TWI496993B - Fan controlling apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Fan control unit

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

At present, the function of the Watch Dog is usually used between a Micro Controller Unit (MCU) and a microcontroller, using its internal Watch Dog Timer or It is defined by Firmware (FW). In this case, it will take up more and more Printed Circuit Board (PCB) space, resulting in improper space configuration, and will result in an overall cost increase, not only the cost of parts, but also human resources. Software (SW) design costs, and subsequent software maintenance costs.

In general, a rack (Rack) configured with multiple servers will be equipped with a Fan Control Board (FCB). Because the cabinet is not designed to dissipate the fan in a single server, the fan is configured on the cabinet, and the fan controller is used by the Rack Management Controller (RMC) through the fan control board. control. A fan controller is configured on the fan control board to send a pulse signal of a fixed frequency to control the fan in the cabinet to perform corresponding operations, and the pulse signal is further displayed on the fan controller. Light Emitting Diode (LED) to indicate that the microcontroller is functioning properly.

However, when the software configured in the microcontroller crashes or the hardware has a problem, The signals sent by the microcontroller may all be high logic levels or all low logic levels. If the signal from the microcontroller is all high logic level, it may cause the fan to rotate at the maximum speed, and the cabinet will not overheat. However, if the signal from the microcontroller is all low logic level, the fan may stop running and the cabinet may overheat and cause component damage. As such, the fan control panel still has room for improvement.

In view of the above problems, the present disclosure provides a fan control device, which has a watch dog function, and can prevent the fan from rotating when an abnormality occurs, so that the server on the cabinet is damaged due to overheating. .

A fan control device of the present disclosure is adapted to control operation of at least one fan. The fan control device comprises a signal modulation unit, a filtering unit, a voltage conversion unit, an energy storage unit and at least one logic operation unit. The signal modulation unit is used to provide a modulation signal. The filtering unit is configured to receive the modulation signal and filter the modulation signal to generate a filtered signal. The voltage conversion unit is coupled to the filtering unit for receiving the filtered signal and performing voltage level conversion on the filtered signal to generate the first voltage signal. The energy storage unit is coupled to the voltage conversion unit for receiving the first voltage signal and charging by using the first voltage signal to generate an energy storage signal. The at least one logic operation unit is coupled to the energy storage unit for receiving the energy storage signal and the modulation signal, and performing logic operations on the energy storage signal and the modulation signal to generate at least one fan control signal.

In an embodiment, the filtering unit includes a first capacitor and a first resistor. First The first end of a capacitor receives the modulation signal, and the second end of the first capacitor generates a filtered signal. The first end of the first resistor is coupled to the second end of the first capacitor, and the second end of the first resistor is coupled to the ground.

In an embodiment, the voltage conversion unit includes a second resistor, a transistor, and a diode. The first end of the second resistor receives the second voltage signal, and the second end of the second resistor generates the first voltage signal. The first end of the transistor is coupled to the filtering unit for receiving the filtering signal. The second end of the transistor is coupled to the second end of the second resistor, and the third end of the transistor is coupled to the ground. The voltage conversion unit determines whether to use the second voltage signal as the first voltage signal output according to the logic level of the filtered signal received by the first end of the transistor. The anode end of the diode is coupled to the third end of the transistor, and the cathode end of the diode is coupled to the second end of the transistor.

In an embodiment, the aforementioned energy storage unit includes a second capacitor. The first end of the second capacitor receives the first voltage signal, and the second end of the second capacitor is coupled to the ground end.

In an embodiment, when the signal modulation unit is in normal operation, the modulation signal generated by the signal modulation unit is in the form of a pulse wave, so that at least one fan control signal generated by the at least one logic operation unit is in the form of a pulse wave. The corresponding operation is controlled by controlling at least one fan according to the clock frequency of the modulated signal.

In an embodiment, when the signal modulation unit is in normal operation, the modulation signal generated by the signal modulation unit is a high logic level or a low logic level, so that at least one fan control generated by at least one logic operation unit is controlled. The signal is a high logic level or a low logic level to control at least one fan according to at least one of a high logic level or a low logic level. The fan control signal is running at full speed.

Another fan control device of the present disclosure is adapted to control at least one fan. The fan control device comprises a signal modulation unit, a filtering unit, a voltage conversion unit and an energy storage unit. The signal modulation unit is used to provide a modulation signal. The filtering unit is coupled to the signal modulation unit for receiving the modulation signal and filtering the modulation signal to generate a filtered signal. The voltage conversion unit is coupled to the filtering unit for receiving the filtered signal and performing voltage level conversion on the filtered signal to generate the first voltage signal. The energy storage unit is coupled to the voltage conversion unit for receiving the first voltage signal and charging by using the first voltage signal to generate at least one fan control signal.

In an embodiment, when the signal modulation unit is in normal operation, the modulation signal generated by the signal modulation unit is in the form of a pulse wave, so that at least one fan control signal generated by the energy storage unit is in the form of a pulse wave to control At least one fan performs corresponding operation according to the clock frequency of the modulated signal.

In an embodiment, when the signal modulation unit is not operating normally, the modulation signal generated by the signal modulation unit is a high logic level, so that at least one fan control signal generated by the energy storage unit is a high logic level. And controlling at least one fan to perform full speed operation according to at least one fan control signal of a high logic level.

In an embodiment, when the signal modulation unit is not operating normally, the modulation signal generated by the signal modulation unit is a low logic level, so that at least one fan control signal generated by the energy storage unit is at a low logic level. And controlling at least one fan to perform full speed operation according to at least one fan control signal of a low logic level.

The fan control device of the present disclosure generates a corresponding filter signal according to the modulation signal by the filtering unit, so as to control the voltage conversion unit to repeatedly adjust the logic level of the first voltage signal, so that the energy storage unit performs charging or discharging, thereby generating a corresponding The energy storage signal is then used by the logic unit to generate a corresponding fan control signal according to the energy storage signal and the modulation signal to control the operation of the fan. In one case, the fan control device can have the function of a watchdog or directly generate a corresponding fan control through the energy storage unit to control the operation of the fan. In addition, when the signal modulation unit is not operating normally, the logic operation unit can still generate a high logic level fan control signal, so that the fan can continue to operate and maintain the maximum speed rotation to avoid the server on the cabinet being overheated. The damage occurred.

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

Please refer to "Figure 1" for a schematic diagram of the fan control device disclosed herein. The fan control device 100 of this embodiment is adapted to control the operation of the fans 170_1~170_N of the rack (Rack) to dissipate heat from the servers on the cabinet, where N is a positive integer greater than zero. The fan control device 100 includes a signal modulation unit 110, a filtering unit 120, a voltage conversion unit 130, an energy storage unit 140, and logic operation units 150_1~150_N.

The signal modulation unit 110 is configured to provide a modulation signal SP. In this embodiment, the signal modulation unit 110 is included, for example, in a Micro Control Unit (MCU). in. Moreover, when the signal modulation unit 110 is operating normally (ie, the microcontroller is operating normally), the signal modulation unit 110 generates, for example, a modulated signal SP in the form of a pulse wave, such as a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal. . When the signal modulation unit 110 is not operating normally (ie, the microcontroller has an abnormal condition), the signal modulation unit 110 generates, for example, a modulation signal SP that is both a high logic level or a low logic level.

The filtering unit 120 is coupled to the signal modulation unit 110 for receiving the modulation signal SP for filtering the modulation signal SP to generate the filtered signal SF. Further, the filtering unit 120 includes a first capacitor C1 and a first resistor R1. The first end of the first capacitor C1 receives the modulation signal SP, and the second end of the first capacitor C1 generates the filtered signal SF. The first end of the first resistor R1 is coupled to the second end of the first capacitor C1, and the second end of the first resistor R1 is coupled to the ground GND.

In the present embodiment, the first capacitor C1 has a characteristic of filtering out the direct current, leaving an alternating current, so that the first capacitor C1 reacts only to the rising edge and the falling edge of the signal it receives. That is to say, after the modulation signal SP having the pulse wave form passes through the first capacitor C1, the first capacitor C1 reacts to the rising edge 122 and the falling edge 121 of the modulation signal SP, so the filtering unit 120 generates the forward pulse 124. The filtered signal SF of the filtered signal SF and the negative pulse 123 is as shown in "Fig. 2".

The voltage conversion unit 130 is coupled to the filtering unit 120 for receiving the filtered signal SF and performing voltage level conversion on the filtered signal SF to generate the first voltage signal VS1. Further, the voltage conversion unit 130 includes a second resistor R2, a transistor M, and a diode D. The first end of the second resistor R2 receives the second voltage signal VS2, and the second resistor The second end of R2 generates a first voltage signal VS1. The second voltage signal VS2 is, for example, an operating voltage.

The transistor M has a first end, a second end, and a third end. The first end of the transistor M is coupled to the filtering unit 120 for receiving the filtering signal SF, and the second end of the transistor M is coupled to the second resistor R2. The second end of the transistor M is coupled to the ground GND. In this embodiment, the transistor M is, for example, an N-type transistor, wherein the first end of the transistor M is the gate of the N-type transistor, and the second end of the transistor M is the N-type transistor. At the extreme, the third end of the transistor M is the source of the N-type transistor. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and the transistor M may also be an N-type transistor.

The anode end of the diode D is coupled to the third end of the transistor M, and the cathode end of the diode D is coupled to the second end of the transistor M. The diode D is used to clamp the voltage between the second end and the third end of the transistor M, respectively. The voltage conversion unit 130 determines whether to output the second voltage signal VS2 as the first voltage signal VS1 according to the logic level of the filtered signal SF received by the first end of the transistor M.

For example, when the filtered signal SF is the forward pulse wave 124, the transistor M is turned on, so that the second end of the transistor M is coupled to the third end and coupled to the ground GND, the first voltage signal VS1 It is a low logic level. When the filter signal SF is the negative pulse wave 123, the transistor M is not turned on, so that the second voltage signal VS2 generates the first voltage signal VS1 via the second resistor R2, that is, the voltage conversion unit 130 uses the second voltage signal VS2 as the first A voltage signal VS1 output.

The energy storage unit 140 is coupled to the voltage conversion unit 130 for receiving the first voltage signal VS1 and charging by using the first voltage signal VS1 to generate the energy storage signal SS. Further, the energy storage unit 140 includes a second capacitor C2. The first end of the second capacitor C2 receives the first voltage signal VS1, and the second end of the second capacitor C2 is coupled to the ground GND.

When the first voltage signal VS1 is at a low logic level, the energy storage unit 140 discharges using the first voltage signal VS1, that is, the energy storage unit 140 is coupled to the ground GND through the transistor M to perform discharge. When the first voltage signal VS1 is the second logic signal VS2 with a high logic level, the energy storage unit 140 is charged by the first voltage signal VS1.

The logic operation unit 150_1~150_N is coupled to the signal modulation unit 110 and the energy storage unit 140 for receiving the energy storage signal SS and the modulation signal SP, and performing logic operations on the energy storage signal SS and the modulation signal SP to generate a fan. Control signals, and then control the fans 170_1~170_N to perform corresponding operations. In this embodiment, the number of logical operation units corresponds to the number of fans. Therefore, the user can adjust the number of logical operation units according to his needs.

In addition, the logic operation units 150_1 150 150_N each include a gate 151. The gate 151 has a first input end, a second input end and an output end. The first input terminal of the gate 151 receives the modulation signal SP, and the second input terminal of the gate 151 receives the energy storage signal SS, and the output terminal of the gate 151 generates a fan control signal.

The components of the fan control device 100 of the present embodiment and the matching thereof have been described above. Set the relationship. Next, the operational flow of the fan control device 100 will be further explained.

First, after the server on the cabinet is powered on, the signal modulation unit 110 starts to operate to generate the modulation signal SP, and the modulation signal SP is respectively transmitted to the first input end of the filtering unit 120 and the gate 151. On the other hand, since the server on the cabinet has just started, the second capacitor C2 does not store energy, so that the gate 151 generates a fan control signal according to the modulation signal SP to control the corresponding fan 170_1~170_N. The clock frequency of the modulation signal SP is modulated to produce a corresponding operation.

Then, the filtering unit 120 receives the modulation signal SP and filters the modulation signal SP to generate the filtered signal SF of the forward pulse 124 or the filtered signal SF of the negative pulse 123 as shown in FIG. 2 .

Then, when the first end of the transistor M receives the filtered signal SF of the forward pulse 124, the transistor M is turned on, so that the first voltage signal VS1 output by the voltage converting unit 130 is at a low logic level. On the other hand, when the first end of the transistor M receives the filtered signal SF of the negative pulse 123, the transistor M is not turned on, so that the voltage converting unit 130 outputs the second voltage signal VS2 as the first voltage signal VS1. The second voltage signal VS2 is at a high logic level.

Then, when the transistor M is turned on, the first end of the second capacitor C2 is coupled to the ground GND via the second end and the third end of the transistor M (ie, the first voltage signal VS1 is at a low logic level), The second capacitor C2 is discharged, so that the voltage of the energy storage signal SS drops. When the transistor M is not turned on, the second voltage signal VS2 generates a first voltage signal VS1 via the second resistor R2, and outputs the first voltage signal VS1 to the first end of the second capacitor C2. The second capacitor C2 is charged, so that the voltage of the energy storage signal SS rises slowly.

In this embodiment, when the signal modulation unit 110 is operating normally (ie, the microcontroller is operating normally), the signal modulation unit 110 continuously outputs the modulation signal SP in the form of a pulse wave, so that the filtering unit 120 repeats and sequentially A filtered signal SF of the forward pulse 124 and the negative pulse 123 is generated to control the transistor M to be turned on or off again. Then, the second capacitor C2 is turned on or off according to the transistor M, and the charging or discharging operation is performed correspondingly, so that the voltage of the energy storage signal SS drops or rises slowly.

Since the second capacitor C2 is charged, the voltage of the energy storage signal SS will rise slowly, and when the voltage of the energy storage signal SS has not reached the high logic level, the transistor M is turned on again, and the second capacitor C2 is discharged. The voltage of the energy storage signal SS is lowered, so the energy storage signal SS is still regarded as a low logic level.

Then, since the energy storage signal SS received by the second input terminal of the gate 151 is at a low logic level, the gate 151 is based on the logic level of the modulation signal SP received by the first input terminal. The output of the gate 151 outputs a fan control signal corresponding to the logic level of the modulation signal SP. That is, when the signal modulation unit 110 is operating normally (ie, the microcontroller is operating normally), the fans 170_1~170_N are controlled by the modulation signal SP to perform corresponding operations, for example, the fans 170_1~170_N are based on the modulation signal SP. The clock frequency produces a corresponding speed.

When the signal modulation unit 110 does not operate normally (ie, the microcontroller is abnormal), the signal modulation unit 110 continues to generate the modulation signal SP of the high logic level, for example, so that When the transistor M is turned on, the second capacitor C2 is discharged. Since the second capacitor C2 discharges, the energy storage signal SS is at a low logic level, so the first input terminal of the gate 151 receives the energy storage signal SS with a low logic level, and the energy storage of the low logic level The signal SS is output to the first input of the AND gate 151.

Thereafter, since the energy storage signal SS received by the second input terminal of the gate 151 is a low logic level, and the modulation signal SP received by the first input terminal of the gate 151 is a high logic level, the gate 151 is A fan control signal with a high logic level is output at its output, so that the fans 170_1~170_N operate at full speed accordingly.

In addition, when the signal modulation unit 110 does not operate normally (ie, the microcontroller is abnormal), the signal modulation unit 110 continues to generate the low-level logic modulation signal SP, for example, so that the transistor M is not turned on, and the second capacitor C2 is charged. Since the second capacitor C2 is charged, the voltage of the energy storage signal SS rises slowly and reaches a high logic level, so the first input terminal of the gate 151 receives the energy storage signal SS of a high logic level.

Thereafter, since the energy storage signal SS received by the second input terminal of the gate 151 is a high logic level, and the modulation signal SP received by the first input terminal of the gate 151 is a low logic level, the gate 151 is A fan control signal with a high logic level is output at its output, so that the fans 170_1~170_N operate at full speed accordingly.

