Patent Publication Number: US-2021181817-A1

Title: Expansion Fan Device with Adjustable Fan

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Electronic components (e.g., processing, memory, and peripheral or expansion components) included in computing systems, such as servers, generate heat during their operation. Accordingly, to prevent overheating and damage to the electronic components, cooling systems have been implemented in many computing systems to maintain the electronic components at acceptable operational temperatures. As speed and power consumption expectations of computing systems continue to increase and as more electronic components are included within a computing system, an expected challenge is removal of the heat generated by the electronic components operating within these systems. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present disclosure is best understood from the following detailed description when read with the accompanying Figures. It is emphasized that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion. Features of the present disclosure are illustrated by way of example and not limited in the following figures, in which like numerals indicate like elements, in which: 
         FIG. 1  depicts a fan device, according to one or more examples of the present disclosure; 
         FIGS. 2-7  depict a second fan device in different positional states, according to one or more examples of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 8  depicts a block diagram of a computing system that includes a fan device, according to one or more examples of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 9  depicts a computing system that includes a fan device, according to one or more examples of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 10  depicts an enlarged view of a segment of the computing system illustrated in  FIG. 9 ; 
         FIG. 11  depicts a computing system that includes a fan device, according to one or more examples of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 12  depicts an enlarged view of a segment of the computing system illustrated in  FIG. 11 ; and 
         FIG. 13  depicts a flow diagram illustrating a method for communicating with and controlling a fan device, according to one or more examples of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Illustrative examples of the subject matter claimed below will now be disclosed. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this specification. It will be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions may be made to achieve the developers&#39; specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which will vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort, even if complex and time-consuming, would be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. 
     System fans within a computing system may provide insufficient airflow to adequately cool all the devices within the computing system. To address this shortcoming, additional fans may be added to the computing system. However, existing fan mechanisms may not provide sufficient flexibility to cool certain devices, such as expansion devices that may have different orientations within the computing systems depending, for instance, on where and how a connector is oriented into which the expansion device is inserted. 
     Disclosed herein is a fan device that can be installed into a computing system to provide forced air cooling for heat-generating components of the computing system. The fan device includes an expansion card to mechanically and communicatively connect to a computing system, a fan, and a mounting mechanism to mount the fan to the expansion card. The mounting mechanism permits the fan to move relative to the expansion card. 
     For example, the mounting mechanism permits the fan to rotate, e.g., at least 180 degrees, relative to a surface of the expansion card, through to a position orthogonal to the surface of the expansion card. This rotation can enable the fan to cool a heat-generating component that is inserted into the computing system such that it is adjacent to either side of the expansion card. In another example, the mounting mechanism may permit the fan to translate linearly relative to the expansion card. This translational movement can allow the fan to be moved closer to the heat-generating source. 
     Additionally, the fan device can include an airflow directing mechanism that can direct more air toward the heat-generating source and reduce re-circulating the air into the computing system in which the fan device is installed. For example, the airflow directing mechanism can be an insert for an opening between the fan and the expansion card when the fan is mounted to the expansion card. Additionally, the expansion card can conform to a standard form factor to allow aftermarket inclusion of the fan device in existing computing systems. For example, the expansion card can have a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express form factor. 
     Finally, the fan device can include a means of communicating between the fan device and the computing system in which the fan device is installed. For example, the fan device can include a controller, such as a microcontroller unit, mounted to the expansion card. The controller can communicatively couple the fan to the computing system through the expansion card. The controller can allow features including identifying the presence or absence of the fan device within the computing system, controlling fan speed depending, for instance, on a temperature of the heat-generating component, and detecting and reporting a failure in the fan device. 
     Turning now to the drawings,  FIG. 1  depicts a fan device  100 , according to one or more examples of the present disclosure. The illustrated fan device  100  includes an expansion card  102  to mechanically and communicatively couple to a computing system (not shown in  FIG. 1 ), a fan  104 , a mounting mechanism  106  to mount the fan  104  to the expansion card  102 , an airflow directing mechanism  134 , and a face panel  142  connected to the expansion card  102 . 
     As used herein, an “expansion card” is a printed circuit board that may be connected, plugged, or inserted into a connector of a computing system to expand functionality or capability of the computing system. A device that includes an expansion card is also referred to herein as an “expansion device” or a “peripheral device.” Accordingly, a fan device that includes an expansion card, such as the fan device  100 , may also be referred to as an “expansion fan device” and can be used to expand the cooling functionality or capability of a computing system into which the expansion fan device is connected, plugged, or inserted. Additionally, as used herein, a “computing system” is a system that includes at least one connector into which an expansion fan device according to the present teachings, e.g., the fan device  100 , may be connected, plugged, or inserted and further includes at least one “heat-generating component” designed to perform a given functionality and which generates heat during operation, which may be cooled by the expansion fan device. 
