Discovery of connectivity between PDU outlet and device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9625965-B2
Application number	US-201314065694-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 29, 2013
Priority date	Oct 31, 2012
Publication date	Apr 18, 2017
Grant date	Apr 18, 2017

Abstract

The present inventive subject matter provides an apparatus and system for power distribution management. For example, power distribution management is provided, comprising: detecting an establishment of a connection between a PDU outlet of a PDU and a device to be powered by the PDU; and causing the identification specific to the connection to be shared between the PDU and the device over optical communication in response to establishment of the connection. Corresponding system and power cable are also disclosed. According to embodiments of the present inventive subject matter, the connection relationship between any devices and PDU outlets can be determined efficiently and effectively by checking and matching the connection identifications.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer program product comprising:
a computer readable storage medium having computer program instructions stored therein, the computer program instructions comprising instructions to:
detect, using a connection detecting unit of a power distribution unit (PDU), an establishment of a connection between a first power outlet of a plurality of power outlets of the PDU and a power supply cable for supplying power to a device, wherein the power supply cable comprises at least an electrical line for conveying the power, an optical communication medium, and a plug for connecting the power supply cable to the first power outlet;
generate, in response to the establishment of the connection, a connection identifier via an identification generating unit, the connection identifier for uniquely identifying the first power outlet and the connection;

store, via an identification storing unit, the connection identifier;
convert, via an electro-optical converting unit, the connection identifier from an electrical representation to an optical signal; and
cause transmission of the optical signal representing the connection identifier using a light emitting diode (LED) at the first power outlet coupled to the optical communication medium at the plug.

2. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the computer program instructions further comprise instructions to:
receiving a received optical signal associated with a different connection identifier; and
store the different connection identifier.

3. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the computer program instructions to generate the connection identifier comprises instructions to generate a random number that has not been utilized for another of the plurality of power outlets.

4. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the computer program instructions to generate the connection identifier comprises instructions to select the connection identifier from a plurality of predefined connection identifiers.

5. The computer program product of claim 4 , wherein the computer program instructions further comprise instructions to indicate the selected connection identifier as no longer available.

6. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the computer program instructions further comprise instructions to update a power distribution unit outlet connection topographic diagram to indicate the connection between the first power outlet and the device.

7. An apparatus comprising:
a connection detecting unit of a power distribution unit (PDU), the connection detecting unit configured to detect an establishment of a connection between a first power outlet of a plurality of power outlets of the PDU and a power supply cable for supplying power to a device, wherein the power supply cable comprises at least an electrical line for conveying the power, an optical communication medium, and a plug for connecting the power supply cable to the first power outlet;
an identification generating unit configured to generate, in response to the establishment of the connection, a connection identifier that uniquely identifies the first power outlet and the connection;
an identification storing unit configured to store the connection identifier;
an electro-optical converting unit configured to convert the connection identifier from an electrical representation to an optical signal;
an interface configured to transmit the optical signal using a light emitting diode (LED) at the first power outlet coupled to the optical communication medium at the plug.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the identification generating unit is configured to generate a random number that has not been utilized for another of the plurality of power outlets.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the identification generating unit is configured to select the connection identifier from a plurality of predefined connection identifiers.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the identification generating unit is configured to indicate the selected connection identifier as no longer available.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the identification generating unit is configured to update a power distribution unit outlet connection topographic diagram to indicate the connection between the first power outlet and the device.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Liu xiao xin
• Qi Manli
• Yang Yu Dong
• Yu Dazhao
• Yu Yang

Classifications

• G06F1/266 Primary

  Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips · CPC title