Fan speed control system
First Claim
1. A fan speed control system for an electronic equipment enclosure comprising:
- means for determining temperature at a plurality of locations within the enclosure;
means for determining operating parameters for the fan control system;
means for setting operating speed of at least one cooling fan; and
means for exchanging information signals relating to fan speed control system operation with an external controller.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A fan speed control system (200) for an electronic equipment enclosure comprises means for determining temperature (201, 202, 203, 210, 211) at a plurality of locations within the enclosure, means for determining operating parameters (201, 202, 203, 212) for the fan control system, means for setting operating speed (201) of at least one cooling fan, and means for exchanging information signals (205, 217, 218) relating to fan speed control system operation with an external controller. A method is also provided for controlling fan speed for an electronic equipment enclosure comprising the steps of determining temperature at a plurality of locations within the enclosure, determining operating parameters for the fan control system, setting operating speed of at least one cooling fan, and exchanging information signals relating to fan speed control system operation with an external controller.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A fan speed control system for an electronic equipment enclosure comprising:
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means for determining temperature at a plurality of locations within the enclosure;
means for determining operating parameters for the fan control system;
means for setting operating speed of at least one cooling fan; and
means for exchanging information signals relating to fan speed control system operation with an external controller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A fan speed control system for an electronic equipment enclosure comprising:
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a plurality of temperature sensors;
a plurality of voltage divider networks;
wherein the temperature sensors and voltage divider networks provide operating parameters to the fan speed control system;
an analog multiplexer coupled to the temperature sensors and the voltage divider networks;
an A/D converter coupled to the analog multiplexer;
control logic that controls analog multiplexer channel selection and reads the A/D converter output;
an arithmetic logic unit associated with the control logic that computes pulse width modulation duty cycle for a fan control output signal based upon a linear interpolation of selected ones of the operating parameters; and
a serial bus interface that provides an interconnection over data signal and clock signal lines between the fan speed control system and an external controller. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A method for controlling fan speed for an electronic equipment enclosure, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining temperature at a plurality of locations within the enclosure;
(b) determining operating parameters for the fan control system;
(c) setting operating speed of at least one cooling fan; and
(d) exchanging information signals relating to fan speed control system operation with an external controller. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A method for controlling cooling fan operating speed in an electronic equipment enclosure, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) measuring a minimum control temperature value;
(b) determining a temperature increment value;
(c) storing the minimum control temperature value and the temperature increment value in predetermined storage registers;
(d) setting the cooling fan speed to full speed for a predetermined time period;
(e) reading operating temperature information from a temperature sensor;
(f) if the operating temperature is less than the minimum temperature, stopping the cooling fan;
(g) if the operating temperature is greater than a predetermined critical temperature, continuing to operate the cooling fan at full speed;
(h) otherwise, computing a pulse width for a pulse-width modulated fan control output signal based upon measured temperature, minimum temperature, and temperature increment values; and
(i) applying the pulse width modulated fan control output signal to the cooling fan to control its operating speed. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
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Specification