Cooling-control technique for use in a computer system
View Patent ↗A method for providing control signals to a fan in a computer system is described. During the method, an electronic device receives temperature measurements and a fan-speed measurement performed in the computer system. Using a pattern-recognition model, the electronic device validates the measurements, and excludes any inaccurate measurements, such as those associated with drifting or failed sensors. Next, the electronic device determines control signals for a fan in the computer system using a model of coolant flow in the computer system and/or a slope of a phase-frequency curve of a cross power spectral density function corresponding to a pair of temperature profiles measured, as a function of time, by a pair of thermal sensors. Then, the determined control signals are provided to the fan.
1. A method for providing control signals to a cooling device in a computer system, comprising:
receiving temperature measurements from thermal sensors in the computer system;
receiving a cooling-device speed measurement from a cooling-device speed sensor in the computer system;
validating the temperature measurements using a pattern-recognition model based at least on the temperature measurements and the cooling-device speed measurement;
determining the control signals using a model of coolant flow in the computer system, wherein the model of coolant flow provides a current coolant-flow rate in the computer system based at least on the validated temperature measurements and the cooling-device speed measurement, and wherein the model of coolant flow in the computer system is based at least on coolant-flow calibration data collected in an exemplary computer system; and
providing the control signals to the cooling device.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the control signals are further determined based at least on a slope of a phase-frequency curve of a cross power spectral density function corresponding to a pair of temperature profiles measured, as a function of time, by a pair of thermal sensors.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein validating the temperature measurements involves identifying drift or failure in one or more of the thermal sensors and, if drift or failure of one or more of the thermal sensors is identified, excluding the temperature measurements associated with the one or more thermal sensors.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pattern-recognition model includes a nonlinear, nonparametric regression model.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the current coolant-flow rate is determined without performing coolant-flow measurements using a coolant-flow sensor in the computer system.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the exemplary computer system is the same type of computer system as the computer system.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the coolant-flow calibration data includes coolant-flow measurements performed using a coolant-flow sensor in the exemplary computer system.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising de-quantizing the temperature measurements to increase a resolution of the temperature measurements.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the model of coolant flow in the computer system is based at least on simulations of coolant flow in the computer system, thereby compensating for differences in the configuration of the computer system and the exemplary computer system.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating an alert based at least on the current coolant-flow rate; and
providing the alert to an operator of the computer system.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the alert includes a warning that the temperature in the computer system is increasing beyond a threshold value, a warning that the coolant flow in the computer system has changed, or a warning that a coolant-flow impedance in the computer system has changed.
12. A computer-program product for use in conjunction with a computer system, the computer-program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium and a computer-program mechanism embedded therein for providing control signals to a cooling device in a computer system, the computer-program mechanism including:
instructions for receiving temperature measurements from thermal sensors in the computer system;
instructions for receiving a cooling device-speed measurement from a cooling-device speed sensor in the computer system;
instructions for validating the temperature measurements using a pattern-recognition model based at least on the temperature measurements and the cooling-device speed measurement;
instructions for determining the control signals using a model of coolant flow in the computer system, wherein the model of coolant flow provides a current coolant-flow rate in the computer system based at least on the validated temperature measurements and the cooling-device speed measurement, and wherein the model of coolant flow in the computer system is based at least on coolant-flow calibration data collected in an exemplary computer system; and
instructions for providing the control signals to the cooling device.
13. The computer-program product of claim 12 , wherein validating the temperature measurements involves identifying drift or failure in one or more of the thermal sensors and, if drift or failure of one or more of the thermal sensors is identified, excluding the temperature measurements associated with the one or more thermal sensors.
14. The computer-program product of claim 12 , wherein the pattern-recognition model includes a nonlinear, nonparametric regression model.
15. The computer-program product of claim 12 , wherein the exemplary computer system is the same type of computer system as the computer system.
16. The computer-program product of claim 12 , wherein the control signals are further determined based at least on a slope of a phase-frequency curve of a cross power spectral density function corresponding to a pair of temperature profiles measured, as a function of time, by a pair of thermal sensors.
17. The computer-program product of claim 12 , further comprising de-quantizing the temperature measurements to increase a resolution of the temperature measurements.
18. The computer-program product of claim 12 , wherein the current coolant-flow rate is determined without performing coolant-flow measurements using a coolant-flow sensor in the computer system.
19. The computer-program product of claim 12 , the computer-program mechanism further comprising:
instructions for generating an alert based at least on the current coolant-flow rate; and
instructions for providing the alert to an operator of the computer system.
20. A computer system, comprising:
a processor;
a memory;
a program module, wherein the program module is stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the processor, the program module including instructions for providing control signals to a cooling device in a computer system, the instructions including:
instructions for receiving temperature measurements from thermal sensors in the computer system;
instructions for receiving a cooling-device speed measurement from a cooling-device speed sensor in the computer system;
instructions for validating the temperature measurements using a pattern-recognition model based at least on the temperature measurements and the cooling-device speed measurement;
instructions for determining the control signals using a model of coolant flow in the computer system, wherein the model of coolant flow provides a current coolant-flow rate in the computer system based at least on the validated temperature measurements and the cooling-device speed measurement, and wherein the model of coolant flow in the computer system is based at least on coolant-flow calibration data collected in an exemplary computer system; and
instructions for providing the control signals to the cooling device.