Mainboard and computing device

Abstract

The invention discloses a mainboard and computing equipment. The mainboard comprises a base board and an expansion board, and the base board is used for setting a base device and an external interface; and the expansion board is used for expanding the function of the foundation board. Wherein the base board is coupled with the second external interface of the expansion board through the first external interface on the base board. A traditional mainboard is split, and a basic board only containing a processor small system and an expansion board for expanding input, output and management are formed through reasonable division of the processor small system and a peripheral system. The influence degree of the expansion device on the base plate is reduced, and the expansion device can be flexibly replaced according to actual requirements. And a commercial mainboard can be quickly provided according to business requirements, so that the development period and the development cost of the mainboard are reduced.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application. The application number of the original application is 202111638881.6, and the original application date is December 29, 2021. The entire contents of the original application are incorporated into this application by reference. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the technical field of computing devices, and in particular to a motherboard and a computing device. Background Art

[0003] Since the 1980s, Microsoft and Intel have formed the Wintel Alliance to promote the development of the personal computer (PC) industry. The two companies have worked closely in the PC industry to promote the Windows operating system to run on PCs based on Intel's central processing unit (CPU). The Wintel Alliance has promoted the continuous improvement of computing power (also known as computing power) in computing devices including personal computers and servers, making computing devices gradually widely used in various industries, thereby promoting the rapid development of the computing industry.

[0004] As the application scenarios and configuration types of computing devices increase, the computing power of the hardware in computing devices also shows a trend of diversity, which puts forward higher requirements on cross-architecture shared components, cross-generation evolution, shortening time to market (TTM), and reducing costs. The design of the motherboard of computing devices including traditional personal computers, servers, etc. depends on the constraints of the CPU, and the memory sticks, hard disks, Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) cards, fans and other components in computing devices are often produced by different manufacturers. Components from different manufacturers or different models need to design different motherboards to meet the needs of adaptation between CPU and components, which leads to problems such as high difficulty in designing motherboards, long time to market, and poor compatibility. Therefore, how to provide a more universal motherboard has become a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present application provides a motherboard and a computing device using the motherboard, which reduces the difficulty of motherboard design, reduces the motherboard development cycle, and can improve the motherboard compatibility by optimizing the motherboard architecture design.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a main board, comprising a basic board and an expansion board, wherein the basic board is used to set basic components and a first external interface, wherein the basic components include a processor and a memory; the expansion board is used to expand the functions of the basic board; wherein the basic board is coupled to the second external interface of the expansion board through the first external interface to realize the functions of a traditional main board.

[0007] From the above description, we can know that according to the standardization degree of components in traditional motherboards, a componentized motherboard architecture design scheme is proposed to achieve a very simplified and standardized design of the basic board; at the same time, the basic board is not affected by the circuit of the expansion device, which realizes the decoupling of the basic board and the expansion device, reduces the influence of the expansion device on the basic board, and can flexibly replace the expansion device according to actual needs. In addition, functional components such as IO components from different manufacturers can be flexibly combined with the basic board or through the expansion board and the basic board, so as to quickly provide a commercial motherboard according to business needs, and reduce the development cycle and development cost of the motherboard.

[0008] In a possible embodiment, the computing device further includes an expansion device, a device for expanding the function of the computing device. The expansion device includes a functional component, and the functional component includes an IO component, a storage component, an acceleration component, and a memory expansion component. Among them, the IO component is used to realize the communication between the computing device and the device or device outside the computing device, and to expand the IO capability of the computing device. The storage component is used to expand the storage capability of the computing device. The acceleration component is used to provide system acceleration component expansion and interconnection functions. The memory expansion component is used to provide the system with the function of expanding memory bandwidth and memory capacity.

[0009] In another possible embodiment, the number of the expansion boards may be one or more.

[0010] In another possible implementation, the first external interface includes a management interface and a data interface, wherein the management interface is used to transmit control signals between the basic board and the expansion board; and the data interface is used to implement data interaction between the basic device and the expansion device. Thus, management control between boards and between devices and data interaction of corresponding functions are implemented respectively.

[0011] In another possible implementation, the data interface includes at least one of interfaces supporting peripheral component interconnect express standard PCIe, computing express link CXL, converged bus UB, Huawei cache consistency system HCCS, serial small computer system SAS and serial advanced technology attachment SATA functions. By supporting different types of interfaces, the data transmission mode between the basic board and the expansion board or functional components can be expanded to meet different business needs.

[0012] In another possible implementation, the expansion device is connected to the data interface to implement data transmission between the basic device and the expansion device. Since the expansion device can be connected to the basic board through the data interface of the basic board, the management function, IO capability and storage capability of the basic board can be expanded.

[0013] In another possible implementation, the expansion device is provided on the expansion board, and the expansion board is connected to the data interface to achieve data transmission between the basic device and the expansion device. When the expansion device is provided on the expansion board by plugging or the like, the expansion device can also perform data transmission through the external connection interface between the expansion board and the basic board, and the purpose of expanding the management function, IO capability and storage capability of the basic board can also be achieved.

[0014] In another possible implementation, the first external interface of the basic board also includes a first power supply interface, and the first power supply interface is used to supply power according to the power supply requirements of the basic device and / or the extended device. The basic board can be connected to the power supply component through the first power supply interface to realize power supply to the basic device or the extended device. Since the basic board can also power the extended device on the extended board through inter-board switching, the unified allocation and management of power supply resources is realized, so that the energy consumption efficiency can be reasonably controlled.

[0015] In another possible implementation, the power supply requirement includes a voltage requirement or a power consumption requirement.

[0016] In another possible implementation, the first power supply interface is connected to the power supply component via a cable. In other words, the power supply component can be connected to the base board via a cable to realize the power supply function.

[0017] In another possible implementation, the basic board is configured to have multiple board sizes, and one of the multiple board sizes is set according to the number of processors configured and / or the number of memories configured. In this way, for functional configurations in different application scenarios, the physical size of the basic board can be determined according to the number and size of the components configured on the basic board; based on the componentized motherboard architecture design, the corresponding business needs are met.

[0018] In another possible implementation, a mounting hole is provided on the base plate to match the fixed structure on the frame of the computing device. Further, the fixed structure on the frame is divided into at least one group of fixed structures according to the positional relationship, and one group of fixed structures in at least one group of fixed structures can be adapted to base plates of different board sizes. In other words, relative to the division rules of the fixed structure on the frame, the base plates that meet different functional configurations can be adapted to one of the fixed structures, with good adaptability and operability; thus, on the one hand, it is convenient to flexibly assemble and install the base plate and the server frame, and to facilitate assembly and maintenance operations; on the other hand, by applying the standardized installation interface form, in specific applications, different base plates can be replaced and installed based on the installation fixed structure of the same server frame, such as but not limited to base plates based on different CPU models, different CPU architectures (ARM / X86) or different CPU manufacturers (intel / AMD / Feitian / Kunpeng), and base plates of different base plate manufacturers can be directly replaced, which can meet differentiated customer scenarios and application requirements.

[0019] In another possible implementation, the second external interface includes a second power supply interface. When the extended device includes a device with a power supply requirement less than the first threshold, the second power supply interface is used to connect to the first power supply interface using an inter-board transfer power supply method to power the extended device. In this way, on the one hand, the power demand of the basic devices with relatively high power consumption on the basic board can be met. At the same time, for application scenarios where the extended devices on the extended board have relatively low power consumption, the basic board can divide the voltage according to the needs of the device, and use the second power supply interface and the first power supply interface to establish an inter-board transfer power supply method to power the extended device, and the power distribution method is more reasonable.

[0020] In another possible implementation, the expansion board also includes at least one of a power supply component interface, a heat dissipation component interface, and a chassis panel control interface, wherein the power supply component interface is used to connect the power supply component via a cable, the heat dissipation component interface is used to transmit the heat dissipation control signal of the expansion device, and the chassis panel control interface is used to transmit the control signal of the chassis panel.

[0021] In another possible implementation, the second external interface includes a second power supply interface, and when the extended device includes a device with a power supply requirement greater than or equal to the second threshold, the second power supply interface is directly connected to the power supply component through a cable to power the extended device in a direct power supply manner. That is to say, the extended board of this solution can be powered by directly connecting the cable to the power supply component, and can be applied to application scenarios where the power consumption of the extended device on the extended board is relatively large.

[0022] In another possible implementation, the first threshold and the second threshold may be the same.

[0023] In another possible implementation manner, the first threshold and the second threshold are different.

[0024] In another possible implementation, the expansion board is further provided with a baseboard management controller for identifying and configuring functional components, thereby realizing device identification and monitoring management functions in the computing device.

[0025] In another possible implementation, the basic board is further provided with a baseboard management controller for identifying and configuring functional components.

[0026] In another possible implementation, the baseboard management controller can be set as a baseboard management control card, and the baseboard management control card is connected to the expansion board through a slot, which can quickly realize the connection and removal of the baseboard management controller and the basic board. When the baseboard management controller fails, the baseboard management controller can be removed separately to realize rapid operation and maintenance management.

