System and method for interpreting sensor data utilizing virtual sensors

• US 6,904,391 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2004
• Issued: 06/07/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2003
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Chidester, Philip D., Gerhart, Donald W., Weilnau, Wayne R. Jr., Blanton, Allen M. Jr., Khatri, Mukund P., Merkin, Cynthia M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Assouad, Patrick J.
• Application Number:
  US10/881,354
• Publication Number:
  US 20040254767A1
• Time in Patent Office: 342 Days
• Field of Search: 702/188, 702/127, 702/85, 702/104, 702/179, 702/181, 702/182, 702/185, 700/28, 700/29, 700/30, 700/32, 700/51, 700/52, 703/21, 703/22, 703/13
• US Class Current: 702/188
• 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 11/3055 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

Abstract

A system and method for interpreting sensor data utilizing virtual sensors includes a plurality of physical sensors having a sensor number, a virtual sensor repository including a plurality of virtual sensors and an event log, a management controller, and one or more agents and allows for a central repository for a plurality of sensor values and a consistent and uniform view of system health. The management controller associates each of the physical sensors with one or more of the virtual sensors utilizing the sensor numbers. The management controller further stores within each of the associated virtual sensors the sensor value from the physical sensor associated with the associated virtual sensor. The one or more agents request and receive the sensor value for a desired physical sensor from one or more of the virtual sensors located in the virtual sensor repository instead of directly from the desired physical sensor.

Claims

1. An information handling system comprising:

a plurality of physical sensors each having a sensor number;

a plurality of virtual sensors associated with the physical sensors, the virtual sensors disposed within a virtual sensor repository; and

a management controller associated with the virtual sensors, the management controller operable to associate one or more of the physical sensors with one or more of the virtual sensors within the virtual sensor repository utilizing the sensor numbers and store within the associated virtual sensor a sensor value from the associated physical sensor.

2. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein each of the physical sensors includes a sensor data record including:

a description of the physical sensor; and

an indicator informing one or more agents associated with the management controller to access the virtual sensor repository instead of the physical sensor in order to locate the sensor value and which one or more of the virtual sensors correspond with the physical sensor.

3. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the management controller interprets and stores the sensor values from each of the physical sensors in a consistent and unified format.

4. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the management controller periodically polls the physical sensors to obtain the sensor values for each of the physical sensors.

5. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the physical sensors periodically provide to the management controller the sensor values to be stored within the virtual sensors of the virtual sensor repository.

6. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the management controller maintains within the virtual sensor repository an event log, the event log including more than one of the sensor values for each of the physical sensors.

7. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the management controller obtains the sensor value from the associated virtual sensor in the virtual sensor repository when an agent associated with the management controller requests the sensor value for the desired physical sensor.

8. The information handling system of claim 7 wherein the management controller transmits the sensor value for the desired physical sensor to the requesting agent.

9. A method for interpreting sensor values utilizing virtual sensors, the method comprising:

associating one or more physical sensors with one or more virtual sensors, the virtual sensors located within a virtual sensor repository;

obtaining from each of the physical sensors a sensor value;

storing in each of the associated virtual sensors the sensor value from each of the associated physical sensors; and

providing the sensor value stored in the virtual sensor as the sensor value for the desired physical sensor in response to a request for a sensor value for a desired physical sensor.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein associating the physical sensors with the virtual sensors comprises correlating a sensor number for each of the physical sensors with a corresponding virtual sensor within the virtual sensor repository.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein providing the sensor value stored in the virtual sensor comprises providing the sensor values in a unified format.

12. The method of claim 9 further comprising determining that the desired physical sensor is associated with one of the virtual sensors within the virtual sensor repository.

13. The method of claim 9 further comprising adding to a sensor data record for each of the physical sensors associated with the virtual sensors an indicator providing information regarding the association of the physical sensor with one or more of the virtual sensors and which of the virtual sensors corresponds with the physical sensor.

14. The method of claim 9 further comprising maintaining within the virtual sensor repository an event log, the event log including more than one sensor value for each of the physical sensors.

15. The method of claim 9 wherein associating the physical sensors with the virtual sensors comprises:

requesting for one of the physical sensors use of one or more of the virtual sensors within the virtual sensor repository;

determining if there are virtual sensors available for use by the requesting physical sensor; and

granting use of one or more of the virtual sensors to the requesting physical sensor if there are virtual sensors available.

16. The method of claim 9 wherein obtaining from each of the physical sensors a sensor value comprises periodically polling each of the physical sensors to obtain the sensor values.

17. The method of claim 9 wherein obtaining from each of the physical sensors a sensor value comprises periodically providing to a management controller the sensor values to be stored in the virtual sensors of the virtual sensor repository.

18. A management controller for an information handling system operable to:

communicate with a plurality of physical sensors each having a sensor number;

communicate with a plurality of virtual sensors associated with the physical sensors, the virtual sensors disposed within a virtual sensor repository; and

associate one or more of the physical sensors with one or more of the virtual sensors within the virtual sensor repository utilizing the sensor numbers and store within the associated virtual sensor a sensor value from the associated physical sensor.

19. The management controller of claim 18 further operable to:

receive a request from an associated agent for a sensor value for a desired physical sensor; and

provide the sensor value stored in the associated virtual sensor in response to the agent request of the sensor value for the desired physical sensor.

20. The management controller of claim 18 further operable to manage the storing of a plurality of sensor values for the plurality of physical sensor in the associated plurality of virtual sensors.