Shared non-volatile storage for digital power control
Systems and methods may be implemented in a power device subsystem topology to provide an arbitration and communication scheme between a single consolidated non-volatile random access (NVRAM) memory device and multiple discrete digital power controller devices in a manner that provides data protection and the ability to update the full NVRAM content when needed.
1. An information handling system comprising:
multiple power-consuming circuitry components or systems;
multiple digitally controlled voltage regulation components coupled to separately regulate power provided to individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems, or to a subgroup of the individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems;
multiple digital power controller devices, each of the multiple digital power controller devices being coupled to one or more of the digitally controlled voltage regulation components to separately control the power provided to individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems, or to a subgroup of the individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems; and
shared non-volatile memory (NVRAM), each of the multiple digital power controller devices being coupled to access the shared NVRAM by a communication topology configured to provide shared access for the multiple digital power controller devices to the shared NVRAM;
where the communication topology comprises at least one shared bus coupled between the shared NVRAM and each of the digital power controller devices; and where the information handling system further comprises at least one processing device configured as an arbiter device to arbitrate between the multiple digital power controller devices to allow sole access across the shared bus to the shared NVRAM by only one of the multiple digital power controller devices at any given time; and
where the information handling system further comprises a service processor communicatively coupled to the arbiter processing device and to each of the multiple digital power controller devices, the service processor being configured to change an arbitration pattern used by the arbiter device to arbitrate between the multiple digital power controller devices to allow sole access to the shared NVRAM by only one of the multiple digital power controller devices at any given time.
2. An information handling system comprising:
multiple power-consuming circuitry components or systems;
multiple digitally controlled voltage regulation components coupled to separately regulate power provided to individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems, or to a subgroup of the individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems;
multiple digital power controller devices, each of the multiple digital power controller devices being coupled to one or more of the digitally controlled voltage regulation components to separately control the power provided to individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems, or to a subgroup of the individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems; and
shared non-volatile memory (NVRAM), each of the multiple digital power controller devices being coupled to access the shared NVRAM by a communication topology configured to provide shared access for the multiple digital power controller devices to the shared NVRAM;
where each of the multiple digital power controller devices has an assigned address; where the communication topology is configured to provide shared access for the multiple digital power controller devices to the shared NVRAM by:
using a PWM master arbiter signal to broadcast to all of the multiple digital power controller devices a duty cycle-encoded address of a selected first one of the multiple digital power controller devices that is to be given sole access to the shared NVRAM during a current time period, and
subsequently using the PWM master arbiter signal to broadcast to all of the multiple digital power controller devices a duty cycle-encoded address of a selected second one of the multiple digital power controller devices that is to be given sole access to the shared NVRAM during a new current time period, the selected second one of the multiple digital power controller devices being different than the selected first one of the multiple digital power controller devices, and
where each given one of the multiple digital power controller devices is configured to decode the duty cycle address from the PWM signal and to access the shared NVRAM when the decoded address matches the assigned address of the given one of the multiple digital power controller devices.
3. The information handling system of claim 2 ,
where a public memory space is allocated in the shared NVRAM; the same public memory space being accessible by all of the digital power controllers.
4. The information handling system of claim 2 , where the communication topology is configured to provide arbitration between the multiple digital power controller devices for access to the shared NVRAM.
5. The information handling system of claim 2 , where the communication topology comprises at least one shared bus coupled between the shared NVRAM and each of the digital power controller devices; and where the information handling system further comprises at least one processing device configured as an arbiter device to arbitrate between the multiple digital power controller devices to allow sole access across the shared bus to the shared NVRAM by only one of the multiple digital power controller devices at any given time.
6. The information handling system of claim 2 , where the communication topology is configured to provide shared access for the multiple digital power controller devices to the shared NVRAM by using the PWM master arbiter signal to sequentially broadcast to all of the multiple digital power controller devices the duty cycle-encoded addresses of each of the multiple digital power controller devices in round robin fashion.