[0027] In another possible implementation, the baseboard management controller is preset with a management object template, and the functional component is preset with hardware self-description information corresponding to the management object template; the baseboard management controller is used to obtain the hardware self-description information of the functional component, and generate a management object instance according to the management object template and the hardware self-description information, and identify the management object instance. In this way, the manufacturer of the functional component is no longer limited to the architecture, version or model of the CPU, but only needs to follow the standard definition of the external interface on the basic board, and configure the corresponding hardware self-description information according to the hardware self-description information definition defined in the standard, so that the automatic discovery and automatic configuration of the functional component can be realized through the BMC. After the basic board and the functional component are decoupled, the manufacturer of the functional component has greater design and production flexibility, which can promote the development and progress of the manufacturer of functional components such as IO components. At the same time, the functional component is monitored and managed through the management object instance, and the monitoring and management includes at least one of temperature control and legality verification.

[0028] In another possible implementation, the baseboard management controller can be configured with a component discovery module and a template parsing module; wherein the component discovery module is used to obtain the hardware self-description information stored in the functional component to identify the corresponding functional component; the template parsing module is used to parse the hardware self-description information and generate a management object instance based on the management object template.

[0029] In another possible implementation, the hardware self-description information includes basic hardware information, management topology information, management device information, and monitoring alarm information. Among them, the basic hardware information is used to identify the corresponding functional hardware or basic board, such as but not limited to the attribute categories such as the specification version, component type, component identification, component manufacturer, and various version numbers that are easy to automatically identify and adapt; the management topology information is used to create the management topology of the functional component, such as but not limited to the categories including temperature sensors, voltage sensors, and connectors; the management device information is used to identify the attributes of the functional component, such as but not limited to the attribute categories including device type, device manufacturer model, product line number, and other necessary information; the monitoring alarm information is used to monitor the working status of the functional component, and is used to indicate whether the functional component is operating normally, such as but not limited to the attribute categories including sensor type, sensor subtype, sensor monitoring object, monitoring frequency, sensor current count, alarm value and alarm threshold, and other necessary information.

[0030] In another possible implementation, the baseboard management controller may also be configured with a component monitoring module for monitoring and managing corresponding functional components.

[0031] In another possible implementation manner, the hardware self-description information further includes heat dissipation information, and the heat dissipation information includes a temperature control threshold.

[0032] Exemplarily, the management object instance includes the aforementioned recommended target temperature and maximum temperature threshold. The temperature sensor that collects the real-time temperature can be determined by the temperature sensor in the hardware self-description information. At the same time, adaptive heat dissipation control is completed according to the recommended target temperature and maximum threshold temperature in the hardware self-description information. It can flexibly adapt to different functional components, and can realize adaptive heat dissipation management for new functional components or devices, without retesting and upgrading the temperature management software, to realize intelligent heat dissipation management.

[0033] In another possible implementation, the baseboard management controller is further configured to monitor the status of functional components according to the hardware self-description information to ensure the operational reliability of the computing device.

[0034] In another possible implementation, the expansion board and / or functional component includes field replaceable unit description information. The baseboard management controller obtains a layer of management topology information of the expansion board and / or functional component by reading the field replaceable unit description information, and establishes a component management topology based on the layer of management topology information; the management port of the baseboard management controller is expanded according to the component management topology, thereby improving management efficiency.

[0035] In another possible implementation, the field replaceable unit description information includes an identification of an expansion board or a functional component, and the basic board includes a computing device compatibility list; the baseboard management controller is also used to read the field replaceable unit description information and the computing device compatibility list, and determine whether the expansion board or the functional component is allowed to be connected to the computing device based on the field replaceable unit description information and the computing device compatibility list.

[0036] Exemplarily, the legitimacy of the board can be determined by the board serial number or other information that uniquely identifies the board. When it is detected that the identification of the newly connected board meets the numbering rules or other verification methods, the newly connected board can be identified as a legal board; when it is detected that the identification of the newly connected board does not meet the numbering rules or other verification methods, the newly connected board can be identified as an illegal board, so as to effectively avoid the illegal addition of boards. For example, but not limited to, limiting the unreasonable increase in the number of boards, and limiting boards provided by non-compliant manufacturers.

[0037] In another possible implementation, the field replaceable unit description information includes an indication of a sensor identifier for monitoring the ambient temperature of the functional component; the baseboard management controller is also used to generate the management object instance based on the sensor identifier, the heat dissipation information in the hardware self-description information and the management object template.

