Patent Publication Number: US-2007101170-A1

Title: Ups wake on lan

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application is a non-provisional application of, and claims priority to, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/596,579, filed on Oct. 4, 2005, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
      Not applicable.  
     REFERENCE TO APPENDIX  
      Not applicable.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates generally to uninterruptible power supply (“UPS”) systems.  
      1. Description of the Related Art  
      UPS systems are often used to provide continuous or uninterrupted power to a load in applications that require continuity of power, such as in hospitals and critical processes in both industrial and commercial settings, such as protecting equipment from power failure and interference from blackouts, brownouts, surges, and noise. A typical UPS system generally includes a rectifier, a battery, and an inverter. In the event of an interruption of utility power, the critical load will be supplied by DC power from the batteries in the UPS modules. This DC power is converted to AC power by the inverters in the UPS system before being passed to the load.  
      In computer systems backed-up by a UPS, a powered down situation occurs when a combination of a UPS system and monitoring system shut down the computer system when utility power is lost. The UPS system notifies the computer system to power down, allowing the computer system to perform an orderly shutdown on UPS-supplied AC power before the UPS-supplied AC power is lost. However, computers shut down in this manner may not restart when utility power is restored and manual intervention is required to restart the computers.  
      U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,938,771; 6,701,442; 6,591,368; 6,052,793 and 6,408,397 disclose various power management systems and methods, including “wake up” functionality, for computer systems. Conventional UPS systems, however, typically do not include functionality that allows for the automated or unattended power-up of the load when utility power is restored to the UPS.  
      The inventions disclosed and taught herein are directed to improved systems and methods for automated, unattended power-up of UPS-supplied loads when utility power is restored.  
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      A method of powering a computer system using an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system comprises sending a shut down signal from the UPS system to the computer system. The computer system is shut down in response to the shut down signal. When power is restored to the UPS system, the UPS system provides power to the computer system and the UPS system sends a wake up signal to the computer system. The computer system is then powered up in response to the wake up signal. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  illustrates a computer system including a UPS.  
       FIG. 2  illustrates a UPS.  
       FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary method in accordance with aspects of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      The Figures described above and the written description of specific structures and processes below are not presented to limit the scope of what Applicant has invented or the scope of protection for those inventions. Rather, the Figures and written description are provided to teach any person skilled in the art to make and use the inventions for which patent protection is sought. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that not all features of a commercial implementation of the inventions are described or shown for the sake of clarity and understanding. Persons of skill in this art also appreciate that the development of an actual commercial embodiment incorporating aspects of the present inventions will require numerous implementation-specific decisions to achieve the developer&#39;s ultimate goal for the commercial embodiment. Such implementation-specific decisions may include, and likely are not limited to, compliance with system-related, business-related, government-related and other constraints, which may vary by specific implementation, location and from time to time. While a developer&#39;s efforts might be complex and time-consuming in an absolute sense, such efforts would be, nevertheless, a routine undertaking for those of skill this art having benefit of this disclosure. The inventions disclosed and taught herein are susceptible to numerous and various modifications and alternative forms. The use of a singular term is not intended as limiting of the number of items. Also, the use of relational terms, such as, but not limited to, “top,” “bottom,” “left,” “right,” “upper,” “lower,” “down,” “up,” “side,” and the like are used in the written description for clarity in reference to the specific Figures disclosed and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention or the appended claims.  
      In general terms, Applicants have invented a method of powering a computer system using an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system comprising sending a shut down signal from the UPS system to the computer system or on the occurrence of a predetermined event. The computer system is then shut down in response to the shut down signal. When power is restored to the UPS system, the UPS system provides power to the computer system and sends a wake up signal to the computer system. The computer system then powers up in response to the wake up signal.  
       FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary computer system  1 . The system  1  includes a computer system  10  powered via an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system  12  that is connected to a source of AC power  14 , such as that provided by a utility. The computer  10  may comprise, for example, a plurality of networked computers or a single computer.  FIG. 2  illustrates aspects of the UPS system  12  illustrated in  FIG. 1 . One or more input power lines are connected to a UPS module  20 , and an energy storage device  22  is connected to the UPS module. Preferably, the energy storage device  22  comprises one or more batteries, though other suitable devices such as a flywheel or fuel cells may be used. If the input power  14  fails, the energy storage device  22  provides power to the UPS module  20 . Power from the energy storage device  22  may be required when power from the AC power source  14  is performing outside of acceptable limits or fails completely.  
      The UPS module  20  includes a monitoring system  21  that, among other things, monitors a power attribute, such as the voltage, of the UPS energy storage device  22 . The monitoring system  21  of the UPS  12  further monitors the status of the computers  10 . The UPS  12  includes a processing device, such as an appropriately programmed microprocessor.  FIG. 3  is a flow diagram generally illustrating a preferred method executed by the processing device of the UPS  12  for automated power-up of the computer  10  once AC power  14  has been restored to the UPS  12 .  
      After loss of the AC power  14  in block  30 , the UPS system  12  powers the computer system  10  using the energy storage device  22 . Upon some predetermined condition, such as the voltage of the energy storage device  22  falling below a threshold level, the monitoring device  21  of the UPS system  12  sends a signal to the computer  10  to shut down, as illustrated in block  32 . In response to the signal from the monitoring device  21 , the computer  10  performs its shut down routine.  
      Most computer systems and network cards support “wake up” features, such as the “Magic Packet” scheme, in which a network message is sent from a network interface to a computer that has been powered down. In accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure, the UPS system  12  includes a wake up feature, such as Magic Packet. When the AC power  14  is restored to the UPS  12  (block  34 ), the UPS  12  again supplies power to the computers. The monitoring device  21  of the UPS  12  sends a wake up signal (block  36 ), such as a Magic Packet to the computer  10 , in response to which the computer  10  begins its power up routine (block  38 ).  
      The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the invention may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein. Furthermore, no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown, other than as described in the claims below. It is therefore evident that the particular embodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the invention. Consequently, all such similar applications are considered within the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the protection sought herein is as set forth in the claims below.  
      Other and further embodiments within the scope of Applicant&#39;s invention can be devised by those skilled in the art, now having the benefit of this disclosure. For example, the UPS processing drive may comprise memory devices to log the various events, such as loss of AC Power  14 , performance and length of battery back up by the UPS, and other such items of interest.  
      The order of steps can occur in a variety of sequences unless otherwise specifically limited. The various steps described herein can be combined with other steps, interlineated with the stated steps, and/or split into multiple steps. Similarly, some elements have been described functionally and can be embodied as separate components or can be combined into components having multiple functions.  
      The inventions have been described in the context of preferred and other embodiments and not every embodiment of the invention has been described. Obvious modifications and alterations to the described embodiments are available to those of ordinary skill in the art. The disclosed and undisclosed embodiments are not intended to limit or restrict the scope or applicability of the invention conceived of by the Applicants, but rather, in conformity with the patent laws, Applicants intend to fully protect all such modifications and improvements that come within the scope or range of equivalent of the following claims.