POWER DISTRIBUTION UNITS

• US 20180219487A1
• Filed: 01/31/2017
• Published: 08/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Inventors: Banerjee, Abhishek, Stevens, Matthew E.
• Granted Patent: US 10,444,809 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/266 Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips
• CPC Class Codes: H02B 1/20 Bus-bar or other wiring layouts, e.g. in cubicles, in switchyards installations of bus-bars H02G5/00
• CPC Class Codes: H02B 1/34 Racks

Abstract

In various examples, a system comprises a rack-mountable power distribution unit (PDU). The PDU may: receive an alternating current (AC) power feed, convert the AC to a direct current (DC) power pool, determine an amount of available amount of power of the DC power pool to be delivered to devices electrically coupled to the PDU, and output the DC power pool to the devices coupled to the PDU based on the amount of available power.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a power distribution unit (PDU), an alternating current (AC) power feed;

converting, by the PDU, the AC power feed to a direct current (DC) power pool;

determining, by the PDU, an amount of power of the DC pool available to be delivered to devices electrically coupled to the PDU;

determining, by the PDU, an amount of power of the DC pool consumed by the devices coupled to the PDU;

outputting, by the PDU, an amount of power of the DC pool to the devices coupled to the PDU based on the amount of available power and the amount of the power of the DC pool consumed by the devices;

determining, by the PDU, that an amount of the consumed DC power has changed; and

adjusting the outputted power to the devices based on the changed DC power.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the PDU is rack-mountable, and

wherein the PDU is coupled to a bus bar,

wherein the bus bar comprises a plurality of connectors, wherein each of the plurality of connectors is coupled to one of the devices.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of connectors protrude from the bus bar and couple to one of the devices.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein one of the connectors of the bus bar is disposed to couple to one of the devices via a plurality of electrical connectors of the one of the devices.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the outputted power is based on an available amount of power of the DC pool.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the AC comprises:

receiving a first AC power feed from a first AC source and a second AC power feed from a second AC source;

converting the first AC power feed to a first DC power pool;

converting the second AC power feed to a second DC power pool; and

outputting, by the PDU, the first DC power pool and the second DC power pool to one of the devices.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein to determining that the amount of the consumed DC power has changed comprises determining that one of the devices has failed.

8. A device comprising:

a rack-mountable power distribution unit (PDU) comprising a processor, the processor to;

receive an alternating current (AC) power feed;

convert the AC to a direct current (DC) power feed;

determine an amount of available amount of power of the DC power feed to be delivered to devices electrically coupled to the PDU;

determine an amount of DC power consumed by the electrical devices coupled to the PDU;

output the DC power pool to the devices coupled to the PDU based on the amount of available power;

determine that an amount of consumed power of the DC pool has changed; and

adjust the DC power pool outputted to the electrically coupled devices based on the changed consumed DC power.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the PDU is rack-mountable, and

wherein the PDU is coupled to a bus bar,

wherein the bus bar comprises a plurality of connectors, wherein each of the plurality of connectors are coupled to each of the electrically coupled devices.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of connectors protrude from the PDU and couple to the bus bar.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of connectors of the bus bar are disposed to couple to a corresponding plurality of electrical connectors of the electrical devices.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein to determine that amount of consumed power of the DC pool has changed, the PDU to:

determine whether one of the devices has failed.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the PDU to adjust the outputted power based on an amount of power of available to the DC pool.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein to receive the AC power feed, the PDU to:

receive a first AC power feed from a first AC source and a second AC power feed from a second AC source;

convert the first AC power feed to a first DC power feed;

convert the second AC power feed to a second DC power feed; and

output the first DC power pool and the second DC power pool to one of the electrically coupled devices.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a processor to:

receive an alternating current (AC) power feed;

convert the AC power feed to a direct current (DC) power pool;

determine an amount of available amount of power of the DC power pool available to be delivered to devices electrically coupled to the PDU;

output the DC power pool to the devices coupled to the PDU based on the determined amount of available power;

determine an amount of power of the DC power pool consumed by the electrical devices coupled to the PDU;

determine that the amount of the consumed DC power pool has changed; and

adjust the power outputted to the electrically devices based on the changed amount of the consumed DC power pool.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to determine that he amount of the consumed DC power has changed comprise instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

determine that one of the coupled devices has failed.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to adjust the power comprise instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to adjust the outputted power based on the changed amount of the consumed DC power pool.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to receive the AC power feed comprise instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

receive a first AC power feed from a first AC source and a second AC power feed from a second AC source;

convert the first AC power feed to a first DC power pool;

convert the second AC power feed to a second DC power pool.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to output the DC power pool comprise instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

output the first DC power pool and the second DC power pool to one of the coupled devices.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to receive the AC power feed comprise instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

output the first DC power pool to a first one of the electrically coupled devices; and

output the second DC power pool to a second, different one of the electrically coupled devices.