TWI808394B - System and method of controlling fan - Google Patents

Abstract

A system of controlling fan is disclosed in the present invention. The system is applied to a server and includes a first monitoring and protecting chip, a second monitoring and protecting chip, a switch, a plurality of fans, and a CPLD(Complex Programmable Logic Device). When the server is at a S5 state, the CPLD is utilized to control the switch to make the fans receive a standby power and operate at a lower power. When the server changes to a S0 state, the CPLD is utilized to control the switch to make the fans receive a power-on power and operate at a higher power. A method of controlling fan is also disclosed in the present invention.

Description

Fan control system and method thereof

The present invention relates to a system and method, in particular to a fan control system and method.

With the development of technology, the application of server system is also more extensive. The server system is also constantly updated and optimized in response to the different application fields of each company or user to meet different usage requirements. The server system usually has six states: S0~S5. Among them, the S0 state is the normal operation state of the power on, and the S5 state is the shutdown state. It should be noted that the S5 state refers to the shutdown state, which refers to the state where the server system is shut down and the plug is plugged into the socket. It means that although the server system is powered off, it still has the mains power provided by the receiving socket.

Generally speaking, the fan of the server system will not work in the S5 state, but will start to work in the S0 state. However, as the amount of data gradually increases, and different components in the server system may start to operate in the S5 state in response to different usage requirements, the heat dissipation requirements of the server system increase, and the fans only start to operate in the S0 state, which may not be able to meet the heat dissipation requirements. Therefore, there is room for improvement in the prior art.

In view of the various problems caused and derived from the increased heat dissipation requirements of the server system in the prior art. One of the main objectives of the present invention is to provide a fan control system and its method to solve at least one problem in the prior art.

In order to solve the problems of the prior art, the necessary technical means adopted by the present invention is to provide a fan control system, which is applied to a server system. The server system includes a power supply unit, and the fan control system includes a first monitoring and protection chip, a second monitoring and protection chip, a switch, a plurality of fans and a complex programmable logic device. The first monitoring protection chip is electrically connected to the power supply unit, and used for receiving a power-on power when the server system is in a power-on state. The second monitoring protection chip is electrically connected to the power supply unit, and is used for receiving a standby power when the server system is in a shutdown state. The switching switch is electrically connected to the first monitoring protection chip and the second monitoring protection chip. The fan is electrically connected to the switching switch.

The complex programmable logic device is electrically connected to the first monitoring and protection chip, the second monitoring and protection chip, the switch and the fans, and is used to enable the second monitoring and protection chip when the server system is in the shutdown state and detects that the second monitoring and protection chip receives the standby power, controls the switch to conduct the second monitoring and protection chip and the fans, so that the fans receive the standby power, and controls the fans to operate at a standby power; When the power-on power is activated, the first monitoring and protection chip is enabled, the switch is controlled to conduct the first monitoring and protection chip and the fans, so that the fans receive the power-on power, and the fans are controlled to operate at a normal power higher than the standby power.

On the basis of the above-mentioned necessary technical means, an auxiliary technical means derived from the present invention is to make the first monitoring and protection chip in the fan control system adopt the ADM1278 chip.

On the basis of the above-mentioned necessary technical means, an auxiliary technical means derived from the present invention is to make the second monitoring and protection chip in the fan control system adopt MP5023 chip.

On the basis of the above-mentioned necessary technical means, an auxiliary technical means derived from the present invention is to make the switch in the fan control system include at least one metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor.

In order to solve the problems of the prior art, the necessary technical means adopted by the present invention is to additionally provide a fan control method, which is implemented by the above-mentioned fan control system, and includes the following steps: using the complex programmable logic device, when the server system is in the shutdown state, enabling the second monitoring and protection chip; using the second monitoring and protection chip to receive the standby power; The standby power operation; using the complex programmable logic device, when the server system is switched from the shutdown state to the power-on state, enable the first monitoring and protection chip; use the first monitoring and protection chip to receive the power-on power; use the complex programmable logic device to control the switching switch to conduct the first monitoring and protection chip and the fans, so that the fans receive the power-on power, and control the fans to run at the normal power.

On the basis of the above-mentioned necessary technical means, an auxiliary technical means derived from the present invention is a fan control method, which further includes the following steps: using the complex programmable logic device, when the server system is switched from the power-on state to the power-off state, turning off the first monitoring and protection chip, and continuing the above steps.

On the basis of the above-mentioned necessary technical means, an auxiliary technical means derived from the present invention is to use the ADM1278 chip as the first monitoring and protection chip in the fan control method.

On the basis of the above-mentioned necessary technical means, an auxiliary technical means derived from the present invention is to use the MP5023 chip as the second monitoring and protection chip in the fan control method.

Based on the above, the present invention utilizes a complex programmable logic device, a switch, a first monitoring and protection chip, a second monitoring and protection chip, and a fan. Compared with the prior art, the present invention can judge the state of the server system, control the switching switch to conduct the first monitoring and protection chip or the second monitoring and protection chip, and control the fan to run at a lower standby power in the off state, and control the fan to run at a higher power in the power-on state, so as to meet different usage requirements and heat dissipation requirements.

In addition, compared with the prior art that uses a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC), the present invention uses a complex programmable logic device for judgment, and can be additionally applied to some server systems that do not have a Baseboard Management Controller. However, when the present invention is applied to a server system with a BMC, it can help to offload some operating performance of the BMC.

The specific implementation manner of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to schematic diagrams. The advantages and features of the present invention will be more clear from the following description and claims. It should be noted that all the drawings are in very simplified form and use imprecise scales, which are only used to facilitate and clearly assist the purpose of illustrating the embodiments of the present invention.

Please refer to the first figure to the second figure, wherein the first figure shows a block diagram of the fan control system provided by the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and the second figure shows the flow chart of the fan control method provided by the preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, a fan control method is implemented by a fan control system 1 and includes the following steps S101 to S112.

The fan control system 1 is applied to a server system 2 , wherein the server system 2 includes at least a power supply unit 21 .

The fan control system 1 includes a first monitoring and protection chip 11, a second monitoring and protection chip 12, a switch 13, a plurality of fans 14 (six are drawn in the figure and one of them is marked) and a complex programmable logic device 15 (Complex Programmable Logic Device; CPLD).

The first monitoring and protection chip 11 is electrically connected to the power supply unit 21 . The second monitoring and protection chip 12 is also electrically connected to the power supply unit 21 . One end of the switch 13 is electrically connected to the first monitoring and protection chip 11 and the second monitoring and protection chip 12 , and the other end is electrically connected to the fan 14 . The complex programmable logic device 15 is electrically connected to the first monitoring and protection chip 11 , the second monitoring and protection chip 12 , the switching switch 13 and the fan 14 .

Step S101: Whether the server system is in shutdown state.

Determine whether the server system 2 is in the shutdown state. The shutdown state here refers to the S5 state, which means that the server system 2 is shut down and the plug is inserted into the socket. It means that although the server system 2 is shut down, there is still commercial power provided by the receiving socket. In step S101 , the complex programmable logic device 15 can be used for judgment. When the result of step S101 is yes, go to step S102; if the result of step S101 is no, go to step S101 again.

Step S102: Enable the second monitoring protection chip by using complex programmable logic device.

The CPLD 15 activates the second monitoring protection chip 12 . In actual operation, the complex programmable logic device 15 will output a power enable signal to the second monitoring and protection chip 12 to enable the second monitoring and protection chip 12 .

Step S103: Utilize the second monitoring protection chip to receive standby power.

The second monitoring protection chip 12 receives a standby (standby) power when the server system 2 is in the shutdown state (S5 state). Standby power, also referred to as reserve power or backup power, refers to a kind of power transmitted by the power supply unit 21 when the plug of the server system 2 is plugged into a socket and has not been turned on yet. In this embodiment, the second monitoring and protection chip 12 is an MP5023 chip, which is used to monitor the flowing current and power consumption, and has the function of over current protection (Over Current Protection; OCP).

Step S104 : using the complex programmable logic device to control the switch, to turn on the second monitoring and protection chip and the fan, so that the fan receives standby power.

The complex programmable logic device 15 controls the switch 13 so that the switch 13 turns on the second monitoring protection chip 12 and the fan 14 . Therefore, the fan 14 receives the standby power transmitted by the second monitoring and protection chip 12 . The switch 13 has the function of switching conduction, and may be composed of metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor; MOSFET), bipolar junction transistor (Bipolar Junction Transistor; BJT), insulated gate bipolar transistor (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor; IGBT) and other electronic components, but not limited thereto.