[0038] In another possible implementation, the slot number of the corresponding expansion board or functional component is written in the field replaceable unit description information, and the baseboard management controller is provided with a management correspondence table between the name of the expansion board or functional component and the slot number.

[0039] In a second aspect, the present application further provides a computing device, which includes a motherboard, and the motherboard adopts the motherboard as described above to achieve corresponding functions or connection relationships. The computing device can be different computing scenarios using the motherboard, such as but not limited to computers, servers, edge devices, etc.

[0040] In a third aspect, the present application further provides a basic board, the basic board is used to set a basic device and a first external interface, the basic device includes a processor and a memory; and the basic board is coupled to a second external interface of the expansion board through the first external interface. The basic board is used to implement the corresponding functions in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the first external interface includes a management interface and a data interface, wherein the management interface is used to realize the transmission of control signals between the basic board and the expansion board; the data interface is used to realize data interaction between the basic device and the expansion device.

[0042] In another possible implementation, the first external interface of the basic board also includes a first power supply interface, and the first power supply interface is used to supply power according to the voltage requirements of the basic device and / or the extended device. For example, but not limited to, the basic board can convert between DC and AC through a power conversion circuit, and divide the voltage according to the requirements of the devices in the basic board to power the corresponding devices, so that the energy consumption efficiency can be reasonably controlled. Exemplarily, the first power supply interface is connected to the power supply component through a cable. In other words, the power supply component can be connected to the basic board through a cable to realize the power supply function.

[0043] In another possible implementation, the basic board is configured to have multiple board sizes, and one of the multiple board sizes is set according to the number of processors configured and / or the number of memories configured. In this way, for functional configurations in different application scenarios, the physical size of the basic board can be determined according to the number and size of the components configured on the basic board; based on the componentized motherboard architecture design, the corresponding business needs are met.

[0044] In another possible implementation, a mounting hole is provided on the base plate to match the fixed structure on the frame of the computing device. Furthermore, the fixed structure on the frame is divided into at least one group of fixed structures according to the positional relationship, and one of the at least one group of fixed structures can be adapted to base plates of different board sizes. Thus, on the one hand, the flexible assembly and installation between the base plate and the server frame can be facilitated, and assembly, inspection and maintenance operations can be performed; on the other hand, the application of this standardized installation interface form can meet differentiated customer scenarios and application requirements.

[0045] In a fourth aspect, the present application also provides a self-adaptation method for a motherboard component, comprising the following steps: presetting a management object template on a baseboard management controller, and presetting hardware self-description information corresponding to the management object template on a functional component; obtaining the hardware self-description information of the functional component connected to the motherboard; generating a management object instance based on the hardware self-description information and the corresponding management object template, and identifying and configuring the functional component by running the management object instance.

[0046] In one possible implementation, the hardware self-description information also includes heat dissipation information, and the heat dissipation information includes a temperature control threshold. The baseboard management controller generates a management object instance based on the heat dissipation information using the management object template, and implements temperature management of the functional component by running the management object instance.

[0047] In another possible implementation, field replaceable unit description information is also provided on the functional component, and the baseboard management controller obtains a layer of management topology information of the functional component by reading the field replaceable unit description information, and establishes a component management topology based on the layer of management topology information; and expands the management port of the baseboard management controller based on the component management topology.

[0048] In another possible implementation, the field replaceable unit description information contains an identifier corresponding to the functional component, and the mainboard configuration information is provided on the mainboard. The baseboard management controller determines whether the functional component is legal based on a comparison result between the field replaceable unit description information and the mainboard configuration information, and the mainboard configuration information includes the identifier.

[0049] In another possible implementation, the field replaceable unit description information specifies a sensor identifier for the functional component to monitor ambient temperature, and the baseboard management controller generates the management object instance based on the sensor identifier, the heat dissipation information and the management object template.

[0050] In another possible implementation, the field replaceable unit description information contains a slot number corresponding to the expansion board or the functional component, and the baseboard management controller is provided with a management correspondence table between the name of the expansion board or the functional component and the slot number.

[0051] In a fifth aspect, a baseboard management controller is provided, the baseboard management controller comprising a processor, the processor being used to implement the functions implemented by the above-mentioned various aspects or any possible implementation method of the various aspects.

[0052] In a sixth aspect, a baseboard management controller is provided, the baseboard management controller comprising modules for executing the self-adaptation method in any possible implementation of the above-mentioned various aspects or any one of the aspects.

[0053] In a seventh aspect, a chip is provided, wherein the chip is used to execute each module of the self-adaptation method in any possible implementation of the above-mentioned various aspects or any one of the aspects.

