Rack Position Determination Using Active Acoustics
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- providing one or more ultrasonic rack transponders associated with a respective one or more component racks in a data center;
providing at least two ultrasonic reference transponders at known locations with respect to the data center; and
determining the position of a selected component rack with respect to the data center by ultrasonically communicating between the associated rack transponder and the at least two reference transponders.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for determining the position of a component rack within a data center and/or the positions of components within the component rack. In one embodiment, a plurality of ultrasonic reference transponders are disposed in fixed locations throughout a data center. The reference transponders communicate with one another to establish a reference coordinate system for the data center. Each component rack in the data center is provided with an ultrasonic rack transponder that can be triangulated with the reference transponders to determine the position of a component rack. This “rack position” information can be used by a system controller to control the components and to help regulate the data center within pre-specified operating parameters. If a problem occurs in the data center, information about the position of the affected components and component racks may be used by the system controller or a system administrator to help remedy the problem.
69 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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providing one or more ultrasonic rack transponders associated with a respective one or more component racks in a data center; providing at least two ultrasonic reference transponders at known locations with respect to the data center; and determining the position of a selected component rack with respect to the data center by ultrasonically communicating between the associated rack transponder and the at least two reference transponders. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium including computer usable program code for determining the position of a component rack in a data center, the computer program product including:
computer usable program code for detecting the position of the component rack with respect to the data center by triangulating the associated rack transponder with respect to at least two reference transponders disposed at non-collinear locations in the data center. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system for detecting the position of computer equipment in a data center, comprising:
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a plurality of ultrasonic reference transponders disposed at non-collinear locations in the data center; a component rack configured for housing a plurality of components; and an ultrasonic rack transponder disposed in a fixed relationship with respect to the component rack and configured for communicating with the reference transponders for determining the position of the component rack with respect to the data center. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification