Patent Publication Number: US-2013234699-A1

Title: Power supply monitoring system and method thereof

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to a power supply monitoring system and method thereof. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Computers have power supply units to provide power to electronic components in the computers. The power supply unit is connected to different electronic components of the computer and provides power to the electronic components. When the computer is in operating, power provided by the power supply unit varies according to running states of the electronic components. However, the electronic components may generate wrong signals, which may cause the power supply unit to provide wrong power and cause damages to the electronic components. To debug the wrong signals from the electronic components, it may be necessary to monitor the power supplied to the electronic components. 
     Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of the embodiments can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the embodiments. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a power supply monitoring system according to an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is another block diagram of the power supply monitoring system of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a flow chart of a power supply monitoring method according to an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean “at least one.” 
       FIG. 1  shows a power supply monitoring system according to an embodiment. The power supply monitoring system includes a monitoring unit  20 , a monitoring bus  10 , and a control terminal  30 . The power supply monitoring system can monitor levels of power supplied to different electronic components of a computer. In one embodiment, the power supply monitoring system is used to monitor power supplied to a first electronic component  81 , a second electronic component  82 , and a third electronic component  83 . The first electronic component  81 , the second electronic component  82 , and the third electronic component  83  are connected to the monitoring bus  10 . The monitoring unit  20  is connected to the monitoring bus  10 . The control terminal  30  is connected to the monitoring unit  20 . 
       FIG. 2  shows the monitoring unit  20  of the embodiment. The monitoring unit  20  includes a monitoring module  21 , an interrupt module  22 , a data storage module  23 , and an output module  24 . The monitoring module  21  is connected to the monitoring bus  10  to monitor power supplied to the first electronic component  81 , the second electronic component  82 , and the third electronic component  83 . The interrupt module  22  is connected to the monitoring module  21  to generate an interrupt signal when the monitoring module  21  has detected variations of the levels of power supplied to the electronic components. The interrupt module  22  interrupts the monitoring module  21  by outputting the interrupt signal to the monitoring module  21 . 
     The data storage module  23  is connected to the monitoring module  21 . When the monitoring module  21  has monitored the variations of the levels of power supplied to the electronic components and the monitoring module  21  is interrupted by the interrupt module  22 , the monitoring module  21  records and stores the variations of the levels of power supplied to the electronic components into the data storage module  23 . 
     The output module  24  is connected between the data storage module  23  and the control terminal  25 . The variations of the levels of power supplied to the electronic components can be transmitted to the control terminal  25  via the output module  24 . Operators can examine the variations and analyze the variations to oversee the power supply to the electronic components. 
       FIG. 3  shows an embodiment of a flow chart of a power supply monitoring method, which includes following steps: 
     In step S 301 , the monitoring module  21  monitors power supplied to the first electronic component  81 , the second electronic component  82 , and the third electronic component  83  via the monitoring bus  10  to check if there is any variations of levels of power supplied to the first, the second, and the third electronic components. If there is a variation, go to step S 302 . 
     In step S 302 , the interrupt module  22  generates an interrupt signal and interrupts the monitoring module  21  by outputting the interrupt signal to the monitoring module  21 . 
     In step S 303 , the monitoring module  21  records and stores the variations of the levels of power supplied to the electronic components into the data storage module  23 . 
     In step S 304 , the variations of the levels of power supplied to the electronic components is transmitted to the control terminal  25  via the output module  24 , and the interruption to monitoring module  21  is ended, and then go back to step S 301 . 
     According to the above power supply monitoring system, the variations of the levels of power supplied to the electronic components are stored in the data storage module  23  and can be examined according to the control terminal  30 . 
     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and functions of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in the matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the present disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.