Mainboard management controller chip, control method thereof and server

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of chip design, and discloses a mainboard management controller chip, a control method thereof and a server, and the mainboard management controller chip comprises a bridging module, a mainboard monitoring module and a selection module which are all integrated in the mainboard management controller chip; the bridging module is used for carrying out data conversion and signal adjustment between a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface and a universal serial bus interface of the mainboard management controller chip; the mainboard monitoring module is used for monitoring and managing server hardware; and the selection module is respectively connected with the bridging module and the mainboard monitoring module and is used for selecting the bridging module or the mainboard monitoring module to operate. In this way, the function of converting a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard to a universal serial bus and the function of monitoring and managing server hardware are combined into a whole, the two functions are achieved only through one mainboard management controller chip, interface redundancy is reduced, the design difficulty of a hardware circuit is lowered, and the area of a circuit board is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of chip design, and in particular to a mainboard management controller chip and a control method and a server thereof. Background Art

[0002] The current high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) to Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a bridge chip, which is an independent chip on the market and generally only realizes the function of PCIe to other interfaces. The traditional baseboard management controller (BMC) chip is also an independent chip, mainly based on the system-on-chip (SoC), and its main function is to monitor the server hardware and realize remote management, monitoring, installation, and restart of the server.

[0003] The above-mentioned PCIe to USB function and BMC function are implemented by two different chips. However, when the server requires both functions, the complexity of circuit design is increased. Many interfaces are high-speed interfaces, which puts high requirements on board-level design and signal quality. Secondly, the two chips have the problem of large circuit board size. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of this, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a motherboard management controller chip and its control method and server, which can integrate the two functions of converting the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard to a universal serial bus and monitoring and managing the server hardware into one chip, thereby reducing interface redundancy, reducing the difficulty of hardware circuit design, and reducing the area of ​​the circuit board.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a motherboard management controller chip, comprising: a bridge module, a motherboard monitoring module and a selection module all integrated inside the motherboard management controller chip;

[0006] The bridge module is used to perform data conversion and signal conditioning between the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface and the universal serial bus interface of the motherboard management controller chip;

[0007] The mainboard monitoring module is used to monitor and manage the server hardware;

[0008] The selection module is connected to the bridge module and the mainboard monitoring module respectively, and is used to select the bridge module or the mainboard monitoring module to operate.

[0009] In a first aspect, in the above-mentioned motherboard management controller chip provided by an embodiment of the present invention, the selection module includes a first selection unit and a second selection unit;

[0010] The first selection unit is used to selectively connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface to the bridge module or connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface to the mainboard monitoring module;

[0011] The second selection unit is used to selectively connect the universal serial bus interface to the bridge module or to connect the universal serial bus interface to the mainboard monitoring module.

[0012] On the other hand, in the above-mentioned motherboard management controller chip provided by an embodiment of the present invention, the first selection unit selects to connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface with the bridge module, while the second selection unit selects to connect the universal serial bus interface with the bridge module;

[0013] The first selection unit selects to connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface to the mainboard monitoring module, while the second selection unit selects to connect the universal serial bus interface to the mainboard monitoring module.

[0014] On the other hand, in the above-mentioned motherboard management controller chip provided by the embodiment of the present invention, it also includes: a power consumption control module integrated inside the motherboard management controller chip;

[0015] The power consumption control module is used to control the power consumption of the bridge module and the mainboard monitoring module.

[0016] On the other hand, in the above-mentioned motherboard management controller chip provided in an embodiment of the present invention, the power consumption control module is used to control the power consumption of the bridge module and the motherboard monitoring module by controlling the power supply, reset signal or clock signal.

[0017] On the other hand, in the above-mentioned motherboard management controller chip provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the power consumption control module is used to directly turn off the power supply of the bridge module when the bridge module is not needed to operate; directly turn on the power supply of the bridge module when the bridge module is needed to operate; directly turn off the power supply of the motherboard monitoring module when the motherboard monitoring module is not needed to operate; directly turn on the power supply of the motherboard monitoring module when the motherboard monitoring module is needed to operate;

[0018] The power consumption control module is further used to configure the relevant reset signal through the register or control the relevant signal through the hardware pin on the board when the bridge module is not needed to operate, so as to reset all the signals of the bridge module, so that all the data and registers of the bridge module are reset to zero; when the mainboard monitoring module is not needed to operate, configure the relevant reset signal through the register or control the relevant signal through the hardware pin on the board to reset all the signals of the mainboard monitoring module, so that all the data and registers of the mainboard monitoring module are reset to zero;

[0019] The power consumption control module is also used to stop the input clock signal to the bridge module when the bridge module is not needed to operate; and to stop the input clock signal to the mainboard monitoring module when the mainboard monitoring module is not needed to operate.

[0020] On the other hand, in the above-mentioned motherboard management controller chip provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface is connected to the processor;

[0021] The universal serial bus interface connects various devices.

[0022] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention also provides a control method for a motherboard management controller chip, wherein the motherboard management controller chip includes a bridge module, a motherboard monitoring module and a selection module all integrated inside the motherboard management controller chip, and the selection module is connected to the bridge module and the motherboard monitoring module respectively; the method includes:

[0023] Using the selection module to select the bridge module or the mainboard monitoring module to operate;

[0024] When the selection module selects the bridge module to operate, the bridge module is used to perform data conversion and signal adjustment between the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface and the universal serial bus interface of the motherboard management controller chip;

[0025] When the selection module selects the mainboard monitoring module to operate, the mainboard monitoring module is used to monitor and manage the server hardware.

[0026] On the other hand, in the control method of the motherboard management controller chip provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the motherboard management controller chip also includes a power consumption control module integrated inside the motherboard management controller chip; the method also includes:

[0027] The power consumption control module is utilized to control the power consumption of the bridge module and the mainboard monitoring module.

[0028] In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention further provides a server, comprising the above motherboard management controller chip provided by the present invention.

[0029] It can be seen from the above technical scheme that a motherboard management controller chip provided by the present invention includes: a bridge module, a motherboard monitoring module and a selection module all integrated inside the motherboard management controller chip; the bridge module is used to perform data conversion and signal adjustment between the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface and the universal serial bus interface of the motherboard management controller chip; the motherboard monitoring module is used to monitor and manage the server hardware; the selection module is connected to the bridge module and the motherboard monitoring module respectively, and is used to select the bridge module or the motherboard monitoring module to operate.

[0030] The beneficial effect of the present invention lies in that the above-mentioned motherboard management controller chip provided by the present invention integrates a bridge module, a motherboard monitoring module and a selection module therein, and the selection module is used to select the bridge module or the motherboard monitoring module for operation. The bridge module can perform data conversion and signal adjustment between the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface and the universal serial bus interface, and the motherboard monitoring module can monitor and manage the server hardware. In this way, the function of converting the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard to the universal serial bus and the function of monitoring and managing the server hardware are combined into one, and only one motherboard management controller chip is used to realize these two functions, thereby reducing interface redundancy, reducing the difficulty of hardware circuit design, and reducing the area of ​​the circuit board.

[0031] In addition, the present invention also provides a corresponding control method and server for the motherboard management controller chip, which have the same or corresponding technical features as the above-mentioned motherboard management controller chip, further making the above-mentioned motherboard management controller chip more practical, and the control method and server have corresponding advantages. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0033] Figure 1 One of the structural schematic diagrams of the motherboard management controller chip provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 2 A second structural diagram of a motherboard management controller chip provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 3The third structural diagram of the motherboard management controller chip provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the principle of a power consumption control module provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 5 A flow chart of a control method for a motherboard management controller chip provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0038] Among them, 1 is a bridge module, 2 is a mainboard monitoring module, 3 is a selection module, 31 is a first selection unit, 32 is a second selection unit, and 4 is a power consumption control module. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] The existing bridge chip is an independent chip, which generally only realizes the function of converting the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard to other interfaces, such as the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard to the universal serial bus, the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard to the serial hard disk interface specification (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment, SATA), and the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard to the serial peripheral interface (Serial Peripheral Interface, SPI). The universal serial bus chip is also an independent chip, whose main function is to monitor the server hardware resources and realize the remote management, monitoring, installation, and restart of the server. Basically, the two functions are realized by two different chips. However, with the development of the server platform, the processor platform cancels the integrated south bridge (Platform Controller Hub, PCH) architecture, resulting in the need for other chips to realize the function of converting the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard to the universal serial bus of the integrated south bridge, and the chip is a chip that must be present in a server. The motherboard management controller chip is also one of the chips that must exist in the server platform. Therefore, the two functions are realized by two different chips, which first increases the complexity of the circuit design. Many interfaces are high-speed interfaces, which puts forward high requirements on board-level design and signal quality. Secondly, the two chips will have the problem of relatively large size of the printed circuit board (PCB).

