Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US20090217060?ie=ISO-8859-1&dq=6,243,373
Timestamp: 2014-07-11 02:02:37
Document Index: 334104083

Matched Legal Cases: ['application No. 2008', 'art 53', 'art 53', 'art 53', 'art 53', 'art 53', 'art 53', 'art 53', 'art 53', 'art 54', 'art 53', 'art 53', 'art 53', 'art 53', 'art 53', 'art 53']

Patent US20090217060 - Power supply control device - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign in<nobr>Advanced Patent Search</nobr>PatentsTo improve the efficiency of power supply units, and save the power of a device. A power supply control device for controlling on/off of a plurality of power supply units which supply power to a device, includes: a necessary power amount obtaining device which obtains a necessary power amount that shows...http://www.google.com/patents/US20090217060?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US20090217060 - Power supply control deviceAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS20090217060 A1Publication typeApplicationApplication numberUS 12/389,650Publication dateAug 27, 2009Filing dateFeb 20, 2009Priority dateFeb 21, 2008Publication number12389650, 389650, US 2009/0217060 A1, US 2009/217060 A1, US 20090217060 A1, US 20090217060A1, US 2009217060 A1, US 2009217060A1, US-A1-20090217060, US-A1-2009217060, US2009/0217060A1, US2009/217060A1, US20090217060 A1, US20090217060A1, US2009217060 A1, US2009217060A1InventorsJunichiro TSUCHIYAOriginal AssigneeTsuchiya JunichiroExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManReferenced by (8), Classifications (8), Legal Events (1) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetPower supply control deviceUS 20090217060 A1Abstract To improve the efficiency of power supply units, and save the power of a device. A power supply control device for controlling on/off of a plurality of power supply units which supply power to a device, includes: a necessary power amount obtaining device which obtains a necessary power amount that shows a value of a power amount required by the device; a power supply unit specifying device which extracts combinations of a single or a plurality of power supply units capable of supplying the necessary power amount based on power amount-efficiency tables, calculates an efficiency of the power amount supplied to the device from the power supply units of the respective combinations, and specifies a combination of the power supply units whose calculated efficiencies satisfy a preset condition; and a power supply controller which controls the power supply units in specified combination to supply the power to the device.
a necessary power amount obtaining device which obtains a necessary power amount that shows a value of a power amount required by the device; a power supply unit specifying device which extracts combinations of a single power supply unit or of a plurality of power supply units capable of supplying the necessary power amount, calculates an efficiency of the power amount that is supplied to the device from each of the power supply units of the respective combinations, and specifies a combination of the power supply units whose calculated efficiencies satisfy a preset condition; and a power supply controller which executes a control in such a manner that the power is supplied to the device from the power supply units that configure the specified combination. 2. The power supply control device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the power supply unit specifying device calculates an overall efficiency of the whole power supply units that configure each of the combinations based on the calculated efficiencies of each of the power supply units, and specifies the combination whose overall efficiency satisfies a preset condition.
each of the power supply units stores a power amount-efficiency table which shows an efficiency of a power amount that can be outputted therefrom; and the power supply control device comprises a necessary power amount obtaining device which obtains a necessary power amount that shows a value of a power amount required by the device, a power supply unit specifying device which extracts combinations of a single power supply unit or of a plurality of power supply units capable of supplying the necessary power amount based on the power amount-efficiency tables, calculates an efficiency of the power amount that is supplied to the device from each of the power supply units of the respective combinations, and specifies a combination of the power supply units whose calculated efficiencies satisfy a preset condition, and a power supply controller which executes a control in such a manner that the power is supplied to the power supplied device from the power supply units that configure the specified combination. 13. The power supply mounted device as claimed in claim 12, wherein each of the power amount-efficiency tables is stored within the respective power supply units.
a function which obtains a necessary power amount that shows a value of a power amount required by the device, a function which extracts combinations of a single power supply unit or of a plurality of power supply units capable of supplying the necessary power amount based on the power amount-efficiency tables, calculates an efficiency of the power amount that is supplied to the device from each of the power supply units of the respective combinations, and specifies a combination of the power supply units whose calculated efficiencies satisfy a preset condition, and a function which executes a control in such a manner that the power is supplied to the power supplied device from the power supply units that configure the specified combination. 15. The power supply control program as claimed in claim 14, which allows the power supply control device to execute a function which calculates an overall efficiency of the whole power supply units that configure each of the combinations based on the calculated efficiencies of each of the power supply units, and specifies the combination whose overall efficiency satisfies a preset condition.
obtaining a necessary power amount that shows a value of a power amount required by the device, extracting combinations of a single power supply unit or of a plurality of power supply units capable of supplying the necessary power amount based on the power amount-efficiency tables, calculating an efficiency of the power amount that is supplied to the device from each of the power supply units of the respective combinations, and specifying a combination of the power supply units whose calculated efficiencies satisfy a preset condition, and executing a control in such a manner that the power is supplied to the power supplied device from the power supply units that configure the specified combination. 17. The power supply control method as claimed in claim 16, which calculates an overall efficiency of the whole power supply units that configure each of the combinations based on the calculated efficiencies of each of the power supply units, and specifies the combination whose overall efficiency satisfies a preset condition.
necessary power amount obtaining means for obtaining a necessary power amount that shows a value of a power amount required by the device; power supply unit specifying means for extracting combinations of a single power supply unit or of a plurality of power supply units capable of supplying the necessary power amount, calculates an efficiency of the power amount that is supplied to the device from each of the power supply units of the respective combinations, and specifies a combination of the power supply units whose calculated efficiencies satisfy a preset condition; and power supply control means for executing a control in such a manner that the power is supplied to the device from the power supply units that configure the specified combination. 19. A power supply mounted device, comprising power supply units, a power supplied means for operating by receiving supply of power from the power supply units, and a power supply control means for controlling on/off of the power supply units, wherein:
each of the power supply units stores a power amount-efficiency table which shows an efficiency of a power amount that can be outputted therefrom; and the power supply control means comprises necessary power amount obtaining means for obtaining a necessary power amount that shows a value of a power amount required by the device, power supply unit specifying means for extracting combinations of a single power supply unit or of a plurality of power supply units capable of supplying the necessary power amount based on the power amount-efficiency tables, calculating an efficiency of the power amount that is supplied to the device from each of the power supply units of the respective combinations, and specifying a combination of the power supply units whose calculated efficiencies satisfy a preset condition, and power supply control means for executing a control in such a manner that the power is supplied to the power supplied means from the power supply units that configure the specified combination. Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese patent application No. 2008-039790, filed on Feb. 21, 2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An exemplary object of the present invention therefore is to achieve highly efficient use of power supply units and to save the power of a device.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a composite computer device according to a first exemplary embodiment;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described in detail by referring to the accompanying drawings.
First Exemplary Embodiment Next, the exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described in a more concretive manner. A first exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described by referring to FIG. 1-FIG. 7. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the structure of a composite computer device. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the structure of a BMC. FIG. 3 is a functional block showing the structure of a management module. FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are illustrations showing examples of a power supply unit efficiency table. FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are flowcharts showing the operations of the composite computer device.
(Structure) FIG. 1 shows the structure of the composite computer device according to the exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, a composite computer device 1 is a computer such as a blade server which includes a plurality of CPU modules 2, a plurality of AC-DC power supply units 4, and a management module 5. For example, the composite computer device 1 is provided with eight CPU modules 2 and four AC-DC power supply units 4. Each structure will be described in detail hereinafter.
Further, the power supply unit specifying part 53 extracts a single AC-DC power supply unit 4 or a combination of a plurality of AC-DC power supply units 4 based on the power supply unit efficiency table 57 shown in FIG. 4 and the necessary power amount calculated in the manner described above. Now, there is considered a case where the necessary power amount of the composite computer device 1 is calculated as 3600 W, for example. In this case, it is not possible to supply the necessary power amount only with one unit selected from the power supply units A1, A2, B1, and B2, so that the power supply unit specifying part 53 extracts a combination of two or more power supply units. When the two or more AC-DC power supply units are turned on, load is imposed upon each of the AC-DC power supply units equivalently in a dispersed manner. Therefore, in the above-described case, the power supply unit specifying part 53 extracts six kinds of combinations as the combinations of the power supply units, i.e., (1) two power supply units �B1, B2� (load: 1800 W), (2) three power supply units �A1, B1, B2� (load: 1200 W), (3) three power supply units �A2, B1, B2� (load: 1200 W), (4) three power supply units �A1, A2, B1� (load: 1200 W), (5) three power supply units �A1, A2, B2� (load: 1200 W), (6) four power supply units �A1, A2, B1, B2� (load: 900 W). Then, the power supply unit specifying part 53 obtains the efficiencies corresponding to the load imposed on each of the power supply units of each combination from the efficiency tables, and calculates the overall efficiency of the combination. That is, the overall efficiency is obtained by leveling the efficiencies of each of the power supply units.
For example in a case of the combination (1), the efficiencies of the power supply units �B1, B2� (load: 1800 W) are 87.90% and 87.90%, respectively, and the average efficiency is 87.90%. Further, in cases of the combinations (2) and (3), the efficiencies of the power supply units �A1 (or A2), B1, B2� (load: 1200 W) are 89.44%, 88.78%, and 88.78%, respectively, and the average efficiency is 89.00%. In cases of the combinations (4) and (5), the efficiencies of the power supply units �A1, A2, B1 (or B2)� (load: 1200 W) are 89.44%, 89.44%, and 88.78%, respectively, and the average efficiency is 89.22%. Furthermore, in a cases of the combination (6), the efficiencies of the power supply units �A1, A2, B1, B2� (load: 900 W) are 88.35%, 88.35%, 87.92%, and 87.92%, respectively, and the average efficiency is 88.14%.
Among those, the combination with the highest efficiency is the combination (4) or the combination (5) with the power supply units �A1, A2, and B1 (B2)�, so that the power supply unit specifying part 53 selects those combinations. In the above case, the two kinds of combinations exhibit the highest efficiency, so that the power supply specifying part 53 specifies an arbitrary combination from those. For example, the power supply unit specifying part 53 specifies the combination of the youngest numbers of the power supply units, �A1, A2, B1� as the power supply units. Then, the power supply unit specifying part 53 informs the specified combination of the power supply units to the power supply on/off control part 54.
Further, the power supply unit specifying part 53 may specify the combination of the power supply units in such a manner that the power supply units to be turned on can be in a redundant structure. That is, the power supply unit specifying part 53 may specify a combination that is configured by further adding a single power supply unit or a plurality of power supply units to the specified combination of the power supply units described above. Alternatively, the power supply unit specifying part 53 may specify a combination that can supply the necessary power amount with remaining power supply units even if one of the power supply units of the above-described combination becomes out of order by failure or the like. In the above-described case of the combination with the power supply units �A1, A2, B1�, it is not possible to supply the necessary power amount �3600 W� only with the power supply units A1 and A2 if the power supply unit B1 becomes out of order. Thus, the power supply unit specifying part 53 specifies a combination of four power supply units �A1, A2, B1, B2�, which is the combination obtained by adding another power supply unit B2 further to the above-described combination of the power supply units �A1, A2, B1�. The added power supply unit B2 is capable of supplying the power amount that can be supplied by any of the power supply units A1, A2, and B1, so that the power supply unit B2 can be substituted for any of those units. Therefore, even if the power supply of one unit becomes broken, it is possible to supply the necessary power amount with the remaining three power supply units. Thus, this is considered a redundant structure.
If the combination of the four units �A1, A2, B1, B2� is specified in the first place as the combination of the highest efficiency, the necessary power amount can be supplied with the three units even when one of the units becomes out of order. In such case, it is in a redundant structure form the first place, so that the power supply unit specifying part 53 specifies such combination. As described, the power supply units specifying part 53 may specify the combination of the highest efficiency among the combinations that are in the redundant structure.
(Operations) Next, operations of the composite computer device in the above-described structure will be described by referring to flowcharts of FIG. 6 and FIG. 7.
Therefore, as the combinations of the power supply units, the management module 5 can extract the six kinds of combinations as described above, i.e., (1) two power supply units �B1, B2� (load: 1800 W), (2) three power supply units �A1, B1, B2� (load: 1200 W), (3) three power supply units �A2, B1, B2� (load: 1200 W), (4) three power supply units �A1, A2, B1� (load: 1200 W), (5) three power supply units �A1, A2, B2� (load: 1200 W), (6) four power supply units �A1, A2, B1, B2� (load: 900 W). The values of the load within parentheses indicate the values of the load imposed equally to each of the power supply units of the respective combinations. The efficiencies corresponding to the load of each power supply unit in each combination are obtained from the efficiency tables, and the overall efficiency of the combination is calculated. That is, the overall efficiency is calculated by leveling the obtained efficiencies of each power supply unit (steps S23, S24, S25). With this, it is found that the combinations (4) and (5) exhibit the highest overall efficiency, and the combination (4) that has the power supply units of younger numbers is selected from the two combinations. Thereby, specified is the combination of the power supply units �A1, A2, B1� (step S26).
Second Exemplary Embodiment Next, a second exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described by referring to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the structure of a composite computer device according to this exemplary embodiment.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be utilized for a device having a plurality of power supply units, e.g., a composite computer device, and it exhibits an industrial applicability.
Referenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS8150540 *Sep 17, 2008Apr 3, 2012Lineage Power CorporationController and method for controlling converters of disparate typeUS8245069 *Sep 14, 2009Aug 14, 2012International Business Machines CorporationMultiple power supplies providing enhanced power efficiencyUS8522064 *Nov 11, 2010Aug 27, 2013Inventec CorporationServer system having mainboardsUS8671298 *Feb 17, 2011Mar 11, 2014Dell Products L.P.System and method for improving power supply efficiencyUS20110066871 *Sep 14, 2009Mar 17, 2011International Business Machines CorporationMultiple Power Supplies Providing Enhanced Power EfficiencyUS20110191514 *Jan 29, 2010Aug 4, 2011Inventec CorporationServer systemUS20120030492 *Nov 11, 2010Feb 2, 2012Inventec CorporationServer systemUS20120216055 *Feb 17, 2011Aug 23, 2012Dell Products L.P.System and Method for Improving Power Supply Efficiency* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification713/300, 307/80International ClassificationH02J3/00, G06F1/00Cooperative ClassificationH02J1/10, G06F1/3203European ClassificationG06F1/32P, H02J1/10Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionFeb 20, 2009ASAssignmentOwner name: NEC CORPORATION, JAPANFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:TSUCHIYA, JUNICHIRO;REEL/FRAME:022289/0469Effective date: 20090108RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services©2012 Google