Systems and methods for dynamically updated thermal options based on thermal state

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9968011-B2
Application number	US-201615143124-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 29, 2016
Priority date	Apr 29, 2016
Publication date	May 8, 2018
Grant date	May 8, 2018

Abstract

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a system may include a temperature sensor configured to sense an inlet ambient temperature associated with an information handling system, a cooling subsystem comprising at least one cooling fan configured to generate a cooling airflow in the information handling system, and a thermal manager communicatively coupled to the temperature sensor and the cooling subsystem and configured to, based on the inlet ambient temperature, a maximum power consumption level of the information handling system, a maximum airflow rate capable of being generated by the at least one cooling fan, and a hardware configuration of the information handling system, calculate a lowest possible maximum exhaust temperature for the information handling system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a temperature sensor configured to sense an inlet ambient temperature associated with an
information handling system;
a cooling subsystem comprising at least one cooling fan configured to generate a cooling
airflow in the information handling system; and
a thermal manager communicatively coupled to the temperature sensor and the cooling subsystem and configured to, based on determined values of parameters that include the inlet ambient temperature, a maximum power consumption level of the information handling system, a maximum airflow rate capable of being generated by the at least one cooling fan, and a hardware configuration of the information handling system, calculate a lowest possible maximum exhaust temperature indicative of the lowest exhaust temperature that is achievable for the information handling system based on the values of the parameters;
wherein the system is configured to present thermal control options to a user based on the calculated lowest possible maximum exhaust temperature, the thermal control options including at least one of:
selection of a maximum exhaust temperature of the information handling system; or
selection of a desired difference between an exhaust temperature of the information handling system and the inlet ambient temperature; and

wherein the system is further configured to alter a speed of the at least one cooling fan based on the user selecting at least one of the thermal control options.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one thermal control option that is inconsistent with the calculated lowest possible maximum exhaust temperature is greyed out in the presented thermal control options.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the presented thermal control options prevent selection of thermal control options inconsistent with the lowest possible maximum exhaust temperature.

4. A method comprising:
calculating a lowest possible maximum exhaust temperature for an information handling system based on determined values of parameters that include an inlet ambient temperature of the information handling system, a maximum power consumption level of the information handling system, a maximum airflow rate capable of being generated by at least one cooling fan of the information handling system, and a hardware configuration of the information handling system, wherein the lowest possible maximum exhaust temperature is indicative of the lowest exhaust temperature that is achievable for the information handling system based on the values of the parameters;
presenting a user interface to a user, the user interface including thermal control options that are based on the calculated lowest possible maximum exhaust temperature, the thermal control options including at least one of:
selection of a maximum exhaust temperature of the information handling system; or
selection of a desired difference between an exhaust temperature of the information handling system and the inlet ambient temperature; and

altering a speed of the at least one cooling fan based on the user selecting at least one of the thermal control options.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein at least one thermal control option that is inconsistent with the calculated lowest possible maximum exhaust temperature is greyed out in the presented user interface.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the presented user interface prevents selection of thermal control options inconsistent with the lowest possible maximum exhaust temperature.

7. A system comprising:
a temperature sensor configured to sense an inlet ambient temperature associated with an information handling system;
a cooling subsystem comprising at least one cooling fan configured to generate a cooling airflow in the information handling system; and
a thermal manager communicatively coupled to the temperature sensor and the cooling subsystem and configured to:
determine a baseline open loop fan speed for the at least one cooling fan based on the inlet ambient temperature and a hardware configuration of the information handling system;
calculate a lowest possible maximum exhaust temperature indicative of the lowest exhaust temperature that is achievable for the information handling system based on parameters including the inlet ambient temperature and the hardware configuration of the information handling system;
calculate a value indicative of a difference between a maximum fan speed of the at least one cooling fan and the baseline open loop fan speed;
based on a number of user fan offset options and the value, assign an offset value to each offset option;
present thermal control options including the fan offset options to a user based on the calculated lowest possible maximum exhaust temperature, the thermal control options including at least one of: selection of a maximum exhaust temperature of the information handling system; or selection of a desired difference between an exhaust temperature of the information handling system and the inlet ambient temperature;
responsive to user input indicative of a desired fan offset option, add the offset value for the desired fan offset option to the baseline open loop fan speed to calculate a requested fan speed; and
cause the at least one cooling fan to operate in accordance with the requested fan speed.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the value is a difference between the maximum fan speed of the at least one cooling fan and the baseline open loop fan speed.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the value is a difference between a maximum airflow rate driven by the at least one cooling fan operating at the maximum fan speed and a baseline airflow rate driven by the at least one cooling fan at the baseline open loop fan speed.

10. A method comprising:
determining a baseline open loop fan speed for at least one cooling fan of an information handling system based on an inlet ambient temperature associated with the information handling system and a hardware configuration of the information handling system;
calculating a lowest possible maximum exhaust temperature indicative of the lowest exhaust temperature that is achievable for the information handling system based on parameters including the inlet ambient temperature and the hardware configuration of the information handling system;
calculating a value indicative of a difference between a maximum fan speed of the at least one cooling fan and the baseline open loop fan speed;
based on a number of user fan offset options and the value, assigning an offset value to each offset option;
present thermal control options including the fan offset options to a user based on the calculated lowest possible maximum exhaust temperature, the thermal control options including at least one of: selection of a maximum exhaust temperature of the information handling system; or selection of a desired difference between an exhaust temperature of the information handling system and the inlet ambient temperature;
responsive to user input indicative of a desired fan offset option, adding the offset value for the desired fan offset option to the baseline open loop fan speed to calculate a requested fan speed; and
causing the at least one cooling fan to operate in accordance with the requested fan speed.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the value is a difference between the maximum fan speed of the at least one cooling fan and the baseline open loop fan speed.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the value is a difference between a maximum airflow rate driven by the at least one cooling fan operating at the maximum fan speed and a baseline airflow rate driven by the at least one cooling fan

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Shabbir Hasnain
• Lovicott Dominick A

Classifications

• H05K7/20736

  within cabinets for removing heat from server blades · CPC title

• G05B17/02

  electric · CPC title

• H05K7/20836 Primary

  Thermal management, e.g. server temperature control · CPC title

• G06F1/206

  comprising thermal management · CPC title

• Y02D10/00

  Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management · CPC title