The present invention relates generally to cabinets, and more specifically to electronics cabinets.
Outdoor electronic cabinets have become popular in recent years. They can protect a wide range of electronic equipment including radios, multicarrier power amplifiers (MCPA), power supplies, batteries, and wireless cell site backhaul equipment. These cabinets can protect base station equipment from environmental conditions while reducing operating expenses and energy consumption.
Because electronics cabinets house equipment that generates heat during operation, cabinets often include cooling or thermal management systems (TMSs) to reduce the risk of the equipment overheating. The thermal management systems may generate alarms or alerts when conditions in the cabinet may damage the electronic equipment stored therein, e.g., when a temperature inside the cabinet and/or inside one or more pieces of equipment exceeds a threshold, when a piece of cooling equipment becomes inoperable, or the like.
According to some embodiments of the inventive concept, a system comprises an alarm processing module that is configured to receive a plurality of alarm signals that are generated based on conditions associated with an electronics cabinet, each of the plurality of alarm signals having an alarm state and an ambient state associated therewith, the alarm processing module being further configured to generate an alarm notification signal in response to at least one of the plurality of alarm signals being in the alarm state.
In other embodiments, the plurality of alarm signals is associated with a plurality of environmental management modules, respectively.
In still other embodiments, the plurality of environmental management modules comprises a plurality of thermal management modules, respectively.
In still other embodiments, the plurality of environmental management modules comprises a plurality of humidity management modules, respectively.
In still other embodiments, the electronics cabinet comprises an enclosure and further comprises a door for accessing the enclosure, the door having an open and a closed state. The plurality of environmental management modules comprises a door state management module that is configured to detect whether the door is in the open or the closed state.
In still other embodiments, the plurality of environmental management modules further comprises a plurality of thermal management modules.
In still other embodiments, the plurality of environmental management modules further comprises a plurality of humidity management modules.
In still other embodiments, the electronics cabinet comprises an enclosure and the plurality of alarm signals are generated inside the enclosure. The system further comprising an alarm notification output module coupled to the alarm processing module and configured for mounting outside of the enclosure, the alarm notification output module being further configured to output the alarm notification signal.
In still other embodiments, the plurality of alarm signals comprises a plurality of major alarm signals and a plurality of minor alarm signals, the alarm processing module is further configured to generate a major alarm notification signal in response to at least one of the plurality of major alarm signals being in the alarm state, the alarm processing module is further configured to generate a minor alarm notification signal in response to at least one of the plurality of minor alarm signals being in the alarm state, and the alarm notification output module is further configured to output the major alarm notification signal and to output the minor alarm notification signal.
In still other embodiments, the electronics cabinet comprises an enclosure, the enclosure being configured to receive a plurality of electrical equipment modules therein.
In still other embodiments, the plurality of electrical equipment modules comprises a power supply, a backup power supply, a cooling fan, a Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver, and a data interface module.
In still other embodiments, the electronics cabinet is one of a plurality of electronics cabinets, each of the plurality of electronics cabinets comprising an enclosure. The plurality of alarm signals are generated inside the enclosures of at least two of the plurality of electronics cabinets.
In still other embodiments, the alarm processing module comprises at least one discrete logic element configured to generate the alarm notification signal in response to the plurality of alarm signals.
In still other embodiments, the alarm processing module comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor and comprising computer readable program code embodied in the memory that is executable by the processor to generate the alarm notification signal in response to the plurality of alarm signals.
In some embodiments of the inventive concept, a method comprises receiving a plurality of alarm signals that are generated based on conditions associated with an electronics cabinet at an alarm processing module, each of the plurality of alarm signals having an alarm state and an ambient state associated therewith, and generating an alarm notification signal using the alarm processing module in response to at least one of the plurality of alarm signals being in the alarm state.
In further embodiments, the plurality of alarm signals is associated with a plurality of environmental management modules, respectively.
In still further embodiments, the plurality of environmental management modules comprises a plurality of thermal management modules, respectively.
In still further embodiments, the plurality of environmental management modules comprises a plurality of humidity management modules, respectively.
In still further embodiments, the electronics cabinet comprises an enclosure and further comprises a door for accessing the enclosure, the door having an open and a closed state. The plurality of environmental management modules comprises a door state management module that is configured to detect whether the door is in the open or the closed state.
In still further embodiments, the plurality of environmental management modules further comprises a plurality of thermal management modules.
In still further embodiments, the plurality of environmental management modules further comprises a plurality of humidity management modules.
In still further embodiments, the electronics cabinet comprises an enclosure. The plurality of alarm signals are generated inside the enclosure and the method further comprises outputting the alarm notification signal using an alarm notification output module that is coupled to the alarm processing module and is mounted outside of the enclosure.
In still further embodiments, the plurality of alarm signals comprises a plurality of major alarm signals and a plurality of minor alarm signals. The method further comprising: generating a major alarm notification signal in response to at least one of the plurality of major alarm signals being in the alarm state using the alarm processing module, generating a minor alarm notification signal in response to at least one of the plurality of minor alarm signals being in the alarm state using the alarm processing module, and outputting the major alarm notification signal and the minor alarm notification signal using the alarm notification output module.
Other methods, systems, articles of manufacture, and/or computer program products according to embodiments of the inventive concept will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon review of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, articles of manufacture, and/or computer program products be included within this description, be within the scope of the present inventive concept, and be protected by the accompanying claims.
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present disclosure. Aspects described with respect to one embodiment may be incorporated in different embodiments although not specifically described relative thereto. That is, all embodiments and/or features of any embodiments can be combined in any way and/or combination.
Electronics cabinets, such as those used, for example, at cellular base station towers and facilities, may use environmental management modules, such as thermal management systems, to generate alarms or alerts when conditions in the cabinet may damage the electronic equipment stored therein. For example, thermal management systems may trigger an alarm in response to various types of events, such as when the temperature inside the electronics cabinet exceeds a threshold, when a cooling fan stops operating, when there is a loss in power, etc. For some cabinets, it may be desirable to incorporate multiple environmental management modules. The multiple pieces of electronic equipment residing in the electronics cabinet may each have their own thermal management system associated therewith. In addition, there may be additional environmental management modules that may generate alarms based on, for example, the humidity level, a state of a door (e.g., open or closed) used for accessing the electronics cabinet, the presence of corrosive agents, dust, insects, contaminants, and the like. Each of the environmental management modules may, in some embodiments, be configured to generate an alarm output signal at a common or ground voltage level in an ambient state when the alarm condition is not satisfied and to generate the alarm output signal so as to have a non-zero magnitude (e.g., at about a power system voltage level and/or a voltage level corresponding to a logical one) when the alarm condition is satisfied. Some embodiments of the inventive concept stem from a realization that multiple ones of these environmental management modules cannot be configured in parallel as the assertion of an alarm condition (i.e., driving an output to non-zero voltage level and/or a logical one voltage level) by one of the environmental management modules would be shorted to a common or ground voltage level by other one(s) of the environmental management modules for which an alarm condition is not satisfied and are in an ambient state. Any environmental management module that is in an ambient state may mask any other environmental management modules asserting an alarm condition when the environmental management modules are electrically coupled in parallel. Some embodiments of the inventive concept provide an alarm processing module that is configured to receive a plurality of alarm signals that are generated based on conditions associated with the electronics cabinet. Each of the alarm signals has an alarm state and an ambient state associated therewith. The alarm processing module may be configured to generate an alarm notification in response to one or more of the alarm signals being in the alarm state. The alarm processing module may be implemented in a variety of ways in accordance with different embodiments of the inventive concept. For example, in some embodiments, the alarm processing module may be implemented using logic gates, such as inverters and multiple input NAND gates for receiving the alarm signals at input terminals thereof. In other embodiments, the alarm processing module may be implemented using a programmable microcontroller or other programmable data processing system.