[0040] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a motherboard management controller chip, which can combine the two functions of converting the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard to the universal serial bus and monitoring and managing the server hardware into one chip. The technical scheme in the embodiment of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiment of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiment is only a part of the embodiment of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

[0041] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the solution of the present invention, the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods. Figure 1 One of the structural diagrams of the motherboard management controller chip provided by the embodiment of the present invention is as follows Figure 1 As shown, the motherboard management controller chip includes: a bridge module 1, a motherboard monitoring module 2 and a selection module 3, all of which are integrated inside the motherboard management controller chip;

[0042] The bridge module 1 is used for data conversion and signal conditioning between the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface and the universal serial bus interface of the motherboard management controller chip;

[0043] Mainboard monitoring module 2, used to monitor and manage server hardware;

[0044] The selection module 3 is connected to the bridge module 1 and the mainboard monitoring module 2 respectively, and is used for selecting the bridge module 1 or the mainboard monitoring module 2 to operate.

[0045] In the above-mentioned motherboard management controller chip provided by the embodiment of the present invention, a bridge module, a motherboard monitoring module and a selection module are integrated therein. The selection module is used to select the bridge module or the motherboard monitoring module for operation. The bridge module can perform data conversion and signal adjustment between the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface and the universal serial bus interface. The motherboard monitoring module can monitor and manage the server hardware. In this way, the function of converting the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard to the universal serial bus and the function of monitoring and managing the server hardware are combined into one. Only one motherboard management controller chip is used to realize these two functions, which reduces interface redundancy, reduces the difficulty of hardware circuit design, and reduces the area of ​​the circuit board.

[0046] Furthermore, in a specific implementation, in the above-mentioned motherboard management controller chip provided in the embodiment of the present invention, the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface can be connected to the processor; the universal serial bus interface can be connected to various devices.

[0047] It should be noted that, because the central processing unit (CPU) is basically based on the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface, in order to realize the connection between the central processing unit and other interfaces, it is necessary to realize the conversion of the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard to the universal serial bus interface. The motherboard management controller chip itself has a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface and a universal serial bus interface, and the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard to universal serial bus dedicated chip also has a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface and a universal serial bus interface, and the two have overlapping functions. Based on this, the external interface of the motherboard management controller chip provided by the present invention includes a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface and a universal serial bus interface, which are used for the chip to exchange data with the outside. The high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface is mainly connected to the central processing unit; the universal serial bus interface can connect various devices.

[0048] In practical applications, the motherboard management controller chip provided in the embodiment of the present invention is not only applied to the universal serial bus interface, but also can be applied to other interfaces, such as serial hard disk interface, serial peripheral interface, etc., providing interface flexibility.

[0049] Figure 2 This is a second structural diagram of the motherboard management controller chip provided by the embodiment of the present invention. In a specific implementation, in the above motherboard management controller chip provided by the embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 As shown, the selection module 3 may include a first selection unit 31 and a second selection unit 32;

[0050] A first selection unit 31 is used to selectively connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface to the bridge module 1 or to connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface to the mainboard monitoring module 2;

[0051] The second selection unit 32 is used to selectively connect the universal serial bus interface to the bridge module 1 or to connect the universal serial bus interface to the mainboard monitoring module 2 .

[0052] In the implementation, in the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface and the universal serial bus interface, in order to facilitate the selection of the two functional modules of the bridge module 1 and the mainboard monitoring module 2, the selection module 3 is designed to be two selection units, namely the first selection unit 31 and the second selection unit 32. The first selection unit 31 can selectively connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface with the bridge module 1 or connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface with the mainboard monitoring module 2; the second selection unit 32 can selectively connect the universal serial bus interface with the bridge module 1 or connect the universal serial bus interface with the mainboard monitoring module 2.

[0053] In specific implementation, the first selection unit 31 can select to connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface with the bridge module 1, while the second selection unit 32 can select to connect the universal serial bus interface with the bridge module 1; similarly, the first selection unit 31 can select to connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface with the mainboard monitoring module 2, while the second selection unit 32 can select to connect the universal serial bus interface with the mainboard monitoring module 2. In this way, the normal operation of the bridge module 1 and the mainboard monitoring module 2 is ensured.

