JPH0277916A - Cooling control system for data processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To secure the air flow necessary for cooling by preparing a microprocessor and an inverter circuit to control the rotational frequency of other cooling fans in accordance with the number of cooling fans. CONSTITUTION:A microprocessor MPU 50 always monitors the outputs of rotational frequency sensors 20 - 23. When the abnormal rotational frequency of the cooling fans are detected, the number of abnormal fans is checked. In case just a single fan is abnormal, a control signal 55 is outputted to an inverter circuit 70 via a D/A converter 60. Then the power supply output 32 received from a power unit 30 is converted into a frequency (n) to obtain the air flow necessary for three fans except the abnormal one. The frequency (n) is supplied to each fun. In case two fans are abnormal, the output 32 is converted into a frequency (m) via the signal 55. When three fans are abnormal, the process of a data process unit 1 is interrupted since a remaining normal fan is impossible to obtain the necessary air flow. Then the output 31 given from a power supply 30 is cut off by a control signal 56.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a cooling control method for a data processing device, and particularly to a control method for a failed cooling device.

[Prior Art] Generally, a data processing device is composed of a large number of logic elements, electric circuits, etc., and these components always generate heat, so a cooling device is required.

If this cooling device fails, the operation and reliability of the data processing device will be seriously affected. If the influence is significant, component parts such as logic elements and electric circuits may be destroyed. Therefore, conventionally, a cooling control method as shown in FIG. 3 has been adopted in response to a failure of the cooling device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional cooling control system for a data processing device. In the figure, l is a data processing unit composed of a plurality of logic boards; 10.・
11, 12, and 13 are cooling fans for cooling the data processing unit 1; 20, 21, 22, and 23 are rotation speed sensors for detecting abnormalities in the rotation speeds of the cooling fans 10 to 13; Data processing unit 1 and cooling fan 1
Power supply device for supplying power to 0 to 13, 31.32
(data processing unit) 1 and cooling fan 10~.

A power output from a power supply device 30 for supplying power to 13;
Power supply control signal 41 that collectively controls the power supply device 30
This is an OR circuit that outputs .

Next, the operation of the cooling control method of the conventional data processing device will be described. If any one of the cooling fans 10 to 13 fails and the rotation speed stops or the rotation speed drops below the specified value, the rotation speed attached to the failed cooling fan. The sensor detects an abnormality in the rotation speed and outputs an abnormal signal. The abnormal rotation speed signal is sent to the power supply device 30 as a power control signal 41 via an OR circuit 40.
The data are manually input to the data processing unit 1.

When the rotation speed abnormality signal is input, the data processing unit 1 immediately interrupts data processing, and the power supply device 30 cuts off the power output 31, 32 to the data processing unit 1 and the cooling fans 10 to 13.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Since the cooling control system of the conventional data processing device is configured as described above, a plurality of cooling fans 10 to 1
If even one of the three devices fails, data processing in the data processing unit 1 must be immediately interrupted and the power supply to the power supply device 30 must be cut off, which reduces the reliability of the data processing device. However, there were problems such as a decrease in the operating rate.

This invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and even if some of the cooling fans fail, data processing can continue without interruption. The purpose of this study is to obtain a cooling control method for a data processing device that can perform the following steps.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the cooling control method for a data processing device according to the present invention, a microprocessor detects and determines an abnormal rotation speed of a cooling fan based on the output of a rotation speed sensor, and The frequency of the power supply supplied to the cooling fan is adjusted through the control of the inverter circuit, and the rotational speed of other normal cooling fans is adjusted.

[Function] The cooling control method for a data processing device according to the present invention includes a microprocessor and an inverter circuit, and controls the frequency of the power supply device of other normal cooling fans according to the abnormal number of cooling fans. The rotation speed of the cooling fan is adjusted to ensure the amount of air necessary for cooling.

