TWI467915B - Fan controlling apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Fan control unit

A control device is particularly related to a fan control device.

In general, most servers or computer systems are equipped with heat sinks, such as fans and heat sinks, to reduce the high temperatures generated by the electronic components in the server or computer system to increase the efficiency of each electronic component. And improve the overall operational efficiency. Among them, the heat dissipation module usually uses heat conduction to directly absorb the heat energy generated by the operation of the electronic component, and then generates air convection through the operation of the fan, so that the heat energy absorbed by the heat dissipation module is dispersed by the heat exchange of air convection. To the outside world.

In controlling the operation of the fan, a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) generator is usually used to generate a pulse width modulation signal to control the operation of the fan. When the servo or computer system is started, the pulse width modulation generator enters the initialization phase and is initialized to generate the corresponding pulse width modulation signal to control the fan to generate the corresponding rotation speed for operation.

However, before the pulse width modulation generator enters the initialization phase and is not initialized, the pulse width modulation signal generated by the pulse width modulation generator is a high logic level, which will cause the fan to start at full speed. Operate in a rotating manner. As such, it will result in wasted power. Therefore, there is still room for improvement in the control of the fan.

The present invention provides a fan control device, so that the fan does not rotate at full speed until the signal modulation unit enters the initialization phase and the initialization phase is not completed, to avoid waste of power, and to increase the convenience of use. .

A fan control device of the present disclosure is suitable for controlling at least one fan. The fan control device includes a signal modulation unit and a shielding unit. The signal modulation unit is used to provide a modulation signal and a working status signal. The shielding unit is coupled to the signal modulation unit and the at least one fan for receiving the standby voltage, the working state signal and the modulation signal, and shielding the modulation signal or transmitting the modulation signal to at least one according to the standby voltage and the working state signal. fan.

In an embodiment, when the signal modulation unit is not initialized, the signal modulation unit provides a high logic level operation status signal and a modulation unit, and the shielding unit is shielded according to a high logic level operation status signal. Logic level modulation signal.

In an embodiment, when the signal modulation unit completes initialization, the signal modulation unit provides a low logic level operation status signal and a pulse wave modulation signal, and the shielding unit operates according to the low logic level operation status signal. And transmitting the modulated signal in the form of a pulse wave to at least one fan.

In one embodiment, the signal modulation unit provides a working status signal through a universal input/output pin.

In an embodiment, the aforementioned shielding unit comprises a transistor. The transistor has a first end, a second end and a third end, and the first end of the transistor receives the standby power supply and the working state The second end of the transistor receives the modulation signal, and the third end of the transistor is coupled to the ground.

In an embodiment, the aforementioned fan control device further includes a power supply. The power supply is coupled to the shielding unit for providing a standby voltage, and the power supply is further coupled to the modulation unit and the at least one fan to provide an operating voltage required by the signal modulation unit and the at least one fan.

The fan control device of the present disclosure determines the modulation signal provided by the signal modulation unit by the shielding unit according to the standby voltage and the working state signal provided by the signal modulation unit, or provides the signal modulation unit The modulated signal is transmitted to the fan. In this way, before the signal modulation unit enters the initialization phase and the initialization phase is not completed, the fan does not rotate at full speed to avoid wasting power and increase the convenience of use.

The features and implementations of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

In the various embodiments listed below, the same reference numerals will be used to refer to the same or similar elements.

Please refer to "Figure 1" for a schematic diagram of the fan control device disclosed herein. The fan control device 100 of the present embodiment is adapted to control the fans 170_1~170_N, and the fans 170_1~170_N are disposed, for example, in a server or a computer system for dissipating heat from the server or the computer system, wherein N is greater than 1. A positive integer.

The fan control device 100 includes a signal modulation unit 110 and a shielding unit 120. The signal modulation unit 110 is configured to provide a modulation signal VPWM and a working state signal VWS. The signal modulation unit 110 is, for example, a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) generator to provide a modulation signal VWPM in the form of low logic level, high logic level or pulse wave.

In this embodiment, when the signal modulation unit 110 is just starting to work and enters the initialization phase, the signal modulation unit 110 provides a working logic signal VWS such as a high logic level and provides a high logic level modulation signal VPWM. . When the signal modulation unit 110 completes the initialization phase, the signal modulation unit 110 lowers the logic state of the operating state signal VWS and provides a modulated signal VPWM, for example, in the form of a pulse wave.

The shielding unit 120 is coupled to the signal modulation unit 110 and the fans 170_1~170_N for receiving the standby voltage VS, the working state signal VWS and the modulation signal VPWM for shielding the modulation signal according to the standby voltage VS and the working state signal VWS. VPWM or transmits the modulation signal VPWM to the fans 170_1~170_N.

For example, when one of the standby voltage VS and the working state signal VWS is at a high logic level, or both the standby voltage VS and the working state signal VWS are at a high logic level, the shielding unit 120 blocks the high logic level. The modulation signal VPWM, that is, the shielding unit 120 does not transmit the high logic level modulation signal VPWM to the fans 170_1~170_N.

Since the shielding unit 120 blocks the high logic level modulation signal VPWM, the shielding unit 120 provides a low logic level signal to the fan, for example. 170_1~170_N, the fans 170_1~170_N are operated at the lowest speed.

On the other hand, when the working state signal VWS is at a low logic level, the shielding unit 120 transmits the modulation signal VPWM to the fans 170_1~170_N, so that the fans 170_1~170_N generate corresponding speeds according to the control of the modulation signal VPWM. Run it. In this way, before the signal modulation unit 110 does not complete the initialization phase, the fans 170_1~170_N do not rotate at full speed to avoid waste of power and increase the convenience of use.

In this embodiment, the signal modulation unit 110 has a general purpose input output (GPIO) pin, for example, and the signal modulation unit 110 generates the working state signal VWS through the universal input and output pin. Further, the standby voltage VS is, for example, P3V3_STBY.

Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a schematic diagram of another fan control device disclosed in the present disclosure. The fan control device 200 of the present embodiment is adapted to control the fans 170_1~170_N. The fan control device 200 includes a signal modulation unit 110, a shielding unit 120, and a power supply 210. For the coupling relationship between the signal modulation unit 110 and the shielding unit 120 and related operations, reference may be made to the description of the embodiment of FIG. 1 , and therefore no further details are provided herein.

The power supply 210 is configured to provide an operating voltage VCC and a standby voltage VS, wherein the operating voltage VCC is an operating voltage required for the signal modulation unit 110 and the fans 170_1 170 170_N to operate.

The shielding unit 120 includes a transistor M. The transistor M has a first end and a second end And the third end, the first end of the transistor M receives the standby voltage VS and the working state signal VWS, the second end of the transistor M receives the modulation signal VPWM, and the third end of the transistor M is coupled to the ground GND.

In the present embodiment, the transistor M is, for example, an N-type transistor. Wherein, the first end of the transistor M is, for example, the gate terminal of the N-type transistor, the second end of the transistor M is, for example, the 汲 terminal of the N-type transistor, and the third end of the transistor M is, for example, an N-type transistor. The source is extreme. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and the transistor M may also be a P-type transistor or other type of transistor, such as a bipolar junction transistor and a junction field effect transistor.

First, when the power supply 210 only supplies the standby voltage VS (for example, P3V3_STBY), and the standby voltage VS is supplied to the first end (ie, the gate terminal) of the transistor M, so that the transistor M is turned on, the contact 220 is connected. To ground GND.

Since the contact 220 is connected to the ground GND, the shielding unit 120 can shield the modulation signal VPWM, that is, the modulation signal VPWM is not transmitted to the fans 170_1~170_N, and the shielding unit 120 generates a low logic level corresponding to, for example, the ground GND. Bit signal to fan 170_1~170_N. At this time, if the power supply 210 does not supply the operating voltage VCC to the fans 170_1~170_N, the fans 170_1~170_N will not operate.

Next, the power supply 210 provides the operating voltage VCC so that the fan control device 100 and the fans 170_1~170_N can start operating. When the fan control device 100 starts to work, the signal modulation unit 110 first enters the initialization phase and performs initial setting.

During the initialization phase, the signal modulation unit 110 provides the high logic level operating state signal VWS and the modulation signal VWPM, and the high logic level operating state signal VWS and the modulation signal VWPM are respectively supplied to the shielding unit 120. The first end of the crystal M (ie, the gate terminal) and the junction 220 (eg, the second end of the transistor M, ie, the source terminal).

Then, since the working state signal VWS and the standby voltage VS received by the first end of the transistor M are at a high logic level, the transistor M is turned on, so that the contact 220 is coupled to the ground GND. In this way, the shielding unit 120 blocks the high logic level modulation signal VPWM, that is, the high logic level modulation signal VPWM is not transmitted to the fans 170_1~170_N.