[0054] Figure 3 The third structural diagram of the motherboard management controller chip provided by the embodiment of the present invention. In the specific implementation, in the above motherboard management controller chip provided by the embodiment of the present invention, if Figure 3 As shown, it may also include: a power consumption control module 4 integrated in the motherboard management controller chip; the power consumption control module 4 is used to control the power consumption of the bridge module 1 and the motherboard monitoring module 2.

[0055] In practice, in order to realize the application of a single scenario under specific circumstances, the entire motherboard management controller chip can integrate the power consumption control module 4 internally. The power consumption control module 4 can be controlled by external pins. In special application scenarios, if only a bridge chip scenario of high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard to universal serial bus function is required, or only the function of monitoring and managing server hardware is required, the selection of internal functions is controlled by external pins to control the power consumption of the bridge module 1 and the motherboard monitoring module 2.

[0056] Furthermore, in a specific implementation, in the above-mentioned motherboard management controller chip provided in an embodiment of the present invention, the power consumption control module 4 can be specifically used to control the power consumption of the bridge module 1 and the motherboard monitoring module 2 by controlling the power supply, reset signal or clock signal.

[0057] In implementation, the power consumption control module 4 can control the bridge module 1 and the mainboard monitoring module 2 in terms of reset, clock and power supply. Through these three control aspects, the power consumption of the bridge module 1 and the mainboard monitoring module 2 can be controlled from different levels, and applications in different scenarios can be realized.

[0058] Further, in a specific implementation, in the above-mentioned motherboard management controller chip provided in an embodiment of the present invention, the power consumption control module 4 is used to directly turn off the power supply of the bridge module 1 when the bridge module 1 is not needed to operate; directly turn on the power supply of the bridge module 1 when the bridge module 1 is needed to operate; directly turn off the power supply of the motherboard monitoring module 2 when the motherboard monitoring module 2 is not needed to operate; and directly turn on the power supply of the motherboard monitoring module 2 when the motherboard monitoring module 2 is needed to operate;

[0059] The power consumption control module 4 is also used to configure the relevant reset signal through the register or control the relevant signal through the hardware pin on the board when the bridge module 1 is not needed to operate, so as to reset all the signals of the bridge module 1, so that all the data and registers of the bridge module 1 are reset to zero; when the mainboard monitoring module 2 is not needed to operate, configure the relevant reset signal through the register or control the relevant signal through the hardware pin on the board to reset all the signals of the mainboard monitoring module 2, so that all the data and registers of the mainboard monitoring module 2 are reset to zero;

[0060] The power consumption control module 4 is also used to stop the input clock signal to the bridge module 1 when the bridge module 1 is not needed to operate; and to stop the input clock signal to the mainboard monitoring module 2 when the mainboard monitoring module 2 is not needed to operate.

[0061] Figure 4 The schematic diagram of the power consumption control module provided by the embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. Figure 4 As shown, the power consumption control module 4 can control the power consumption through the power supply, and directly cancel the power supply of a certain function when it is not needed. This can be controlled on the hardware through external pins to ensure that the power consumption control requirement can be met when the circuit board is powered on.

[0062] The power consumption control module 4 can also control the power consumption of the module through a reset signal. When a certain function is not needed, all signals of the module are reset, causing the functional module to not work, thereby reducing power consumption. When using this method, the reset signal can be configured through a register, or the signal can be controlled through a hardware pin on the board. Controlled by a reset signal, all data and registers of the relevant modules can be reset to zero.

[0063] The power consumption control module 4 can also control the power consumption of the module through the clock signal. When a certain function is not needed, the input clock signal to the module is stopped, causing the functional module to suspend work, thereby reducing power consumption. The present invention can control the input clock signal of the bridge module 1 or the mainboard monitoring module 2 through software, or load an estimation program through a storage device in an embedded system to control the input clock signal of the bridge module 1 or the mainboard monitoring module 2, or use the internal processor of the mainboard monitoring module 2 to control the input clock signal of the bridge module 1 or the mainboard monitoring module 2. Controlling the input clock signal of the bridge module 1 or the mainboard monitoring module 2 through the processor inside the mainboard monitoring module 2 can achieve dynamic control of power consumption, which has certain advantages.

