Diagnostic and managing distributed processor system

• US 6,338,150 B1
• Filed: 10/01/1997
• Issued: 01/08/2002
• 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., Amdahl, Carlton G., Wallach, Walter A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wright, Norman M.
• Application Number:
  US08/942,402
• Time in Patent Office: 1,560 Days
• Field of Search: 714/37, 714/39, 714/47, 714/48, 714/57, 714/55, 714/51, 714/46
• US Class Current: 714/39
• 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 11/0772 Means for error signaling, e.g. using interrupts, exception flags, dedicated error registers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0784 Routing of error reports, e.g. with a specific transmission path or data flow
• 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 11/2015 Redundant power supplies power supply failure G06F1/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2736 using a dedicated service processor for test
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3027 where the computing system component is a bus
• 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 11/3055 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the status of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring if the computing system is on, off, available, not available error or fault processing without redundancy G06F11/0703; error detection or correction by redundancy in data representation G06F11/08; error detection or correction by redundancy in operation G06F11/14; error detection or correction by redundancy in hardware G06F11/16
• 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 11/328 Computer systems status display G06F11/327 takes precedence
• 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 11/3495 for systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/385 for adaptation of a particular data processing system to different peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4027 : using bus bridges G06F13/4022 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4081 : Live connection to bus, e.g. hot-plugging current or voltage limitation during live insertion H02H9/004
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/305 : by remotely controlling device operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 : User authentication
• 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: G06F 9/4411 : Configuring for operating with peripheral devices; Loading of device drivers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44521 : Dynamic linking or loading; Link editing at or after load time, e.g. Java class loading
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 7/285 : controlling armature supply only
• 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 41/0803 : Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 : Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 : comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 : Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/06 : Generation of reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 : related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/50 : Testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 : in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

A network of microcontrollers for monitoring and diagnosing the environmental conditions of a computer is disclosed. The network of microcontrollers provides a management system by which computer users can accurately gauge the health of their computer. The network of microcontrollers provides users the ability to detect system fan speeds, internal temperatures and voltage levels. The invention is designed to not only be resilient to faults, but also allows for the system maintenance, modification, and growth—without downtime. Additionally, the present invention allows users to replace failed components, and add new functionality, such as new network interfaces, disk interface cards and storage, without impacting existing users. One of the primary roles of the present invention is to manage the environment without outside involvement. This self-management allows the system to continue to operate even though components have failed.

Claims

1. A computer monitor and diagnostic system, comprising:

a computer, having a computing device and a housing;

a plurality of sensors, located within the computer, capable of sensing conditions within the computer; and

a microcontroller network, located within the computer, the network comprising a plurality of interconnected microcontrollers, connected to the sensors and the computer, wherein the microcontroller network processes requests for conditions from the computer and responsively provides sensed conditions to the computer.

2. The system defined in claim 1, additionally comprising a client computer connected directly to the microcontroller network to submit condition requests.

3. The system defined in claim 1, wherein the computer includes a plurality of canisters and the microcontroller network controls power to the canisters.

4. The system defined in claim 1, wherein the microcontroller network controls power to a slot.

5. The system defined in claim 1, wherein the microcontroller network logs conditions to a recording system.

6. The system defined in claim 1, wherein the microcontroller network logs messages to non-volatile random access memory.

7. The system defined in claim 1, wherein the microcontroller network controls the system power to the computer.

8. The system defined in claim 1, wherein the microcontroller network is interconnected by an I²C bus.

9. The system defined in claim 1, wherein one of the microcontrollers in the microcontroller network is connected to a canister.

10. The system defined in claim 1, further comprising an actuator connected to the microcontroller network, wherein the actuator modifies an environmental condition of the computer.

11. A microcontroller network for diagnosing and managing the conditions of a computer, the microcontroller network comprising:

a microcontroller bus; and

a plurality of microcontrollers, located within the computer, wherein the microcontrollers are interconnected by the microcontroller bus and wherein the microcontrollers manage the conditions within the computer.

12. The microcontroller network of claim 11, wherein a selected one of the microcontrollers checks for a microcontroller bus time-out.

13. The microcontroller network of claim 11, wherein a selected one of the microcontrollers checks for a manual system board reset.

14. The microcontroller network of claim 11, wherein a selected one of the microcontrollers checks for a software reset command.

15. The microcontroller network of claim 11, wherein a selected one of the microcontrollers checks for system faults.

16. The microcontroller network of claim 11, wherein a selected one of the microcontrollers maintains a system log in a non-volatile random access memory.

17. The microcontroller network of claim 11, wherein a selected one of the microcontrollers monitors the speed of a canister fan.

18. The microcontroller network of claim 11, wherein the processor bus is an I²C bus.

19. A system for monitoring and diagnosing a computer having a microcontroller network, the system comprising:

means, located within the computer, for sensing the internal conditions of the computer with the microcontroller network;

means for receiving the sensed conditions in the microcontroller network; and

means for communicating the sensed conditions from the microcontroller network to the system bus of the computer.

20. A computer monitoring and diagnostic system, comprising:

a computer, having a plurality of computer-related components, wherein the components have associated environmental and systemic conditions;

a plurality of sensors capable of sensing the environmental and systemic conditions, wherein the sensors are located within the computer; and

a plurality of microcontrollers connected to the sensors and the computer.

21. The system defined in claim 20, wherein the microcontrollers are located within the computer.

22. The system defined in claim 20, wherein the plurality of microcontrollers comprises a network of interconnected microcontrollers, each microcontroller being capable of addressing the other microcontrollers.

23. The system defined in claim 22, wherein the network processes requests for environmental or systemic conditions from the computer and responsively provides the environmental or system conditions to the computer.

24. The system defined in claim 20, wherein the computer-related components comprise at least one component selected from the group consisting of a system board, a central processing unit (CPU), a CPU fan, a backplane board, a backplane fan, a chassis, a chassis fan, a canister, a canister fan, a PCI card, and a PCI card fan.

25. The system defined in claim 20, wherein selected ones of the sensors detect the temperature levels of selected ones of the computer-related components.

26. The system defined in claim 20, wherein at least one of the sensors detects the speed of a fan intended to cool down selected ones of the computer-related components.

27. The system defined in claim 20, wherein at least one of the sensors detects the voltage level applied to selected ones of the computer-related components.