At the same time, the shielding unit 120 generates, for example, a signal corresponding to the low logic level of the ground GND to the fans 170_1~170_N, so that the fans 170_1~170_N correspond to the signals of the low logic level and operate at the lowest speed.

Then, when the signal modulation unit 110 completes the initialization phase, the signal modulation unit 110 provides, for example, a low logic level operating state signal VPS and a pulse wave modulation signal VPWM, and a low logic level operating state signal VPS and The modulated signal VPWM in the form of a pulse wave is supplied to the first end (ie, the gate terminal) of the transistor M of the shielding unit 120 and the contact 220 (for example, the second end of the transistor M, that is, the source terminal).

At this time, since the working state signal VWS received by the first end of the transistor M is at a low logic level, the transistor M is not turned on, so that the contact 220 is not coupled to the connection. Ground GND. In this manner, the shielding unit 120 transmits the modulated signal VPWM in the form of a pulse wave to the fans 170_1~170_N, so that the fans 170_1~170_N operate according to the control of the modulated signal VPWM to generate a corresponding rotational speed.

In this way, before the signal modulation unit 110 does not complete the initialization phase, the fans 170_1~170_N do not rotate at full speed to avoid waste of power and increase the convenience of use.

The fan control device of the embodiment of the present disclosure determines whether the modulation signal provided by the signal modulation unit is modulated or modulated by the shielding unit according to the standby voltage and the working state signal provided by the signal modulation unit. The modulation signal provided by the unit is transmitted to the fan. In this way, before the signal modulation unit enters the initialization phase and the initialization phase is not completed, the fan does not rotate at full speed to avoid wasting power and increase the convenience of use.

The present disclosure is disclosed in the foregoing embodiments, and is not intended to limit the disclosure. Any subject matter of the present invention can be modified and retouched without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. The scope of patent protection shall be subject to the definition of the scope of the patent application attached to this specification.

100,200‧‧‧Fan control unit

110‧‧‧Signal Modulation Unit

120‧‧‧Shielding unit

170_1~170_N‧‧‧Fan

210‧‧‧Power supply

220‧‧‧Contacts

VPWM‧‧‧ modulation signal

VWS‧‧‧Work status signal

VS‧‧‧Standby voltage

VCC‧‧‧ working voltage

M‧‧‧O crystal

Figure 1 is a schematic view of the fan control device of the present disclosure.

Figure 2 is a schematic view of another fan control device of the present disclosure.

100‧‧‧Fan control unit

110‧‧‧Signal Modulation Unit

120‧‧‧Shielding unit

170_1~170_N‧‧‧Fan

VPWM‧‧‧ modulation signal

VWS‧‧‧Work status signal

VS‧‧‧Standby voltage

Claims (5)

A fan control device is configured to control at least one fan, the fan control device includes: a signal modulation unit for providing a modulation signal and a working status signal; and a shielding unit coupled to the signal modulation unit and The at least one fan is configured to receive a standby voltage, the working status signal and the modulation signal, and according to the standby voltage and the working status signal, to mask the modulation signal or transmit the modulation signal to the at least one a fan, wherein the shielding unit comprises: a transistor having a first end, a second end and a third end, the first end of the transistor receiving the standby voltage and the working state signal, the transistor The second end receives the modulation signal, and the third end of the transistor is coupled to the ground end, wherein the first end is directly coupled to the signal modulation unit, and the second end is directly coupled to the signal modulation The unit is with the at least one fan. The fan control device of claim 1, wherein when the signal modulation unit is not initialized, the signal modulation unit provides a high logic level of the working status signal and the modulation unit, and the shielding unit is based on The working state signal of the high logic level masks the modulation signal of the high logic level. The fan control device of claim 1, wherein when the signal modulation unit completes initialization, the signal modulation unit provides a low logic level of the working state signal and the pulse signal in the form of a pulse wave. The shielding unit is based on the low logic The working status signal of the level is transmitted to the at least one fan in the pulse wave form. The fan control device of claim 1, wherein the signal modulation unit provides the working status signal through a universal input/output pin. The fan control device of claim 1, further comprising a power supply coupled to the shielding unit for providing the standby voltage, and the power supply is further coupled to the modulation unit and the at least one fan to Providing an operating voltage required by the signal modulation unit and the at least one fan.