Step S105: Utilize the complex programmable logic device to control the fan to run at the standby power.

Then, the complex programmable logic device 15 turns on the fan 14 and controls the fan 14 to run at a standby power. Because the server system 2 is in the shutdown state (S5 state) at this time, only a small number of special components can operate, so the complex programmable logic device 15 controls the fan 14 to operate only at standby power, so as to meet the heat dissipation requirements of the server system 2 and avoid wasting electric energy and other problems. The complex programmable logic device 15 can use pulse-width modulation (Pulse-Width Modulation; PWM) to control the power of the fan 14. In practice, the standby power is usually the duty cycle of the pulse-width modulation is between 15% and 25%.

In addition, the second monitoring and protection chip 12 can also be electrically connected to other devices and devices, such as PCIe slots, so as to meet different usage requirements. There may be different devices and devices that need to receive standby power to operate when the server system 2 is in the shutdown state (S5 state).

Step S106: Whether the server system is switched to the boot state.

It is judged whether the server system 2 is switched to the power-on state, where the power-on state is the S0 state. In step S106 , the complex programmable logic device 15 can be used for judgment. When the result of step S106 is yes, it means that the server system 2 is in normal operation state, that is, all components of the server system 2 are in operation, then enter step S107; if the result of step S106 is no, then enter step S106 again.

Step S107: Enable the first monitoring protection chip by using the complex programmable logic device.

The CPLD 15 activates the first monitor protection chip 11 . In practice, the complex programmable logic device 15 outputs a power enable signal to the first monitoring and protection chip 11 , so as to enable the first monitoring and protection chip 11 .

Step S108: Utilize the first monitoring and protection chip to receive power-on power.

The first monitoring protection chip 11 receives a power-on power when the server system 2 is in the power-on state (S0 state). The power-on power, also referred to as main power, normal power, or “real power” in the industry, refers to a kind of power transmitted by the power supply unit 21 after the server system 2 is powered on. In this embodiment, the first monitoring and protection chip 11 is an ADM1278 chip, which is used to monitor the flowing current and power consumption, and has the function of over current protection (Over Current Protection; OCP). Because the power of the power-on power is higher than that of the standby power, the maximum current that the first monitoring and protection chip 11 can withstand is greater than that of the second monitoring and protection chip 12 .

Step S109 : using the complex programmable logic device to control the switch to conduct the first monitoring and protection chip and the fan, so that the fan receives power for starting up.

The complex programmable logic device 15 controls the switch 13 so that the switch 13 turns on the first monitoring protection chip 11 and the fan 14 . Therefore, the fan 14 receives the power-on power transmitted by the first monitoring and protection chip 11 .

Step S110: Utilize the complex programmable logic device to control the fan to run at normal power.

Then, the complex programmable logic device 15 controls the fan 14 to run at a starting power. Because the server system 2 is in the power-on state (S0 state) at this time, all components will operate, so the complex programmable logic device 15 controls the fan 14 to be turned up to run at power-on power, so as to meet the higher heat dissipation requirements of the server system 2 in the power-on state. The complex programmable logic device 15 can use pulse width modulation to control the power of the fan 14 . In practice, the power-on power is usually at least 50% of the duty cycle of the pulse width modulation.

Step S111: Whether the server system switches back to the shutdown state.

Then, it will continue to judge whether the server system 2 is switched back to the shutdown state (S5 state). The step S111 can also be determined by using the complex programmable logic device 15 . When the judgment result of step S111 is yes, then enter step S112; if the judgment result of step S111 is no, then repeatedly enter step S111.

Step S112 : Turn off the first monitor protection chip by using complex programmable logic device.

When the server system 2 switches back to the shutdown state (S5 state), it means that only a few special components are left to operate, and the heat dissipation requirement is reduced. Therefore, the complex programmable logic device 15 will turn off the first monitoring and protection chip 11 . Finally, because the server system 2 switches back to the shutdown state, the above step S104 will be continued, and the complex programmable logic device 15 will control the switch 13 so that the switch 13 will conduct the second monitoring protection chip 12 and the fan 14 . Therefore, the fan 14 receives the standby power transmitted by the second monitoring and protection chip 12 again.