[0064] Furthermore, in the specific implementation, the motherboard management controller chip provided in the embodiment of the present invention may also include: a security module and a network transmission module integrated inside the motherboard management controller chip; the security module may be used to encrypt the data output by the bridge module 1 and the motherboard monitoring module 2 to obtain encrypted data, and send the encrypted data to the network transmission module; the network transmission module is used to upload the encrypted data to the network. In this way, the required security services can be provided for the functions of the bridge module 1 and the motherboard monitoring module 2, and the security of the motherboard management controller chip can be further improved based on the multi-functions, and can be applied to a variety of scenarios.

[0065] In the above embodiments, the motherboard management controller chip is described in detail. Based on the same inventive concept, the embodiments of the present invention also provide an embodiment corresponding to the control method of the motherboard management controller chip.

[0066] Figure 5 The control method of the motherboard management controller chip provided by the embodiment of the present invention is a flow chart. The motherboard management controller chip includes a bridge module, a motherboard monitoring module and a selection module, which are all integrated inside the motherboard management controller chip. The selection module is connected to the bridge module and the motherboard monitoring module respectively. The control method of the motherboard management controller chip provided by this embodiment is as follows: Figure 5 As shown, the control method of the motherboard management controller chip specifically includes the following steps:

[0067] S501, using a selection module to select a bridge module or a mainboard monitoring module to operate.

[0068] S502, when the selection module selects the bridge module to operate, the bridge module is used to perform data conversion and signal adjustment between the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface and the universal serial bus interface of the motherboard management controller chip.

[0069] S503: When the selection module selects the mainboard monitoring module to operate, the mainboard monitoring module is used to monitor and manage the server hardware.

[0070] In the control method of the above-mentioned motherboard management controller chip provided in an embodiment of the present invention, by executing the above-mentioned steps S501 to S503, the function of converting the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard to the universal serial bus and the function of monitoring and managing the server hardware can be combined into one, and only one motherboard management controller chip is used to implement these two functions, thereby reducing interface redundancy, reducing the difficulty of hardware circuit design, and reducing the area of ​​the circuit board.

[0071] Since the embodiments of the control method part correspond to the embodiments of the motherboard management controller chip part, the embodiments of the control method part refer to the description of the embodiments of the motherboard management controller chip part, which will not be repeated here. And it has the same beneficial effects as the motherboard management controller chip mentioned above.

[0072] Further, in a specific implementation, in the control method of the motherboard management controller chip provided in the embodiment of the present invention, step S501 uses the selection module to select the bridge module or the motherboard monitoring module to operate, which may specifically include the following steps:

[0073] The first selection unit of the selection module is used to selectively connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface with the bridge module or the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface with the mainboard monitoring module; the second selection unit of the selection module is used to selectively connect the universal serial bus interface with the bridge module or the universal serial bus interface with the mainboard monitoring module.

[0074] In implementation, the selection module is designed to be two selection units, namely a first selection unit and a second selection unit. The first selection unit can be used to selectively connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface to the bridge module or the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface to the mainboard monitoring module; the second selection unit can be used to selectively connect the universal serial bus interface to the bridge module or the universal serial bus interface to the mainboard monitoring module.

[0075] Further, in the specific implementation, in the control method of the motherboard management controller chip provided in the embodiment of the present invention, the first selection unit of the selection module is used in the above steps to selectively connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface with the bridge module or connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface with the motherboard monitoring module; the second selection unit of the selection module is used to selectively connect the universal serial bus interface with the bridge module or connect the universal serial bus interface with the motherboard monitoring module, which may specifically include:

[0076] The first selection unit is used to select the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface to be connected to the bridge module, while the second selection unit is used to select the universal serial bus interface to be connected to the bridge module; similarly, the first selection unit is used to select the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface to be connected to the mainboard monitoring module, while the second selection unit is used to select the universal serial bus interface to be connected to the mainboard monitoring module. In this way, the normal operation of the bridge module and the mainboard monitoring module is ensured.

[0077] Furthermore, in a specific implementation, the control method of the motherboard management controller chip provided in the embodiment of the present invention may also include: controlling the power consumption of the bridge module and the motherboard monitoring module by using a power consumption control module integrated in the motherboard management controller chip.

[0078] Furthermore, in a specific implementation, in the control method of the above-mentioned motherboard management controller chip provided in an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned steps utilize a power consumption control module integrated inside the motherboard management controller chip to control the power consumption of the bridge module and the motherboard monitoring module, which may specifically include: utilizing the power consumption control module to control the power supply, reset signal or clock signal to control the power consumption of the bridge module and the motherboard monitoring module.