     The expansion card  102  includes a pair of opposing parallel sides or surfaces  108  (with only one being shown). The opposing sides  108  may also be referred to herein as longitudinal sides or longitudinal surfaces. A plurality of lateral sides or edges  110  and  112  connect the opposing sides  108 . For example, the expansion card  102  is formed from a plurality of layers of non-conductive substrate, the thickness of which determines a height of the edges  110  and  112 . Conductive tracks or traces and pads (neither shown) may be etched, for instance from one or more layers of copper, onto and/or between the substrate layers to electrically connect one or more electrical or electronic components mounted to the expansion card  102 . 
     As illustrated, an opening  114  is formed through the pair of opposing sides  108 . Accordingly, the expansion card  102  has both external edges  110  (with only two being labeled) forming an external boundary around the expansion card  102  and internal edges  112  (with only two being labeled) forming an internal boundary around the opening  114 . The face panel  142  may be attached, e.g., glued, fastened such as with screws or other fasteners, or otherwise secured, to an external edge  110  of the expansion card  102 . As illustrated, the face panel  142  is attached to an external edge  110  along a width of the expansion card  102 . 
     Also, extending from one of the external edges  110  is an edge connector  116 . As illustrated, the edge connector  116  is shaped to mechanically engage with and connect to a mated or matching connector, socket, or plug of a computing system. Although the edge connector  116  is shown extending from a particular edge of the expansion card  102 , the placement, dimensions, and other features of the edge connector  116  or any other type of connector  116  that mates with a connector on a computing system may be based on a standard with which the connector  116  and/or the mated connector conforms, space constraints within the computing system, location of the mated connector within the computing system, etc. 
     As further illustrated, the edge connector  116  includes a plurality of conductive traces and/or pins  152  to facilitate a communicative coupling or connection between a computing system and one or more electrical or electronic components mounted and electrically connected to the expansion card  102 . As used herein, an “communicative coupling or connection” allows or enables one or more of electrical, communication, and/or optical signals to pass between two systems and/or devices, e.g., between the fan device  100  and a computing system. 
     For example, the communicative coupling or connection between the fan device  100  and a computing system may allow or enable the computing system to deliver electrical signals such as electrical energy from a power supply, for instance a main power supply, to the fan device  100  to power the fan  104 . In another example, the communicative coupling or connection allows or enables communication signals including information, data, or commands to pass between two systems and/or devices, e.g., between the fan device  100  and a computing system. For a particular example, a communicative coupling or connection between the fan device  100  and a computing system may allow or enable the fan device  100  to communicate information or data, such as an identifier for the fan device  100 , to the computing system. Moreover, the communicative coupling or connection between the fan device  100  and the computing system may allow or enable the computing system to send command signals to the fan device  100  to control operation of the fan  104 , e.g., to turn the fan  104  ON and OFF and/or adjust the speed of the fan  104 . 
     One or more “standard,” i.e., accepted by and used in the industry, and/or proprietary protocols may be used to facilitate communications, i.e., the passing of electrical, optical, and/or communication signals, between the fan device  100  and a computing system. In a particular example, a layered protocol specified by the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (“PCIe” or “PCI Express”) standard is used to facilitate communications between the fan device  100  and a computing system. 
     Further to this particular example, the expansion card  102  has a “standard PCIe form factor,” i.e., is a “PCI Express card” that fits within a “PCI Express slot.” As used herein, a “PCI Express card” is of a type and has dimensions that conform to the types (e.g., full-length, half-length, low-profile, Mini PCIe) and corresponding dimensions specified in the PCI Express standard. As further used herein, a “PCI Express slot” has dimensions that conform to the dimensions (e.g., x1, x2, x4, x8, x12, x16, x32) specified in the PCI Express standard and is capable of mating with a “PCI Express edge connector” having dimensions and a pinout that conforms to the PCI Express standard. In other implementations, the expansion card  102  may have a non-standard form factor or may be implemented using a different standard such as, Infiniband, RapidO, HyperTransport, Intel Quickpath Interconnect, etc. Moreover, additional or alternative protocols may be implemented to facilitate communications between the expansion card  102  and the computing system, such as Inter-integrated Circuit (“I2C”) serial communication protocol. 
     As illustrated, the fan device  100  includes a plurality of components mounted and electrically connected to the expansion card  102 , and which may be electrically connected to each other, for instance using a plurality of traces (not shown) etched into the expansion card  102 . As illustrated, the plurality of components includes two connectors  136 - 1  and  136 - 2  (collectively referred to as connectors  136  and also individually referred to as a connector  136 ), a controller  130  (also referred to herein as a fan controller), and a memory device  132 . Also, one or more connectors  140  may optionally be mounted and electrically connected to the expansion card  102  and to one or more of the other mounted components, for instance the controller  130 . 
     The connectors  136  may mechanically mate with a connector  138  of the fan to, thereby, provide an electrical and/or communicative coupling between the fan  104  and the controller  130  mounted to expansion card  102  and/or between the fan  104  and the edge connector  116 . For example, when the connectors  136  and  138  are mated, a resulting communicative coupling between the fan  104  and the controller  130  may allow or enable the controller  130  to detect and store a status of the fan  104  (for instance whether the fan  104  is operational or has failed or the speed of the fan  104 ) and to issue commands to the fan  104 , for instance to turn the fan  104  ON and OFF and to speed up or slow down the fan  104 . 
     In another example, when the connectors  136  and  138  are mated, a resulting communicative coupling between the fan  104  and the edge connector  116  may allow the fan  104  to receive electrical energy from the computing system to power the fan  104  through a pin on the edge connector  116 , for instance when the computing system is turned ON. In a further example, the connector  138  includes a switching circuit (not shown) to detect whether electrical energy is being received from the edge connector  116 , and thereby from a main power supply of the computing system. 
     When the electrical energy is not being received from the main power supply, for instance when the computing system is in a STANDBY mode, the switching circuit of the connector  138  may perform a switching function to allow the fan to couple to and be powered by an auxiliary power supply, for instance within the computing system. In yet another example where a switching circuit is absent from the connector  138 , separate connections may be used for coupling to the main power supply and the auxiliary power supply. For example, the connection between connectors  136  and  138  may only allow the fan  104  to be powered by the main power supply and a separate connection between a connector on the fan  104  (not shown) and the connector  140  may allow the fan  104  to be powered by the auxiliary power supply. 
     One of the two connectors  136  is mounted near each end of the expansion card  102  to mate with the connector  138  depending on the orientation of the fan  104  relative to the expansion card  102 , more particularly relative to the surfaces  108  of the expansion card  102 . For example, in the illustrated orientation of the fan  104 , the connector  136 - 1  is mated with the connector  138 . However, when the fan  104  is rotated 180 degrees relative to the surfaces  108  of the expansion card  102 , in accordance with one or more examples the present disclosure, the connector  136 - 2  may mate with the connector  138 . 
     In an example implementation, the memory device  132  may store an identifier for the fan device  100 . The identifier may have any suitable format. The controller  130  may communicatively couple to a computing system to communicate the identifier for the fan device  100  through the expansion card  102 , for instance to indicate the presence of the expansion card  102  in the mated slot of the computing system. In a particular implementation, the connection between the edge connector  116  and a mated connector on the computing system may allow and enable a communicative coupling between the controller  130  and a management controller on a main circuit board of the computing system. The controller  130  may communicate the identifier for the fan device  100  to the management controller using this communicative coupling. In another implementation, conductive traces (not shown) between the memory device  132  and the edge connector  116  allow a communicative coupling between the memory device  132  and the management controller (of the computing system) so that the management controller may read the identifier stored on the memory device  132 . 
     In a further implementation, the communicative coupling between the controller  130  and a management controller on a main circuit board (not shown) of the computing system may allow information or data to be communicated between the controller  130  and the management controller. Such information or data may be, for instance, fan device status and fan speed as well as commands to adjust fan speed. In a particular example, the controller  130  and the management controller communicate using I2C protocol. 
     The controller  130  may be a microcontroller unit (“MCU”) having a processor and memory device or some other combination of one or more processors and one or more memory devices. The memory device  132  may be a form of persistent memory such as an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (“EEPROM”). 
     The fan  104  includes a pair of opposing parallel sides or surfaces  118  (with only one being shown in the top-side perspective view). A plurality of external lateral sides or edges  120  (four in this case, with only one being labeled) connect the opposing sides  118  and form an external boundary around the fan  104 . Internal to the fan  104  are components including fan blades  122 , a motor (not shown) to operate the blades, and additional circuitry (not shown) to enable powering and communicating with the motor, for instance to change the speed of the fan blades  122 . 
     The mounting mechanism  106  includes a pair of rails  124  and a pair mounting pins  128  (with only one shown), and permits the fan  104  to move relative to the expansion card  104 . Each rail  124  is attached, e.g., glued, fastened such as with screws or other fasteners, or otherwise secured, to the expansion card  102 . For example, each rail  124  is attached near an external edge  110  along a length of the expansion card  102 . Each mounting pin  128  connects to an external edge  120  of the fan  104  and extends through an opening  126  (only one shown) in a respective rail  124  to mount the fan  104  within the opening  114  of the expansion card  102 . As depicted, the fan  104  is mounted in an operating position, such that the pair of opposing surfaces  118  of the fan  104  are positioned parallel to the pair of opposing surfaces  108  of the expansion card  102 . The “operating position” of the fan  104  is the position of the fan  104  during normal operation when the fan  104  is creating an airflow therethrough. 
     Arrows  144  and  146 , respectively, represent airflow into (an “inlet”) and out of (an “outlet”) of the fan  104 . The airflow is in a direction perpendicular to the pair of opposing surfaces  118  of the fan  104  and the pair of opposing surfaces  108  of the expansion card  102 , when the fan  104  is in the operating position. 
     Upon mounting the fan  104  to the expansion card  102 , a portion of the opening  114  remains, within which the airflow directing mechanism  134  may be positioned. The airflow mechanism  134  may be one or more pieces of material that fills or substantially fills the portion of the opening  114 , when the fan is in the operating position. The material may be any suitable material including a plastic, composite, resin, etc. In an example, the airflow directing mechanism  134  is secured, e.g., fastened, into position. As illustrated, the airflow directing mechanism  134  is positioned between an external edge  120  of the fan  104  and an internal edge  110  of the expansion card  102 . The airflow directing mechanism  134  may act to prevent the air from re-circulating back through the opening, thereby allowing more airflow to be directed toward a heat source of a heat-generating component. Accordingly, inclusion of the airflow directing mechanism  134  allows an increased airflow toward the heat-generating component than when the airflow directing mechanism  134  is absent. 
       FIGS. 2-7  depict a fan device  200  illustrated in the respectively drawings as fan device  200 - 1 ,  200 - 2 ,  200 - 3 ,  200 - 4 ,  200 - 5 ,  200 - 6 , according to one or more examples of the present disclosure. The fan device  200  includes an expansion card  202 , a fan  204 , a mounting mechanism  206  to mount the fan  204  to the expansion card  202 , and an airflow directing mechanism  234 . The fan device  200  may be structurally and operationally similar to or the same as the fan device  100  of  FIG. 1 . However, some details of the fan device  100  are are omitted from the illustrated fan device  200  for ease of description. 
     Collectively,  FIGS. 2-7  illustrate movement of the fan device  200  relative to an expansion card. For example, some of the  FIGS. 2-7  illustrate how the mounting mechanism  206  permits the fan  204  to rotate within an opening  214  of the expansion card  202 . Other of the  FIGS. 2-7  illustrate how the mounting mechanism  206  permits the fan  204  to translate linearly relative to the expansion card  202 . 
     Moreover, each of the  FIGS. 2-7  depicts the fan device  200  in one of six different positional states  1 - 6 . A different “positional state” of a fan device denotes that at least the position of the fan has changed or the presence or absence of the airflow directing mechanism has changed. Within each drawing, the fan device  200  is labeled according to a given positional state, with the components of the fan device  200  labeled the same across the  FIGS. 2-7 . For example, when the fan device  200  has a positional state  1 , the fan device  200  is labeled  200 - 1 . When the fan device  200  has a positional state  2 , the fan device  200  is labeled  200 - 2 , and so on. However, the expansion card  202 , fan  204 , mounting mechanism  206 , airflow directing mechanism  234  and features thereof are labeled the same across all the  FIGS. 2-7 . 
     In positional state  1  of the fan device  200 - 1  illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the fan  204  is mounted in an operating position. In the operating position, a pair of opposing surfaces  218 - 1  and  218 - 2  (collectively referred to as the pair of opposing surfaces  218 ) of the fan  204  are positioned parallel to a pair of opposing surfaces  208  (only one shown) of the expansion card  202 . Additionally, in positional state  1 , an external lateral side  220 - 2  of the fan  204  is adjacent to an internal lateral side  212 - 2  of the expansion card  202 . Two sides, edges, or surfaces are “adjacent” when there is no element or component or part thereof positioned between the two sides, edges, or surfaces. In a particular implementation, the lateral side  220 - 2  of the fan  204  and the lateral side  212 - 2  of the expansion card  202  make partial or full contact. 
     Further, in positional state  1 , the airflow directing mechanism  234  is positioned between an external lateral side  220 - 1  of the fan  204  and an internal lateral side  212 - 1  of the expansion card  202 . In a particular implementation, sides of the airflow directing mechanism  234  partially or fully contact the lateral side  220 - 1  of the fan  204  and the lateral side  212 - 1  of the expansion card  202 . As illustrated, arrows  244  and  246 , respectively, represent airflow into an inlet and out of an outlet of the fan  204 . The airflow is in a direction perpendicular to the pair of opposing surfaces  218  of the fan  204  and the pair of opposing surfaces  208  of the expansion card  202 . 
     In positional state  2  of the fan device  200 - 2  illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the airflow directing mechanism  234  is removed, and therefore not shown, leaving uncovered a portion of the opening  214  between the lateral side  220 - 1  of the fan  204  and the lateral side  212 - 1  of the expansion card  202 . In an implementation, the airflow directing mechanism  234  is detached from the expansion card  202  prior to removal. Removal of the airflow directing mechanism  234 , allows the fan  204  to translate linearly relative to the expansion card  202 . Particularly, a pair of mounting pins  228  (only one shown) each connecting to a respective external edge  220 - 3 ,  220 - 4  of the fan  204  and extending through an opening  226  (only one shown) in a respective rail  224  of the mounting mechanism  206  permits the fan  204  to translate linearly relative to the expansion card  202 . 
