Patent Application
20090276613
This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 97116193, filed on May 2, 2008. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to servers and computers, and more particularly, to a method for sharing a basic input output system (BIOS), and a blade server and a computer using the same.
2. Description of Related Art
A blade server is a typically defined as integrating hardware of server system such as processor, memory, or even hard drive to a single motherboard, which share in common sources such as chassis, power supply, keyboard, display or mouse. Therefore, many such blade servers can be loaded in a single chassis so as to satisfy the demand of conventional rack mount server for saving space. Accordingly, because of having the foregoing advantages, there are many manufacturers involved in development of the blade servers.
However, the currently used blade servers, just like those conventional electronic computers, equip a BIOS in each motherboard. In a blade server, all motherboards are operated in a general chassis system. As such, when every motherboard is required to refresh a powering up program of the BIOS, each motherboard has to turn on its power, and a refreshing program has to be executed regarding each motherboard. Apparently, doing this would waste time, and is inefficient. Furthermore, every motherboard has to be equipped with a read-only memory (ROM) for storing the BIOS, and therefore such a blade server employs too much electronic component and is unthrifty.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a method of sharing a BIOS, and a blade server and a computer for using the same, so as to save the components employed therein, and improve the efficiency of refreshing the BIOS. Further, the present invention is also directed to avoid a failure of the blade server and the computer being incapable of powering up because of there is only one BIOS while the BIOS runs abnormally.
The present invention provides a blade server, including at least one motherboard, and a backplane. The backplane is coupled to the at least one motherboard, and includes a memory unit and a switch unit. The memory unit is adapted for storing a BIOS. The switch unit is coupled between the at least one motherboard and the memory unit, for coupling the memory unit to one of the at least one motherboard.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the backplane further includes a second memory unit. The second memory unit is coupled to the switch unit for storing a second BIOS. When the memory unit runs abnormally, the switch unit couples the second memory unit to one of the at least one motherboard. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the second memory unit is a non-volatile memory.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the backplane further includes a control unit. The control unit is coupled to the switch unit for generating a control signal according to whether there is a power up signal generated by the at least one motherboard, and a busy status of the memory unit or a busy status of the second memory unit, so as to select one of the at least one motherboard to access the memory unit or the second memory unit via the switch unit.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, each of the at least one motherboard includes a central processing unit (CPU), a north bridge chip, a south bridge chip, and a switch. The north bridge chip is coupled to the CPU. The south bridge chip is coupled to the north bridge chip, and includes a general purpose input/output (GPIO) port, a power management unit, and an access controller. The GPIO port is provided for generating a reset signal. The power management unit is adapted to determine whether to execute a power up operation according to a power starting instruction signal. The access controller is coupled to the switch unit for accessing the memory unit or the second memory unit. The switch is provided for generating the power up signal according to a conduction status thereof.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit includes a register, at least one logic unit and a selector. The register is adapted for recording a busy status of the memory unit or a busy status of the second memory unit. The busy status of the memory unit or the busy status of the second memory unit varies according to the reset signal and the power starting instruction signal for indicating whether there is one of the at least one motherboard presently accessing the memory unit or the second memory unit.
Each of the at least one logic unit determines whether to generate a power starting instruction signal according to the power up signal and the busy status of the memory unit or the power up signal and the busy status of the second memory unit. The selector is adapted for generating the control signal according to the power starting instruction signal so as to control the switch unit to switch the memory unit or the second memory unit to a corresponding one of the at least one motherboard. According to another embodiment of the present invention, each of the at least one logic unit includes an AND gate having a first input terminal, a second terminal, and an output terminal. The first input terminal of the AND gate is adapted to receive the power up signal. The second terminal of the AND gate is adapted to receive the busy status of the memory unit or the busy status of the second memory unit. The AND gate generates the power starting instruction signal at the output terminal. According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the memory unit is a non-volatile memory.
The present invention further provides an operation method of a blade server. The blade server includes at least one motherboard coupling to a memory unit or a second memory unit via a switch unit. The method includes the steps of: providing a control signal; and selecting to couple the memory unit or the second memory unit to one of the at least one motherboard via the switch unit according to the control signal, so as to allow the one of the at least one motherboard to access a BIOS of the memory unit or a second BIOS of the second memory unit to execute a power up program of the BIOS of the memory unit or the second BIOS of the second memory unit.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the step of providing the control signal includes: providing a power up signal for determining whether to generate the power starting instruction signal according to the power up signal and the busy status of the memory unit, or the power up signal and the busy status of the second memory unit, and adjusting the busy status of the memory unit or the busy status of the second memory unit according to the power starting instruction signal to indicate the one of the at least one motherboard accessing the memory unit or the second memory unit, and generating the control signal.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes a step of generating a reset signal for adjusting the busy status of the memory unit or the busy status of the second memory unit, and indicating that there is no motherboard accessing the memory unit or the second memory unit.
The present invention further provides a computer, including a plurality of central processing units (CPUs), a plurality of chipsets, a memory unit, and a switch unit. Each of the chipsets is coupled to one of the CPUs. The memory unit is adapted for storing a BIOS. The switch unit is coupled between the chipsets and the memory unit, for selecting one of the chipsets according to a control signal, and providing an electric path to allow the selected chipset to access the BIOS of the memory unit.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the computer further includes a second memory unit. The second memory unit is coupled to the switch unit, for storing a second BIOS, in which when the memory unit runs abnormally, the switch unit selects one of the chipsets according to the control signal, and provides a second electric path to allow the selected chipset to access the second BIOS of the second memory unit. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the second memory is a non-volatile memory.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the computer further includes a control unit. The control unit is coupled to the switch unit for generating the control signal according to a power up signal and a busy status of the memory unit or a busy status of the second memory unit.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit includes a register, a plurality of logic units and a selector. The register is adapted for recording a busy status of the memory unit or a busy status of the second memory unit. The busy status of the memory unit or the busy status of the second memory unit varies according to a reset signal and a power starting instruction signal, for indicating whether there is one of the chipsets presently accessing the memory unit or the second memory unit. Each of the at least one logic unit correspondingly generate a power starting instruction signal according to the power up signal and the busy status of the memory unit or the power up signal and the busy status of the second memory unit. The selector is adapted to generate the control signal according to the power starting instruction signal for controlling the switch unit to switch the memory unit or the second memory unit to a corresponding one of the chipsets.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, each logic unit includes an AND gate. The AND gate has a first input terminal, a second terminal, and an output terminal. The first input terminal of the AND gate is adapted to receive the power up signal. The second terminal of the AND gate is adapted to receive the busy status of the memory unit or the busy status of the second memory unit. The AND gate generates the power starting instruction signal at the output terminal.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, each chipset includes a GPIO port, a power management unit, and an access controller. The GPIO port is provided for generating a reset signal. The power management unit is adapted for determining whether to start the chipset according to the power starting instruction signal. The access controller is coupled to the switch unit for accessing the memory unit or the second memory unit. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the memory unit is a non-volatile memory.
The present invention allows the motherboards or CPUs or chipsets to share a BIOS of a memory unit by switching. In such a way, the present invention is adapted for not only saving circuit cost, but also improving the refreshing efficiency of the BIOS. Further, the present invention equips with a second memory unit in addition to the memory unit, and stores a second BIOS in the second memory unit, so that when the memory unit runs abnormally, the motherboards, the CPUs, or the chipsets can execute the power up operation with the second memory unit.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference counting numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
The switch unit 152 is coupled between the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n, and the memory unit 151, for allowing the memory unit 151 to be coupled to one of the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n. The blade server 100 further includes a bus coupled between the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n and the memory unit 151. In the current embodiment, the bus is preferably, but not restricted to be a serial peripheral interface (SPI) bus.
In general, when a power of one of the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n is turned on, the switch unit 152 correspondingly switch the memory unit 151 to the one of the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n, so as to allow the one of the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n to access the memory unit 151, and execute a power up program of the BIOS.
In such a way, the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n is adapted to share the BIOS of the memory unit 151, so as for using less memory units 151 than conventional, and saving production cost thereof. Further, when refreshing the power up program of the BIOS, it is only required to be executed to the memory unit 151, thus the refreshing time can be saved, and the refreshing efficiency can be improved.
In the current embodiment, the backplane 150 further includes a second memory 153, which is for example a non-volatile memory. The second memory unit 153 is coupled to the switch unit 152 for storing a second BISO (a back up BIOS). Therefore, when the memory unit 151 runs abnormally, the switch unit 152 will correspondingly switch the second memory unit 153 to one of the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n, after the power of the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n is turned on, so as to allow the one of the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n to access the second memory unit 153, and execute the power up program of the second BIOS. In such a way, it can be prevented that when there is only the memory unit 151, while the memory unit 151 runs abnormally, the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n can not execute the power up program.
For example, if the motherboard 110_1 generates a power up signal, and the busy status of the memory unit 151 is idle (not busy), the control unit 210 then outputs a control signal, e.g., logic 1, to select the motherboard 110_1 to access the memory 151 via the switch unit 152, so that the motherboard 110_1 is allowed to execute the power up program of the BIOS of the memory unit 151.
If the motherboard 110_1 generates a power up signal, and the busy status of the memory unit 151 is busy, then the control unit 210 outputs a control signal, e.g., logic 0, indicating that there is a motherboard other than 110_1 presently accessing the memory unit 151, and in this case, the motherboard 110_1 is not allowed to execute the power up program.
Further, in case the memory unit 151 runs abnormally, the switch unit 152 will control to execute the power up program of the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n by the second memory unit 153. The operation of the second memory unit 153 is similar as discussed about the memory unit 151 and is not to be iterated hereby.
The control unit 210 includes a register 350, a logic unit 360_1 through 360—n, and a selector 370. The register 350 is adapted for storing the busy status of the memory unit 151. The busy status of the memory unit 151 varies according to the reset signal and the power starting instruction signal, to indicate whether there is one of the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n accessing the memory unit 151. For example, when the busy status of the memory unit 151 indicates a logic 1, it indicates that none of the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n is accessing the memory unit 151, i.e., the memory unit 151 is idle (not busy). On the contrary, if the busy status of the memory unit 151 indicates a logic 0, it indicates that there is one of the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n is accessing the memory unit 151, i.e., the memory unit 151 is busy. Further, the reset signal for example is capable of convert the busy status of the memory unit 151 from logic 0 to logic 1, while the power starting instruction signal for example is capable of convert the busy status of the memory unit 151 from logic 1 to logic 0.
The logic units 360_1 through 360—n determines whether to generate the power starting instruction signal according to the power up signal and the busy status of the memory unit 151. In the current embodiment, each of the logic units 360_1 through 360—n includes an AND gate. The AND gate has a first input terminal for receiving the power up signal, a second terminal for receiving the busy status of the memory unit 151, and an output terminal at which the power starting instruction signal is generated. The selector 370 is adapted for generating the control signal according to the power starting instruction signal, so as to control the switch unit 152 to switch the memory unit 151 to the corresponding one of the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n.
The operation of the blade server 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be discussed herebelow in more details. First, suppose a user presses a button 340_1 of the motherboard 110_1, this enables a power up signal, e.g., a logic 1, and the power up signal is transmitted to the logic unit 360_1, while on the other hand, supposing that the busy status of the memory unit 151 stored in the register 350 is indicated to be a logic 1, then this represents that there is no motherboard presently accessing the memory unit 151. As such, every signal received by the logic unit 360_1 is logic 1, then the logic unit 360_1 generates a power starting instruction signal of logic 1, and transmits the same respectively to the power management unit 332_1, the register 350, and the selector 370 of the motherboard 110_1.
When the power management unit 332_1 receives the power starting instruction signal, logic 1, it determines to allow the motherboard 110_1 to execute the power up operation. Further, when the power starting instruction signal, logic 1, is transmitted to the register 350, it converts the busy status of the memory unit 151 stored in the register 350 from logic 1 to logic 0, indicating that the motherboard 110_1 is accessing the memory unit 151.
Further, when the power starting instruction signal, logic 1 is transmitted to the selector 370, the selector 370 generates a control signal to switch the memory unit 151 to the motherboard 110_1 according to the power starting instruction signal. When the switch 152 receives the control signal, it couples the memory unit 151 to the access controller 333_1 of the motherboard 110_1 so as to access the memory unit 151, and execute the power up program of the BIOS.
Finally, after power up operation of the motherboard 110_1 is completed, the motherboard 110_1 generates a reset signal by the GPIO port 331_1 and transmits the same to the register 350 to convert the busy status of the memory unit 151 stored in the register 350 from logic 0 to logic 1 indicating that there is no motherboard presently accessing the memory unit 151. Further, the power up operation of any other motherboards 110_2 through 110—n can be learnt by referring to the foregoing description, and is not to be iterated hereby.
Further, in the current embodiment, when executing the power up operation, the motherboard 110_1 has changed the busy status of the memory unit 151 stored in the register 350 from logic 1 to logic 0, and when receiving that the busy status of the memory unit 151 of logic 0, the logic units 360_2 through 360—n cannot generate a power starting instruction signal of logic 1. And therefore, the motherboards 110_2 through 110—n are incapable of executing any power up operation before the completion of the power up operation of the motherboard 110_1.
The foregoing is exemplified with a normally operated memory unit 151. However, the memory unit 151 may occasionally run abnormally. When the memory unit 151 runs abnormally, the control unit 210 will control the switch unit 152 to switch the second memory unit 153 to the corresponding one of the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n, so as to allow the one of the motherboards 110_1 through 110—n which is coupled to the second memory unit 153 to execute the power up operation with the second BIOS. The method of executing the power up operation with the second memory unit 153 can be learnt by referring to the description with respect to the memory unit 151, and is not to be iterated hereby.
According to the foregoing embodiment, an operation method of the blade server can be obtained.
For more clearly illustrating the steps of the foregoing operation method of the computer system, a further embodiment is going to be given herebelow in more details.
At step S506, the busy status of the memory unit or the busy status of the second memory unit is adjusted according to the power starting instruction signal for indicating that there is one of the motherboards accessing the memory unit or the second memory unit, and generating a control signal. For example, when the power up starting instruction signal is generated, the busy status of the memory unit is correspondingly changed from logic 1 to logic 0, which indicates that there is one of the motherboards presently accessing the memory unit, and generating a control signal to switch the memory unit to the corresponding motherboard. Or otherwise, while the memory unit runs abnormally, and when the power up starting instruction signal is generated, the busy status of the second memory unit is correspondingly changed from logic 1 to logic 0, which indicates that there is one of the motherboards presently accessing the second memory unit, and generating a control signal to switch the second memory unit to the corresponding motherboard.
At step S508, the memory unit or the second memory unit is switched to one of the motherboards according to the control signal, so as to allow the one of the motherboards to access the memory unit or the second memory unit, and thus executing the power up program of the BIOS stored in the memory unit, or the power up program of the second BIOS stored in the second memory unit. For example, when receiving the control signal, the blade server will switch the memory unit or the second memory unit to a desired motherboard, so as to allow the motherboard to access the memory unit or the second memory unit, and execute the power up program of the BIOS, or the power up program of the second BIOS.
Finally, at step S510, a reset signal is generated to adjust the busy status of the memory unit or the busy status of the second memory unit for indicating that there is no motherboard presently accessing the memory unit or the second memory unit. For example, when the motherboard power up operation is completed, the motherboard will generate a reset signal to change the busy status of the memory unit from logic 0 to logic 1 for indicating that there is no motherboard presently accessing the memory unit so as to allow other motherboards to access the memory unit and execute the power up operation. Or otherwise, while the memory unit runs abnormally, when the motherboard power up operation is completed, the motherboard will generate a reset signal, to change the busy status of the second memory unit from logic 0 to logic 1, for indicating that there is no motherboard presently accessing the second memory unit, so as to allow other motherboards to access the memory unit and execute the power up operation.
Furthermore, the present invention is not restricted to be applied in a blade server, and it can also be applied to a computer having a multiple of CPUs. Further, the memory unit 151, the switch unit 152, and the second memory unit 153 are preferred but not restricted to be disposed on the backplane 150. An embodiment of another configuration is to be illustrated below.
Further, the computer 600 further includes a second memory unit 650. The second memory unit 650 is coupled to the switch unit 640, and stores a second BIOS therein. When the memory unit runs abnormally, the switch unit 640 selects one of the chipsets 620_1 through 620—n according to a control signal, and provides a second electric path for allowing the selected one of the chipsets 620_1 through 620—n to access the second BIOS of the second memory unit 650. In the current embodiment, the memory unit 630 and the second memory unit 650 for example are non-volatile memories. The operation of the embodiment is similar as described with
Each of the logic units 820_1 through 820—n is adapted to generate a power starting instruction signal according to the power up signals Si_1 through Si—n and the busy status of the memory unit 630, or the power up signals Si_1 through Si—n and the busy status of the second memory unit 650. Each of the logic units 820_1 through 820—n includes an AND gate. The AND gate has a first input terminal, a second terminal, and an output terminal. The first input terminal is adapted for receiving the power up signals. The second terminal is adapted to receive the busy status of the memory unit 630, or the busy status of the second memory unit 650. The power starting instruction signal is generated at the output terminal of the AND gate. The selector 830 is adapted to generate the control signal, according to the power starting instruction signal for controlling the switch unit 640 to switch the memory unit 630 or the second memory unit 650 to a corresponding one of the chipsets 620_1 through 620—n.
Each of the chipsets 620_1 through 620—n includes a GPIO port 840_1 through 840—n, a power management unit 850_1 through 850—n, and an access controller 860_1 through 860—n. The GPIO ports 840_1 through 840—n are provided for generating the reset signal. The power management units 850_1 through 850—n are provided for determining whether to start the chipsets 620_1 through 620—n according to the power starting instruction signal. The access controllers 860_1 through 860—n are coupled to the switch unit 640, for accessing the memory unit 630 or the second memory unit 650. Further, the operation of
In summary, the present invention allows the motherboards or CPUs or chipsets to share a BIOS of a memory unit by switching. In such a way, the present invention is adapted for not only saving circuit cost, but also improving the refreshing efficiency of the BIOS. Further, the present invention equips with a second memory unit in addition to the memory unit, and stores a second BIOS in the second memory unit, so that when the memory unit runs abnormally, the motherboards, the CPUs, or the chipsets can execute the power up operation with the second memory unit.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97116193 | May 2008 | TW | national |
