Method of updating baseboard management controller firmware for fan speed control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10120676-B2
Application number	US-201715857345-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 28, 2017
Priority date	Jan 20, 2017
Publication date	Nov 6, 2018
Grant date	Nov 6, 2018

Abstract

When a baseboard management controller (BMC) is used to control a fan speed of a fan unit of a server by executing a firmware with fan parameter data stored in one temporary storage region, the fan parameter data is updated by receiving fan parameter update data and storing the fan parameter update data in another temporary storage region, and updating the fan parameter data using the fan parameter update data after determining that the received fan parameter update data is valid.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of updating baseboard management controller firmware for fan speed control comprising:
providing a baseboard management control system that includes:
a storage device for storing therein a firmware associated with operation of a fan unit of a computer device, the firmware containing fan parameter data that is associated with control of a rotary speed of the fan unit;
a temporary storage device that is used to store the firmware received from the storage device, and that has a first temporary storage region, and a second temporary storage region for storing therein the fan parameter data; and
a baseboard management controller coupled to the fan unit, the storage device and the temporary storage device, the baseboard management controller controlling the rotary speed of the fan unit by executing the firmware stored in the temporary storage device;
starting to receive, by the baseboard management controller in response to receipt of an instruction indicating a firmware update operation, fan parameter update data associated with control of the rotary speed of the fan unit, and storing the fan parameter update data thus received in the first temporary storage region of the temporary storage device;
determining, by the baseboard management controller after completion of receipt and storage of the fan parameter update data in the first temporary storage region of the temporary storage device, whether or not the fan parameter update data stored in the first temporary storage region of the temporary storage device is valid; and
updating, by the baseboard management controller after determining that the fan parameter update data stored in the first temporary storage region of the temporary storage device is valid, the fan parameter data stored in the second temporary storage region using the fan parameter update data stored in the first temporary storage region.

2. The method of updating baseboard management controller firmware of claim 1 , wherein the temporary storage device further stores a state flag that indicates whether or not the baseboard management controller is in a data receiving state, said method of updating baseboard management controller firmware further comprising:
before the starting to receive the fan parameter update data, updating, by the baseboard management controller upon receipt of the instruction, the state flag to a first flag value indicating that the baseboard management controller is in the data receiving state.

3. The method of updating baseboard management controller firmware of claim 2 , wherein the updating the fan parameter data stored in the second temporary storage region further includes: switching, by the baseboard management controller, from a normal operation mode to an update mode.

4. The method of updating baseboard management controller firmware of claim 3 , further comprising:
updating, by the baseboard management controller after completion of the updating the fan parameter data stored in the second temporary storage region, the state flag to a second flag value which is different from the first flag value and which indicates that the baseboard management controller is not in the data receiving state.

5. The method of updating baseboard management controller firmware of claim 4 , wherein the updating the state flag to the second flag value further includes:
switching, by the baseboard management controller, from the update mode to the normal operation mode, and controlling the rotary speed of the fan unit by executing the firmware which is stored in the temporary storage device and which has the fan parameter data thus updated and stored in the second temporary storage region.

6. The method of updating baseboard management controller firmware of claim 2 , further comprising:
controlling, by the baseboard management controller before the updating the fan parameter data stored in the second temporary storage region, the fan unit to operate at a predetermined rotary speed.

7. The method of updating baseboard management controller firmware of claim 6 , wherein the predetermined rotary speed is a maximum rotary speed of the fan unit.

8. The method of updating baseboard management controller firmware of claim 1 , wherein the fan parameter update data includes a series of parameter update codes, and the fan parameter data which has been updated using the fan parameter update data is stored in the second temporary storage region in a form of a parameter table.

9. The method of updating baseboard management controller firmware of claim 1 , further comprising:
updating, by the baseboard management controller after completion of the updating the fan parameter data stored in the second temporary storage region, the firmware stored in the storage device using the firmware that is stored in the temporary storage device and that has the fan parameter data thus updated.

10. The method of updating baseboard management controller firmware of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting, by the baseboard management controller after determining that the fan parameter update data stored in the first temporary storage region of the temporary storage device is invalid, an error message indicating that the fan parameter update data is invalid to the computer device.

11. The method of updating baseboard management controller firmware of claim 1 , wherein the determining whether or not the fan parameter update data stored in the first temporary storage region of the temporary storage device is valid includes:
receiving a first checksum of the fan parameter update data from the computer device;
calculating a second checksum of the fan parameter update data stored in the first temporary storage region; and
comparing the first checksum and the second checksum to determine whether or not the fan parameter update data stored in the first temporary storage region of the temporary storage device is valid.

12. The method of updating baseboard management controller firmware of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, by the baseboard management controller, a transmission completion instruction indicating that transmission of the fan parameter update data to the baseboard management controller has been finished;
wherein the determining whether or not the fan parameter update data stored in the first temporary storage region of the temporary storage device is valid is performed upon receipt of the transmission completion instruction.

Assignees

• Mitac Computing Tech Corp

Inventors

• Su Chien-Huai

Classifications

• H02P7/00

  Arrangements for regulating or controlling the speed or torque of electric DC motors · CPC title

• G06F8/65 Primary

  Updates (security arrangements therefor G06F21/57) · CPC title

• G06F9/4411 Primary

  Configuring for operating with peripheral devices; Loading of device drivers · CPC title

• G06F8/654

  using techniques specially adapted for alterable solid state memories, e.g. for EEPROM or flash memories · CPC title