Method to selectively activate power outlets in a flexible and scalable power and system management infrastructure for a data management system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10104801-B2
Application number	US-201314139783-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 23, 2013
Priority date	Dec 23, 2013
Publication date	Oct 16, 2018
Grant date	Oct 16, 2018

Abstract

A power switching system, a method, and an information handling system (IHS) enables selective activation and de-activation of respective alternating current (AC) outlets of a plurality of AC outlets within an AC switch (ACS). The AC switch includes a decoder circuit that is couple via a control interface to a management controller (MC) and receives control commands from the control interface. In response to receipt of the control command, the decoder circuit decodes the command in order to provide control signals to one or more of a number of serial voltage relays, which are each respectively coupled to the AC outlets. The AC switch utilizes the decoder circuit to respectively configure the serial voltage relays using the control signals. By configuring the serial voltage relays, the MC provides and/or removes respective connections between AC inputs and AC outlets, which selectively activates and/or de-activates respective AC outlets.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A power switching system comprising:
at least one AC input;
a plurality of alternating current (AC) outlets providing an AC power supply for respective power supply units (PSUs) and other functional components of an information handling system that require AC power;
a controller module comprising a control interface that receives control commands from a system management controller, wherein the control interface includes a digital control bus and is powered using at least one low voltage direct current (DC) power supply that is independent from the AC power, wherein the controller module selectively provides at least one of (a) activation of AC outlets and (b) de-activation of AC outlets, from among the plurality of AC outlets based on one or more control commands received from the system management controller, wherein the system management controller determines which of the plurality of AC outlets to activate and de-activate by determining required activation states of AC power outlets in the AC switch by analyzing power supply, power consumption and device settings data associated with the electronic components;
a plurality of serial voltage relays, each serial voltage relay respectively coupled between an AC input and a corresponding AC outlet; and
a decoder circuit communicatively coupled to the controller module and which:
receives the control command from the controller module;
decodes the control command to determine which of the plurality of AC outlets to activate and de-activate; and
transmits an individual signal to each serial voltage relay connected to an AC outlet that is targeted for one of activation and de-activation;

wherein the at least one low voltage DC power supply provides a voltage input that is used to bias the decoder circuit and each serial voltage relay of the plurality of serial voltage relays; and
wherein the power switching system is communicatively coupled to both an infrastructure module and a power subsystem that includes a plurality of power supply units (PSUs), power distribution units (PDUs), and a power control module (PMC).

2. The power switching system of claim 1 ,
wherein the controller module selectively activates AC outlets from among the plurality of AC outlets via a switchable circuit connection provided by a corresponding serial voltage relay.

3. The power switching system of claim 2 , wherein:
the decoder circuit is a single decoder circuit that is connected to each serial voltage relay and communicatively connected to the controller module, which provides the control commands to the decoder circuit.

4. The power switching system of claim 1 , wherein:
the control interface enables remote access to at least one of a host agent and the system management controller.

5. The power switching system of claim 1 , wherein:
the power system is included within a power bay of a rack-based IHS of functional electronic components;
the plurality of AC outlets are utilized to provide power to the functional electronic components; and
the controller module enables selective power activation and selective power deactivation of respective electronic components within the rack-based IHS without impacting power supplied to other electronic components within the rack-based IHS.

6. The power switching system of claim 1 , wherein the controller module further determines which of the plurality of AC outlets to activate and de-activate by:
determining a required vector, which is the required activation states of AC power outlets that provide power to corresponding electronic components; and
sending a control command to an AC switch in order to perform AC outlet activation and/or de-activation, based on the determined required vector.

7. The power switching system of claim 1 , wherein in determining which of the plurality of AC outlets to activate and de-activate, the controller module:
determines whether the required vector is equal to a current vector; and
sends the control command with the new vector in response to determining that the required vector is not equal to the current vector.

8. An information handling system comprising:
a plurality of functional electronic components requiring a supply of alternating current (AC) power and each having an AC power plug;
a management controller (MC) that provides system-level management and control for the functional electronic components; and
an AC power switching system communicatively coupled to both an infrastructure module and a power subsystem that includes a plurality of power supply units (PSUs), power distribution units (PDUs), and a power control module (PMC), the AC power switching system comprising:
at least one AC input;
a plurality of AC outlets having one AC power plug of a corresponding electronic component inserted therein;
a control interface that receives control commands from the MC, the control interface including a digital control bus and is powered using at least one low voltage direct current (DC) power supply that is independent from the AC power supply and provides a voltage input that is used to bias the decoder circuit and each of the plurality of serial voltage relays, wherein the MC utilizes the control commands to selectively provide at least one of (a) activation of AC outlets and (b) de-activation of AC outlet, from among the plurality of AC outlets, wherein the MC determines whether to perform at least one of selective activation and selective de-activation of respective AC outlets, wherein to determine which of the plurality of AC outlets to activate and de-activate comprises the MC determining required activation states of AC power outlets in the AC switch by analyzing power supply, power consumption and device settings data associated with the electronic components, the power consumption and device settings data being associated with the PSUs and received from the PMC;
a plurality of serial voltage relays respectively coupled between a corresponding AC input and each respective AC outlet; and
a decoder circuit communicatively coupled to the control interface and which:
receives the control command from the MC;
decodes the control command to determine which of the plurality of AC outlets to activate and de-activate; and
transmits a signal to each serial voltage relay connected to an AC outlet that is targeted for one of activation and de-activation.

9. The IHS of claim 8 ,
wherein the controller module selectively activates AC outlets from among the plurality of AC outlets via a switchable circuit connection provided by a corresponding serial voltage relay.

10. The IHS of claim 8 , wherein:
the decoder circuit is connected to each serial voltage relay and communicatively connected to the control interface;
wherein the MC provides a control command to the decoder circuit to control respective activation and deactivation of each one of the plurality of AC outlets via each respective serial voltage relay.

11. The IHS of claim 8 , wherein the control interface:
provides remote control access to at least one of a host agent and the management controller.

12. The IHS of claim 8 , further comprising:
an Infrastructure Module (IM) which communicatively connects the at least one MC to other functional electronic components; and
a power bay which includes the at least one MC and a power management controller which is coupled to the at least one MC;
wherein the IHS is a rack-based IHS; and
wherein the MC enables selective power activation and selective power deactivation of respective electronic components within the rack-based IHS without impacting power supplied to other electronic components within the ra

Assignees

• Dell Inc
• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Bailey Edmond
• Stuewe John R
• Wang Kunrong

Classifications

• H05K7/1492 Primary

  having electrical distribution arrangements, e.g. power supply or data communications · CPC title