7. The information handling system of claim 2 , where the shared NVRAM comprises a single shared NVRAM device.
8. The information handling system of claim 2 , where a separate private memory space corresponding to each given one of the digital power controllers is allocated in the shared NVRAM, the private space storing voltage regulation parameter information specific to the respective given digital power controller and being only accessible by the given one of the digital power controllers and not being accessible any other of the digital power controllers.
9. The information handling system of claim 2 , where each of the digital power controller devices has read-only access to any portion of the shared NVRAM.
10. The information handling system of claim 5 , where the arbiter device is a different processing device from all of the digital power controller devices.
11. The information handling system of claim 10 , where the arbiter device is a complex programmable logic device (CPLD).
12. An information handling system comprising:
multiple power-consuming circuitry components or systems;
multiple digitally controlled voltage regulation components coupled to separately regulate power provided to individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems, or to a subgroup of the individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems;
multiple digital power controller devices, each of the multiple digital power controller devices being coupled to one or more of the digitally controlled voltage regulation components to separately control the power provided to individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems, or to a subgroup of the individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems; and
shared non-volatile memory (NVRAM), each of the multiple digital power controller devices being coupled to access the shared NVRAM by a communication topology configured to provide shared access for the multiple digital power controller devices to the shared NVRAM;
where a separate private memory space corresponding to each given one of the digital power controllers is allocated in the shared NVRAM, the private space storing voltage regulation parameter information specific to the respective given digital power controller and being only accessible by the given one of the digital power controllers and not being accessible any other of the digital power controllers; and
where the information handling system further comprises a service processor communicatively coupled to the arbiter processing device and to each of the multiple digital power controller devices; and where separate the separate private memory space corresponding to each given one of the digital power controllers is always accessible by the service processor.
13. The information handling system of claim 12 , where a public memory space is allocated in the shared NVRAM; the public memory space being accessible by all of the digital power controllers and storing general system information.
14. The information handling system of claim 13 , where a separate private memory space corresponding to the service processor is allocated in the shared NVRAM, the private space corresponding to the service processor storing historical system operating parameter information and being only accessible by the service processor.
15. The information handling system of claim 12 , where the system is configured as a computer server.
16. A method for digital power control for an information handling system, comprising:
providing an information handling system that includes: multiple power-consuming circuitry components or systems, and multiple digitally controlled voltage regulation components coupled to separately regulate power provided to individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems, or to a subgroup of the individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems;
providing multiple digital power controller devices, and controlling one or more of the digitally controlled voltage regulation components to separately control the power provided to individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems, or to a subgroup of the individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems;
providing shared non-volatile memory (NVRAM), and providing shared access to the shared NVRAM for each of the multiple digital power controller devices;
providing at least one shared bus coupled between the shared NVRAM and each of the digital power controller devices; and arbitrating between the multiple digital power controller devices to allow sole access across the shared bus to the shared NVRAM by only one of the multiple digital power controller devices at any given time; and
providing an arbiter device to arbitrate between the multiple digital power controller devices to allow sole access across the shared bus to the shared NVRAM by only one of the multiple digital power controller devices at any given time; providing a service processor communicatively coupled to the arbiter processing device and to each of the multiple digital power controller devices; and using the service processor to change an arbitration pattern used by the arbiter device to arbitrate between the multiple digital power controller devices to allow sole access to the shared NVRAM by only one of the multiple digital power controller devices at any given time.
