Apparatus and method for modular dynamically power managed power supply and cooling system for computer systems, server applications, and other electronic devices

• US 20020007464A1
• Filed: 05/18/2001
• Published: 01/17/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/1990
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Huron IP LLC
• Original Assignee: Amphus, Inc.
• Inventors: Fung, Henry T.
• Application Number:
  US09/860,237
• Publication Number:
  US 20020007464A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/320
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00315 Microtiter plates
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00317 Microwell devices, i.e. having large numbers of wells
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00605 the compounds being directly bound or immobilised to solid supports
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00659 Two-dimensional arrays
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00686 Automatic
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00691 using robots
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00707 separated from the reactor apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: C40B 60/14 for creating libraries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3209 Monitoring remote activity, e.g. over telephone lines or network connections
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3215 Monitoring of peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3221 of disk drive devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/324 by lowering clock frequency
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

Network architecture, computer system and/or server, circuit, device, apparatus, method, and computer program and control mechanism for managing power consumption and workload in computer system and data and information servers. Further provides power and energy consumption and workload management and control systems and architectures for high-density and modular multi-server computer systems that maintain performance while conserving energy and method for power management and workload management. Dynamic server power management and optional dynamic workload management for multi-server environments is provided by aspects of the invention. Modular network devices and integrated server system, including modular servers, management units, switches and switching fabrics, modular power supplies and modular fans and a special backplane architecture are provided as well as dynamically reconfigurable multi-purpose modules and servers. Backplane architecture, structure, and method that has no active components and separate power supply lines and protection to provide high reliability in server environment.

Claims

1. An electrical apparatus comprising:

a frame or enclosure;

at least one electrical circuit drawing electrical power in the form of an alternating or direct electrical voltage, current, or a combination of an electrical voltage and an electrical current disposed within said frame or enclosure, said electrical circuit utilizing said electrical power and generating heat as a result of said utilization;

at least one temperature sensor within said enclosure for monitoring and reporting the temperature proximate the sensor to a temperature monitor; and

a power manager receiving said reported temperature and controlling the temperature at the temperature sensor by controlling electrical power drawn by said electrical circuit and thereby the heat generated by operation of said circuit.

2. The apparatus in claim 1, wherein said at least one electrical circuit comprises a computer having a processor receiving an operating voltage and a processor clock signal.

3. The apparatus in claim 2, wherein said computer is configured as a server.

4. The apparatus in claim 3, wherein said power manager comprises a power management circuit.

5. The apparatus in claim 3, wherein said server comprises a server module and said power manager comprises a management module.

6. The apparatus in claim 1, wherein said apparatus comprises a plurality of said electrical circuits each including a computer having a processor receiving an operating voltage and a processor clock signal.

7. The apparatus in claim 6, wherein said power manager controls the electrical power drawn and the heat generated by said electrical circuits by controlling either the frequency of said processor clock signal, or said operating voltage, or a combination of said processor clock frequency and said processor operating voltage.

8. The apparatus in claim 7, wherein said power manager reduces the electrical power drawn by said electrical circuits by monitoring said temperature sensor and controlling an output signal generated at least in part by said temperature sensor to be within a predetermined range.

9. The apparatus in claim 8, wherein said predetermined range includes a predetermined maximum.

10. The apparatus in claim 6, wherein at least some of said plurality of electrical circuits are configured as network devices including said processor receiving said operating voltage and said processor clock signal;

and said power manager controls the electrical power drawn and the heat generated by said network devices by controlling either the frequency of said processor clock signal, or said operating voltage, or a combination of said processor clock frequency and said processor operating voltage.

11. The apparatus in claim 10, wherein at least some of said network devices comprise circuits configured as a network device selected from the set consisting of a web server, a streaming media server, a cache server, a file server, an application server, and a router.

12. The apparatus in claim 10, wherein at least some of said network devices comprise server computers that further include at least one hard disk drive for storing data or other content to be served and a network communication circuit for communicating with an external client over a communication link.