[0079] In implementation, the power consumption control module can be controlled by external pins. In special application scenarios, if only a bridge chip scenario with the function of converting the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard to the universal serial bus function is required, or if only the function of monitoring and managing the server hardware is required, the selection of internal functions can be controlled through external pins to complete the power consumption control of the bridge module and the mainboard monitoring module by the power consumption control module. The power consumption control module can control the bridge module and the mainboard monitoring module in three aspects: reset, clock, and power supply. Through these three control aspects, the power consumption of the bridge module and the mainboard monitoring module can be controlled from different levels, and applications in different scenarios can be realized.

[0080] Furthermore, in the specific implementation, in the control method of the motherboard management controller chip provided in the embodiment of the present invention, the power consumption control module is used in the above steps to control the power supply, reset signal or clock signal to control the power consumption of the bridge module and the motherboard monitoring module, which may specifically include:

[0081] The power consumption control module is used to directly turn off the power supply of the bridge module when the bridge module is not needed to operate; and to directly turn on the power supply of the bridge module when the bridge module is needed to operate; and to directly turn off the power supply of the mainboard monitoring module when the mainboard monitoring module is not needed to operate; and to directly turn on the power supply of the mainboard monitoring module when the mainboard monitoring module is needed to operate;

[0082] Or, when the bridge module is not needed to operate, the power consumption control module is used to configure the relevant reset signal through the register or control the relevant signal through the hardware pin on the board to reset all the signals of the bridge module, so that all the data and registers of the bridge module are reset to zero; when the mainboard monitoring module is not needed to operate, the relevant reset signal is configured through the register or controlled through the hardware pin on the board to reset all the signals of the mainboard monitoring module, so that all the data and registers of the mainboard monitoring module are reset to zero;

[0083] Or, the power consumption control module is used to stop the input clock signal to the bridge module when the bridge module is not needed to operate; and the input clock signal to the mainboard monitoring module is stopped when the mainboard monitoring module is not needed to operate.

[0084] In implementation, the power consumption control module is used to control the power consumption through the power supply. When a function is not needed, the power supply of the function is directly canceled. This process can be controlled in hardware through external pins to ensure that the power consumption control requirements can be met when the circuit board is powered on.

[0085] The power consumption control module controls the power consumption of the module through the reset signal. When a function is not needed, all the signals of the module are reset, causing the functional module to stop working, thereby reducing power consumption. When using this method, the reset signal can be configured through the register, or the signal can be controlled through the hardware pin on the board. Controlled by the reset signal, all data and registers of the relevant module can be reset to zero.

[0086] The power consumption control module is used to control the module power consumption through the clock signal. When a certain function is not needed, the input clock signal to the module is stopped, causing the functional module to suspend operation, thereby reducing power consumption. The present invention can control the input clock signal of the bridge module or the mainboard monitoring module through software, or load an estimation program through a storage device in an embedded system to control the input clock signal of the bridge module or the mainboard monitoring module, or use the internal processor of the mainboard monitoring module to control the input clock signal of the bridge module or the mainboard monitoring module.

[0087] For more specific working processes of the above steps, please refer to the corresponding contents disclosed in the above embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0088] Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a server, including the above-mentioned motherboard management controller chip. Since the principle of solving the problem by the server is similar to that of the above-mentioned motherboard management controller chip, the implementation of the server can refer to the implementation of the motherboard management controller chip, and the repeated parts will not be repeated.

[0089] The various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner, and each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. The same or similar parts between the various embodiments can be referenced to each other.

[0090] Finally, it should be noted that, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those generally understood by technicians in the technical field of the present application; the terms used in the specification of the application herein are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present application; the terms "include", "comprise" and "have" and any other variations thereof in the present application are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "comprise one..." do not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the elements. In the present application, relational terms such as first and second, etc. are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations.

[0091] For the above-mentioned embodiments, for the sake of simplicity, they are all described as a series of action combinations, but those skilled in the art should know that the present invention is not limited by the order of the actions described, because according to the present invention, some steps may be performed in other orders or simultaneously. Secondly, those skilled in the art should also know that the embodiments described in the specification are all preferred embodiments, and the actions and modules involved are not necessarily required by the present invention.