In this way, the fan control device 100 has the function of a watchdog, and when the signal modulation unit 110 does not operate normally (ie, the microcontroller is abnormal), and the signal modulation unit 110 outputs a high logic standard. Bit or low logic level The variable speed SP, the fan 170_1~170_N is still operating continuously and rotates at the maximum speed to avoid damage to the servo on the cabinet due to overheating.

In this embodiment, the resistance value of the first resistor R1 is, for example, 20K ohms (20KΩ), the resistance value of the second resistor R2 is, for example, 1M ohm (1MΩ), and the capacitance value of the second capacitor C2 is, for example, 4.7 microfarads (4.7). μF).

Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a schematic diagram of another fan control device disclosed in the present disclosure. The fan control device 300 of this embodiment is adapted to control the operation of the fans 170_1~170_N of the rack (Rack) to dissipate heat from the servers on the cabinet, where N is a positive integer greater than zero. The fan control device 300 includes a modulation unit 110, a filtering unit 120, a voltage conversion unit 130, and an energy storage unit 310.

The difference between the fan control device 300 of the present embodiment and the fan control device 100 of "FIG. 1" is that the fan control device 300 omits the logic operation units 150_1 150 150_N, and the fan control device 300 generates a corresponding fan from the energy storage unit 310. Control signal. That is, the energy storage unit 310 performs charging using the first voltage signal VS1 to generate corresponding fan control signals to the fans 170_1~170_N. The number of fan control signals corresponds to the fans 170_1~170_N.

For the coupling relationship between the modulation unit 110, the filtering unit 120, the voltage conversion unit 130 and the energy storage unit 310 of the present embodiment, reference may be made to the modulation unit 110, the filtering unit 120, and the voltage conversion of the "FIG. 1". The description of the correspondence between the unit 130 and the energy storage unit 140 and the corresponding relationship between the synchronization signal and the oscillation signal of the "second picture" will not be repeated here. Moreover, the fan control device 300 can still reach the The same effect of the fan control device 100 of Fig. 1 is shown.

The fan control device of the embodiment of the present disclosure is configured to generate a corresponding filter signal according to the modulation signal by the filtering unit, to control the voltage conversion unit to repeatedly adjust the logic level of the first voltage signal, so that the energy storage unit performs charging or discharging. And generating a corresponding energy storage signal, and then using the logic operation unit to generate a corresponding fan control signal according to the energy storage signal and the modulation signal to control the operation of the fan, or directly generate the corresponding fan control through the energy storage unit. To control the operation of the fan. As a result, the fan control device can have the function of a watchdog. In addition, when the signal modulation unit is not working properly (ie, the microcontroller is abnormal), the logic unit can still generate a high logic level fan control signal, so that the fan can continue to operate and maintain the maximum speed rotation to avoid the cabinet. The server is damaged due to overheating.

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, 300‧‧‧Fan control unit

110‧‧‧Signal Modulation Unit

120‧‧‧Filter unit

121‧‧‧ falling edge

122‧‧‧ rising edge

123‧‧‧negative pulse

124‧‧‧ Forward pulse

130‧‧‧Voltage conversion unit

140, 310‧‧‧ energy storage unit

150_1~150_N‧‧‧Logical unit

151‧‧‧ and gate

170_1~170_N‧‧‧Fan

C1‧‧‧first capacitor

C2‧‧‧second capacitor

R1‧‧‧first resistance

R2‧‧‧second resistance

M‧‧‧O crystal

D‧‧‧ diode

SP‧‧‧ modulated signal

SF‧‧‧Filter signal

VS1‧‧‧ first voltage signal

VS2‧‧‧second voltage signal

SS‧‧‧ Energy Storage Signal

GND‧‧‧ ground terminal

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

FIG. 2 is a waveform diagram of the correspondence between the modulated signal and the filtered signal of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another fan control device according to the present disclosure.