13. The apparatus in claim 10, wherein said server computers comprises server modules and said power manager comprises at least one management module.

14. The apparatus in claim 10, wherein said configured network device comprises a management node type network device.

15. The apparatus in claim 10, wherein said system includes a plurality of temperature sensors within said enclosure reporting to one or more network devices.

16. The apparatus in claim 15, wherein said plurality of temperature sensors are spatially distributed to provide temperature monitoring of different network devices within said enclosure.

17. The apparatus in claim 15, wherein said plurality of temperature sensors are spatially distributed to provide temperature monitoring of different network devices and power supplies within said enclosure.

18. The apparatus in claim 12, wherein when the temperature sensed by a temperature sensor is within a predetermined magnitude relationship of a first predetermined value at least one network device is transitioned to a lower power consumption state thereby generating less heat.

19. The apparatus in claim 18, wherein when the temperature sensed by a temperature sensor is within a predetermined magnitude relationship of a second predetermined value at least one network device is transitioned to a powered off state.

20. The apparatus in claim 1, wherein the operational state of at least one network device is reduced to a lower power consuming and heat dissipating state in response to a temperature sensor reporting a temperature greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

21. The apparatus in claim 20, wherein after said power consumption state has been lowered permitting said network device to be operated at a higher power consuming state when the temperature sensed is below a predetermined temperature value, said lower temperature value being selected to provide hysteresis and prevent oscillation between higher power state and lower powered state.

22. The apparatus in claim 1, when the temperature sensed by a temperature sensor is within a predetermined magnitude relationship of a first predetermined value at least one network device is transitioned to a lower power consumption state.

23. The apparatus in claim 22, wherein the lower power consumption state is achieved by lowering the clock frequency of the processor, the clock frequency of a bus coupling a processor to other components, or the operating voltage of the processor or other components.

24. The apparatus in claim 22, wherein additional networked devices are sent to lower energy consuming modes if the temperature remains above a predetermined temperature value.

25. The apparatus in claim 7, wherein said controlling of either the frequency of said processor clock signal, or said operating voltage, or a combination of said processor clock frequency and said processor operating voltage, is controlled by a computer program executing instructions to implement a control procedure at least in part in at least one of said processors of said computers that transition one or more of said processors between different operating modes having different electrical power consumptions and different heat generation;

said procedure including;

while operating in a first selected operating mode exhibiting that first selected mode'"'"'s characteristic power consumption range, (i) monitoring said computer system to detect the occurrence or non-occurrence of a first event; and

(ii) transitioning said computer system from said first selected operating mode to a second selected operating mode exhibiting that second selected operating mode'"'"'s power consumption range.

26. The apparatus in claim 25, wherein said procedure further including:

while operating in said second selected operating mode exhibiting that second selected mode'"'"'s characteristic power consumption range, (i) monitoring said computer system to detect the occurrence or non-occurrence of a second event; and

(ii) transitioning said computer system from said second selected operating mode to a third selected operating mode exhibiting that third selected operating mode'"'"'s power consumption range.

27. The apparatus in claim 26, wherein said first selected operating mode and said second selected operating mode comprises different operating modes, and said second selected operating mode and said third selected operating mode comprise different operating modes, each of said first, second, and third operating modes being selected from the set of modes consisting of:

(i) a mode in which said processing unit is operated at substantially maximum rated processing unit clock frequency and at substantially maximum rated processing unit core voltage, and said logic circuit is operated at substantially maximum rated logic circuit clock frequency;

(ii) a mode in which said processing unit is operated at less than maximum rated processing unit clock frequency and at less than or equal to a maximum rated processing unit core voltage, and said logic circuit is operated at substantially maximum rated logic circuit clock frequency; and

(iii) a mode in which said processing unit is operated at a substantially zero frequency processing unit clock frequency (clock stopped) and at less than or equal to a maximum rated processing unit core voltage sufficient to maintain processor unit state, and said logic circuit is operated at substantially maximum rated logic circuit clock frequency.

28. The apparatus in claim 27, wherein said set further consists of a mode in which said processing unit is powered off by removing a processing unit clock frequency (processing unit clock stopped) and a processing unit core voltage.

29. The apparatus in claim 1, further comprising at least one cooling fan and said apparatus controlling a speed of said fan, including an on/off condition of said fan, to achieve a desired temperature at said sensor.

30. The apparatus in claim 29, wherein said fan is not rotated and passive cooling is used when electrical power drawn and heat generated are sufficiently small to permit such passive cooling while maintaining a predetermined temperature range.

31. The apparatus in claim 29, wherein said apparatus includes a plurality of cooling fans and said plurality of cooling fans are controlled to achieve a desired temperature.

32. The apparatus in claim 31, wherein said apparatus further includes a plurality of temperature sensors and said plurality of cooling fans are operated in a coordinated manner to achieve a desired temperature range proximate at least some of said temperature sensors.

33. The apparatus in claim 31, wherein said cooling fans are modular cooling fan units that provide mechanical connectors and electrical circuits to provide powered-on hot-swappability.

34. The apparatus in claim 33, wherein said modular cooling fan units are organized into cooling fan banks that provide mechanical connectors and electrical circuits to provide powered-on hot-swappability.

35. The apparatus in claim 34, wherein said at least two banks of three cooling fan units are provided at different locations within said frame or enclosure.

36. The apparatus in claim 33, wherein said cooling fan units include fail-over protection circuits.

37. The apparatus in claim 31, wherein different ones of said plurality of cooling fan units are operated or not operated in a coordinated manner to provide desired cooling of said apparatus and to achieve a desired life cycle and/or reliability for said cooling fans.

38. The apparatus in claim 31, wherein different ones of said plurality of cooling fan units are operated or not operated or operated at different speeds in a coordinated manner to provide desired cooling of said apparatus and to provide such cooling at a minimum aggregate cooling fan power consumption.

39. The apparatus in claim 1, wherein power consumption within said apparatus is further reduced by adjusting the number and motor speed of cooling fans responsible for cooling said apparatus.

40. The apparatus in claim 11, wherein said apparatus further includes a plurality of temperature sensors and a plurality of cooling devices, said cooling devices operating under control of a control device that controls each cooling device to provide cooling at the rate and location desired to maintain said network devices within a predetermined operating temperature range.

41. The apparatus in claim 40, wherein a plurality of temperature sensors are disposed in said frame of enclosure and a plurality of cooling devices are disposed within said enclosure, said plurality of temperature sensors communicating a temperature signal to a control means and said control means adjusting the on/off status and operational parameters of the cooling units to extract heat according to predetermined rules.

42. The apparatus in claim 41, wherein the cooling devices comprise motor driven fans.

43. The apparatus in claim 41, wherein the cooling devices comprise valves controlling the circulation of a cooling fluid.

44. The apparatus in claim 41, wherein the cooling devices comprise conductive heat exchangers.

45. The apparatus in claim 41, wherein the cooling devices comprise convective heat exchangers.

46. The apparatus in claim 10, wherein:

said server computers comprises server modules and said power manager comprises at least one management module;

power consumption within said apparatus is controlled reduced by adjusting the number and motor speed of cooling fans responsible for cooling said apparatus.

47. The apparatus in claim 11, wherein said apparatus further includes a plurality of temperature sensors and a plurality of cooling devices, said cooling devices operating under control of a control device that controls each cooling device to provide cooling at the rate and location desired to maintain said network devices within a predetermined operating temperature range.

48. The apparatus in claim 47, wherein a plurality of temperature sensors are disposed in said frame of enclosure and a plurality of cooling devices are disposed within said enclosure, said plurality of temperature sensors communicating a temperature signal to a control means and said control means adjusting the on/off status and operational parameters of the cooling units to extract heat according to predetermined rules.

49. A system as in claim 48, wherein the rotational speed of a motor drive cooling is adjusted to maintain a predetermined temperature range proximate a temperature sensor.