Referring now to
Support rails along with mounting brackets may be mounted on the interior side and back walls of each of the electronics cabinets 305 and 310 for supporting various types of electronics equipment. The mounting brackets may be adjustable, for example, between about 19″ and about 23″ for receiving electronics equipment of various widths.
The environmental management module(s) 405 may represent various monitoring or management modules for the electronics cabinet 400 and/or the electronics equipment therein. The environmental management module(s) 405 may each generate one or more alarm signals based on conditions associated with the electronics cabinet 400 and/or the equipment contained therein. These modules may include, but are not limited to, one or more thermal management modules that protect against overheating, one or more humidity management modules to monitor the relative humidity proximate to specific pieces of equipment or in the cabinet generally, one or more particulate matter detection modules to detect dust or other particulate matter that may infiltrate a cabinet, one or more filter expiration modules that may provide a reminder of when to change an air filter based on age and/or evaluation of the effectiveness of the filter, one or more motion detector modules that may detect intrusions by pests, such as insets, rodents, and the like that may do damage to electronic equipment, cabling, and/or wiring, and one or more door state management modules, which may be used to detect whether a door to the cabinet is in an open or closed state. A thermal management module may be configured to monitor conditions generally within a cabinet, such as temperature, the operability of a cooling system, such as a cooling fan 420, the operability of a power supply 410, the operability of a backup power supply 415, and the like or a thermal management module may be configured to monitor the conditions of one or more specific pieces of electrical equipment including, for example, temperature, power status, cooling apparatus status, and the like. Thus, a cabinet may have one or more thermal management modules installed therein. Thermal management modules may also be configured to generate both major and minor alarms. For example, conditions that require immediate attention by support personnel, such as a cooling fan failure, power system failures, and the like may result in a major alarm. A relatively minor overheating event may result in a minor alarm indicating that the problem should be given attention, but it does not rise to the level of adversely affecting immediate operation of the associated or affected equipment.
In the example shown in
The alarm notification output module 650 may, in some embodiments, be an insulation displacement connector that is provided on the outside of an electronics cabinet to provide access to the alarm notification signal(s) generated by the alarm processing module 635. This may allow support personnel to visually inspect an electronics cabinet for alarms without the need to open any doors to look inside.
Referring now to
As shown in
In the above-description of various embodiments of the present disclosure, aspects of the present disclosure may be illustrated and described herein in any of a number of patentable classes or contexts including any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof. Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented entirely hardware, entirely software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or combining software and hardware implementation that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,” “component,” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product comprising one or more computer readable media having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable media may be used. The computer readable media may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an appropriate optical fiber with a repeater, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program code embodied on a computer readable signal medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C++, C#, VB.NET, Python or the like, conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language, Visual Basic, Fortran 2003, Perl, COBOL 2002, PHP, ABAP, LabVIEW, dynamic programming languages, such as Python, Ruby and Groovy, or other programming languages.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Like reference numbers signify like elements throughout the description of the figures.
It will be understood that, although the terms “first,” “second,” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. Thus, a first element could be termed a second element without departing from the teachings of the inventive subject matter.
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on”, “attached” to, “connected” to, “coupled” with, “contacting,” etc., another element, it can be directly on, attached to, connected to, coupled with or contacting the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being, for example, “directly on,” “directly attached” to, “directly connected” to, “directly coupled” with or “directly contacting” another element, there are no intervening elements present. It will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that references to a structure or feature that is disposed “adjacent” another feature may have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this inventive concept belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and this specification and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
The description of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. The aspects of the disclosure herein were chosen and described to best explain the principles of the disclosure and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosure with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
The foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although exemplary embodiments of this invention have been described, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the claims. The invention is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of the claims to be included therein.
The present application claims priority from and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/884,233, filed Aug. 8, 2019, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2020/044877 | 8/4/2020 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62884233 | Aug 2019 | US |