Diagnostic and managing distributed processor system

• US 20040153786A1
• Filed: 09/29/2003
• Published: 08/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/1997
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Round Rock Research LLC
• Original Assignee: Carlton G. Amdahl, Karl S. Johnson, Ken Nguyen, Walter A. Wallach
• Inventors: Nguyen, Ken, Johnson, Karl S., Amdahl, Carlton G., Wallach, Walter A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,552,364 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/25
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/20 Cooling means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/206 comprising thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0772 Means for error signaling, e.g. using interrupts, exception flags, dedicated error registers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0784 Routing of error reports, e.g. with a specific transmission path or data flow
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2015 Redundant power supplies power supply failure G06F1/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2736 using a dedicated service processor for test
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3027 where the computing system component is a bus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3051 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the configuration of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring the presence of processing resources, peripherals, I/O links, software programs verification or detection of system hardware configuration G06F11/2247
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3055 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the status of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring if the computing system is on, off, available, not available error or fault processing without redundancy G06F11/0703; error detection or correction by redundancy in data representation G06F11/08; error detection or correction by redundancy in operation G06F11/14; error detection or correction by redundancy in hardware G06F11/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3058 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring environmental properties or parameters of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring of power, currents, temperature, humidity, position, vibrations thermal management in cooling arrangements of a computing system G06F1/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3065 Monitoring arrangements determined by the means or processing involved in reporting the monitored data error or fault reporting or logging G06F11/0766
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/328 Computer systems status display G06F11/327 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3466 Performance evaluation by tracing or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3476 Data logging G06F11/14, G06F11/2205 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3495 for systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/385 for adaptation of a particular data processing system to different peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4027 : using bus bridges G06F13/4022 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4081 : Live connection to bus, e.g. hot-plugging current or voltage limitation during live insertion H02H9/004
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/305 : by remotely controlling device operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 : User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/86 : Event-based monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0601 : Interfaces specially adapted for storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0673 : Single storage device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4411 : Configuring for operating with peripheral devices; Loading of device drivers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44521 : Dynamic linking or loading; Link editing at or after load time, e.g. Java class loading
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 7/285 : controlling armature supply only
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/12 : Arrangements for remote connection or disconnection of substations or of equipment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 : Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 : Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 : Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 : comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 : Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/06 : Generation of reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 : related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/50 : Testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 : in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

A network of microcontrollers for monitoring and diagnosing the environmental conditions of a computer is disclosed. The network of microcontrollers provides a management system by which computer users can accurately gauge the health of their computer. The network of microcontrollers provides users the ability to detect system fan speeds, internal temperatures and voltage levels. The invention is designed to not only be resilient to faults, but also allows for the system maintenance, modification, and growth—without downtime. Additionally, the present invention allows users to replace failed components, and add new functionality, such as new network interfaces, disk interface cards and storage, without impacting existing users. One of the primary roles of the present invention is to manage the environment without outside involvement. This self-management allows the system to continue to operate even though components have failed.

Claims

1. A computer comprising:

a central processing unit;

a network of microcontrollers including;

a system recorder microcontroller configured to record system and error messages;

a system interface configured to receive messages from the central processing unit and to forward the message to another one of the microcontrollers in the network;

a microcontroller configured to detect the presence of a power supply and configured to transmit information indicative of the presence of the power supply to the system recorder; and

a microcontroller configured to control the power supply to one or more adapter slots in the computer.

2. The computer of claim 1, wherein the network of microcontrollers is interconnected by a microcontroller bus.

3. A computer comprising:

a central processing unit;

at least one fan;

a network of microcontrollers including;

a system recorder microcontroller configured to record system and error messages;

a system interface configured to send and receive messages to and from the central processing unit;

a microcontroller configured to detect the temperature in the computer and to transmit temperature information indicative of the current information to the system recorder; and

a microcontroller configured to adjust the speed of a fan in the computer.

4. The computer of claim 3, wherein the network of microcontrollers is interconnected by a microcontroller bus.

5. A computer comprising:

a network of microcontrollers including;

a system recorder microcontroller configured to record system and error messages; and

a remote interface microcontroller configured to retrieve and send information that is recorded by the system recorder to a remote computer.

6. The computer of claim 5, wherein the network of microcontrollers is interconnected by a microcontroller bus.

7. A computer monitoring and diagnostic system, comprising:

a computer having a housing;

wherein the computer includes a plurality of canisters, each of the canisters having a plurality of card slots, and wherein the computer is configured to control the power to the canisters.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein at least one of the canisters is removable from the computer.

9. The system of claim 7, additionally comprising a microcontroller which is configured to log conditions about the canister to a recording system.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the microcontroller is configured to log messages to non-volatile random access memory.

11. A computer monitoring and diagnostic system, comprising:

a computer;

at least one sensor, located within the computer, configured to sense environmental conditions within the computer; and

an actuator configured to modify an environmental condition of the computer.

12. A computer monitoring and diagnostic system, comprising:

a computer;

at least one sensor, located within the computer, configured to sense conditions within the computer.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein sensing the conditions comprises checking for a microcontroller bus time-out.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the computer is configured to maintain a system log in a non-volatile random access memory.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein sensing the conditions comprises monitoring the speed of a canister fan.

16. A computer monitoring and diagnostic system, comprising:

a computer, having a computing device and a housing;

at least one sensor, located within the computer, configured to sense conditions within the computer; and

at least one microcontroller, located within the computer, wherein the microcontroller is configured to process requests for conditions from the computer and responsively provides sensed conditions to the computer.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the computer includes a plurality of canisters and the microcontroller is configured to control power to the canisters.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the microcontroller is configured to control power to a slot.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the microcontroller is configured to log conditions to a recording system.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the microcontroller is configured to log messages to non-volatile random access memory.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the microcontroller is configured to control the system power to the computer.

22. The system of claim 16, wherein the microcontroller is connected to an I²C bus.

23. The system of claim 16, wherein one of the microcontrollers in the microcontroller network is connected to a canister.

24. The system of claim 16, further comprising an actuator connected to the microcontroller, wherein the actuator is configured to modify an environmental condition of the computer.

25. A microcontroller for diagnosing and managing the conditions of a computer, the microcontroller network comprising:

at least one microcontroller, located within the computer, wherein the microcontroller is configured to manage the environmental conditions within the computer.

26. The microcontroller of claim 25, wherein the microcontroller is configured to check for a microcontroller bus time-out.

27. The microcontroller of claim 25, wherein the microcontroller is configured to check for a manual system board reset.

28. The microcontroller of claim 25, wherein the microcontroller is configured to check for a software reset command.

29. The microcontroller of claim 25, wherein the microcontroller is configured to check for system faults.

30. The microcontroller of claim 25, wherein the microcontroller is configured to maintain a system log in a non-volatile random access memory.

31. The microcontroller of claim 25, wherein a selected one of the at least one microcontroller is configured to monitor the speed of a canister fan.

32. A computer monitoring and diagnostic system, comprising:

a computer, having a plurality of computer-related components, wherein the components have associated environmental and systemic conditions;

at least one sensor configured to sense the environmental and systemic conditions, wherein the sensor is located within the computer; and

at least one microcontroller connected to the sensor and the computer.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the microcontroller is located within the computer.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein the microcontroller is configured- to process requests for environmental or systemic conditions from the computer and is configured to responsively provide the environmental or systemic conditions to the computer.

35. The system of claim 32, wherein the computer-related components comprise at least one component selected from the group consisting of:

a system board, a central processing unit (CPU), a CPU fan, a backplane board, a backplane fan, a chassis, a chassis fan, a canister, a canister fan, a PCI card, and a PCI card fan.

36. The system of claim 32, wherein the sensor is configured to detect the temperature levels of selected ones of the computer-related components.

37. The system of claim 32, wherein the sensor is configured to detect the speed of a fan intended to cool down selected ones of the computer-related components.

38. The system of claim 32, wherein the sensor is configured to detect the voltage level applied to selected ones of the computer-related components.

39. A method of monitoring and diagnosing a computer connected to a microcontroller, the method comprising:

receiving from a source a request for the conditions of the computer;

sensing the conditions of the computer with the microcontroller;

receiving the sensed conditions in the microcontroller; and

communicating the sensed conditions from the microcontroller to the source of the request.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein sensing the conditions of the computer with the microcontroller comprises detecting a temperature inside the computer.

41. A system for monitoring and diagnosing a computer connected to a microcontroller, the method comprising:

means for receiving from a source a request for the conditions of the computer;

means for sensing the conditions of the computer with the microcontroller;

means for receiving the sensed conditions in the microcontroller; and

means for communicating the sensed conditions from the microcontroller to the source of the request.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the means for sensing the conditions of the computer with the microcontroller comprises means for detecting a temperature inside the computer.

43. A method of monitoring system functions of a computer, the method comprising:

controlling a plurality of environmental conditions of the computer using at least one microcontroller;

receiving a message sent from the system bus to the interconnected microcontroller, the message requesting a change in a selected one of the plurality of environmental conditions; and

sending a message from the interconnected microcontroller to the system bus, the message indicating a change in the selected one of the plurality of environmental conditions.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the environmental conditions comprise a temperature inside the computer.