100‧‧‧Fan control unit

110‧‧‧Signal Modulation Unit

120‧‧‧Filter unit

130‧‧‧Voltage conversion unit

140‧‧‧ Energy storage unit

150_1~150_N‧‧‧Logical unit

151‧‧‧ and gate

170_1~170_N‧‧‧Fan

C1‧‧‧first capacitor

C2‧‧‧second capacitor

R1‧‧‧first resistance

R2‧‧‧second resistance

M‧‧‧O crystal

D‧‧‧ diode

SP‧‧‧ modulated signal

SF‧‧‧Filter signal

VS1‧‧‧ first voltage signal

VS2‧‧‧second voltage signal

SS‧‧‧ Energy Storage Signal

GND‧‧‧ ground terminal

Claims (8)

A fan control device is adapted to control at least one fan, the fan control device includes: a signal modulation unit for providing a modulation signal; and a filtering unit coupled to the signal modulation unit for receiving the modulation a signal, and filtering the modulated signal to generate a filtered signal; a voltage converting unit coupled to the filtering unit for receiving the filtered signal, and performing a voltage level conversion on the filtered signal to generate a a first voltage signal; an energy storage unit coupled to the voltage conversion unit for receiving the first voltage signal, and charging by using the first voltage signal to generate a stored energy signal; and at least one logic operation unit, The energy storage unit and the signal modulation unit are coupled to receive the energy storage signal and the modulation signal, and perform logic operations on the energy storage signal and the modulation signal to generate at least one fan control signal; When the signal modulation unit is in normal operation, the modulation signal generated by the signal modulation unit is in the form of a pulse wave, so that the at least one logic operation unit generates the A fan control signal for the pulse form, to control the operation of a fan based on a clock corresponding to a frequency of the modulation signal at least. The fan control device of claim 1, wherein the filtering unit comprises: a first capacitor, wherein the first end receives the modulation signal, and the second end generates the And a first resistor, the first end of which is coupled to the second end of the first capacitor, and the second end of which is coupled to a ground. The fan control device of claim 1, wherein the voltage conversion unit comprises: a second resistor, the first end of which receives a second voltage signal, the second end of which generates the first voltage signal; and a transistor The first end is coupled to the filtering unit for receiving the filtering signal, the second end is coupled to the second end of the second resistor, and the third end is coupled to a ground end, wherein the voltage converting unit is configured according to the transistor The first end receives the logic level of the filtered signal, and determines whether the second voltage signal is used as the first voltage signal output; and a diode whose anode end is coupled to the third end of the transistor The cathode end thereof is coupled to the second end of the transistor. The fan control device of claim 1, wherein the energy storage unit comprises a second capacitor, the first end of the second capacitor receives the first voltage signal, and the second end of the second capacitor is coupled to a ground end . The fan control device of claim 1, wherein when the signal modulation unit is not operating normally, the modulation signal generated by the signal modulation unit is a high logic level or a low logic level. The at least one fan control signal generated by the at least one logic operation unit is the high logic level or the low logic level to control the at least one fan of the at least one fan according to the high logic level or the low logic level The control signal is running at full speed. A fan control device is adapted to control at least one fan, the fan control device includes: a signal modulation unit for providing a modulation signal; and a filtering unit coupled to the signal modulation unit for receiving the modulation a signal, and filtering the modulated signal to generate a filtered signal; a voltage converting unit coupled to the filtering unit for receiving the filtered signal, and performing a voltage level conversion on the filtered signal to generate a a first voltage signal; and an energy storage unit coupled to the voltage conversion unit for receiving the first voltage signal and charging by using the first voltage signal to generate at least one fan control signal; when the signal is modulated When the unit is in normal operation, the modulation signal generated by the signal modulation unit is in the form of a pulse wave, so that the at least one fan control signal generated by the energy storage unit is in the pulse wave form to control the at least one fan basis. The one-clock frequency of the modulation signal is correspondingly operated. The fan control device of claim 6, wherein when the signal modulation unit is not operating normally, the modulation signal generated by the signal modulation unit is a high logic level, so that the energy storage unit generates The at least one fan control signal is at the high logic level to control the at least one fan to operate at full speed according to the at least one fan control signal of the high logic level. The fan control device of claim 6, wherein when the signal modulation unit is not operating normally, the modulation signal generated by the signal modulation unit is a low logic level, so that the energy storage unit generates The at least one fan control signal is at the low logic level to control the at least one fan to operate at full speed according to the at least one fan control signal of the low logic level.