MANAGING DEPENDENCIES AMONG OBJECTS OF A SYSTEM FOR ENERGY CONSERVATION

• US 20100064155A1
• Filed: 09/11/2008
• Published: 03/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Boss, Gregory J., Hamilton, Rick A. II, Sand, Anne R., Doran, James R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,214,671 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/320
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming

Abstract

Under the present solution, dependencies and relationships of objects are stored and are updatable by consumers and optionally manufacturers through a local UI or web interface. These dependencies and relationships are stored in a “collection profile” which describes the capabilities of objects. When a request to reduce energy is received the system can query the collection profile to determine the downstream effect of reducing energy to a single object. The collection profile will identify which other objects rely on that object and would also need to have energy reduced. Being able to identify these linkages and effects of changes across the system will be critical for good energy management.

Claims

1. A method for managing linkages among objects of a system, comprising:

identifying a set of objects in the system;

creating linkages among the set of objects based on known dependencies and relationships between the objects;

receiving an energy conservation request; and

managing energy to the set of objects based on associated energy policies and the linkages.

2. The method of claim 1, the set of objects comprising a plurality of devices.

3. The method of claim 1, the linkages being created via a graphical user interface.

4. The method of claim 1, the set of objects being identified manually.

5. The method of claim 1, the set of objects being identified via auto-discovery by the system.

6. The method of claim 4, the set of objects being auto-identified based upon a query of at least one profile corresponding to the set of objects.

7. The method of claim 1, the managing comprising controlling energy to at least one of the set of objects and to at least one other of the set of objects that have been linked thereto.

13. The system of claim 4, the set of objects being auto-identified based upon a query of at least one profile corresponding to the set of objects.

8. A system for managing linkages among objects of a system, comprising:

a module for identifying a set of objects in the system;

a module for creating linkages among the set of objects based on known dependencies and relationships between the objects;

a module for receiving an energy conservation request; and

a module for managing energy to the set of objects based on associated energy policies and the linkages.

9. The system of claim 8, the set of objects comprising a plurality of devices.

10. The system of claim 8, the linkages being created via a graphical user interface.

11. The system of claim 8, the set of objects being identified manually.

12. The system of claim 8, the set of objects being identified via auto-discovery by the system.

14. The system of claim 8, a module for managing being configured to control energy to at least one of the set of objects and to at least one other of the set of objects that have been linked thereto.

16. A computer readable medium containing a program product for managing linkages among objects of a system, the computer readable medium comprising program code for causing a computer system to:

identify a set of objects in the system;

create linkages among the set of objects based on known dependencies and relationships between the objects;

receive an energy conservation request; and

manage energy to the set of objects based on associated energy policies and the linkages.

17. The computer readable medium containing the program product of claim 16, the set of objects comprising a plurality of devices.

18. The computer readable medium containing the program product of claim 16, the linkages being created via a graphical user interface.

19. The computer readable medium containing the program product of claim 16, the set of objects being identified manually.

20. The computer readable medium containing the program product of claim 16, the set of objects being identified via auto-discovery by the system.

21. The computer readable medium containing the program product of claim 20, the set of objects being auto-identified based upon a query of at least one profile corresponding to the set of objects.

22. The computer readable medium containing the program product of claim 16, the computer readable medium further comprising program code for causing the computer system to control energy to at least one of the set of objects and to at least one other of the set of objects that have been linked thereto.

23. A method for deploying a system for managing linkages among objects of a system, comprising:

deploying a computer infrastructure being operable to;

identify a set of objects in the system;

create linkages among the set of objects based on known dependencies and relationships between the objects;

receive an energy conservation request; and

manage energy to the set of objects based on associated energy policies and the linkages.