Wireless monitoring for an electronics system

• US 20070001807A1
• Filed: 06/30/2005
• Published: 01/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Malone, Christopher, Larson, Thane
• Granted Patent: US 7,737,847 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.100
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/04 Manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/30 Computing systems specially adapted for manufacturing

Abstract

A method of monitoring an electronics system comprises providing information regarding at least one parameter of at least one component of the electronics system, and communicating the information from the at least one component to a manager of the electronics system via a wireless communication pathway independent of the electronics system.

Claims

1. An electronics system comprising:

a frame including a RFID transceiver; and

at least one component disposed on the frame, the at least one component including a RFID transponder;

wherein the RFID transceiver and the RFID transponder are configured for wireless communication with each other regarding at least one parameter of the at least one component.

2. The electronics system of claim 1 wherein the at least one component comprises at least one of:

a central processing unit;

a memory;

a power unit;

a cooling unit;

an input/output unit; and

a circuit board.

3. The electronics system of claim 2 and further comprising:

a component monitor configured to monitor the at least one parameter of the at least one component.

4. The electronics system of claim 3 wherein the at least one parameter of the at least one component comprises at least one of:

a component type parameter;

an electronics system configuration parameter;

a component location parameter;

a component condition parameter; and

a component specification parameter.

5. The electronics system of claim 4 wherein the component condition parameter comprises at least one of:

a temperature parameter;

a speed parameter;

a power parameter;

a location parameter;

a humidity parameter; and

a pressure parameter.

6. The electronics system of claim 4 wherein the component specification parameter comprises at least one of:

a serial number parameter;

a release date parameter; and

an original equipment manufacturer identifier.

7. The electronics system of claim 1 wherein the RFID transponder comprises a memory for storing the at least one parameter of the at least one component.

8. The electronics system of claim 1 and further comprising:

a sensor disposed adjacent the at least one component for detecting the at least one parameter of the at least one component, the sensor being in communication with the RFID transponder.

9. The electronics system of claim 8 wherein the RFID transponder includes the sensor, and the sensor comprises at least one of:

a temperature sensor;

a power sensor;

a speed sensor;

a humidity sensor; and

a pressure sensor.

10. The electronics system of claim 8 wherein the at least one parameter of the at least one component detected via the sensor is stored in a memory of the RFID transponder.

11. The electronics system of claim 1, and further comprising:

an external computer system in communication with the electronics system and configured to monitor the electronics system including monitoring of the at least one parameter of the at least one component of the electronics system.

12. The electronics system of claim 1 wherein the electronics system comprises a computer system, and the at least one component comprises a computer system component.

13. A wireless monitor for a computer system, the monitor comprising:

means for monitoring a computer system including monitoring at least one component of the computer system; and

means for wirelessly communicating between the at least one component and the means for monitoring regarding the at least one parameter of the at least one component.

14. The wireless monitor of claim 13 wherein the means for wirelessly communicating comprises:

a wireless transponder disposed on the at least one component of the computer system; and

a wireless transceiver disposed on the computer system.

15. The wireless monitor of claim 14 wherein the wireless transponder comprises at least one of a sensor and a memory, each of the sensor and the memory including the at least one parameter of the component of the computer system.

16. The wireless monitor of claim 13 wherein the computer system comprises a server and the means for monitoring comprises a server management system of a server.

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

providing information regarding at least one parameter of at least one component of the computer system; and

communicating the information from the at least one component to a manager of the computer system via a wireless communication pathway independent of the computer system.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein providing information comprises at least one of sensing the at least one parameter and storing the at least one parameter in a memory.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein sensing the at least one parameter comprises sensing at least one of a temperature, a power, a speed, a humidity, and a pressure.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein providing the information and communicating the information comprises:

performing the sensing, the storing, and the reporting of the at least one parameter via a RFID transponder associated with the at least one component and a RFID transceiver associated with the computer system.

21. The method of claim 17 wherein communicating the information comprises:

querying the at least one component to obtain the information, wherein the at least one parameter comprises an origin identifier of the at least one component; and

comparing the origin identifier of the at least one component against a database of component information including at least one of;

verifying an authenticity of the at least one component; and

locating maintenance information regarding the at least one component including at least one of warranty information, recall information, and repair information.

22. The method of claim 17, and further comprising:

providing the at least one component as a plurality of components, each component being different from each other and arranged together in a predetermined configuration to define the computer system; and

electronically verifying the predetermined configuration of the computer system via the communicated information independent of a physical inspection of the computer system.

23. A server system comprising:

a plurality of server components arranged in a predetermined configuration on a chassis as a server system;

a RFID transceiver disposed on the chassis;

an array of RFID transponders in wireless communication with the RFID transceiver with at least one RFID transponder of the array disposed on each server component of the plurality of server components; and

a server manager in communication with the RFID transceiver and including a component monitor configured to monitor at least one parameter of each server component via communication between the RFID transceiver and the RFID transponder of the respective server component.

24. The server system of claim 23 wherein each RFID transponder comprises at least one of a memory and a sensor, each of the memory and the sensor configured to provide the at least one parameter.

25. The server system of claim 23 wherein the server component comprises at least one of a central processing unit, a memory, a circuit board, an input/output unit, a power unit, and a cooling unit.

26. The server system of claim 23 wherein the at least one parameter comprises:

a condition parameter configured to provide information about a current condition of the at least one server component, the condition parameter including at least one of a temperature parameter, a power parameter, a speed parameter, a location parameter, a humidity parameter, and a pressure parameter.

27. The server system of claim 23 wherein the at least one parameter comprises:

a specification parameter configured to provide information about a specification of the at least one server component, the specification parameter including at least one of a component type parameter, an origin identifier, and a configuration identifier.