Identifying an outlet of a power distribution unit based on a power rating of an electronic device

• US 9,520,043 B1
• Filed: 06/17/2015
• Issued: 12/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Lenovo Enterprise Solutions (Singapore) Pte., Ltd. (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Alshinnawi, Shareef F., Cudak, Gary D., Suffern, Edward S., Weber, J. Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): Point, Rufus
• Application Number:
  US14/742,255
• Publication Number:
  US 20160371955A1
• Time in Patent Office: 545 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/189 Power distribution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/266 Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4068 Electrical coupling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4282 on a serial bus, e.g. I2C bus, SPI bus on daisy chain buses G06F13/4247
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10237 the reader and the record carrier being capable of selectively switching between reader and record carrier appearance, e.g. in near field communication [NFC] devices where the NFC device may function as an RFID reader or as an RFID tag
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/182 Level alarms, e.g. alarms responsive to variables exceeding a threshold
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 25/003 the coupling part being secured only to wires or cables
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/1492 having electrical distribution arrangements, e.g. power supply or data communications
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/1498 Resource management, Optimisation arrangements, e.g. configuration, identification, tracking, physical location thermal management H05K7/20836

Abstract

A system includes an electronic device including a baseboard management controller (BMC), a power supply unit (PSU), and an external connector, wherein the BMC controls a serial communication bus, and the external connector includes AC voltage contacts and serial communication bus contacts. A power distribution unit (PDU) includes multiple outlets, a management entity, a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag reader, and a visual indicator. A power cable includes a first plug end for coupling to the external connector, a second plug end for coupling to one of the outlets, AC voltage wires extending end-to-end, a read/write RFID tag in the second plug end, and communication wires extending from the first plug end to the read/write RFID tag. Coupling the first plug end to the external connector connects the AC voltage and connects the serial communication bus such that the BMC is in serial communication with the read/write RFID tag.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

an electronic device including a baseboard management controller, a power supply unit, and an external connector, wherein the baseboard management controller controls a serial communication bus, and wherein the external connector includes first contacts connected for providing AC voltage to the power supply and second contacts providing communication with the serial communication bus;

a power distribution unit including a plurality of outlets, a management entity, a radio frequency identification tag reader connected for providing input to the management entity, and at least one visual indicator controlled by the management entity;

a power cable including a first plug end for selectively coupling to the external connector of the electronic device, a second plug end for selectively coupling to one of the plurality of outlets of the power distribution unit, AC voltage wires extending from the first plug end to the second plug end, a read/write radio frequency identification tag in the second plug end, and communication wires extending from the first plug end to the read/write radio frequency identification tag, wherein coupling the first plug end to the external connector connects the AC voltage wires to the first contacts and connects the communication wires to the second contacts such that the baseboard management controller is serial communication with the read/write radio frequency identification tag.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the power supply unit stores a power supply unit power rating and the management entity stores a power distribution unit power rating.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the baseboard management controller sends the power supply unit power rating to the read/write radio frequency identification tag in the power cable, and wherein the radio frequency identification tag reader wirelessly reads the power supply unit power rating from the read/write radio frequency identification tag.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the management entity obtains a power supply unit power rating for each electronic device receiving power from one of the outlets.

5. The system of claim 4, further comprising:

a visual indicator on the power distribution unit, wherein the management entity controls the visual indicator to indicate whether the power distribution unit power rating is greater than the sum of the power supply unit power ratings of each electronic device receiving power from one of the outlets and the power supply unit power rating read from the read/write radio frequency identification tag.

6. The system of claim 4, further comprising:

a plurality of visual indicators on the power distribution unit, each visual indicator positioned adjacent one of the plurality of outlets, wherein the management entity controls the plurality of visual indicators to identify one or more of the outlets where the second plug end may be coupled to provide the electronic device with power from the power distribution unit without the sum of the power supply unit power ratings of each electronic device receiving power from one of the outlets and the power supply unit power rating read from the read/write radio frequency identification tag exceeding the power distribution unit power rating.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of outlets includes a first subset of at least two outlets supplying power from a first electrical phase, a second subset of at least two outlets supplying power from a second electrical phase, and a third subset of at least two outlets supplying power from a third electrical phase, and wherein the system further comprises:

a plurality of visual indicators on the power distribution unit, wherein one of the visual indicators is positioned adjacent each one of the plurality of outlets, wherein the management entity controls the plurality of visual indicators to identify one or more of the outlets where the second plug end may be coupled to provide the electronic device with power from the power distribution unit while achieving a greater balance of total power supply unit power ratings among the first, second and third phase.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a cable detector in communication with the baseboard management controller for detecting that the first plug end of the power cable has been coupled to the external connector.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the serial communication bus is an inter-integrated circuit bus.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a battery providing auxiliary power to the baseboard management controller prior to the electronic device receiving AC voltage from the power distribution unit.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a server.