Information handling system integrated cable tester
First Claim
1. A system for testing a cable that interfaces a host connector of a first module to an expansion connector of a second module, the module having both a host and an expansion connector, each connector having plural device ports, each port having a phy, the system comprising:
- an expander block associated with the module and operable to interface plural devices with the host and expansion connector device ports, each port having information signals operable to communicate information and a PHY Ready signal operable to signal that the phy of each information port is operational to communicate information;
a cable tester interfaced with PHY Ready signal, the cable tester operable to detect a normal state if a PHY Ready signal is asserted by each phy of the ports with a cable in a cable test configuration, the test configuration having the cable interfaced between the host and expansion connectors of the module, the cable tester further operable to detect a fault state if one or more PHY Ready signals are not asserted in the cable test configuration; and
an indicator interfaced with the cable tester and operable to indicate the state of the cable tester.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An integrated cable tester detects cable faults by coupling a single cable to host and expander connectors of an interface module and determining whether each of plural ports of the connectors has an associated PHY Ready signal. An LED interfaced with the cable tester illuminates to indicate a normal cable and fails to illuminate if the cable tests faulty. In one embodiment a module tester determines whether the module has degraded performance when a single cable is detected as coupled to the host and expander connectors of the module. The module tester clears the interface module'"'"'s error log and initiates a reset of communication between the host and expander ports. Upon completion of the reset, such as detection of all PHY Ready signals for the plural ports, the module tester reads the error log and indicates errors as degrading the performance of the interface module.
61 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for testing a cable that interfaces a host connector of a first module to an expansion connector of a second module, the module having both a host and an expansion connector, each connector having plural device ports, each port having a phy, the system comprising:
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an expander block associated with the module and operable to interface plural devices with the host and expansion connector device ports, each port having information signals operable to communicate information and a PHY Ready signal operable to signal that the phy of each information port is operational to communicate information;
a cable tester interfaced with PHY Ready signal, the cable tester operable to detect a normal state if a PHY Ready signal is asserted by each phy of the ports with a cable in a cable test configuration, the test configuration having the cable interfaced between the host and expansion connectors of the module, the cable tester further operable to detect a fault state if one or more PHY Ready signals are not asserted in the cable test configuration; and
an indicator interfaced with the cable tester and operable to indicate the state of the cable tester. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for testing an information handling system cable, the cable having plural host to expansion port interfaces, the method comprising:
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coupling the cable to a host and expansion connector of an interface module;
executing initiation of communication between a host port and expansion port of the interface module through the cable, each port having plural phys;
providing a visual indication of a normal state at the interface module if each phy of the ports have an associated PHY Ready signal; and
providing a visual indication of a failed cable if one or more phys in a port fail to have an associated PHY Ready signal. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An information handling system comprising:
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plural hard disc drives interfaced through an SAS backplane;
a host SAS controller interfaced with the hard disc drives and the SAS backplane, the host SAS controller operable to coordinate the communication of information over the SAS backplane;
a SAS interface module interfaced having a SAS expander block, a host connector port and an expander connector port, the expander block operable to interface plural phys of the host connector port and plural phys of the expander connector port with the SAS backplane, each port operable to communicate a PHY Ready signal associated with each phy;
a cable having host and expander connectors operable to couple with the interface module host and expander connector ports; and
a cable tester interfaced with the physical ready signals and operable to provide a normal status indication if each PHY Ready signal communicates through the cable coupled between the host and expander connector ports. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification