the monitoring step are performed during an initialization state of the computer system.
The operation method of the computer system according to claim 7. The sequencing microcontroller further includes:
Continuously monitoring the at least one power good signal during a normal operating mode of the computer system;
The at least one power good signal is deactivated in the normal operation mode of the computer system, and at least informing the chipset of a fault in the AC supply voltage. A method of operating a computer system. In the detecting step, the sequencing microcontroller detects a supply of a previously unsupported auxiliary voltage from the power supply unit indicating a connection of the power supply unit to the alternating supply voltage;
The operation method of the computer system according to claim 7. The sequencing microcontroller supplies the auxiliary voltage to the chipset after detecting the connection of the power supply unit, and the notifying step includes the system board at a predetermined amount of time to notify the malfunction of the AC supply voltage. Interrupting the supply of the auxiliary voltage to the chipset of
The operation method of the computer system according to claim 10. The notifying step includes supplying a resume-reset signal from the sequencing microcontroller to the chipset at a predetermined amount of time to indicate a fault in the AC supply voltage.
The operation method of the computer system according to claim 7.

Images