[Embodiment] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a cooling control system for a data processing device that is an embodiment of the present invention. The same reference numerals as in Fig. 3 indicate the same or equivalent parts, and the details Further explanation will be omitted. In the figure, 50 is the rotation speed sensor 20 to 23
a microprocessor operated by a program that constantly monitors the output of the system, judges the results, and handles abnormalities;
1 is a central processing unit (CPU); 52 is a memory for storing an abnormality processing program; 53 is an input circuit for inputting output signals from the rotational speed sensors 20 to 23 to the central processing unit 51; 54 is a central processing unit 51 56 is a control signal output from the output circuit 54 to control the power supply device 30;
0 is a D/A (digital/analog) converter for converting the digital signal that is the control signal 55 into an analog signal, and 70 is a D/A converter for converting the power output 32 from the power supply device 30.
An inverter circuit 71 converts the frequency into a predetermined frequency according to an analog control signal 61 from the converter 60 and outputs the same. An inverter circuit 71 is a power supply output from the inverter circuit 70 to the cooling fans 10 to 13.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the cooling control method of the data processing apparatus shown in FIG. In the figure, 10
0 to 105 are steps indicating processing of each operation process.

Next, the operation of the cooling control system for the data processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. Cooling fan 10
If one or more of the -13 units malfunctions and the rotational speed becomes abnormal, the rotational speed sensors 20 to 23 detect this and inform the microprocessor 50 manually. microprocessor 50
constantly monitors the output of rotation speed sensors 20 to 23,
As soon as an abnormality is detected, control processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2 begins. First, when an abnormality in the rotational speed of the cooling fan is detected in step 100 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 2, the number of cooling fans in which the abnormality has occurred is checked in step 101. In the case of one device, a control signal 55 for converting the frequency of the power supply device 30 to n is output. Since the rotational speed of the cooling fans 10 to 13 is proportional to the frequency of the power supply unit 30, the frequency n is set to the number necessary to ensure the required air volume with the remaining three cooling fans excluding the failed cooling fan. It is a value. Control signal 5 from microprocessor 50
5 is input to the inverter circuit 70 via the D/A converter 60, and the power output 32 from the power supply device 30 is converted to frequency n by the inverter circuit 70 (step 10).
2), supplied to each cooling fan. If there are two abnormal cooling fans, in step 103 the power supply 3
control signal 5 converting power supply output 32 from 0 to frequency m
Outputs 5. The frequency m is a value for obtaining the necessary air volume with two cooling fans, and m>n. If there are three abnormal cooling fans, it will not be possible to obtain the required air volume with the remaining one cooling fan, so after interrupting the data processing of the data processing unit 1, the control from the output circuit 54 will be The signal 56 controls the power supply 30 and disconnects the power supply output 31 to the data processing unit l.

In the above embodiment, the number of cooling fans is four, but any number may be used as long as it is two or more.

Further, in the above embodiment, the power output 32 from the power supply device 30
This method shows a means for controlling the set value of the frequency based on the number of abnormal cooling fans, but instead of measuring the number of abnormal cooling fans, there is a means for measuring the abnormal rotation speed and setting the frequency based on that value. It's good as well.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the cooling control method for a data processing device of the present invention, the microprocessor detects and determines an abnormal rotation speed of the cooling fan based on the output of the rotation speed sensor. The frequency of the power supply supplied to the cooling fan is adjusted through the control of the inverter circuit, and the rotation speed of other normal cooling fans is adjusted, so even if there is an abnormal cooling fan, This provides an excellent effect in that a necessary air volume can be secured and an extremely reliable cooling device for a data processing device can be realized.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a cooling control method for a data processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the operation of the cooling control method for the data processing device shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional cooling control system for a data processing device. In the figure, 1... data processing unit, 10-13
... Cooling fan, 20-23 ... Rotation speed sensor,
30...Power supply device, 31.32...Power output, 40
...OR circuit, 41...power supply control signal, 50...
Microprocessor, 51...Central processing unit (CPU
), 52... memory, 53... input circuit, 54...
・Output circuit, 55.56...control signal, 60...D
/A (digital/analog) converter, 61...analog control signal, 70...inverter circuit, 71...
- Power supply output, 100 to 105...steps. In addition, in the figures, the same reference numerals indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a data processing device having a plurality of cooling fans for cooling a logic circuit, constantly monitoring a rotation speed sensor for detecting an abnormality in the rotation speed of the cooling fan,
When an abnormality is detected, the frequency of the power supply supplied to the cooling fan is controlled by a microprocessor that operates according to a program that handles the abnormality, and different control signals output from the microprocessor depending on the degree of abnormality. 1. A cooling control method for a data processing device, comprising: an inverter circuit that controls and converts the frequency to a predetermined frequency, and arbitrarily sets the rotational speed of the cooling fan.