50. A system as in claim 48, wherein the rotational speed of a motor drive cooling is adjusted to maintain a predetermined temperature range within an enclosure.

51. A system as in claim 48, wherein the amount of heat extracted from an enclosure is adjusted to maintain a predetermined temperature and reduce power consumed by said cooling device.

52. A system as in claim 48, wherein the heat extractor comprises a motor driven cooling device.

53. The apparatus in claim 1, further including a plurality of power supplies wherein said plurality of power supplies are controlled to maintain a required power output level drawn by said at least one electrical circuit and to operate said power supplies according to predetermined power supply management policy.

54. The apparatus in claim 53, wherein operating said plurality of power supplies at a preferred efficiency includes operating at least some of said power supplies a preferred output and/or efficiency at a partial electrical output loading less than a maximum loading to extend a lifetime of said power supplies.

55. The apparatus in claim 53, wherein operating said plurality of power supplies according to said policy includes operating at least some of said power supplies at up to a maximum rating and not operating other of said plurality of power supplies so that the aggregate power consumed by said apparatus including power lost in operation of said power supplies is reduced.

56. The apparatus in claim 55, wherein said power supplies comprise battery power supplies.

57. The apparatus in claim 55, wherein said power supplies comprise power supplies receiving an alternating current utility line voltage and current and generating at least one direct current voltage and current.

58. The apparatus in claim 57, wherein said alternating current utility line (ac) voltage is a voltage substantially in the range of between about 90 volts and substantially 300 volts, and the direct current (dc) voltage is in the range of between about ±

0.5 volt and about ±

20 volts.

59. The apparatus in claim 57, wherein said alternating current utility line (ac) voltage is a voltage substantially in the range of between substantially 100 volts and 130 volts, and the direct current (dc) voltage is in the range of between about 1 volt and about 5 volts.

60. The apparatus in claim 57, wherein said power supply management policy further includes automatically alternating a plurality of power supplies so that the aggregate plurality of power supplies are operated efficiently and have an extended lifetime.

61. The apparatus in claim 60, wherein said automatically alternating said plurality of power supplies includes changing the electrical power that may be drawn from each of said plurality of power supplies under computer control so that the aggregate plurality of power supplies are operated efficiently and have an extended lifetime.

62. The apparatus in claim 53, wherein only selected ones of said plurality of power supplies are operated.

63. The apparatus in claim 53, wherein multiple ones of said power supplies are operated concurrently but each is operated at less than rated power output capacity.

64. The apparatus in claim 53, wherein said plurality of power supply units include fail-over protection circuits.

65. The apparatus in claim 53, wherein the elapsed time and/or power supply loading history are monitored and stored in a non-volatile memory store and used with said power supply management policy.

66. The apparatus in claim 65, wherein said stored history are utilized to predict failure and/or equalize lifetime of said power supplies according to a power supply lifetime prediction routine.

67. The apparatus in claim 66, wherein said power supply lifetime prediction routine is statistically based prediction routine utilizing a lifetime and failure model adapted to each particular type of power supply.

68. The apparatus in claim 53, wherein said plurality of power supplies comprise power supplies having different output characteristics types and the combination of power supplies providing electrical operating power to satisfy electrical loading at any particular time and having a desired aggregate operating characteristic are dynamically selected.

69. The apparatus in claim 68, wherein said desired aggregate operating characteristic is a substantially minimized power consumption at the required power output.

70. A power-conservative multi-node network device, comprising:

an enclosure having a power supply and a back-plane bus;

a plurality of hot-pluggable node devices in the form of printed circuit (PC) cards adapted for connection with said back-plane buss; and

each said node device being reconfigurable in substantially real-time to adapt to changing conditions on the network.

71. The power-conservative multi-node network device in claim 70, wherein said plurality of hot-pluggable node devices comprise sixteen node devices.

72. The power-conservative multi-node network device in claim 70, wherein each of said node devices includes power saving control features.