Smart rack and intelligent wireless climate sensors

• US 7,878,008 B1
• Filed: 12/18/2006
• Issued: 02/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Davey, Andrew Lee, Haney, David Wayne, Mateski, Christopher Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): Jules; Frantz F
• Assistant Examiner(s): RUBY, TRAVIS C
• Application Number:
  US11/612,084
• Time in Patent Office: 1,506 Days
• Field of Search: 621/29, 621/27, 621/25, 621/26, 236/51, 700/276, 700/299, 700/300
• US Class Current: 62/129
• CPC Class Codes: G01W 1/02 Instruments for indicating weather conditions by measuring two or more variables, e.g. humidity, pressure, temperature, cloud cover or wind speed G01W1/10 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/206 comprising thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20836 Thermal management, e.g. server temperature control

Abstract

A smart rack having intelligent wireless climate sensors that detect and report one or more climate conditions is provided. The smart rack includes an enclosure that houses network elements and an array of intelligent wireless climate sensors that form a mesh network. The enclosure of the smart rack includes a console that displays climate measurements and notifications. The intelligent wireless climate sensors perform periodic climate measurements and detect climate conditions in the smart rack. When a climate condition is detected the console of the smart rack graphically displays the climate condition.

Claims

1. One or more non-transitory tangible computer-readable media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method to identify climate conditions in a rack having network elements utilizing wireless climate sensors, the method comprising:

receiving climate measurements for the rack from the wireless climate sensors;

storing the climate measurements in a rack database; and

processing the climate measurements to determine whether the climate measurements are within a specified range,

(1) if the climate measurement is outside the specified range, generating an alarm notification that graphically indicates the climate measurements are outside of the specified range and displaying redeployment plans for network elements within the rack, and

(2) if the climate measurement is within the specified range, generating a normal notification that graphically indicates the climate measurements is within the specified range.

2. The media of claim 1, wherein the rack database stores position information associated with each wireless climate sensor within a predetermined radius.

3. The media of claim 1, wherein the climate measurements are updated at a periodic interval.

4. The media of claim 1, wherein the alarm notification and normal notification are displayed on at least one of an enclosure for the rack or a mobile device.

5. The media of claim 1, wherein the alarm notification includes a suggestion, which provides corrective action that adjust the climate measurement to a level that is within the specified range.

6. The media of claim 5, wherein the suggestion is graphically presented.

7. An apparatus comprising one or more racks having an array of wireless climate sensors for detecting climate conditions associated with network elements in the rack, each rack comprising:

a plurality of sections that include a subset of the network elements and a subset of the array of wireless climate sensors;

a console interface configured to display climate conditions associated with the plurality of sections in the rack, wherein the wireless climate sensors for each section of the plurality of sections communicates a climate condition to the console interface; and

an enclosure having one or more partitions for the plurality of sections and a mounting mechanism that secures the console interface, which displays a graphical visual presentation of the climate condition over a specified period of time and redeployment plans for network elements within the one or more racks.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein each wireless climate sensor located in each section of the plurality of sections is assigned a three-dimensional coordinate.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein each wireless climate sensor is mounted to at lest one of a surface of the enclosure or a surface of a network element.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the climate condition is at least one of temperature, humidity, and airflow.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the console interface graphically represents the climate condition associated with each section of the plurality of sections.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the console interface graphically represents the climate condition using one or more colors.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the console interface graphically represents the climate condition utilizing a specified set of icons.

14. An apparatus comprising one or more intelligent wireless climate sensors for detecting climate conditions in a rack having network elements, each climate sensor comprising:

a memory to store the climate measurement and climate condition detection instructions;

a central processing unit (CPU) to execute climate measurement and detection instructions stored in the memory;

a rack database to log climate measurements in the rack and to store thresholds associated with predetermined climate conditions; and

a communication interface to wirelessly transmit climate measurements to neighboring sensors within a predetermined radius a display device that provides climate conditions received from the communication interface that is connected to the display device, wherein the display device is integrated into the console of the rack or provided by a mobile device configured to display redeployment plans for network elements within the rack.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the CPU generates a report of the climate conditions detected in the rack.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the rack database stores the climate measurements provided by the neighboring sensors.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the communication interface connects neighboring sensors to form a mesh network.