Patent Application
20110138226
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a power cycling test system and method for testing a computing device.
2. Description of Related Art
A computing device, such as a personal computer, a notebook computer, or a server, must be tested for performance prior to release to the market, including one or more power cycling tests.
However, in many cases the power cycling tests must be performed individually, representing considerable use of manpower and resources. Further, efficiency and accuracy of each power cycling test are not guaranteed.
What is needed, therefore, is a power cycling test system and method that can overcome the described limitations.
The disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one.
In general, the word “module,” as used herein, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, written in a programming language, such as, for example, Java, C, or assembly. One or more software instructions in the modules may be embedded in firmware, such as an EPROM. It will be appreciated that modules may comprise connected logic units, such as gates and flip-flops, and may comprise programmable units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors. The modules described herein may be implemented as either software and/or hardware modules and may be stored in any type of computer-readable medium or other computer storage device.
Referring to
Referring to
A first key switch K1 is connected to the MCU 21 to start or stop the power cycling test after it is implemented. A second key switch K2 is connected to the MCU 21 for setting one of the test parameters after it has been triggered. For example, if the key switch K2 is actuated to set the cycle time, the cycle time can be shown on the display module 27. If the second key switch K2 is actuated again to set the cycle number, the cycle number can be shown on the display module 27 rather than the cycle time. A third key switch K3 is connected to the MCU 21 to increase a value of one of the test parameters. A fourth key switch K4 is connected to the MCU 21 to decrease a value of one of the test parameters. For example, if the cycle time is set and shown on the display module 27 as an initialization value of 500 seconds, the cycle time may be changed to 501 seconds after the third key switch K3 has been triggered once, or may be to 409 seconds after the fourth key switch K4 has been triggered once. The third key switch K3 or the fourth key switch K4 can be triggered repeatedly to increase or decrease the cycle time to execute different power cycling tests.
In block S01, the key switch K1 has been triggered to implement the power cycling test program, display driving program, and the key-scan program in the MCU 21.
In block S02, the MCU 21 of the test device 20 transmits trigger signals generated by the power cycling test program to the switch module 23; and the switch module 23 turns the computing device 10 on or off according to the power cycling test program.
In block S03, the computing device 10 sends USB feedback to the test device 20 via the USB cable 40.
In block S04, the signal converting module 25 converts the USB feedback to TTL signals and transmits the TTL signals to the MCU 21. Thus, the MCU 21 is capable of monitoring the computing device 10 and detecting the occurrence of errors during the power cycling test. If errors occur, the power cycling test can be ended earlier than planned.
In block S05, the MCU 21 transmits display driving signals generated by the display driving program to the display module 27, and the display module 27 shows one of the test parameters currently enabled.
In block S06, the key-scan program determines whether the key switch K1 has been triggered. If the key switch K1 is triggered, go to block S15, and the power cycling test terminates; if the key switch K1 is not triggered, block S07 is implemented. In this block, as shown in
In block S07, the key-scan program determines whether the key switch K2 has been triggered.
In block S08, if the key switch K2 has been triggered, the MCU 21 resets one of the test parameters as a current test parameter which may be shown on the display module 27; for example, if the cycle time was enabled previously and shown on the display module 27, after the key switch K2 has been triggered once, the cycle number is enabled and shown on the display module 27 rather than the cycle time.
In block S09, if the key switch K2 has not been triggered, the key-scan program determines whether the key switch K3 has been triggered. If the key switch K3 is triggered, go to block S10; if not, go to block S11. In this block, as shown in
In block S10, a value of the enabled parameter shown on the display module 27 is increased; for example, if the cycle number is enabled and shown as 500 on the display module 27, after the key switch K3 has been triggered, the cycle number is increased to 501.
In block S11, the key-scan program determines whether the key switch K4 has been triggered.
In block S12, if the key switch K4 has been triggered, the value of the enabled test parameter shown on the display module 27 is decreased; for example, if the cycle number is enabled and shown as 500 on the display module 27, after the key switch K4 has been triggered, the cycle number is decreased to 499.
In block S13, if the key switch K4 has not been triggered, the MCU 21 determines if a count of the test cycles is equal to a predetermined cycle number; if less than the predetermined cycle number, block S02 is repeated to continue transmitting trigger signals to test the computing device 10. In this block, as shown in
In block S14, if the count of the test cycles is equal to the predetermined cycle number, test result information is displayed and the power cycling test is ended.
While the present disclosure has been illustrated by the description of preferred embodiments thereof, and while the preferred embodiments have been described in considerable detail, it is not intended to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such details. Additional advantages and modifications within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure will readily appear to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific details and illustrative examples shown and described.
Depending on the embodiment, certain of the steps of methods described may be removed, others may be added, and the sequence of steps may be altered. It is also to be understood that the description and the claims drawn to a method may include some indication in reference to certain steps. However, the indication used is only to be viewed for identification purposes and not as a suggestion as to an order for the steps.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200910310939.7 | Dec 2009 | CN | national |
