Method and arrangement for supervising power supply systems
First Claim
1. A method of supervising power supply systems supplying a plurality of supply voltages with different desired values and different acceptable extreme tolerance values, characterized in thatall actual values of the supply voltages are normalized by respective scale factors to a uniform nominal value,that in a repeated tolerance checking cycle a variable reference value is generated which step by step passes through all acceptable extreme values, said extreme values being referred to nominal value, thatthe normalized supply voltages is compared with their associated extreme values anda respective output signal is emitted each time the normalized actual value deviates from said nominal value by more than its associated acceptable extreme value.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for monitoring and controlling a plurality of power supplies in a computer or similar complex electronic apparatus provides the steps of normalizing each power supply output according to a common nominal val ue, comparing the normalized values to a reference having values according to the normalized upper and lower limits specified for each power supply, and conducting a quantative measurement of out-of-tolerance test values. The specific upper and lower tolerance values for each normalized output are stored in digital form and the measurement of an out-of-tolerance reading is by comparison to a digital ramp extending only from the specific maximum or minimum tolerance threshold which is exceeded. The testing of plural power supplies having the same upper or lower normalized tolerance can be conducted as a group of tests against the same reference.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of supervising power supply systems supplying a plurality of supply voltages with different desired values and different acceptable extreme tolerance values, characterized in that
all actual values of the supply voltages are normalized by respective scale factors to a uniform nominal value, that in a repeated tolerance checking cycle a variable reference value is generated which step by step passes through all acceptable extreme values, said extreme values being referred to nominal value, that the normalized supply voltages is compared with their associated extreme values and a respective output signal is emitted each time the normalized actual value deviates from said nominal value by more than its associated acceptable extreme value.
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9. Power supply supervising means comprising,
a plurality of scaling circuits for normalizing respective power supply outputs to be supervised, means applying the normalized supply voltage appearing at the output of each of said circuits to a respective input of a series of comparators, and means connecting the other input of each comparator to a reference voltage source, said comparator emitting an output signal each time the normalized supply voltage connected thereto exceeds applied reference voltage in a given direction, and a circuit for evaluating the output signals emitted by the comparators.
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14. A power system for incorporation into a data processing system comprising,
power supply means providing a plurality of controllable outputs, scanning means for sampling said outputs in groupings of said outputs according to similar tolerances, test means receiving sample signals from said scanning means corresponding to said outputs, said test means comprising multiple threshold detector means for comparing said sample signals to individually predetermined tolerance digital values, said detector means providing an interrupt signal to arrest said scanning means when a sample signal exceeds the corresponding tolerance, indicating an out-of-tolerance condition, measuring means responsive to said interrupt signal to further evaluate the relationship of the indicated out-of-tolerance sample signal and the corresponding tolerance level, and feedback control means responsive to said measuring means for altering the operation of said supply means.
Specification