Patent Application
20050259642
The invention relates to a blade server for auto-assigning communication addresses, and more particularly to a blade server for auto-assigning communication addresses, which data exchanged on the Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) bus with multiple function modules.
In a conventional server room, more several servers are deposed in multiple chassis to provide services, consuming excessive space. Thus, a trend is to integrate the servers into one chassis to reduce multiple required space. An example of this arrangement is a blade server.
The number of the communication addresses, however, is limited, and the board 1 allows two and more slot modules having the same capability, i.e., there may be duplicate communication addresses in the blade server system after a hot swap. For example, if a sever slot module with a communication address 21H is added to the board 1, when another server slot module in one of the slots has same communication address 21H, a communication address conflict occurs.
An aspect of the invention provides a blade server system for auto-assigning communication addresses, comprising a board and a slot module. The board has a plurality of slots, and each slot has a unique slot identification(ID). When the slot module is inserted in one of the slots, the slot module generates a communication address according to the unique slot ID of an occupied slot, and then transmits the communication address to other slot modules inserted in other slots. Hence, other slot modules can communicate with the slot module via the designated communication address.
Another aspect of the invention provides a slot module employed in a blade server system. The blade server system at least comprises a board having a plurality of slots and a bus, and the slot module can be inserted in one of the slots. The slot module comprises a management device for reading a slot ID of an occupied slot, to accordingly generate a communication address and transmit the communication address to other slot modules via the bus.
Furthermore, another aspect of the invention provides a control method for controlling a slot module of a blade server system. The Blade server system at lease comprises a board with a plurality of slots and a bus, and the control method comprises the steps of detecting whether the slot module is inserted to one of the slots, reading a slot ID of an inserted slot, generating a communication address according to the slot ID, and transmitting the communication address to other slot modules.
An embodiment of the invention will become apparent by referring to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, wherein:
An embodiment of the invention provides a blade server system for auto-assigning communication addresses, to eliminate communication address conflicts. That is, the invention provides a mechanism with auto-assigning communication address to exchange data between modules within blade server system.
The management device 70 further comprises a firmware 71 that stores a communication address identification list. When receiving the slot ID of the slot 51, the slot module 61 compares the slot ID with the communication address identification list to determining which communication address the slot module 61 to generate.
Thus, when the slot module 61 is inserted into different slots, the management device 70 is able to generate another unique communication address according to the unique slot ID. Hence, even if two or more slot modules having the same capability are inserted in other slots, each slot module still generates unique communication address, thus eliminating communication address conflicts.
After generating the communication address port signal, the management device 70 transmits the communication address to other slot modules. For example, the management device 70 broadcasts the communication address at a predetermined time interval to notify other slot modules. Hence, other slot modules can communicate with the slot module 61 via the communication address.
Additionally, the slot IDs of the slots can be determined by binary digits. For example, if the board 5 has eight slots, three analog signals can be provided to three pins of each slot to serve as a binary logic signals or a slot ID, such that a high-potential analog signal is referred to as logic “1”, and a low-potential analog signal is referred to as logic “0”. Thus, the binary logic signal composed of the analog signals can be varied from “000” to “111”, i.e., each slot can receive one unique binary logic signal between “000” to “111”. Hence, when being inserted in one of the slots, the slot module 61 can receive either a binary logic signal or an unique slot ID, thereby generating a corresponding unique communication address.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 93113929 | May 2004 | TW | national |
