Method and apparatus for efficiently coordinating data center cooling units
First Claim
1. A method of controlling an environmental maintenance system including a plurality of environmental maintenance modules currently running and a plurality of sensors that measure a value of a physical condition of an environment, the method comprising:
- for at least one of the plurality of the modules currently running;
estimating sensor values of the sensors resulting if an operation level of the module were decreased by at least a predetermined amount;
determining a first set of one or more of the plurality of the modules currently running that have none of the estimated sensor values outside of a first range; and
decreasing an operation level of at least one module of the first set in response to the determination that one or more of the plurality of the modules currently running have none of the estimated sensor values outside of the first range.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems for controlling environmental maintenance modules (e.g. HVAC units) using sensors are provided. Values measured by the sensors can be used to determine a change in operation levels of the modules to keep the sensor values within a desired range. For example, a stopped module can be increased or started for more cooling when a sensor temperature is too hot. The module predicted to have the greatest effect on the temperature of hot sensor can be started. As another example, a module can be stopped (or otherwise have an operation level decreased), if the sensor temperatures are within range, and the decrease in operation level is predicted not to cause an out-of-range condition.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of controlling an environmental maintenance system including a plurality of environmental maintenance modules currently running and a plurality of sensors that measure a value of a physical condition of an environment, the method comprising:
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for at least one of the plurality of the modules currently running; estimating sensor values of the sensors resulting if an operation level of the module were decreased by at least a predetermined amount; determining a first set of one or more of the plurality of the modules currently running that have none of the estimated sensor values outside of a first range; and decreasing an operation level of at least one module of the first set in response to the determination that one or more of the plurality of the modules currently running have none of the estimated sensor values outside of the first range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform a method of controlling an environmental maintenance system that includes a plurality of environmental maintenance modules currently running and a plurality of sensors that measure a value of a physical condition of an environment, the method comprising:
for at least one of the plurality of the modules currently running; estimating sensor values of the sensors resulting if an operation level of the module were decreased by at least a predetermined amount; determining a first set of one or more of the plurality of the modules currently running that have none of the estimated sensor values outside of a first range; and decreasing an operation level of at least one module of the first set in response to the determination that one or more of the plurality of the modules currently running have none of the estimated sensor values outside of the first range. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An environmental maintenance system comprising:
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a plurality of environmental maintenance modules; a supervisory controller communicatively linked to the environmental maintenance modules; a plurality of sensors that measure a value of a physical condition of an environment and that are communicatively linked with the supervisory controller; a memory comprising instructions which when executed cause the supervisory controller to; determine which environmental maintenance modules are currently running; for at least one of the plurality of the modules currently running; estimate sensor values of the sensors resulting if an operation level of the module were decreased by at least a predetermined amount; determine a first set of one or more of the plurality of the modules currently running that have none of the estimated sensor values outside of a first range; and decrease an operation level of at least one module of the first set in response to the determination that one or more of the plurality of the modules currently running have none of the estimated sensor values outside of the first range. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification