Abstract:
A multi-state recognition device of a server blade system is provided. The multi-state recognition device comprises a logic circuit set for receiving a system state signal to control a multi-color LED set, and the multi-color LED set which illustrates the current sate of the blade server. The multi-state recognition device of the blade server receives plural signals outputted by the blade server and plural signals outputted by the system management unit. The blade server, the system management unit, and the multi-state recognition device all receive a main power source signal. The multi-state recognition device comprises a logic circuit set and a multi-color LED set, wherein the logic circuit set controls the multi-color LED set according to the plural signals outputted by the blade server and the plural signals outputted by the system management unit, so that the multi-color LED set generates various light signal states.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of Taiwan application Serial No. 93113764, filed May 14, 2004, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The invention relates in general to a multi-state recognition device, and more particularly to a multi-state recognition device of server blade system. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   In addition to a remote control method, the control and monitoring of a server can be done by installing light emitting diodes (LED) on the casing of the server to display the state of the server so that the current state of the server can be recognized. 
   Availed by LED, a server manager can quickly grasp the state of the server without returning back to remote monitoring. 
   A server blade system is more complicated than a conventional server in terms of structure and configuration, and is able to generate more states than a conventional server. However, one server usually has lots of states need to represent. If an LED represents a state, a larger number of LEDs will be needed to display all states. On one hand, the server manager would find it difficult to grasp the states of the system when facing so many confusing LED light signals; on the other hand, the blade server has a small space with high density and is unable to accommodate too many LEDs. So the conventional method of using one LED to represent one state can not be implemented in a server blade system. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a multi-state recognition device applied in a server blade system, effectively reducing the required number of LEDs, saving the space of blade server and making the recognition of blade server state easier. 
   The invention achieves the above-identified object by providing a multi-state recognition device applied in a server blade system, mainly comprises a logic circuit set and a multi-color LED set for receiving a server power signal PWR_LED outputted by a blade server and a user selection signal USER_SEL, a keyboard video mouse selection signal KVM_EN-L and a power-weak signal MP_FAIL outputted by a system management unit. The blade server, the system management unit and the multi-state recognition device all receive a main power source signal. 
   The logic circuit set controls the multi-color LED set according to the server power signal PWR_LED, the user selection signal USER_SEL, the keyboard video mouse selection signal KVM_EN-L and the power-weak signal MP_FAIL, so that the multi-color LED set displays corresponding light signal states according to the states of the server power signal PWR_LED, the user selection signal USER_SEL, the keyboard video mouse selection signal KVM_EN-L and the power-weak signal MP_FAIL, and the state of the main power source signal. 
   Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred but non-limiting embodiments. The following description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a multi-state recognition device applied in a server blade system; and 
       FIG. 2  is a detailed circuit diagram of the multi-state recognition device in  FIG. 1 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring to  FIG. 1 , a block diagram of a multi-state recognition device according to a preferred embodiment of the invention applied in a server blade system is shown. Multi-state recognition device  100  comprises a first logic circuit  106 , a second logic circuit  108 , a first multi-color LED  110  and a second multi-color LED  112 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 2 , a detailed circuit diagram of the multi-state recognition device in  FIG. 1  is shown. The first logic circuit  106  comprises an inverter  202 , an OR logic gate  204  and an OR logic gate  206 . The second logic circuit  108  comprises an OR logic gate  208  and an inverter  210 . The first multi-color LED comprises an LED  212  and an LED  214 , while the second multi-color LED comprises an LED  216  and an LED  218 . The LED  214  is the first color, the LED  212  is the second color, the LED  216  is the third color, and the LED  218  is the fourth color. The present preferred embodiment is exemplified by setting the first color to be amber, the second color to be green, the third color to be green and the fourth color to be amber. 