[0092] Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, rather than all embodiments. Based on these embodiments, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, ordinary technicians in this field can still combine, add, delete or make other adjustments to the features in the embodiments of the present invention according to the circumstances without conflict and without making creative work, so as to obtain different other technical solutions that do not deviate from the concept of the present invention in essence, and these technical solutions also belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0093] The motherboard management controller chip and its control method and server provided by the present invention are introduced in detail above. Specific examples are used in this article to illustrate the principle and implementation of the present invention. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the method and core idea of ​​the present invention, but not to limit the scope of protection of the invention; at the same time, for ordinary technicians in this field, according to the idea of ​​the present invention, there will be changes in the specific implementation method and application scope. In summary, the content of this specification should not be understood as a limitation of the present invention.

Claims

1. A motherboard management controller chip, characterized in that: include: A bridge module, a mainboard monitoring module and a selection module are all integrated inside the mainboard management controller chip; The bridge module is used to perform data conversion and signal conditioning between the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface and the universal serial bus interface of the motherboard management controller chip; The mainboard monitoring module is used to monitor and manage the server hardware; The selection module is connected to the bridge module and the mainboard monitoring module respectively, and is used to select the bridge module or the mainboard monitoring module to operate.

2. The motherboard management controller chip according to claim 1, characterized in that: The selection module includes a first selection unit and a second selection unit; The first selection unit is used to selectively connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface to the bridge module or connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface to the mainboard monitoring module; The second selection unit is used to selectively connect the universal serial bus interface to the bridge module or to connect the universal serial bus interface to the mainboard monitoring module.

3. The motherboard management controller chip according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first selection unit selects to connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface with the bridge module, while the second selection unit selects to connect the universal serial bus interface with the bridge module; The first selection unit selects to connect the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface to the mainboard monitoring module, while the second selection unit selects to connect the universal serial bus interface to the mainboard monitoring module.

4. The motherboard management controller chip according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that: Also includes: A power consumption control module integrated in the motherboard management controller chip; The power consumption control module is used to control the power consumption of the bridge module and the mainboard monitoring module.

5. The motherboard management controller chip according to claim 4, characterized in that: The power consumption control module is used to control the power consumption of the bridge module and the mainboard monitoring module by controlling the power supply, reset signal or clock signal.

6. The motherboard management controller chip according to claim 5, characterized in that: The power consumption control module is used to directly turn off the power supply of the bridge module when the bridge module is not needed to operate; directly turn on the power supply of the bridge module when the bridge module is needed to operate; directly turn off the power supply of the mainboard monitoring module when the mainboard monitoring module is not needed to operate; and directly turn on the power supply of the mainboard monitoring module when the mainboard monitoring module is needed to operate; The power consumption control module is further used to configure the relevant reset signal through the register or control the relevant signal through the hardware pin on the board when the bridge module is not needed to operate, so as to reset all the signals of the bridge module, so that all the data and registers of the bridge module are reset to zero; when the mainboard monitoring module is not needed to operate, configure the relevant reset signal through the register or control the relevant signal through the hardware pin on the board to reset all the signals of the mainboard monitoring module, so that all the data and registers of the mainboard monitoring module are reset to zero; The power consumption control module is also used to stop the input clock signal to the bridge module when the bridge module is not needed to operate; and to stop the input clock signal to the mainboard monitoring module when the mainboard monitoring module is not needed to operate.

7. The motherboard management controller chip according to claim 1, characterized in that: The high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface is connected to the processor; The universal serial bus interface connects various devices.

8. A control method for a motherboard management controller chip, characterized in that: The motherboard management controller chip includes a bridge module, a motherboard monitoring module and a selection module all integrated inside the motherboard management controller chip, and the selection module is connected to the bridge module and the motherboard monitoring module respectively; the method includes: Using the selection module to select the bridge module or the mainboard monitoring module to operate; When the selection module selects the bridge module to operate, the bridge module is used to perform data conversion and signal adjustment between the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard interface and the universal serial bus interface of the motherboard management controller chip; When the selection module selects the mainboard monitoring module to operate, the mainboard monitoring module is used to monitor and manage the server hardware.

9. The control method of the motherboard management controller chip according to claim 8, characterized in that: The motherboard management controller chip also includes a power consumption control module integrated inside the motherboard management controller chip; the method also includes: The power consumption control module is utilized to control the power consumption of the bridge module and the mainboard monitoring module.

10. A server, characterized in that: It comprises a mainboard management controller chip as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7.

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