Thermal monitoring and response apparatus and method for computer unit
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring thermal conditions within a computer unit which includes a system-level temperature sensor which responds to a temperature of intake cooling fluid for the computer unit and a subsystem-level temperature sensor which responds to a temperature condition of a subsystem-level component which is cooled by the cooling fluid within the computer unit, comprising:
- determining whether the temperature sensed by of the system-level temperature sensor falls outside of a critical limit;
determining whether the temperature sensed by the subsystem-level temperature sensor generally correlates with the temperature sensed by the system-level temperature sensor when the temperature sensed by the system-level temperature sensor falls outside of the critical limit; and
shutting down operation of the computer unit only upon recognizing a correlation between the temperature sensed by the subsystem-level temperature sensor and the temperature sensed by the system-level temperature sensor when the temperature sensed by the system-level temperature sensor falls outside of the critical limit.
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Abstract
Thermal conditions within a computer unit are monitored. A system-level temperature sensor responds to intake cooling air. A subsystem-level temperature sensor responds to the temperature of a subsystem-level component, preferably a motherboard or a backplane. When the temperature sensed by of the system-level temperature sensor falls outside of a critical limit, it is determined whether the temperature sensed by the subsystem-level temperature sensor generally correlates with the temperature sensed by the system-level temperature sensor. If there is no correlation, the operation of the computer unit is continued.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring thermal conditions within a computer unit which includes a system-level temperature sensor which responds to a temperature of intake cooling fluid for the computer unit and a subsystem-level temperature sensor which responds to a temperature condition of a subsystem-level component which is cooled by the cooling fluid within the computer unit, comprising:
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determining whether the temperature sensed by of the system-level temperature sensor falls outside of a critical limit; determining whether the temperature sensed by the subsystem-level temperature sensor generally correlates with the temperature sensed by the system-level temperature sensor when the temperature sensed by the system-level temperature sensor falls outside of the critical limit; and shutting down operation of the computer unit only upon recognizing a correlation between the temperature sensed by the subsystem-level temperature sensor and the temperature sensed by the system-level temperature sensor when the temperature sensed by the system-level temperature sensor falls outside of the critical limit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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18. An apparatus of monitoring thermal conditions within a computer unit which includes at least one of a motherboard or a backplane, comprising:
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a system-level temperature sensor which supplies a temperature signal related to a temperature representative of intake cooling fluid for the computer unit; a subsystem-level temperature sensor which supplies a temperature signal related to the temperature of one of either the motherboard or the backplane; a memory storing values of warning limit thresholds and critical limit thresholds for the system-level temperature sensor and the subsystem-level temperature sensor, the critical limit threshold for each temperature sensor being beyond the warning limit threshold for that temperature sensor; a processor connected to the memory and receptive of the temperature signals supplied by the system-level and subsystem-level temperature sensors, the processor executing code defining a process flow for monitoring thermal conditions of the computer unit in response to the temperature signals, and the code executed by the processor; determines whether the temperature signal from the system-level temperature sensor falls outside of the critical limit threshold for the system-level temperature sensor; determines whether the temperature signal from the system-level temperature sensor generally correlates with the temperature signal from the subsystem-level temperature sensor when the temperature signal from the system-level temperature sensor falls outside of the critical limit threshold; and commands shutting down operation of the computer unit only upon recognizing a correlation between the temperature signal from the subsystem-level temperature sensor and the temperature signal from the system-level temperature sensor when the temperature signal from the system-level temperature sensor falls outside of the critical limit threshold for the system-level temperature sensor. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification