TW202321928A - Control system - Google Patents

Abstract

A control system includes a storage device and a controlled device. The storage device includes a real-time clock, a controller and a pin connector. The real-time clock can access a first data signal corresponding to a first control signal and output the first control signal at a predetermined time. When an external power source stops providing power, the real-time clock can be powered by battery power and/or backup power to keep operating. The controller is coupled to the real-time clock and can access the first data signal and access a second data signal corresponding to the first data signal. The pin connector is coupled to the real-time clock and can receive the first control signal and accordingly output a second control signal. The controlled device is coupled to the pin connector and can receive the second control signal and accordingly perform a predetermined operation at the predetermined time.

Description

Control System

The present invention relates to a control system, in particular to a control system capable of controlling a storage device to perform a predetermined operation at a predetermined time.

With the rise of applications such as the smart Internet of Things, the demand for management and maintenance of storage devices also increases. The current data transmission of the storage device can often use the out-of-band (OOB) method to transmit instructions and execute related controls. The out-of-band method can perform remote management functions through additional hardware after the operating system (Operating System, OS) program executes the cache. In the current industrial or commercial computer system architecture, an out-of-band (OOB) module can be connected to the storage device to manage, trigger or drive the host system's startup, shutdown and reset functions in an out-of-band way. The design of this kind of hardware module needs to be connected to an additional network system. Usually, one end of the out-of-band module needs to be connected to the network, and the other end is connected to the system power switch and storage device for control. Although this architecture can be used, the use of external out-of-band modules will increase the cost. For example, the cost of equipment and the amount of data connected to the Internet all the time remain high. Therefore, there is still a lack of suitable solutions in this field to improve related system architectures and operating procedures.

The embodiment provides a control system including a storage device and a controlled device. The storage device includes a real-time clock, a controller and a pin connector. The real-time clock is used for accessing a first data signal corresponding to a first control signal and outputting the first control signal at a predetermined time. The real-time clock includes a first terminal, a second terminal, a third terminal and a fourth terminal, wherein the first terminal is used to output the first control signal, and the second terminal is used to access the first data signal, the third end is coupled to a battery and used to receive a battery power, and the fourth end is coupled to a backup power source and used to receive a backup power. When an external power source coupled to the storage device stops supplying power, the real-time clock is powered by the battery power and/or the backup power to keep running. The controller is used for accessing the first data signal and accessing a second data signal corresponding to the first data signal. The controller includes a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal is coupled to the second terminal of the real-time clock and used to access the first data signal, and the second terminal is used to access the second data signal. The pin connector is used to receive the first control signal and output a second control signal accordingly, and the pin connector includes a first end and a second end, wherein the first end is coupled to the real-time clock The first terminal is used for receiving the first control signal, and the second terminal is used for outputting the second control signal. The controlled device is coupled to the second end of the pin connector for receiving the second control signal and performing a predetermined operation at the predetermined time accordingly.

In order to improve the related system architecture to deal with the above problems, the embodiment of the present invention can provide a control system of a storage device with a time control function, as described below.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a control system 100 in an embodiment. The control system 100 may include a storage device 110 and a controlled device 120 . The storage device 110 may include a real-time clock (RTC) 112 , a controller 114 and a pin connector (pin connector) 116 . The real-time clock 112 can be used to access the first data signal Sd1 corresponding to the first control signal Sc1, and output the first control signal Sc1 at a predetermined time. The real-time clock 112 may include a first terminal, a second terminal, a third terminal and a fourth terminal, wherein the first terminal may be used to output the first control signal Sc1, the second terminal may be used to access the first data signal Sd1, and the third terminal may It can be coupled to the battery 118 and used to receive the battery power P1, and the fourth end can be coupled to the backup power source 119 and used to receive the backup power P2.

According to an embodiment, when the external power supply coupled to the storage device 110 stops supplying power, the real-time clock 112 can be powered by the battery power P1 and/or the backup power P2 to keep running. Therefore, even in the power-off mode, the real-time clock 112 can still count the correct time, so as to perform the predetermined operation at the predetermined time.

The controller 114 can be used to access the first data signal Sd1 and access the second data signal Sd2 corresponding to the first data signal Sd1, and the controller 114 includes a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal is coupled to the real-time The second end of the clock 112 is used for accessing the first data signal Sd1, and the second end is used for accessing the second data signal Sd2.

The pin connector 116 is used to receive the first control signal Sc1 and output the second control signal Sc2 accordingly, and the pin connector 116 may include a first end and a second end, wherein the first end is coupled to the first end of the real-time clock 112 The terminal is used for receiving the first control signal Sc1, and the second terminal is used for outputting the second control signal Sc2.

The controlled device 120 can be coupled to the second end of the pin connector 116 for receiving the second control signal Sc2 and performing a predetermined operation at a predetermined time accordingly.

According to an embodiment, the storage device 110 may include a solid-state drive (SSD) device. As shown in FIG. 1, the storage device 110 may further include a storage unit 115 for storing data. For example, the storage unit 115 may include a non-volatile memory, such as a flash (flash) memory, and (NAND ) flash memory, etc.

According to an embodiment, the controlled device 120 may be a main power control unit of the host, and the predetermined operation may include controlling the main power control unit to perform a power-on operation, a power-off operation and/or a reset operation on the host. According to an embodiment, the first data signal Sd1 corresponding to the second data signal Sd2 can be used to notify the real-time clock 112 of the aforementioned predetermined time and predetermined operation; in addition, according to an embodiment, when the real-time clock 112 outputs the first control signal Sc1, the real-time clock 112 can output the first data signal Sd1 to notify the controller 114, so that the controller 114 can generate the second data signal Sd2 accordingly for reporting.

The application scenarios of the control system 100 are described below by way of examples. For example, if the electronic display of the store is scheduled to be turned on at 7:00 am, as shown in Figure 1, the second data signal Sd2 can send 7:00 am (that is, the scheduled time) and the start-up command (that is, corresponding to predetermined operation) to the controller 114, and then the controller 114 sends the first data signal Sd1 to the real-time clock 112 according to the second data signal Sd2. The real-time clock 112 can output the first control signal Sc1 at 7 am (that is, the predetermined time) according to the first data signal Sd1, so that the pin connector 116 can output the second control signal Sc2 accordingly, so as to perform the boot operation (that is, the predetermined time). operate). When the real-time clock 112 outputs the first control signal Sc1 for booting operation, the real-time clock 112 can output the first data signal Sd1 to the controller 114 to notify the controller 114, so that the controller 114 can generate the second data signal Sd2 accordingly, For reporting, such as reporting to the user or an external control device.

In the same way, for example, if the electronic display of the store is scheduled to be turned off at 23 o'clock in the evening, then as shown in Figure 1, the second data signal Sd2 can send 23 o'clock in the evening (that is, the scheduled time) and the shutdown command (that is, , corresponding to a predetermined operation) to the controller 114 , and then the controller 114 sends the first data signal Sd1 to the real-time clock 112 according to the second data signal Sd2 . The real-time clock 112 can output the first control signal Sc1 at 23 o'clock in the evening (that is, the predetermined time) according to the first data signal Sd1, so that the pin connector 116 can output the second control signal Sc2 accordingly to perform the shutdown operation (that is, scheduled operation). When the real-time clock 112 outputs the first control signal Sc1 for shutdown operation, the real-time clock 112 can output the first data signal Sd1 to the controller 114 to notify the controller 114, so that the controller 114 can generate the second data signal Sd2 accordingly, For reporting, such as reporting to the user or an external control device.

Therefore, with the control system 100 in FIG. 1 , the use of an external out-of-band (OOB) module can be avoided, and time-related control can be realized, thereby reducing the complexity and related costs of the device and control.

According to an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 , the control system 100 may further include a main board 10 , wherein a storage device 110 , a battery 118 , a backup power source 119 and a controlled device 120 may be disposed on the main board 10 . As shown in FIG. 1 , a processor 130 may be provided on the motherboard 10 to control the overall system, wherein the processor 130 may include a central processing unit, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, and the like.

According to an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 , the storage device 110 may further include an interface 111 coupled to the second end of the controller 114 for accessing the second data signal Sd2 between the controller 114 and an external device. The interface 111 can be an electroplating connection part (often called a golden finger connector) of the storage device 110 for electrical connection with external devices (such as slots, connecting wires, chips, control circuits, etc.) provided on the motherboard 10 .

According to an embodiment, the interface 111 may include a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) interface, a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) interface, and/or other supported interfaces.

According to an embodiment, the second control signal Sc2 may be the first control signal Sc1, or a different signal generated according to the first control signal Sc1. The second control signal Sc2 can be a trigger signal, for example, a pulse is provided at a predetermined time to trigger and control the controlled device 120 .

According to an embodiment, the first data signal Sd1 and the second data signal Sd2 may be the same signal, or one of the first data signal Sd1 and the second data signal Sd2 may be a signal generated according to the other.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a control system 200 coupled to a host computer 199 in another embodiment. The control system 200 can be similar to the control system 100 in FIG. 1 , and the similarities will not be repeated. However, according to an embodiment, the controlled device 120 in FIG. 2 may be a switch provided on the host 188 , and the switch may be coupled to another host 199 . The aforementioned predetermined operation may include controlling the switch (ie, the controlled device 120 ) to perform a power-on operation, a power-off operation and/or a reset operation on the host computer 199 through the third control signal Sc3 . In other words, by using the control system 200, the host 199 can be powered on, shut down and/or reset at a predetermined time through the host 188, wherein at the predetermined time, the states of the host 188 and the host 199 are not limited to being on or off .

According to an embodiment, the shutdown described herein may correspond to a completely shutdown state (such as, but not limited to, the shutdown state defined by the system state S5 of the Microsoft system), rather than a sleep state or a standby state (for example, Microsoft The sleep state defined by the system state S3 or S4 of the system).

According to the embodiment, the software and/or firmware of the controller 114 in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , and the host computer 199 in FIG. 2 can be properly adjusted to perform relevant control.

As mentioned above, using the control systems 100 and 200 provided by the embodiment, by setting the storage device 110, at a predetermined time, the host computer or other hosts where the control system is located can perform scheduled operations such as starting, shutting down, resetting, etc. , and can avoid the use of out-of-band (OOB) modules. Therefore, it is beneficial to reduce the complexity of related hardware and reduce the cost. The above descriptions are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

10: Motherboard 100,200: control system 110: storage device 111: interface 112: real time clock 114: Controller 115: storage unit 116: pin connector 118: battery 119: backup power 120: controlled device 130: Processor 188,199: Host P1: battery power P2: standby power Sc1: the first control signal Sc2: Second control signal Sc3: The third control signal Sd1: first data signal Sd2: Second data signal

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the control system in the embodiment. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment where the control system is coupled to another host.

10: Motherboard

100: Control system

110: storage device

111: interface

112: real time clock

114: Controller

115: storage unit

116: pin connector

118: battery

119: backup power

120: controlled device

130: Processor

P1: battery power

P2: standby power

Sc1: the first control signal

Sc2: Second control signal

Sd1: first data signal

Sd2: Second data signal

Claims (10)

A control system comprising: A storage device, comprising: A real-time clock for accessing a first data signal corresponding to a first control signal and outputting the first control signal at a predetermined time, the real-time clock comprising a first terminal for outputting the first control signal , a second terminal, used to access the first data signal, a third terminal, coupled to a battery, used to receive a battery power, and a fourth terminal, coupled to a backup power supply, used to receive a backup power supply, wherein when an external power source coupled to the storage device stops supplying power, the real time clock is powered by the battery power and/or the backup power supply to keep running; A controller for accessing the first data signal and accessing a second data signal corresponding to the first data signal, the controller includes a first terminal coupled to the second terminal of the real-time clock , for accessing the first data signal, and a second terminal for accessing the second data signal; and A pin connector for receiving the first control signal and outputting a second control signal accordingly, the pin connector includes a first end coupled to the first end of the real-time clock for receiving the first a control signal, and a second terminal for outputting the second control signal; and A controlled device, coupled to the second end of the pin connector, is used to receive the second control signal and execute a predetermined operation at the predetermined time accordingly. The control system according to claim 1, wherein the controlled device is a main power control unit of a host, and the predetermined operation includes controlling the main power control unit to perform a power-on operation, a power-off operation and/or A reset operation. The control system as described in claim 1, wherein the controlled device is a switch of a first host, the switch is coupled to a second host, and the predetermined operation includes controlling the switch to perform a boot on the second host operation, a shutdown operation and/or a reset operation. The control system as described in claim 1, wherein the storage device further includes an interface coupled to the second end of the controller for accessing the second data signal between the controller and an external device . The control system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the interface includes a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) interface and/or a peripheral component interconnect express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express, PCIe) interface . The control system according to claim 1 further includes a mainboard, wherein the storage device, the battery, the backup power supply and the controlled device are arranged on the mainboard. The control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first control signal is the second control signal. The control system according to claim 1, wherein one of the first data signal and the second data signal is generated according to the other. The control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first data signal is used to notify the real-time clock of the predetermined time and the predetermined operation. The control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the real-time clock outputs the first control signal, the real-time clock outputs the first data signal to notify the controller.

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