It should be noted that the above steps will continue to be executed repeatedly until the plug of the server system 2 is pulled out from the socket. When the plug of the server system 2 is pulled out from the socket, the server system 2 cannot receive mains power. At this time, all components will not operate, so there will be no heat dissipation requirements. Therefore, there is no need to control the fan 14, and the fan 14 cannot be controlled because there is no power.

In summary, the present invention utilizes a complex programmable logic device, a switch, a first monitoring protection chip, a second monitoring protection chip, and a fan. Compared with the prior art, the present invention can judge the state of the server system, control the switching switch to turn on the first monitoring protection chip or the second monitoring protection chip, and control the fan to run at a lower standby power in the off state, and control the fan to run at a higher power in the power-on state, so as to meet different usage requirements and heat dissipation requirements.

In addition, compared with the prior art that uses a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC), the present invention uses a complex programmable logic device for judgment, and can be additionally applied to some server systems that do not have a Baseboard Management Controller. However, when the present invention is applied to a server system with a BMC, it can help to offload some operating performance of the BMC.

Through the above detailed description of the preferred embodiments, it is hoped that the characteristics and spirit of the present invention can be described more clearly, and the scope of the present invention is not limited by the preferred embodiments disclosed above. On the contrary, the intention is to cover various changes and equivalent arrangements within the scope of the claimed patent scope of the present invention.

1: Fan control system 11: The first monitoring protection chip 12: The second monitoring protection chip 13: Toggle switch 14: fan 15:Complex programmable logic device 2: Server system 21: Power supply unit

The first figure shows the block diagram of the fan control system provided by the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and The second figure is a flowchart showing the fan control method provided by the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

1: Fan control system

11: The first monitoring protection chip

12: The second monitoring protection chip

13: Toggle switch

14: fan

15:Complex programmable logic device

2: Server system

21: Power supply unit

Claims (8)

A fan control system is applied to a server system, the server system includes a power supply unit, and the fan control system includes: A first monitoring and protection chip is electrically connected to the power supply unit for receiving a power-on power when the server system is in a power-on state; A second monitoring and protection chip is electrically connected to the power supply unit to receive a standby power when the server system is in a shutdown state; a switch, which is electrically connected to the first monitoring and protection chip and the second monitoring and protection chip; a plurality of fans electrically connected to the switch; and A complex programmable logic device is electrically connected to the first monitoring and protection chip, the second monitoring and protection chip, the switch and the fans, for enabling the second monitoring and protection chip when the server system is in the shutdown state and detecting that the second monitoring and protection chip has received the standby power, controlling the switch to turn on the second monitoring and protection chip and the fans, so that the fans receive the standby power and control the fans to operate at a standby power; When receiving the power-on power, enable the first monitoring and protection chip, control the switch to conduct the first monitoring and protection chip and the fans, make the fans receive the power-on power, and control the fans to run at a normal power higher than the standby power. The fan control system according to claim 1, wherein the first monitoring protection chip is an ADM1278 chip. The fan control system according to claim 1, wherein the second monitoring protection chip is an MP5023 chip. The fan control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the switch comprises at least one metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor. A fan control method is implemented using the fan control system described in claim 1, and includes the following steps: (a) using the complex programmable logic device to activate the second monitoring protection chip when the server system is in the shutdown state; (b) using the second monitoring protection chip to receive the standby power; (c) using the complex programmable logic device to control the switching switch to conduct the second monitoring and protection chip and the fans, so that the fans receive the standby power, and control the fans to operate at the standby power; (d) using the complex programmable logic device to enable the first monitoring protection chip when the server system is switched from the off state to the on state; (e) using the first monitoring protection chip to receive the power-on power; (f) using the complex programmable logic device to control the switching switch to turn on the first monitoring and protection chip and the fans, so that the fans receive the power-on power, and control the fans to operate at the normal power. The fan control method as described in claim 5 further includes the following steps: (g) Using the complex programmable logic device, when the server system switches from the power-on state to the power-off state, turn off the first monitoring protection chip, and continue with the above step (a). The fan control method according to claim 5, wherein the first monitoring protection chip is an ADM1278 chip. The fan control method according to claim 5, wherein the second monitoring protection chip is an MP5023 chip.

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