Apparatus for recording information system events

• US 6,269,412 B1
• Filed: 10/01/1997
• Issued: 07/31/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Round Rock Research LLC
• Original Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
• Inventors: Nguyen, Ken, Johnson, Karl S., Liu, Ji-hwan
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): Park, Ilwoo
• Application Number:
  US08/942,381
• Time in Patent Office: 1,399 Days
• Field of Search: 714/47, 714/45, 714/57, 714/39, 714/4, 714/15, 714/18, 714/20, 714/43, 714/56, 714/49, 713/502, 713/340, 710/15, 710/19, 702/187
• US Class Current: 710/19
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/20 Cooling means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/206 comprising thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0787 Storage of error reports, e.g. persistent data storage, storage using memory protection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3051 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the configuration of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring the presence of processing resources, peripherals, I/O links, software programs verification or detection of system hardware configuration G06F11/2247
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3058 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring environmental properties or parameters of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring of power, currents, temperature, humidity, position, vibrations thermal management in cooling arrangements of a computing system G06F1/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3065 Monitoring arrangements determined by the means or processing involved in reporting the monitored data error or fault reporting or logging G06F11/0766
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3466 Performance evaluation by tracing or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3476 Data logging G06F11/14, G06F11/2205 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/349 for interfaces, buses
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4027 using bus bridges G06F13/4022 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/305 by remotely controlling device operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/835 Timestamp
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/86 Event-based monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0601 Interfaces specially adapted for storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0673 Single storage device
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/12 : Arrangements for remote connection or disconnection of substations or of equipment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 : Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/069 : using logs of notifications; Post-processing of notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 : comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 : in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

A system recorder for logging events occurring in an information processing system in a memory unit. The system recorder is part of a server system which supports communication of digital information for a microcontroller network. The server system monitors the status of several system functions including temperature, cooling fan speeds, and the presence or absence of canisters and power supplies. The system updates the pertinent event messages and identification codes in the memory unit including the time such event or change in status occurred.

Claims

1. A system for recording an event occurring in an information processing system having a computer bus, said recording system comprising:

a system recorder electrically connected to the computer bus;

a processing unit electrically connected to the computer bus, the processing unit being configured to transmit a message to said system recorder in response to the event; and

a non-volatile memory unit electrically connected to said system recorder for receiving the message for storage, the memory unit being configured to perform at least one of a read and write operation in a circular sequence, wherein the message comprises a plurality of bits representing at least an address, a least significant bit, a most significant bit, and a status field.

2. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said system recorder includes a real-time clock for time-stamping said message for storage.

3. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said memory unit is a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) unit.

4. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said memory unit comprises a plurality of memory blocks, and wherein one block of said plurality of memory blocks stores a device identification code.

5. The system as defined in claim 4, wherein another block of said plurality of memory blocks stores an event message.

6. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said system recorder supports a read operation from said memory unit.

7. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the computer bus is an inter-integrated-circuit (I²C) bus.

8. In an information processing system having a plurality of components and experiencing an event, a device comprising:

a first block that is configured to store information relating to a first-type event associated with one of the plurality of components; and

a second block that is configured to store information relating to a second-type event associated with one of the plurality of components, wherein the second block is configured to perform at least one of a read and write operation in a circular sequence.

9. The device as defined in claim 8, wherein the information relating to the first-type event comprises at least an identification number.

10. The device as defined in claim 8, wherein the information relating to the second-type event comprises at least an event message of a failure in one of the plurality of components.

11. The device as defined in claim 8, wherein the first-type event relates to a change in the presence of one of the plurality of components.

12. The device as defined in claim 8, wherein the second-type event relates to a failure occurring in one of the plurality of components.

13. The device as defined in claim 8, wherein the size of the first block equals the size of the second block.

14. A system for recording an event occurring in an information processing system having a computer bus, said recording system comprising:

means for recording information about the event, the recording means being electrically connected to the computer bus;

means for communicating a message to said recording means in response to the event; and

means for storing information about the event in a non-volatile manner, wherein the storage means is configured to perform at least one of a read and write operation in a circular sequence, the information comprising a message having a plurality of bits representing at least an address, a least significant bit, a most significant bit, and a status field.

15. The system as defined in claim 14, wherein said recording means includes a real-time clock for time-stamping said message for storage.

16. The system as defined in claim 14, wherein said storage means is a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) unit.

17. In an information processing system having a plurality of components and experiencing an event, a device for storing the event comprising:

a first means for storing the event relating to a first code corresponding to one of the plurality of components; and

a second means for storing the event relating a second code corresponding to one of the plurality of components.

19. The device as defined in claim 17, wherein the second code comprises at least an event message of a failure in one of the plurality of components.

20. The device as defined in claim 17, wherein the event relates to a change in the presence of one of the plurality of components.

21. The device as defined in claim 17, wherein the event relates to a failure occurring in one of the plurality of components.

18. The device as defined in claim , wherein the first code comprises at least an identification number.

22. A system for recording an event occurring in an information processing system having a computer bus, said recording system comprising:

a system recorder electrically connected to the computer bus;

a processing unit electrically connected to the computer bus, wherein said processing unit is configured to transmit a message to said system recorder in response to the event;

a real-time clock that is electrically connected to the system recorder and configured to time-stamp the message; and

a non-volatile memory unit electrically connected to said system recorder for receiving the message for storage, wherein the message includes information relating to a failure event represented by a plurality of bits comprising at least an address, a least significant bit, a most significant bit, and a status field, and wherein the memory unit is configured to perform at least one of a read and write operation in a circular sequence.

23. In an information processing system having a plurality of components and experiencing an event, a device comprising:

a first block that is configured to store information relating to the presence of one the plurality of components; and

a second block that is configured to store information relating to the failure of one of the plurality of components, wherein the second block is configured to perform at least one of a read and write operation in a circular sequence.