     In positional state  3  of the fan device  200 - 3  illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the fan  204  has been moved such that the external lateral side  220 - 1  of the fan  204  is adjacent to the internal lateral side  212 - 1  of the expansion card  202 . For example, the lateral side  220 - 1  of the fan  204  and the lateral side  212 - 1  of the expansion card  202  make partial or full. Moving the fan  204  causes a portion of the opening  214  to extend between the lateral side  220 - 2  of the fan  204  and the lateral side  212 - 2  of the expansion card  202 . 
     In positional state  4  of the fan device  200 - 4  illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the fan  204  is mounted in the operating position. As such, the airflow directing mechanism  234  is positioned and secured between the external lateral side  220 - 2  of the fan  204  and the internal lateral side  212 - 2  of the expansion card  202 . For example, the sides of the airflow directing mechanism  234  partially or fully contact the lateral side  220 - 2  of the fan  204  and the lateral side  212 - 2  of the expansion card  202 . As illustrated, arrows  244  and  246 , respectively, represent airflow into the inlet and out of the outlet of the fan  204 . As with positional state  1 , the airflow is in a direction perpendicular to the pair of opposing surfaces  218  of the fan  204  and the pair of opposing surfaces  208  of the expansion card  202 . 
     In positional state  5  of the fan device  200 - 5  illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the airflow directing mechanism  234  is removed leaving uncovered a portion of the opening  214 . As illustrated, the fan  204  has been rotationally moved relative to the surfaces  208  of the expansion card  202  by 90 degrees as compared to positional states  1 - 4 . For example, the mounting pins  228  of the mounting mechanism  206  permit the fan  204  to rotate within the opening  214  of the expansion card  202  through an orientation orthogonal to the surfaces  208  of the expansion card  202 . 
     As illustrated by positional state  6  of the fan device  200 - 6  shown in  FIG. 7 , the mounting mechanism  206  permits the fan  204  to rotate at least 180 degrees relative to the surfaces  208  of the expansion card  202 , such that the orientation of the fan  204  is rotated 180 degrees relative to the orientation of the fan  204  in positional states  1 - 4 . In an implementation, the fan  204  may rotate 360 degrees relative to the surfaces  208  of the expansion card  202 . In positional state  6 , the fan  204  is mounted in the operating position. Additionally, in positional state  6 , the external lateral side  220 - 1  of the fan  204  is adjacent to the internal lateral side  212 - 2  of the expansion card  202 . In a particular implementation, the lateral side  220 - 1  of the fan  204  and the lateral side  212 - 2  of the expansion card  202  make partial or full contact. 
     Further, in positional state  6 , the airflow directing mechanism  234  is positioned between the external lateral side  220 - 2  of the fan  204  and the internal lateral side  212 - 1  of the expansion card  202 . In a particular implementation, sides of the airflow directing mechanism  234  partially or fully contact the lateral side  220 - 2  of the fan  204  and the lateral side  212 - 1  of the expansion card  202 . As illustrated, arrows  244  and  246 , respectively, represent airflow into the inlet and out of the outlet of the fan  204 . The airflow is in a direction perpendicular to the pair of opposing surfaces  218  of the fan  204  and the pair of opposing surfaces  208  of the expansion card  202  and is opposite the direction of the airflow in positional state  1 . 
       FIG. 8  depicts a block diagram of a computing system  802  that includes a fan device  800 , according to one or more examples of the present disclosure. For example, the computing system  802  may represent a pluggable module, such as a memory or storage component, that may be inserted or installed into a component cage. However, the computing system  802  may be any suitable system that includes components that may be cooled using the fan device  800 . 
     As illustrated, the computing system  802  has a housing or enclosure  830  that houses a plurality ( 8 ) of hard disk drives (“HDDs”)  806 , a plurality ( 3 ) of system fans  808 , and a system mainboard  832  having a plurality of components mounted thereon. The system mainboard  832  is a main printed circuit board having mounted directly thereon (i.e., without connectors) various components internal to the computing system  802 . The computing system  802  also includes a set of one or more mainboard connectors, each for connecting to a mated connector of an expansion device, to provide expanded functionality for the computing system  802 . A mainboard connector may be directly mounted to the system mainboard  832  or mounted to another circuit board internal to the computing system  802  but that couples to the system mainboard  832 . 
     In the illustrated example, the system mainboard  832  has directly mounted thereon a plurality ( 8 ) of dual in-line memory modules (“DIMMs”)  810 , a plurality ( 2 ) of central processing units (“CPUs”)  812 , an embedded HDD controller  814  (e.g., a MCU) for the HDDs  806 , and a management controller  816  (e.g., a MCU). Also inserted into respective mainboard connectors (not shown) are a plurality of expansion devices including, two PCIe cards  818 , a heat-generating component or device  820 , and the fan device  800 . The fan device  800  may be structurally and operationally similar to or the same as the fan device  100  of  FIG. 1  and/or the fan device  200  of  FIGS. 2-7 . The heat-generating component  820  can be, for example, a network interface controller or a redundant array of independent disks (“RAID”) control card. 
     During operation, the system fans  808  direct airflow in a direction toward the system mainboard  832 , as indicated by the arrows  822 . The airflow from the system fans  808  may not be sufficient to cool all of the components coupled to the system mainboard  832 , particularly those furthest from the system fans  808 . For example, the airflow from the system fans  808  may be insufficient to cool the heat-generating component  820 . Accordingly, the fan device  800  may be inserted in and connected to a first mainboard connector of the set of mainboard connectors of the computing system  802  to cool or assist in cooling the heat-generating component  820 . The heat-generating component  820  may mechanically connect to a second mainboard connector in the set of mainboard connectors. 
     In a particular example, so as to maximize airflow directly to the heat-generating component  820 , an expansion card (not shown in  FIG. 8 ) of the fan device  800  connects to a first connector in the set of mainboard connectors (not shown in  FIG. 8 ), such that the expansion card is positioned adjacent to the heat-generating component  820 . For instance, the heat-generating component  820  may include a longitudinal surface that is positioned parallel and adjacent to a surface in a pair of opposing surfaces of a fan (not shown in  FIG. 8 ) included in the fan device  800 . The longitudinal surface may be a surface of an expansion card of the heat-generating component  820  onto which electrical and/or electronic devices are mounted. 
     Additionally, as illustrated, the fan  800  is at least communicatively coupled to the management controller  816  (as illustrated by the solid line therebetween) to allow the management controller  816  to communicate with the fan  800 . The communicative coupling between the fan  800  and the management controller  816  may allow information or data to be communicated therebetween. Such information or data may be, for instance, fan device status and fan speed as well as commands to adjust fan speed. Moreover, the computing system  802  may power the fan device  800  using the communicative coupling therebetween. Although not illustrated, the management controller  816  may also communicatively couple to one or more of the other expansion devices  818  and  820 . 
       FIG. 9  depicts a computing system  902  that includes a fan device  900 , according to one or more examples of the present disclosure.  FIG. 9  depicts one example placement and orientation of a fan device relative to a heat-generating component. The fan device  900  may be structurally and operationally similar to or the same as the fan device  100  of  FIG. 1  and/or the fan device  200  of  FIGS. 2-7 . The computing system  902  is illustrated as a pluggable module and includes one or more devices that may be represented within the computing system block diagram  800  shown in  FIG. 8 . 
     The computing system  902  has an enclosure  930  that houses multiple devices, including the fan device  900 . For example, the computing system  902  may be a storage component having multiple HDDs (not shown) beneath a panel  934 . The computing system  902  also includes system fans  908 , five in this case (with only one labeled), to cool devices encased within the enclosure  930 . The system fans  908  may provide insufficient airflow to adequately cool all these devices, such as an expandable heat-generating device (not shown) located within a segment  902 - 1  of the computing system  902  under a panel  938  and under the fan device  900 . 
       FIG. 10  depicts an enlarged view of the segment  902 - 1  of the computing system  902 , illustrated in  FIG. 9 . The fan device  900  may be inserted into the computing system  902  to cool the heat-generating component (not visible), which is oriented such that electronic and or electrical devices mounted to an expansion card of the heat-generating component face toward the fan device  900 . Accordingly, a fan of the fan device  900  may be oriented to an operating position such that airflow is in a direction indicated by an arrow  1046 . Thus, the orientation may be in a direction  1046  toward on or more electronic and/or electrical devices of the heat-generating device, which generate heat. Moreover, the airflow generated by the fan device  900  is closer to the heat-generating component than the airflow generated by the system fans  908  and may be even more closely directed toward the source of heat by translating the fan along rails of a mounting mechanism of the fan device  900 . 
     In this example, the computing system  902  includes a plurality of mainboard connectors  1042 - 1  and  1042 - 2  (collectively referred to as mainboard connectors  1042 ), which are not connected directly to a mainboard (not shown) of the computing system  902 . The mainboard connectors  1042  are instead connected to another circuit board  1044  that is mechanically and communicatively coupled (e.g., through one or more connectors) to the mainboard. As further shown, the fan device  900  is inserted into the mainboard connector  1042 - 1 . Moreover, the heat-generating device may be inserted into a mainboard connector (not shown) also mounted to the circuit board  1044 , such that an expansion card of the fan device  900  is positioned adjacent to the heat-generating component. Also another expansion card may be inserted into the mainboard connector  1042 - 2 . 
       FIG. 11  depicts a computing system  1102  that includes a fan device  1100 , according to one or more examples of the present disclosure.  FIG. 11  depicts another example placement and orientation of a fan device relative to a heat-generating component. The fan device  1100  may be structurally and operationally similar to or the same as the fan device  100  of  FIG. 1  and/or the fan device  200  of  FIGS. 2-7 . The computing system  1102  is illustrated as a pluggable module and includes one or more devices that may be represented within the computing system block diagram  800  shown in  FIG. 8 . 
     The computing system  1102  has an enclosure  1130  that houses multiple devices, including the fan device  1100 . For example, the computing system  1102  may be a storage component having multiple HDDs (not shown) beneath a panel  1134 . The computing system  1102  also includes system fans  1108 , five in this case (with only one labeled), to cool devices encased within the enclosure  1130 . The fans  1108  may provide insufficient airflow to adequately cool all these devices, such as an expandable heat-generating device  1118  located above the fan device  1100  within a segment  1102 - 1  of the computing system  1102 . 
       FIG. 12  depicts an enlarged view of the segment  1102 - 1  of the computing system  1100 , illustrated in  FIG. 11 . The fan device  1100  may be inserted into the computing system  1102  to cool the heat-generating component  1118 , which is oriented such that electronic and or electrical devices mounted to an expansion card of the heat-generating component  1118  face down toward the fan device  1100 . Accordingly, a fan of the fan device  1100  may be oriented to an operating position such that airflow is in a direction indicated by an arrow  1246 . Thus, the orientation may be in a direction  1246  toward one or more electronic and/or electrical devices of the heat-generating device  1118 , which generate heat. Additionally, the direction  1246  is opposite the direction  1046  of the airflow of the fan device  900 , to accommodate cooling heat-generating device having opposite relative orientations. Moreover, the airflow generated by the fan device  1100  is closer to the heat-generating component  1118  than the airflow generated by the system fans  1108  and may be even more closely directed toward the source of heat by translating the fan along rails of a mounting mechanism of the fan device  1100 . 
     In this example, the computing system  1102  includes a plurality of mainboard connectors  1242 - 1  and  1242 - 2  (collectively referred to as mainboard connectors  1242 ), which are not connected directly to a mainboard (not shown) of the computing system  1102 . The mainboard connectors  1242  are instead connected to another circuit board  1244  that is mechanically and communicatively coupled (e.g., through one or more connectors) to the mainboard. As further shown, the fan device  1100  is inserted into the mainboard connector  1242 - 2 . Moreover, the heat-generating device  1118  is inserted into the mainboard connector  1242 - 1 , such that an expansion card of the fan device  1100  is positioned adjacent to the heat-generating component  1118 . Per the relative orientations of the fan device  1100  and heat-generating component  1118 , the heat-generating component  1118  includes a longitudinal surface  1248  that is positioned parallel and adjacent to a surface in a pair of opposing surfaces of the fan of the fan device  1100 . 
       FIG. 13  depicts a flow diagram illustrating a method  1300  for communicating with and controlling a fan device, according to one or more examples of the present disclosure. In an example, the method is performed by a management controller that is communicatively coupled to fan device within a computing system, such as the management controller  816  communicatively coupled to the fan device  800  within the computing system  802 . The method  1300  may be implemented using I2C protocol. In one or more other examples, the method  1300  may be partially implemented by the management controller  816  and partially implemented by a MCU of the fan device  800 . 
     In a further example, the management controller includes a processor (not shown) and a memory device (not shown) for performing the method  1300  and can be for instance a management controller having the processor or memory device on a same printed circuit board, such as a MCU. However, processor and memory devices, within the computing system, which are not mounted to the same printed circuit board can be used. Moreover, a processor and/or memory device dedicated to communicating with the fan device may be implemented. Alternatively, a processor and/or memory device that communicate with several devices, such as several expansion devices that include the fan device, may be implemented. 
     Turning now to the method  1300 , by reference to the management controller  816  and fan device  800  of  FIG. 8 , the management controller  816  detects ( 1302 ) for the presence of the fan device  800 . For example, the management controller  816  attempts to read an identifier for the fan device  800  from an EEPROM of the fan device  800  or detects whether it has received the identifier from a MCU of the fan device  800 . If the management controller  816  determines ( 1304 ) that the fan device  800  is not present, the management controller  816  continues to check ( 1302 ), for instance periodically, for the presence of the fan device  800 . The management controller  816  may also generate and send ( 1306 ) an alert, for instance to notify a person monitoring the computing system  802  that the fan device  800  is not plugged into the computing system  802 . The alert may be any suitable audio and/or visual alert provided though audio and/or visual output devices of or coupled to the computing system  802 . 
     If the management controller  816  determines ( 1304 ) that the fan device  800  is present, the management controller  816  may begin to monitor ( 1308 ,  1310 ) a status of the fan device  1308  and perform functionality ( 1314 ,  1316 ,  1318 ) to determine whether to adjust the speed of a fan in the fan device  800 . Particularly, the management controller  816  detects ( 1308 ) a status of the fan device  800 , for instance to determine whether that fan device  800  is operating normally or has encountered a fault. In a particular example, a MCU processor of the fan device  800  writes data to one or more specified addresses of a MCU memory that indicates fan status, which the management controller  816  can read to detect the fan status. 
     In one implementation, the MCU memory addresses may store bits that directly indicate a status of NORMAL or FAULT for the fan device  800 . The bits may also indicate a particular function, such as what type of data is stored in the address, e.g., fan status data, fan speed data, etc. To determine ( 1310 ), whether the fan device  800  has failed, the MCU memory may have stored therein a fan speed threshold to which the MCU processor may compare the current fan speed to determine and write to the designated MCU memory addresses the status of the fan device  800 . For example, where the threshold is 20%, a fan speed less than 20% indicates a FAULT, and a fan speed 20% or greater indicates a NORMAL operation of the fan device  800 . 
     Upon determining ( 1310 ) NORMAL operation of the fan device  800 , the management controller  816  may periodically continue to detect ( 1308 ) the status of the fan device  800 . Upon determining ( 1310 ) a FAULT, the management controller  816  may generate and send ( 1312 ) an alert as to the FAULT. The alert may be any suitable audio and/or visual alert provided though audio and/or visual output devices of or coupled to the computing system  802 . 
     The management controller  816  may determine whether to adjust the fan speed of the fan device  800  based on the temperature of the heat-generating device, e.g., the heat-generating component  820 , that fan device  800  is cooling. Accordingly, the management controller  816  may detect ( 1314 ) the temperature of the heat-generating component  820 . Temperature detection may be performed, for instance, by the management controller  816  receiving outputs from one or more heat detection sensors, e.g., thermistors, mounted to an expansion card of the heat-generating component  820 . 
     The management controller  816  also detects ( 1316 ) a current fan speed of the fan device  800 , and may determine ( 1318 ) whether to adjust the fan speed based on the temperature of the heat-generating component  820  and the current fan speed. In one implementation, a MCU memory address may store bits that directly indicate fan speed for fan device  800 , which are accessible to the management controller  816  for reading and writing. A memory device of the management controller  816  may store a table that includes temperature ranges in one column and in other column store corresponding fan speeds sufficient to cool the heat-generating component  820 . A processor of the management controller  816  may access the table to determine ( 1318 ) whether the fan speed needs to be adjusted higher or lower. 
     If the management controller  816  determines ( 1318 ) that the fan speed needs to be decreased or increased, the management controller  816  may send ( 1320 ) a command to the fan controller, e.g., the processor of the MCU, of the fan device  800  to change the fan speed. The MCU processor of the fan device  800  may write the new fan speed to the designated address of the MCU memory device and communicate with the fan to change its speed. Alternatively, the management controller  816  may write the new fan speed to the designated address of the MCU memory device of the fan device  800  and communicate the action to the MCU processor of the fan device to communicate with the fan to change its speed. If the management controller  816  determines ( 1318 ) that the fan speed does not need to be adjusted, the management controller may repeat the blocks included in loop  1314 ,  1316 , and  1318 . 
     The processor, which may also be referred to as a processing resource, used to implement the method  1300  may contain one or more hardware processors, where each hardware processor may have a single or multiple processor cores. Examples of processors include, but are not limited to, a CPU and a microprocessor. Also, the processing elements that make up processor may also include one or more of other types of hardware processing components, such as graphics processing units (GPU), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and/or digital signal processors (DSPs). The memory device used to implement the method  1300  may be a non-transitory medium configured to store various types of data. For example, the memory device may include one or more storage devices that include a non-volatile storage device. Volatile memory, such as random-access memory (RAM), can be any suitable non-permanent storage device. The non-volatile storage devices can include one or more disk drives, optical drives, solid-state drives (SSDs), tape drives, flash memory, read only memory (ROM), and/or any other type of memory designed to maintain data for a duration of time after a power loss or shut down operation. 
     In a further example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may store computer-executable instructions executable by one or more processors of the computing system via which the computer-readable medium is accessed, to perform the method  1300 . A computer-readable media may be any available media that may be accessed by a computer. By way of example, such computer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that may be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computer. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray® disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. 
     Further, as used herein, the article “a” is intended to have its ordinary meaning in the patent arts, namely “one or more.” Herein, the term “about” when applied to a value generally means within the tolerance range of the equipment used to produce the value, or in some examples, means plus or minus 10%, or plus or minus 5%, or plus or minus 1%, unless otherwise expressly specified. Further, herein the term “substantially” as used herein means a majority, or almost all, or all, or an amount with a range of about 51% to about 100%, for example. Moreover, examples herein are intended to be illustrative only and are presented for discussion purposes and not by way of limitation. 
     The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specific nomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the specific details are not required in order to practice the systems and methods described herein. The foregoing descriptions of specific examples are presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive of or to limit this disclosure to the precise forms described. Obviously, many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The examples are shown and described in order to best explain the principles of this disclosure and practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize this disclosure and various examples with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of this disclosure be defined by the claims and their equivalents below.