TWI892062B - Server and method for self-positioning - Google Patents

Abstract

A server and a method for self-positioning are provided. The method includes: obtaining a first media access control (MAC) address; transmitting a broadcast message and receiving a response message corresponding to the broadcast message, wherein the response message includes a second MAC address and a communication port number of a switch corresponding to the second MAC address; storing the communication port number in response to the first MAC address matching the second MAC address; and transmitting a query response, wherein the query response includes the communication port number.

Description

Server and method for self-localization

The present invention relates to a positioning technology, and more particularly to a server and method for self-positioning.

Recently, demand for oil-immersion cooling servers has been increasing. For easier management, users can immerse multiple servers in a tank filled with single-phase or two-phase oil. To maintain the cooling capacity of the oil cooling system, it's important to minimize the number of times the tank needs to be opened and closed to prevent oil from escaping. Providing maintenance personnel with the precise location of servers can significantly reduce the number of times they need to open the tank to locate them.

The present invention provides a server and method for self-positioning, which can report the switch communication port corresponding to the server to the user.

The present invention provides a self-positioning server, comprising a processor, a storage medium, and a transceiver. The storage medium stores a first media access control address. The processor is coupled to the storage medium and the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to: transmit a broadcast message via the transceiver, and receive a response message corresponding to the broadcast message via the transceiver, wherein the response message includes a second media access control address and a port number of a switch corresponding to the second media access control address; store the port number in the storage medium in response to a match between the first media access control address and the second media access control address; and transmit a query response via the transceiver, wherein the query response includes the port number.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the processor is further configured to: receive a query request via the transceiver; and transmit a query response corresponding to the query request in response to receiving the query request.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the storage medium further stores a first Internet Protocol address, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine whether the first Internet Protocol address matches the query request; and send a query response in response to the first Internet Protocol address matching the query request.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the processor is further configured to: obtain a first IP address assigned to the server by broadcasting a message; and communicate using the first IP address to obtain a response message.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the processor includes a baseboard management controller.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the response message includes a mapping relationship between a plurality of media access control addresses and a plurality of communication port numbers of the switch.

The present invention provides a method for self-positioning, comprising: obtaining a first media access control address; transmitting a broadcast message and receiving a response message corresponding to the broadcast message, wherein the response message includes a second media access control address and a communication port number of a switch corresponding to the second media access control address; storing the communication port number in response to a match between the first media access control address and the second media access control address; and transmitting a query response, wherein the query response includes the communication port number.

Based on the above, the server of the present invention can obtain the port number of the switch corresponding to the server through broadcasting. After receiving a query request, the server can return a query response containing the port number to the terminal device that sent the query request to help the user of the terminal device locate the server.

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an oil cooling system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The oil cooling system 10 may include one or more servers 100, a switch 200, and an oil tank 300. One or more servers 100 may be coupled to the switch 200 and immersed in the oil tank 300, which is filled with oil, for cooling. After each server 100 is placed in the oil tank 300, the user may close the oil tank 300 to prevent the oil from escaping. Since the servers 100 connected to the communication ports of the switch 200 are all located in the oil tank 300, once the user finds the communication port corresponding to the server 100, the user can locate the server 100 based on the communication port (i.e., whether the server 100 is inside the oil tank 300).

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a server 100 for self-positioning according to an embodiment of the present invention. The server 100 may include a processor 110, a storage medium 120, and a transceiver 130.

The processor 110 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), or other programmable general-purpose or special-purpose microcontrol unit (MCU), microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), programmable controller, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), graphics processing unit (GPU), image signal processor (ISP), image processing unit (IPU), arithmetic logic unit (ALU), complex programmable logic device (CPLD), field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other similar components or combinations thereof. The processor 110 may be coupled to the storage medium 120 and the transceiver 130, and access and execute multiple modules and various applications stored in the storage medium 120. In one embodiment, the processor 110 may be implemented by a baseboard management controller (BMC).

Storage medium 120 may be, for example, any type of fixed or removable random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, hard disk drive (HDD), solid state drive (SSD), or similar device or combination thereof, and is used to store multiple modules or various applications executable by processor 110. In this embodiment, storage medium 120 may store information including a media access control (MAC) address 121 of server 100, an Internet protocol (IP) address 122 of server 100, and a communication port number 123 of switch 200.

The transceiver 130 transmits and receives signals wirelessly or wiredly. The transceiver 130 may also perform operations such as low-noise amplification, impedance matching, frequency mixing, up- or down-frequency conversion, filtering, amplification, and the like.

Figure 3 illustrates a flow chart for obtaining the communication port number 123 according to one embodiment of the present invention. In step S301, the processor 110 may obtain the IP address 122 assigned to the server 100 via a broadcast message. Specifically, the processor 110 may transmit the broadcast message via the transceiver 130 to electronic devices connected to the server 100, including the switch 200. The switch 200 may assign the IP address 122 to the server 100 based on the broadcast message and transmit information including the IP address 122 to the server 100.

In step S302, the processor 110 may communicate using the IP address 122 to obtain a response message. The response message may include mappings between multiple media access control addresses (MAC addresses) and multiple port numbers of the switch 200. Based on the mappings in the response message, the processor 110 may obtain the MAC address of the electronic device connected to a specific port of the switch 200.

Specifically, after obtaining the Internet Protocol address 122, the processor 110 may send a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) message to the switch 200 based on the Internet Protocol address 122, thereby querying the switch 200 for the media access control address (MAC) of the electronic device (e.g., server 100) connected to each communication port of the switch 200 (e.g., the communication port connected to the server 100). The switch 200 may transmit a response message corresponding to the SNMP message to the server 100, wherein the response message may include the MAC address and the port number of the switch 200 corresponding to the MAC address.

In step S303, the processor 110 compares the MAC address in the response message with the MAC address 121 in the storage medium 120 to see if they match. A match between the MAC address in the response message and the MAC address 121 in the storage medium 120 indicates that the port number in the response message corresponds to the server 100. Accordingly, the processor 110 can obtain the corresponding port number from the response message in response to the match between the MAC address in the response message and the MAC address 121 in the storage medium 120.

In step S304, the processor 110 may store the port number obtained from the response message as port number 123 in the storage medium 120 and re-execute step S301. In other words, the server 100 is connected to the switch 200 via the port of the switch 200 corresponding to port number 123.

FIG4 illustrates a flow chart for querying a communication port number according to an embodiment of the present invention. In step S401, an external terminal device may transmit a query request to server 100 based on an event. Processor 110 may receive the query request via transceiver 130, where the query request may include IP address 122 of server 100. For example, when the external terminal device detects an abnormal event at IP address 122, the external terminal device may transmit a query request including IP address 122 to server 100.

In step S402, the processor 110 of the server 100 may transmit a query response corresponding to the query request to the external terminal device in response to receiving the query request, wherein the query response may include the communication port number 123. In one embodiment, after receiving the query request, the processor 110 checks whether the information in the query request matches the Internet Protocol Address 123. In response to the query request matching the Internet Protocol Address 123, the processor 110 may transmit the query response to the external terminal device.

In step S403, the external terminal device may display the physical location of server 100 based on communication port number 123 for reference by maintenance personnel. Specifically, the external terminal device may pre-store a mapping relationship between communication port number 123 and physical locations. For example, the external terminal device may store a mapping relationship indicating that the device connected to the communication port with communication port number 123 (i.e., server 100) is located within fuel tank 300. When the external terminal device receives a query response including communication port number 123, the external terminal device may output the physical location of server 100 based on the query response and the mapping relationship. For example, the external terminal device may output the physical location of server 100 to a display for reference by maintenance personnel.

In step S404, after the maintenance personnel reset the server 100 that has the abnormality, the server 100 can re-execute the steps shown in FIG. 3 to automatically perform the self-positioning process.

FIG5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for self-localization according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the method may be implemented by the server 100 shown in FIG2 . In step S501, a first media access control address is obtained. In step S502, a broadcast message is transmitted, and a response message corresponding to the broadcast message is received, wherein the response message includes a second media access control address and a port number of a switch corresponding to the second media access control address. In step S503, in response to a match between the first media access control address and the second media access control address, the port number is stored. In step S504, a query response is transmitted, wherein the query response includes the port number.

In summary, after obtaining an IP address, the server of the present invention can broadcast a response from the switch, thereby obtaining the port number of the switch corresponding to the server. After obtaining the port number, if the server receives a query request that matches its IP address, it can return a query response to the terminal device that issued the query, providing the port number corresponding to the server. Users can then use the terminal device to obtain the port number of the switch corresponding to the server. The port number helps users quickly and accurately locate the server.

10: Oil cooling system 100: Server 110: Processor 120: Storage media 121: Media access control address 122: Internet protocol address 123: Port number 130: Transceiver 200: Switch 300: Fuel tank S301, S302, S303, S304, S401, S402, S403, S404, S501, S502, S503, S504: Steps

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an oil cooling system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a server for self-positioning according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a flowchart of obtaining a communication port number according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 is a flowchart of querying a communication port number according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 is a flowchart of a method for self-positioning according to an embodiment of the present invention.

S501, S502, S503, S504: Steps

Claims (7)

A server for self-positioning includes: a transceiver; a storage medium storing a first media access control address; and a processor coupled to the storage medium and the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to: transmit a broadcast message through the transceiver, and receive a response message corresponding to the broadcast message through the transceiver, wherein the response message includes a second media access control address and a port number of a switch corresponding to the second media access control address; store the port number in the storage medium in response to a match between the first media access control address and the second media access control address; and transmit a query response through the transceiver, wherein the query response includes the port number. The server of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive a query request through the transceiver; and transmit the query response corresponding to the query request in response to receiving the query request. The server of claim 2, wherein the storage medium further stores a first Internet Protocol address, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine whether the first Internet Protocol address matches the query request; and send the query response in response to the first Internet Protocol address matching the query request. The server of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: obtain a first Internet Protocol address assigned to the server through the broadcast message; and communicate using the first Internet Protocol address to obtain the response message. A server as described in claim 1, wherein the processor includes a baseboard management controller. The server as described in claim 1, wherein the response message includes a mapping relationship between multiple media access control addresses and multiple communication port numbers of the switch. A method for self-positioning includes: obtaining a first media access control address; transmitting a broadcast message and receiving a response message corresponding to the broadcast message, wherein the response message includes a second media access control address and a port number of a switch corresponding to the second media access control address; storing the port number in response to a match between the first media access control address and the second media access control address; and transmitting a query response, wherein the query response includes the port number.