   Blade server  102  is one of multiple blade servers of the server blade system, and each blade server of the server blade system is electrically connected with a system management uriit  104 . A server power signal PWR_LED outputted by the blade server  102  is inputted to the inverter  202  and the OR logic gate  206 . The user selection signal USER_SEL outputted by the system management unit  104  is inputted to the OR logic gate  204  and the OR logic gate  206 . An output end of the inverter  202  and an input end of the OR logic gate  204  are coupled together. The output end of the OR logic gate  204  and the N-polarity of LED  212  are coupled together. An output end of the OR logic gate  206  and an N-polarity of the LED  214  are coupled together. Both the P-polarity of LED  212  and the P-polarity of LED  214  are coupled to a main power. 
   The server power signal PWR_LED and the user selection signal USER_SEL are received by the first logic circuit  106  for controlling the first multi-color LED  110 . The server power signal PWR_LED has the following states: when the blade server  102  is activated, the server power signal PWR_LED is enabled (at high level for instance); when the blade server  102  is power off, the server power signal PWR_LED is not enabled (at low level for instance); and when the blade server  102  is in standby mode, the server power signal PWR_LED is the first square-wave type. The user selection signal USER_SEL has the following states: when the blade server  102  is not selected by the user, the user selection signal USER_SEL is not enabled (at low level for instance); and when the blade server  102  is selected by the user, the user selection signal USER_SEL is the second square wave. In the present preferred embodiment, the frequency of the second square-wave is larger than the frequency of the first square-wave. 
   The relationships between the states of the server power signal PWR_LED and the user selection signal USER_SEL, and the corresponding system status and the light signal states are disclosed below. 
   When the server power signal PWR_LED is at low level, the user selection signal USER_SEL is at low level, and when the main power of the system is off, the main power source signal Power is at low level, so that the first multi-color LED  110  is non-luminous, which means that the main power is off or that the blade server  102  is not loaded into the system. 
   When the server power signal PWR_LED is at low level, the user selection signal USER_SEL is at low level, and when the system main power is on, the main power source signal Power is at high level, both the P-polarity and the N-polarity of the LED  212  are at high levels, the P-polarity of the LED  214  is at high level but the N-polarity of the LED  214  is at low level, the LED  214  emits amber light, so that the first multi-color LED  110  is amber, which means that the blade server  102  is not activated but the main power is already activated. 
   When the server power signal PWR_LED is at high level, the user selection signal USER_SEL is at low level, and when the system main power is on, the main power source signal Power is at high level, the P-polarity of the LED  212  is at high level but the N-polarity of the LED  212  is at low level, both the P-polarity and the N-polarity of the LED  214  are at high levels, the LED  212  emits green light, so that the first multi-color LED  110  is green, which means that the blade server  102  is already activated. 
   When the server power signal PWR_LED is at low level, the user selection signal USER_SEL is the second square-wave, and when the main power is on, the main power source signal Power is at high level, both the P-polarity and the N-polarity of the LED  212  are at high levels, the P-polarity of the LED  214  is at high level while the N-polarity of the LED  214  is the second square wave. Meanwhile, the LED  214  is at amber light flickering state, so that the first multi-color LED  110  flickers amber light, which means that the blade server  102  is not activated and the blade server  102  is selected, or that the blade server  102  fails. 
   When the server power signal PWR_LED is at high level, the user selection signal USER_SEL is the second square-wave, and when the main power is on, the main power source signal Power is at high level, the P-polarity of the LED  212  is at high level while the N-polarity of the LED  212  receives the second square wave, both the P-polarity and the N-polarity of the LED  214  are at high levels, the LED  212  is at green light flickering state, so that the first multi-color LED  110  flickers green light, which means that the blade server  102  is activated and selected, or that the blade server  102  fails. 
   When the server power signal PWR_LED is the first square wave, the user selection signal USER_SEL is at low level, and when the main power is on, the main power source signal Power is at high level, the P-polarity of the LED  212  is at high level while the N-polarity of the LED  212  receives the first square wave, the P-polarity of the LED  214  is at high level, the N-polarity of the LED  212  receives the inverted first square wave, the LED  212  and the LED  214  alternate flickering. So, the state of first multi-color LED  110  is that green light and amber light alternate flickering slowly, which means that the blade server  102  is in standby mode and is not selected. 
   When the server power signal PWR_LED is the first square wave, the user selection signal USER_SEL is the second square-wave, and when the main power is on, the main power source signal Power is at high level, the P-polarity of the LED  212  is at high level while the N-polarity of the LED  212  receives the square wave, which is the result of logic OR operation of the inverted first square-wave and the second square-wave. The P-polarity of the LED  214  is at high level while the N-polarity of the LED  214  receives the square wave, which is the result of logic OR operation of the first square-wave and the second square-wave. Meanwhile, the LED  212  flickers green light, the LED  214  flickers amber light. So, the state of the first multi-color LED  110  is that green light, non-luminous state and amber light alternate flickering, which means that the blade server  102  is in standby mode and is selected, or that the blade server  102  fails. 
   The KVM (keyboard video mouse) selection signal KVM_EN-L emitted by the system management unit  104  is inputted to the OR logic gate  208 . The power-weak signal MP_FAIL emitted by the system management unit  104  is inputted to the inverter  210  and the OR logic gate  208 . The output end of OR logic gate  208  and the N-polarity of the LED  216  are coupled together. The output end of the inverter  210  and the N-polarity of the LED  218  are coupled together. Both the LED  216  and the P-polarity of the LED  218  are coupled to the main power source signal Power. 
   The second logic circuit  108  receives the KVM selection signal KVM_EN-L and the power weak signal MP_FAIL, both of which are outputted by the system management unit  104 , wherein the signal outputted by the second logic circuit  108  is for controlling the second multi-color LED  112 . The KVM selection signal KVM_EN-L has the following states: when the KVM selection signal KVM_EN-L is enabled (at low level for instance), the blade server  102  can receive the input of the keyboard and the mouse, and can output video to the monitor; and when the KVM selection signal KVM_EN-L is not enabled (at high level for instance), the blade server  102  can not receive the input of the keyboard and the mouse and can not output video to the monitor. The power-weak signal MP_FAIL has the following states: when the blade server  102  has sufficient power, the power-weak signal MP_FAIL is not enabled (at low level for instance); and when the blade server  102  is not working due to power low, the power-weak signal MP_FAIL is the third square wave. 
   The relationships between the states of the KVM selection signal KVM_EN-L and the power low signal MP_FAIL, and the corresponding system status and light signal states are disclosed below. 
   When the KVM selection signal KVM_EN-L is at high level and the power-weak signal MP_FAIL is at low level, both the P-polarity and the N-polarity of the LED  216  are at high levels, so are the P-polarity and the N-polarity of the LED  218  at high levels. Meanwhile, neither the LED  216  nor the LED  218  is illuminating, so the second multi-color LED  112  is non-luminous, which means that the blade server  102  can not receive the input of the keyboard and the mouse and can not output video to the monitor. 
   When the KVM selection signal KVM_EN-L is at low level and so is the power-weak signal MP_FAIL at low level, the P-polarity of the LED  216  is at high level but the N-polarity of the LED  216  is at low level, both the P-polarity and the N-polarity of LED  218  are at high levels. Meanwhile, the LED  216  emits green light, so that the second multi-color LED  112  is green light, which means that the blade server  102  can receive the input of the keyboard and the mouse and can output video to the monitor. 
   When the KVM selection signal KVM_EN-L is at high level and the power-weak signal MP_FAIL is the third square-wave, both the P-polarity and the N-polarity of LED  216  are at high levels, the P-polarity of the LED  218  is at high level while the N-polarity receives the third square wave. Meanwhile, the LED  218  flickers amber light, so that the second multi-color LED  112  is at an amber light flickering state, which means that the blade server  102  can not receive the input of the keyboard and the mouse and can not output video to the monitor and that the blade server  102  is not working due to power low. 
   When the KVM selection signal KVM_EN-L is at low level and the power-weak signal MP_FAIL is the third square-wave, the P-polarity of the LED  216  is at high level while the N-polarity of the LED  216  receives the third square wave, the P-polarity of the LED  218  is at high level while the N-polarity receives the inverted third square wave. Meanwhile, the LED  216  flickers green light and the LED  218  flickers amber light, so that the second multi-color LED  112  alternate green flickering and amber flickering, which means that the blade server can receive the input of the keyboard and the mouse and output video to the monitor and that the blade server is not working due to power low. 
   To summarize, the states of the light signals displayed by the multi-state recognition device according to the invention and the implications thereof are listed below. 
   
