CN1245871A - Fan control method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a heat radiation control method and device, in particular to a fan control method and device of a Central Processing Unit (CPU), which applies Hardware repetition (Hardware Redundancy) technology of Fault Tolerance (Fault Tolerance) theory, utilizes at least two groups of fan devices and detection circuits to be arranged on a heat radiation sheet, and utilizes a monitoring circuit to provide information signals to a motherboard to transmit the operation condition of the fan. In general, each fan device is operated at a low speed, and when the detection circuit detects that the operating efficiency of one fan is reduced, the monitoring circuit can control the other fan devices to increase the rotating speed, so as to maintain the reliability of the operation of the central processing unit.

Description

Fan control method and device

The present invention relates to a heat dissipation control method and device, in particular, the present invention is applicable to the heat dissipation mode of the chip in the server computer system, especially the fan control method and device of the central processing unit (CPU), so that the central processing unit (CPU) can dissipate heat Problems can be maintained in an efficient manner, thereby improving the stability of the server computer system.

After the popularization of personal computers, people are more familiar with the functions and operations of computers, and their impressions have also changed. They think that computer systems do not need to be carefully maintained in air-conditioned rooms as before. However, with the continuous improvement of the central processing unit manufacturing technology, more transistors can be placed in the limited central processing unit area, and under the situation that the operating frequency is also greatly improved, the heat dissipation problem of the central processing unit is obvious. It has become one of the main factors affecting the stability of the computer system.

Whenever the computer system is started, the temperature emitted by the surface of the central processing unit continues to rise. The solution of the prior art is to install a cooling fin on the surface of the central processing unit. Furthermore, a small fan is installed on the cooling fin to Improvements to thermal issues are obtained. However, adding a heat sink is to increase the surface area, and to dissipate the heat energy of the heat source such as the surface area of the central processing unit by heat conduction. However, in some computer casings, such as notebook computers, it is impossible to accept large-volume heat sinks, and only Simply installing a heat sink cannot effectively improve the heat dissipation of the CPU. Therefore, most of the cooling solutions for the central processing unit on the market are heat sinks and fan devices, but the fan devices use electric energy and are driven by small motors, so there may be problems with failures, or the motor may be damaged due to dust accumulation. If the above-mentioned problems occur, if the computer user is not notified in time, the stability of the computer system will suddenly decrease, which may cause damage at any time, and will cause inability to control the user or the process. make up for the loss.

In a server computer system, it is inevitable for the central processing unit to work for a long time. Therefore, the processing of the heat dissipation problem of the central processing unit is more important than that of a general personal computer. According to the prior art, in addition to using heat sinks and small fans, a detection circuit is also provided to monitor the operating efficiency of the fans in time, so that when a fan problem occurs, the operator can be notified to replace or detect the fan. However, the current technology mainly uses a fan device to accelerate the heat dissipation efficiency of the heat sink, but in the server computer, the fan device may still have the above-mentioned failure problem, and before the operator has completed the maintenance of the fan device, the central processing The decrease of heat dissipation efficiency of the radiator will make the reliability of the central processing unit in the system become the focus of the problem at this time. Therefore, the present invention develops a heat dissipation method and device to maintain the central processing unit in a high-efficiency heat dissipation environment, which will contribute to industrial applicability and practicability.

The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a fan control method and device with a high-efficiency heat dissipation environment for central processing unit heat dissipation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fan control method and device to improve the reliability of CPU operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fan control method and device that can effectively solve the cooling problem of the central processing unit, thereby increasing the stability of the computer system.

In view of the shortcomings caused by the prior art on the heat dissipation of the central processing unit, the present invention utilizes the Hardware Redundancy technology of the Fault Tolerance theory, and utilizes at least two groups of fan devices and detection circuits to be installed on the On the heat sink, and use a monitoring circuit to provide information signals to the mother board (Mother Board) to transmit the fan operation status.

Under normal operating conditions, each fan device operates at low speed or not at full speed. When the detection circuit detects that one of the fan's operation efficiency is reduced or fails, the monitoring circuit can control the other fan devices to increase the speed to the rated speed or run at full speed to maintain the CPU. Effective heat dissipation environment, and the output signal shows the fan device in abnormal state, and the faulty fan can be replaced (Hot Swap) online without interrupting the heat dissipation environment of the CPU, thereby maintaining the reliability of the CPU's computing work. After the operation failure of the fan is eliminated, the monitoring circuit uses the detection circuit to know that each fan is operating normally, and immediately restores each fan device to operate at a low speed or at a non-full speed.

According to the analysis of fault tolerance theory, the fault tolerance of the system can be improved by using the hardware duplication technology, and the probability of failure of each hardware duplication unit at the same time is very small. The reliability of the computer system and better results can be obtained, and the life of the fan unit can be extended, so that the system can work stably for a long time.

The object of the present invention can be achieved through the following measures:

A fan control method, suitable for using at least two sets of fan devices for heat dissipation, the main steps include:

Step 1: Detect the rotation speed of the aforementioned fan device, and proceed to Step 2;

Step 2: According to the above speed, judge whether the preset event occurs, if yes, go to step 3, if not, go back to step 1;

Step 3: Improve the operating performance of the fan unit that does not have a predetermined event, go to Step 4;

Step 4: Display a message signal indicating that the aforementioned preset event occurs, and go to Step 5:

Step 5: Check and repair the fan unit where the aforementioned preset event occurs, go to Step 6;

Step 6: Restore the operation of the aforementioned fan device to the initial setting, and go to Step 1.

Wherein the preset event in the aforementioned step 2 is that the aforementioned rotational speed is lower than a critical rotational speed.

Wherein the aforementioned critical rotational speed is a low speed rotational speed.

Wherein the message signal in the aforementioned step 4 includes displaying the fan device where the aforementioned preset event occurs.

Wherein the message signal in the aforementioned step 4 includes outputting an abnormal square wave signal.

Wherein the above-mentioned step three improves the above-mentioned operating efficiency so that the fan device reaches the rated speed.

Wherein the initial setting of the aforementioned step 6 is to control the rotational speed of the aforementioned fan device to be between the critical rotational speed and the rated rotational speed.

A fan control method, suitable for controlling two groups of fan devices, the main steps include:

Step 1: Detect the rotating speed of the aforementioned fan device, and proceed to Step 2;

Step 2: Whether the aforementioned speed of one fan device is lower than the critical speed, if yes, go to step 3, if not, go back to step 1;

Step 3: Increase the speed of another fan unit to the rated speed, and go to step 4;

Step 4: display the message signal representing the fan device in the aforementioned step 2, and go to step 5;

Step 5: Overhaul the fan device in the aforementioned step 2, go to step 6;

Step 6: restore the speed of the two aforementioned fan devices to the initial speed, and go to step 1.

Wherein the critical speed in the aforementioned step 2 is a low speed speed.

Wherein the initial speed in the aforementioned step 6 is between the critical speed and the rated speed.

Wherein the message signal in the aforementioned step 4 includes outputting a preset square wave signal.

A fan control device, suitable for heat dissipation, mainly includes:

At least two groups of fan devices, each of the aforementioned fan devices includes a driving motor, a sensor and a speed controller, wherein the aforementioned sensor can output a sensing signal and the aforementioned speed controller can input a command signal to control the rotation speed of the aforementioned driving motor; and

A monitoring circuit can receive the sensing signal. When the sensing signal is lower than a critical signal, the monitoring circuit can output a square wave signal and an instruction signal to the speed controller to increase the speed of the driving motor.

Wherein the aforementioned critical signal is a low-speed operation signal.

Wherein the aforementioned square wave signal is an interrupt signal.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

According to the fan control device implemented by the fan control method of the present invention, the deficiency and inconvenience caused by the existing central processing unit heat dissipation technology can be effectively solved, and the present invention uses the hardware duplication technology of the fault tolerance theory to solve the central processing unit heat dissipation problem, thereby improving The reliability of the operation of the central processing unit improves the stability of the system.

The fan control method and device of the present invention can replace the faulty fan online without interrupting the cooling environment of the central processing unit in the event of a fan failure, without affecting the system work, so as to achieve a better fault tolerance effect.

The fan control method and device of the present invention and its advantages and features will be further understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

【Simplified illustration】

Fig. 1 is a flow chart of the fan control method of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a functional block diagram of the fan control device of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a circuit diagram of a preferred embodiment of the fan control device of the present invention.

【Description of figure number】

201...Drive power supply 202, 203...Fan device

204...Monitoring circuit 205...Mainboard

Referring first to FIG. 1 , it is a flow chart showing the fan control method of the present invention. In the embodiment of the present invention, two sets of fan devices are used for illustration. The fan control method of the present invention is real-time servo control, and its steps are as follows:

Step 101: Detect the speed status of two groups of fans:

When the two groups of fan devices are in normal working condition, the fan device is initially set to run at low speed or not at full speed. Therefore, the two fans are used to share the heat dissipation work of the central processing unit to obtain the long-term use of the fan device and extend the fan device. life. Obtain two sets of detected rotational speed results, and go to step 102 .

Step 102: Determine whether the rotation speeds of the two groups of fans are greater than the speed threshold:

The setting of the aforementioned speed critical value depends on how many groups of fan devices are used, so that the heat dissipation efficiency of the central processing unit can meet the specifications; If the rotational speed is lower than the critical rotational speed, go to step 103 .

Step 103: Improve the operating performance of the non-faulty fan units:

When one of the fan units fails, the heat dissipation efficiency of the central processing unit is reduced, or is lower than the specification, and the operating performance of another set of fan units is improved to improve the heat dissipation efficiency of the central processing unit, so as to maintain the central processing unit work reliably. The aforementioned operating efficiency refers to the use of the control fan to achieve the rated speed. Then go to step 104 .

Step 104: Send a message signal to show that the fan unit has a problem in operation, so as to notify the system user:

Whether the operation status of the two fans is lower than the speed threshold is used as the judgment condition for the occurrence of the event. When the event occurs, a message signal is sent to notify the system user to check the fan device and eliminate the cause of the failure. Go to step 105.

Step 105: Wait for the fan unit troubleshooting:

If the fan failure status has not been eliminated, then go back to step 104, and continue to send a message signal to remind the system user to eliminate the fan failure; until the fan failure status is eliminated, go to step 106.

Step 106: restore the two sets of fan units to the initial operating state:

When the fault state of the fan is eliminated, the detection circuit can be used to detect that the speed of the faulty fan has increased, and then control the two fans to return to the originally set low speed or non-full speed. Back to step 101, continue to monitor the operating performance of the two fans.

Using the above detailed description, the implementation steps of the fan control method of the present invention can be obtained, and the following fan control device of the present invention can be used to solve the heat dissipation problem of the central processing unit.

Please refer to FIG. 2 , which is a functional block diagram showing the fan control device of the present invention. The fan control device of the present invention includes a driving power supply 201, which provides power supply for the fan motor and other circuits. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the power supply of the server computer can be used to obtain the driving power supply 201; at least two sets of fan devices 202, 203 , each fan device includes a drive motor, a sensor and a speed controller, the aforementioned drive motor drives the fan to rotate, and the sensor can detect the speed of the fan and generate a speed signal, and the speed controller can be controlled by a command signal The speed of the driving motor; and the detection and control circuit 204, which can receive the speed signals generated by the sensors of the fan devices 202, 203, and execute the judgment of the speed state to determine whether the event occurs. When one of the speed signals does not reach the speed When the critical value is set, the monitoring circuit 204 can output a command signal to the speed controller of another group of fan devices to increase the speed to high speed or rated speed, and at the same time output a message signal to the server motherboard (Mother Board) 205, In order to notify the system user to check or replace the fan.

According to the embodiment of the fan control method of the present invention, the detection and control circuit 204 of the aforementioned fan control device outputs a square wave signal of about 5200 rpm as a message signal when an event does not occur, and if an event occurs, the monitoring circuit 204 outputs The square wave signal lower than 5200rpm is expressed as a message signal to distinguish the abnormal state of the fan, and further notify the system user to check or replace the fan.

In another embodiment of the fan control device of the present invention, the monitoring circuit 204 can output an interrupt signal to the main board when an event occurs, so as to display the aforementioned information signal on a suitable display interface.

Referring finally to FIG. 3 , it is a circuit diagram showing a preferred embodiment of the fan control device of the present invention. The driving power Vcc of the circuit can be obtained from the power supply of the server computer system, wherein FAN1 and FAN2 are the motors of the fans, and the armature current flowing through the aforementioned motors can be sensed through the resistors R1 and R2, thereby detecting whether the rotational speed of the motors is Normal, while MOS Q1 and Q2 are speed controllers. When their gates receive signals from the monitoring circuit, they can control the motor to run at rated or full speed; the rest of the circuit components form a monitoring circuit, which includes an oscillation circuit, and finally The collector of the transistor Q6 generates a message signal and outputs it to the host circuit board.

After describing the preferred embodiments of the present invention in detail, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that all equivalent replacements made according to the technical solution of the utility model should be considered included in the technical solution of the utility model.

To sum up, the present invention has many excellent features, and solves the shortcomings and inconveniences of the prior art in practice and application, proposes an effective solution, completes a practical and reliable device, and then achieves a novel and economically beneficial value. In fact, the application conditions for invention patents have been met, and a patent application is filed according to law.

Claims (14)

1. A fan control method is characterized in that: it is suitable for utilizing at least two groups of fan devices to dissipate heat, and the main steps include: Step 1: Detect the rotation speed of the aforementioned fan device, and proceed to Step 2; Step 2: According to the above speed, judge whether the preset event occurs, if yes, go to step 3, if not, go back to step 1; Step 3: Improve the operating performance of the fan unit that does not have a predetermined event, go to Step 4; Step 4: displaying a message signal indicating the occurrence of the aforementioned preset event, go to step 5; Step 5: Check and repair the fan unit where the aforementioned preset event occurs, go to Step 6; Step 6: Restore the operation of the aforementioned fan device to the initial setting, and go to Step 1. 2. The fan control method according to claim 1, wherein the preset event in the aforementioned step 2 is that the aforementioned rotational speed is lower than a critical rotational speed. 3. The fan control method according to claim 2, wherein the critical speed is a low speed. 4. The fan control method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the message signal in the aforementioned step 4 includes displaying the fan device where the aforementioned preset event occurs. 5. The fan control method according to claim 1, wherein the information signal in the aforementioned step 4 includes outputting an abnormal square wave signal. 6 . The fan control method according to claim 1 , wherein in the third step, the operation performance of the fan device is increased to reach the rated speed of the fan device. 7 . 7. The fan control method according to claim 2 or 6, wherein the initial setting in the aforementioned step 6 is to control the rotational speed of the aforementioned fan device to be between the critical rotational speed and the rated rotational speed. 8. A fan control method, characterized in that it is suitable for controlling two sets of fan devices, and the main steps include: Step 1: Detect the rotating speed of the aforementioned fan device, and proceed to Step 2; Step 2: Whether the aforementioned speed of one fan device is lower than the critical speed, if yes, go to step 3, if not, go back to step 1; Step 3: Increase the speed of another fan unit to the rated speed, and go to step 4; Step 4: display the message signal representing the fan device in the aforementioned step 2, and go to step 5; Step 5: Overhaul the fan device in the aforementioned step 2, go to step 6; Step 6: restore the speed of the two aforementioned fan devices to the initial speed, and go to step 1. 9. The fan control method according to claim 8, wherein the critical speed in step 2 is a low speed. 10. The fan control method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the initial speed in step six is between the critical speed and the rated speed. 11. The fan control method according to claim 8, wherein the information signal in the aforementioned step 4 includes outputting a preset square wave signal. 12. A fan control device, characterized in that it is suitable for heat dissipation, and mainly includes: At least two groups of fan devices, each of the aforementioned fan devices includes a driving motor, a sensor and a speed controller, wherein the aforementioned sensor can output a sensing signal and the aforementioned speed controller can input a command signal to control the rotation speed of the aforementioned driving motor; and A monitoring circuit can receive the sensing signal. When the sensing signal is lower than a critical signal, the monitoring circuit can output a square wave signal and an instruction signal to the speed controller to increase the speed of the driving motor. 13. The fan control device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the critical signal is a low-speed operation signal. 14. The fan control device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the square wave signal is an interrupt signal.

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