Apparatus and method for sensing and responding to environmental conditions of a computer system at non-uniform polling intervals
First Claim
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1. A method for sensing environmental conditions of a computer system having a plurality of environmental sensors distributed at locations throughout the computer system, comprising:
- sensing environmental conditions of the computer system at the location of each sensor;
generating a sensor signal indicating the environmental condition sensed by each sensor;
polling each sensor at a polling time interval to obtain the sensor signal from each sensor polled;
wherein the polling comprises;
obtaining a current time;
adding the polling time interval for each sensor to the current time to establish an absolute polling time for each sensor;
polling each sensor at its absolute polling time;
polling the plurality of sensors in a sequence established by their absolute polling times; and
establishing unequal polling time intervals for at least two sensors.
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Abstract
Environmental sensors are distributed in a computer system to sense environmental conditions, and the sensors are polled at polling intervals which are adjusted in response to changing environmental conditions, thus allowing deteriorating or improving conditions to be recognized and monitored more or less closely as desired.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method for sensing environmental conditions of a computer system having a plurality of environmental sensors distributed at locations throughout the computer system, comprising:
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sensing environmental conditions of the computer system at the location of each sensor; generating a sensor signal indicating the environmental condition sensed by each sensor; polling each sensor at a polling time interval to obtain the sensor signal from each sensor polled;
wherein the polling comprises;obtaining a current time; adding the polling time interval for each sensor to the current time to establish an absolute polling time for each sensor; polling each sensor at its absolute polling time; polling the plurality of sensors in a sequence established by their absolute polling times; and establishing unequal polling time intervals for at least two sensors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 24)
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11. A computer system, comprising:
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a plurality of environmental sensors distributed at locations for sensing environmental conditions at the location of the sensors within the computer system, each sensor supplying a sensor signal indicating the environmental condition sensed by each sensor; and a processor executing programmed instructions to poll each sensor at a polling time interval to obtain the sensor signal from each sensor polled and to establish unequal polling time intervals for at least two sensors; and
wherein;the processor executes programmed instructions to poll each of the sensors at an absolute polling time, to add the polling time interval of each sensor to a current time to establish the absolute polling time for each sensor, and to poll the plurality of sensors in a sequence established by the absolute polling times of the plurality of sensors. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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25. A method for sensing environmental conditions of a computer system having a plurality of environmental sensors distributed at locations throughout the computer system, the computer system constituting a storage server having a memory and a plurality of mass data storage devices for mass data storage, the method comprising:
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containing code within the memory which defines a storage operating system by which to perform mass data storage operations on the plurality of mass data storage devices; sensing environmental conditions of the computer system at the location of each sensor; generating a sensor signal indicating the environmental condition sensed by each sensor; including programmed instructions within the code of the storage operating system to poll each sensor at a polling time interval; polling each sensor at a polling time interval to obtain the sensor signal from each sensor polled by executing the programmed instructions of the storage operating system; and establishing unequal polling time intervals for at least two sensors by executing the programmed instructions of the storage operating system. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A computer system, comprising:
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a plurality of environmental sensors distributed at locations within the computer system for the sensing of environmental conditions at the location of the sensors, each sensor supplying a sensor signal indicating the environmental condition sensed by each sensor; and a processor executing programmed instructions to poll each sensor at a polling time interval to obtain the sensor signal from each sensor polled and to establish unequal polling time intervals for at least two sensors; and
wherein;the computer system comprises a storage server with a plurality of mass data storage devices for mass data storage; the storage server includes a memory containing code defining a storage operating system which performs mass data storage operations on the plurality of mass data storage devices; and the storage operating system includes the programmed instructions to poll each sensor at a polling time interval and to establish unequal polling time intervals for at least two sensors. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification