Claims
- 1. A computer comprising:
a central processing unit; a network of microcontrollers including:
a system recorder microcontroller configured to record system and error messages; a system interface configured to receive messages from the central processing unit and to forward the message to another one of the microcontrollers in the network; a microcontroller configured to detect the presence of a power supply and configured to transmit information indicative of the presence of the power supply to the system recorder; and a microcontroller configured to control the power supply to one or more adapter slots in the computer.
- 2. The computer of claim 1, wherein the network of microcontrollers is interconnected by a microcontroller bus.
- 3. A computer comprising:
a central processing unit; at least one fan; a network of microcontrollers including:
a system recorder microcontroller configured to record system and error messages; a system interface configured to send and receive messages to and from the central processing unit; a microcontroller configured to detect the temperature in the computer and to transmit temperature information indicative of the current information to the system recorder; and a microcontroller configured to adjust the speed of a fan in the computer.
- 4. The computer of claim 3, wherein the network of microcontrollers is interconnected by a microcontroller bus.
- 5. A computer comprising:
a network of microcontrollers including:
a system recorder microcontroller configured to record system and error messages; and a remote interface microcontroller configured to retrieve and send information that is recorded by the system recorder to a remote computer.
- 6. The computer of claim 5, wherein the network of microcontrollers is interconnected by a microcontroller bus.
- 7. A computer monitoring and diagnostic system, comprising:
a computer having a housing; wherein the computer includes a plurality of canisters, each of the canisters having a plurality of card slots, and wherein the computer is configured to control the power to the canisters.
- 8. The system of claim 7, wherein at least one of the canisters is removable from the computer.
- 9. The system of claim 7, additionally comprising a microcontroller which is configured to log conditions about the canister to a recording system.
- 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the microcontroller is configured to log messages to non-volatile random access memory.
- 11. A computer monitoring and diagnostic system, comprising:
a computer; at least one sensor, located within the computer, configured to sense environmental conditions within the computer; and an actuator configured to modify an environmental condition of the computer.
- 12. A computer monitoring and diagnostic system, comprising:
a computer; at least one sensor, located within the computer, configured to sense conditions within the computer.
- 13. The system of claim 12, wherein sensing the conditions comprises checking for a microcontroller bus time-out.
- 14. The system of claim 12, wherein the computer is configured to maintain a system log in a non-volatile random access memory.
- 15. The system of claim 12, wherein sensing the conditions comprises monitoring the speed of a canister fan.
- 16. A computer monitoring and diagnostic system, comprising:
a computer, having a computing device and a housing; at least one sensor, located within the computer, configured to sense conditions within the computer; and at least one microcontroller, located within the computer, wherein the microcontroller is configured to process requests for conditions from the computer and responsively provides sensed conditions to the computer.
- 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the computer includes a plurality of canisters and the microcontroller is configured to control power to the canisters.
- 18. The system of claim 16, wherein the microcontroller is configured to control power to a slot.
- 19. The system of claim 16, wherein the microcontroller is configured to log conditions to a recording system.
- 20. The system of claim 16, wherein the microcontroller is configured to log messages to non-volatile random access memory.
- 21. The system of claim 16, wherein the microcontroller is configured to control the system power to the computer.
- 22. The system of claim 16, wherein the microcontroller is connected to an I2C bus.
- 23. The system of claim 16, wherein one of the microcontrollers in the microcontroller network is connected to a canister.
- 24. The system of claim 16, further comprising an actuator connected to the microcontroller, wherein the actuator is configured to modify an environmental condition of the computer.
- 25. A microcontroller for diagnosing and managing the conditions of a computer, the microcontroller network comprising:
at least one microcontroller, located within the computer, wherein the microcontroller is configured to manage the environmental conditions within the computer.
- 26. The microcontroller of claim 25, wherein the microcontroller is configured to check for a microcontroller bus time-out.
- 27. The microcontroller of claim 25, wherein the microcontroller is configured to check for a manual system board reset.
- 28. The microcontroller of claim 25, wherein the microcontroller is configured to check for a software reset command.
- 29. The microcontroller of claim 25, wherein the microcontroller is configured to check for system faults.
- 30. The microcontroller of claim 25, wherein the microcontroller is configured to maintain a system log in a non-volatile random access memory.
- 31. The microcontroller of claim 25, wherein a selected one of the at least one microcontroller is configured to monitor the speed of a canister fan.
