Wireless temperature monitoring for an electronics system

• US 20070001850A1
• Filed: 06/30/2005
• Published: 01/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Round Rock Research LLC
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Malone, Christopher, Larson, Thane
• Granted Patent: US 7,336,153 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/572.100
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 1/024 for remote indication

Abstract

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

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

a central processing unit;

a memory unit;

a circuit board.

3. The electronics system of claim 2 wherein the circuit board comprises a peripheral component interface card and the RFID transponder is disposed on at least one of a memory and a controller on the peripheral component interface card.

4. The electronics system of claim 1 wherein the RFID transponder comprises a sensor for detecting the temperature of the electronics system as at least one of a surface temperature of the at least one component and an air temperature within the electronics system.

5. The electronics system of claim 4 wherein the RFID transponder comprises a memory for storing the temperature detected via the sensor.

6. The electronics system of claim 5 wherein the memory of the RFID transponder is configured to store a performance specification of the at least one component.

7. The electronics system of claim 1 wherein the RFID transponder comprises a label and is secured onto the at least one component.

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

a temperature monitor configured to monitor the temperature of electronics system wherein the temperature monitor comprises at least one of;

a component type module;

a conditions module;

a specifications module;

a comparator module; and

an activator module.

9. The electronics system of claim 8 wherein the conditions module comprises at least one of:

a surface temperature parameter; and

an air temperature parameter.

10. The electronics system of claim 8 wherein the specifications module comprises at least one of:

an origin identifier parameter;

a database of information regarding the at least one component and the electronics system;

a protocol parameter; and

a configuration parameter.

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 temperature via 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 temperature monitor for a computer system, the monitor comprising:

means for monitoring a computer system including measuring a temperature at 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 measured temperature.

14. The wireless temperature 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 temperature monitor of claim 14 wherein the wireless transponder comprises at least one of a temperature sensor and a memory, the memory configured to store the temperature measured via the temperature sensor.

16. The wireless temperature 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:

obtaining temperature information regarding the computer system via at least one component of the computer system; and

communicating the temperature 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 obtaining temperature information comprises at least one of sensing a temperature at the at least one component and storing the temperature in a memory associated with the at least one component.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein sensing the temperature comprises sensing at least one of a surface temperature of the at least one component and an air temperature within the computer system.

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

performing the sensing, the storing, and the communicating of the temperature via a RFID transponder disposed on the at least one component and communicating the temperature information from the RFID transponder to the manager of the computer system via a RFID transceiver disposed within the computer system.

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

identifying, via the manager, a temperature parameter of the at least one component via an origin identifier of the at least one component; and

controlling operation of the computer system, including the at least one component, via the manager to affect a temperature of the computer system based on the identified temperature parameter and the obtained temperature information.

22. The method of claim 21 and further comprising:

repeating obtaining the temperature information and communicating the temperature information.

23. The method of claim 17 and further comprising:

assessing a temperature distribution, via the temperature information, of the computer system; and

evaluating at least one thermal design parameter of the computer system.

24. The method of claim 23 and further comprising:

modifying a design of the computer system based on the evaluation of the at least one thermal design parameter.

25. The method of claim 24 and further comprising:

repeating obtaining the temperature information and communicating the temperature information.

26. 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 temperature monitor configured to monitor a temperature of the server system via communication between the RFID transceiver and the RFID transponder of the respective server component.

27. The server system of claim 26 wherein each RFID transponder comprises a memory and a temperature sensor, the memory configured to store the temperature measured by the temperature sensor.

28. The server system of claim 26 wherein the server component comprises at least one of a central processing unit, a memory unit, and a circuit board.

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

a conditions module configured to provide information about a current condition of the at least one server component, the information including at least one of a surface temperature parameter, an air temperature parameter, and a location parameter.

30. The server system of claim 27 wherein the temperature monitor comprises:

a specifications module configured to provide information about a specification of the at least one server component and of the server system, the specifications module including at least one of;

a database of information about the at least one server component and the server system;

a protocol parameter; and

a configuration parameter.