Power distribution apparatus with input and output power sensing and method of use

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9898026-B2
Application number	US-201213670275-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 6, 2012
Priority date	Jun 25, 2009
Publication date	Feb 20, 2018
Grant date	Feb 20, 2018

Abstract

Power distribution apparatus with input and output power sensing and a method of use. A power distribution unit includes a sensor that senses power parameters of power outputs and a power input, a processor, and a communication circuit. A power management system includes a power manager, a user interface, and a plurality of power distribution units that may be located in one or more equipment cabinets and data centers. The system may compute apparent power, RMS power, power factor, energy usage over time, power usage history, or environmental history for any or all of the power distribution units. The system may identify an under-utilized server connected to one of the power distribution units and initiate a shut-down of that server.

First claim

We claim:

1. A power management system comprising:
a plurality of power distribution units (PDUs) each having:
a housing;
at least one power input;
a plurality of power outputs;
a plurality of sensors, comprising:
at least one input sensor connected to sense at least one input power parameter of the at least one power input; and
at least one output sensor connected to sense at least one output power parameter of an associated one of the plurality of power outputs;

a power manager agent configured to receive said at least one input power parameter and said at least one output parameter, wherein the power manager agent comprises at least one PDU processor and a PDU data storage unit to cause the at least one PDU processor to compute energy consumption over time for at least the associated one of said power outputs; and

a network power manager in communication with each power manager agent, said network power manager configured to receive information corresponding to the computed energy consumption, wherein the network power manager comprises at least one network processor and a network data storage unit, said network data storage unit comprising instructions operative to cause the at least one network processor to:
communicate, to a user, the computed energy consumption; and
in response to receiving a user-initiated command correlated to the computed energy consumption, convey said user-initiated command to the associated power manager agent.

2. A power management system as in claim 1 wherein the user interface comprises a browser-based visual display.

3. A power management system as in claim 1 wherein the plurality of sensors comprises at least one of: a power line frequency sensor, a voltage sensor, a current sensor, a temperature sensor, and a humidity sensor.

4. A power management system as in claim 1 , wherein the network processor comprises at least one microprocessor.

5. A power management system as in claim 1 , wherein the network processor comprises at least one computation unit remotely located from the power distribution units.

6. A power management system as in claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of power distribution units is configured to compute at least one of apparent power, RMS power, and power factor for one or more of its associated plurality of power outputs.

7. A power management system as in claim 1 , further comprising instructions in the network data storage unit operative to cause the network processor to identify a load that comprises an under-utilized server.

8. A power management system as in claim 7 , further comprising instructions in the network data storage unit operative to cause the network processor to initiate a shut-down of under-utilized servers.

9. A power management system as in claim 1 , further comprising instructions in the network data storage unit operative to cause the network processor to compute over time at least one of a power usage history and an environmental history.

10. A power management system as in claim 1 wherein the communication circuit of each power distribution unit is assigned a unique communication address.

11. A power distribution unit, comprising:
a housing;
at least one power input;
a plurality of power outputs;
at least one voltage sensor connected to sense at least one voltage parameter associated with a subset of the plurality of power outputs; and
at least one current sensor connected to sense at least one current parameter associated with at least one of the plurality of power outputs;
a power manager agent configured to receive at least one said voltage parameter and at least one said current parameter, wherein the power manager agent comprises at least one PDU processor and a PDU data storage unit to cause the at least one PDU processor to compute energy consumption over time for at least the associated one of said power outputs; and
a network power manager in communication with each power manager agent, said network power manager configured to receive information corresponding to the computed energy consumption, wherein the network power manager comprises at least one network processor and a network data storage unit, said network data storage unit comprising instructions operative to cause the at least one network processor to:
communicate, to a user, the computed energy consumption; and
in response to receiving a user-initiated command correlated to the computed energy consumption, convey said user-initiated command to the associated power manager agent.

12. A power distribution unit as in claim 11 , wherein the energy consumption over time is computed for each of the plurality of power outputs.

13. A power distribution unit as in claim 11 , wherein the subset of the plurality of power outputs is associated with a branch of power from the at least one power input.

14. A power distribution unit as in claim 13 , wherein the at least one current sensor is connected to sense at least one current parameter associated with the branch of power from the at least one power input.

15. A power distribution unit as in claim 13 , wherein the at least one current sensor comprises a plurality of current sensors connected to sense current parameters of associated ones of the plurality of power outputs.

16. A power distribution unit as in claim 11 , wherein the at least one power input comprises two or more power phases, and wherein the subset of the plurality of power outputs are associated with a first power phase from the at least one power input.

17. A power distribution unit as in claim 16 , wherein the at least one current sensor is connected to sense at least one current parameter associated with the first power phase from the at least one power input.

18. A power distribution unit as in claim 16 , wherein the at least one current sensor comprises a plurality of current sensors connected to sense current parameters of associated ones of the plurality of power outputs.

19. A power distribution unit as in claim 11 , wherein the at least one PDU processor is configured to receive one or more of the at least one voltage parameter and the at least one current parameter to compute at least one power value.

20. A power distribution unit as in claim 19 , further comprising:
a communication circuit in communication with the at least one PDU processor.

21. A power distribution unit as in claim 20 , wherein the communication circuit is configured to transmit the at least one power value to the network power manager, wherein the network power manager is external to the power distribution unit.

22. A power distribution unit as in claim 21 , wherein the communication circuit comprises:
a network interface card (NIC) configured to transmit the at least one power value to the network power manager.

23. A power distribution unit as in claim 19 , further comprising:
an intelligent power module (IPM) associated with the plurality of power outputs, wherein one or more of the at least one PDU processor, the at least one voltage sensor, and the at least one current sensor are components of the IPM.

24. A power distribution unit (PDU), comprising:
a housing;
at least one power input;
a first set of power outputs associated with a first power branch from the at least one power input;
a second set of power outputs associated with a second power branch from the at least one power input;
at least one voltage sensor connected to sense at least one voltage p

Assignees

• Server Tech Inc

Inventors

• Ewing Carrel W
• Maskaly James P
• Mcglumphy Dennis W
• Auclair Brian P
• Massey David
• Ewing Brandon W
• Cleveland Andrew J
• Nicholson Calvin
• Hunt Paul

Classifications

• G06F11/3062

  where the monitored property is the power consumption (power management in a computing system G06F1/3203) · CPC title

• G06F11/3089

  Monitoring arrangements determined by the means or processing involved in sensing the monitored data, e.g. interfaces, connectors, sensors, probes, agents (software debugging using additional hardware using a specific debug interface G06F11/3656; performance evaluation by tracing or monitoring G06F11/3466) · CPC title

• G06F11/3058

  Monitoring arrangements for monitoring environmental properties or parameters of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring of power, currents, temperature, humidity, position, vibrations (thermal management in cooling arrangements of a computing system G06F1/206) · CPC title

• G05F3/00 Primary

  Non-retroactive systems for regulating electric variables by using an uncontrolled element, or an uncontrolled combination of elements, such element or such combination having self-regulating properties {(current generators specially designed for use in phase-locked loops H03L7/0891)} · CPC title

• G06F1/266

  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