     
       
             
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
             
           
         
             
                 
             
             
               LED 
               # 
               Light signal states: 
               Implications: 
             
             
                 
             
           
           
             
                 
             
           
        
         
             
               the first 
               1 
               Non-luminous 
               The main power is off, or the blade 
             
             
               multi- 
                 
                 
               server is not loaded into the system 
             
             
               color 
                 
                 
               and the blade server is not selected. 
             
             
               LED 
               2 
               Amber light 
               The main power is on, the blade 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               server is not activated, and the 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               blade server is not selected. 
             
             
                 
               3 
               Green light 
               The main power is on, the blade 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               server is activated, and the blade 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               server is not selected. 
             
             
                 
               4 
               Amber light flickers 
               The main power is on, the blade 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               server is not activated, and the 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               blade server is selected; or the 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               blade server fails. 
             
             
                 
               5 
               Green light flickers 
               The main power is on, the blade 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               server is activated, and the blade 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               server is selected; or the blade 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               server fails. 
             
             
                 
               6 
               Green light and amber 
               The main power is on, the blade 
             
             
                 
                 
               light alternate 
               server is activated, the blade server 
             
             
                 
                 
               flickering slowly 
               is not selected, and the blade server 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               is in standby state. 
             
             
                 
               7 
               Green light, 
               The main power is on, the blade 
             
             
                 
                 
               non-luminous state and 
               server is activated, the blade server 
             
             
                 
                 
               amber light alternate 
               is selected, and the blade server is 
             
             
                 
                 
               flickering fast 
               in standby state; or the blade 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               server fails. 
             
             
               the 
               8 
               Non-luminous 
               The blade server can not receive 
             
             
               second 
                 
                 
               the input of the keyboard and the 
             
             
               multi- 
                 
                 
               mouse and can not output video to 
             
             
               color 
                 
                 
               the monitor. 
             
             
               LED 
               9 
               Green light 
               The blade server can receive the 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               input of the keyboard and the 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               mouse and can output video to the 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               monitor. 
             
             
                 
               10 
               Amber light flickers 
               The blade server can not receive 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               the input of the keyboard and the 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               mouse and can not output video to 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               the monitor, and the blade server is 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               not work due to power low. 
             
             
                 
               11 
               Green light and amber 
               The blade server can receive the 
             
             
                 
                 
               light alternate 
               input of the keyboard and the 
             
             
                 
                 
               flickering 
               mouse and output video to the 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               monitor, and the blade server is not 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               working due to power low. 
             
             
                 
             
           
        
       
     
   
   The multi-state recognition device of the invention disclosed above has the following advantages: 
   Unlike the conventional server which uses separate LED light signal to represent separate state of the system, the invention provides various states of LED light signals to display various states of the blade server by using fewer LED light signals accompanied by the states of LED flickering. 
   In addition, the invention provides various LED light signal recognition, which uses a simple circuit design in terms of hardware and is controlled by a system monitoring software. Due to software planning, the LED light signal recognition system is very flexible. 
   The invention provides server manager a simple and direct way to recognize the current system state of the server. Moreover, the server blade system has a small space with a high density, so the invention requests a smaller number of LEDs to be installed in the server blade system, effectively saving the space of the server blade system. 
   While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.