17. A method for digital power control for an information handling system, comprising:
providing an information handling system that includes: multiple power-consuming circuitry components or systems, and multiple digitally controlled voltage regulation components coupled to separately regulate power provided to individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems, or to a subgroup of the individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems;
providing multiple digital power controller devices, and controlling one or more of the digitally controlled voltage regulation components to separately control the power provided to individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems, or to a subgroup of the individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems; and
providing shared non-volatile memory (NVRAM), and providing shared access to the shared NVRAM for each of the multiple digital power controller devices;
where each of the multiple digital power controller devices has an assigned address; and where the method further comprises providing shared access for the multiple digital power controller devices to the shared NVRAM by:
using a PWM master arbiter signal to broadcast to all of the multiple digital power controller devices a duty cycle-encoded address of a selected first one of the multiple digital power controller devices that is to be given sole access to the shared NVRAM during a current time period, and
subsequently using the PWM master arbiter signal to broadcast to all of the multiple digital power controller devices a duty cycle-encoded address of a selected second one of the multiple digital power controller devices that is to be given sole access to the shared NVRAM during a new current time period, the selected second one of the multiple digital power controller devices being different than the selected first one of the multiple digital power controller devices, and
where each given one of the multiple digital power controller devices is configured to decode the duty cycle address from the PWM signal and to access the shared NVRAM when the decoded address matches the assigned address of the given one of the multiple digital power controller devices.
18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising
providing a public memory space that is allocated in the shared NVRAM; and
providing all of the digital power controllers with access to the same public memory space allocated in the shared NVRAM.
19. The method of claim 17 , further comprising providing arbitration between the multiple digital power controller devices for access to the shared NVRAM.
20. The method of claim 17 , further comprising providing at least one shared bus coupled between the shared NVRAM and each of the digital power controller devices; and arbitrating between the multiple digital power controller devices to allow sole access across the shared bus to the shared NVRAM by only one of the multiple digital power controller devices at any given time.
21. The method of claim 17 , further comprising providing shared access for the multiple digital power controller devices to the shared NVRAM by using the PWM master arbiter signal to sequentially broadcast to all of the multiple digital power controller devices the duty cycle-encoded addresses of each of the multiple digital power controller devices in round robin fashion.
22. The method of claim 17 , where the shared NVRAM comprises a single shared NVRAM device.
23. The method of claim 17 , further comprising providing each of the digital power controller devices with read-only access to any portion of the shared NVRAM.
24. The method of claim 17 , further comprising using a different processing device from all of the digital power controller devices to provide arbitration between the multiple digital power controller devices for access to the shared NVRAM.
25. The method of claim 24 , further comprising using a a complex programmable logic device (CPLD) to provide arbitration between the multiple digital power controller devices for access to the shared NVRAM.
26. A digital power subsystem, comprising:
multiple digital power controller devices, each of the multiple digital power controller devices being configured to be coupled to control multiple digitally controlled voltage regulation components of an information handling system to separately control the power provided to individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems of the information handling system, or to a subgroup of the individual power-consuming circuitry components or systems; and
shared non-volatile memory (NVRAM), each of the multiple digital power controller devices being coupled to access the shared NVRAM;
the multiple digital power controller devices and the shared non-volatile memory (NVRAM) being configured to be coupled to one or more processing devices of the information handling system to form a communication topology configured to provide shared access for the multiple digital power controller devices to the shared NVRAM;
where each of the multiple digital power controller devices has an assigned address; where the communication topology is configured to provide shared access for the multiple digital power controller devices to the shared NVRAM by:
using a PWM master arbiter signal to broadcast to all of the multiple digital power controller devices a duty cycle-encoded address of a selected first one of the multiple digital power controller devices that is to be given sole access to the shared NVRAM during a current time period, and
subsequently using the PWM master arbiter signal to broadcast to all of the multiple digital power controller devices a duty cycle-encoded address of a selected second one of the multiple digital power controller devices that is to be given sole access to the shared NVRAM during a new current time period, the selected second one of the multiple digital power controller devices being different than the selected first one of the multiple digital power controller devices, and
where each given one of the multiple digital power controller devices is configured to decode the duty cycle address from the PWM signal and to access the shared NVRAM when the decoded address matches the assigned address of the given one of the multiple digital power controller devices.
27. The information handling system of claim 26 , where the communication topology is configured to provide arbitration between the multiple digital power controller devices for access to the shared NVRAM.