Patent ID: 7990087
Filing Date: 2011-08-02
Classification: H02P,H05K

Abstract:
1. A device comprising: a fan controller having first and second output terminals, the fan controller being configured to output a cooling fan status signal on the first output terminal, and further configured to output a cooling fan information data signal; an encoder module having a first input terminal connected to the first output of the fan controller, a second input terminal connected to the second output terminal of the fan controller, and an output terminal, the encoder module configured to encode the cooling fan status signal and the cooling fan information data signal together into a combined signal; a driver having an input terminal connected to the output terminal of the encoder module, and an output terminal, the driver configured to invert the combined signal and to output an inverted signal; a resistor/capacitor (R/C) filter having an input terminal connected to the output terminal of the driver, and an output terminal, the R/C filter configured to filter out the cooling fan information data signal from the inverted signal, and further configured to output a filtered signal; and a baseboard management controller having a first input terminal connected to the output terminal of the driver, and a second input terminal connected to the output terminal of the R/C filter, the baseboard management controller configured to determine a status of a cooling fan in response to the filtered signal, and further configured to output a control signal to the fan controller module for the cooling fan based on the cooling fan information data signal within the inverted signal.