- 32. A computer monitoring and diagnostic system, comprising:
a computer, having a plurality of computer-related components, wherein the components have associated environmental and systemic conditions; at least one sensor configured to sense the environmental and systemic conditions, wherein the sensor is located within the computer; and at least one microcontroller connected to the sensor and the computer.
- 33. The system of claim 32, wherein the microcontroller is located within the computer.
- 34. The system of claim 32, wherein the microcontroller is configured- to process requests for environmental or systemic conditions from the computer and is configured to responsively provide the environmental or systemic conditions to the computer.
- 35. The system of claim 32, wherein the computer-related components comprise at least one component selected from the group consisting of: a system board, a central processing unit (CPU), a CPU fan, a backplane board, a backplane fan, a chassis, a chassis fan, a canister, a canister fan, a PCI card, and a PCI card fan.
- 36. The system of claim 32, wherein the sensor is configured to detect the temperature levels of selected ones of the computer-related components.
- 37. The system of claim 32, wherein the sensor is configured to detect the speed of a fan intended to cool down selected ones of the computer-related components.
- 38. The system of claim 32, wherein the sensor is configured to detect the voltage level applied to selected ones of the computer-related components.
- 39. A method of monitoring and diagnosing a computer connected to a microcontroller, the method comprising:
receiving from a source a request for the conditions of the computer; sensing the conditions of the computer with the microcontroller; receiving the sensed conditions in the microcontroller; and communicating the sensed conditions from the microcontroller to the source of the request.
- 40. The method of claim 39, wherein sensing the conditions of the computer with the microcontroller comprises detecting a temperature inside the computer.
- 41. A system for monitoring and diagnosing a computer connected to a microcontroller, the method comprising:
means for receiving from a source a request for the conditions of the computer; means for sensing the conditions of the computer with the microcontroller; means for receiving the sensed conditions in the microcontroller; and means for communicating the sensed conditions from the microcontroller to the source of the request.
- 42. The system of claim 41, wherein the means for sensing the conditions of the computer with the microcontroller comprises means for detecting a temperature inside the computer.
- 43. A method of monitoring system functions of a computer, the method comprising:
controlling a plurality of environmental conditions of the computer using at least one microcontroller; receiving a message sent from the system bus to the interconnected microcontroller, the message requesting a change in a selected one of the plurality of environmental conditions; and sending a message from the interconnected microcontroller to the system bus, the message indicating a change in the selected one of the plurality of environmental conditions.
- 44. The method of claim 43, wherein the environmental conditions comprise a temperature inside the computer.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application incorporates by reference in its entirety and is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/911,884, filed Jul. 23, 2001, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/942,402, filed Oct. 1, 1997, which in turn claims priority to the following provisional patent applications:
1ApplicationTitleNo.Filing Date“Remote Access and Control of60/046,397May 13, 1997Environmental ManagementSystem”“Hardware and Software Architecture60/047,016May 13, 1997for Inter-Connecting an EnvironmentalManagement System with aRemote Interface”“Self Management Protocol for60/046,416May 13, 1997a Fly-By-Wire ServiceProcessor”“Computer System Hardware60/046,398May 13, 1997Infrastructure for Hot PluggingSingle and Multi-Function PC CardsWithout Embedded Bridges”“Computer System Hardware60/046,312May 13, 1997Infrastructure for Hot PluggingMulti-Function PCI Cards WithEmbedded Bridges”
[0002] This application is related to U.S. Pat. No. 6,249,885, entitled, “METHOD FOR MANAGING A DISTRIBUTED PROCESSOR SYSTEM”, Attorney Docket No. MTIPAT.119A; U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,758, entitled “SYSTEM FOR MAPPING ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES TO MEMORY FOR PROGRAM ACCESS”, Attorney Docket No. MTIPAT.120A; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,173, entitled “METHOD FOR MAPPING ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES TO MEMORY FOR PROGRAM ACCESS”, Attorney Docket No. MTIPAT.121A, and each contains related subject matter and are each incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Provisional Applications (5)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60046397 |
May 1997 |
US |
|
60047016 |
May 1997 |
US |
|
60046416 |
May 1997 |
US |
|
60046398 |
May 1997 |
US |
|
60046312 |
May 1997 |
US |
Continuations (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09911884 |
Jul 2001 |
US |
Child |
10675917 |
Sep 2003 |
US |
Parent |
08942402 |
Oct 1997 |
US |
Child |
09911884 |
Jul 2001 |
US |