[0054] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to execute the methods described in the above aspects.

[0055] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the methods described in the above aspects.

[0056] Based on the implementations provided in the above aspects, this application can also be further combined to provide more implementations. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0057] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of a mainboard provided for this application;

[0058] Figure 2 A structural block diagram of a basic board provided for this application;

[0059] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the expansion board and various functional components connected to the basic board of this application;

[0060] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of a server provided based on the present application;

[0061] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the arrangement of the fixed structure on the service machine frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a set of base plates of different physical sizes provided for this application;

[0063] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the structure of a baseboard management controller provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a logical relationship diagram of hardware self-description information provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of a process of generating a management object instance by a BMC provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] Fig.10 A schematic diagram of a process of adaptive heat dissipation control provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] Fig.11 A flowchart of a component management topology self-discovery and management enhancement function provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0068] For ease of description, the terms involved in this application are first explained as follows.

[0069] Computing devices are electronic devices used to implement data processing and device management control, such as computers, servers, edge devices, etc.

[0070] Basic components are components included in the minimum system used to provide general computing capabilities, such as the central processing unit (CPU) and main memory.

[0071] Expansion devices are devices used to expand the functions of the basic board. Expansion devices can also be called functional components. Among them, functional components include input / output components (IOU), storage components (STU), acceleration components (ACU), memory expansion units (MEU) and other devices that realize the extended functions of computing devices.

[0072] IO components are used to realize the communication between the computing device and the devices or equipment outside the computing device, and to expand the IO capabilities of the computing device. IO components include components such as Riser to realize the expansion of system IO in the computing device. IO components support PICe cards (also known as PCIe standard cards) and Open Compute Project (OCP) cards. Optionally, IO components also include network cards, graphics cards, redundant array of independent disks (RAID) cards, keyboards, mice, scanners, cameras, monitors, printers and other input and output devices.

[0073] The storage component is used to expand the storage capacity of the computing device. For example, the storage component includes a storage function for implementing files or data of the computing device, such as a hard disk drive.

[0074] Acceleration components are used to provide system acceleration component expansion and interconnection functions, including risers, carrier boards, accelerator card interconnection switches, service driven infrastructure (SDI) cards, accelerator cards, system on chip (SoC) cards, etc.

[0075] Memory expansion components are used to provide the system with the function of expanding memory bandwidth and memory capacity, including carrier boards, memory expansion chips, storage class memory (SCM), dual in-line memory modules (DIMM), etc.

[0076] Optionally, the expansion device can also be used to implement control and management functions in the computing device. For example, the expansion device also includes a chassis panel control component. Specifically, a device that sets the chassis panel control circuit in an independent form (e.g., a board) is called a chassis panel control component.

[0077] It is worth noting that in a specific implementation, according to the difference in processing speeds of functional components, functional components such as hard disk drives and graphic processing units (GPUs) (also called graphics cards) that require high-speed data transmission can be called high-speed functional components, and functional components such as IO interface circuits that require low-speed data transmission can be called low-speed functional components.

[0078] Processor, including any processor or any combination of processors such as CPU, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), programmable logic device (PLD), complex programmable logical device (CPLD), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), generic array logic (GAL), system on chip (SoC), software-defined infrastructure (SDI) chip, artificial intelligence (AI) chip, etc.

[0079] A heat dissipation component is used to dissipate heat from a computing device or hardware in the computing device, including a combination of several heat dissipation methods such as air cooling, liquid cooling, or a combination of the two. The heat dissipation component can be controlled by a processor or a baseboard management controller (BMC) or other types of controllers to achieve the heat dissipation function of basic devices or expansion devices in the computing device. In addition, it should be understood that the structure, type, and number of the heat dissipation component do not constitute a limitation on the technical solution to be protected by this application.

[0080] A board is a printed circuit board (PCB) with a plug-in, which can be connected to a computing device through a slot to control the operation of hardware, such as a graphics card, acquisition card, etc. After installing the driver, the corresponding hardware functions can be realized; or, it can be used to realize data transmission or other functions.

[0081] The mainboard architecture provided by this application is explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0082] In order to solve the problems of high design difficulty, long listing cycle and poor compatibility of traditional server motherboards, the present application provides a new motherboard architecture with component design, which splits the traditional integrated motherboard into multiple sub-boards according to the degree of standardization of the devices on the motherboard. The standardized devices in the traditional motherboard are set in a sub-board, which can also be called a basic computing unit (BCU), and the devices for management extension of the basic board are set in another sub-board, which can also be called an extension board (EXU). The extension board is used to extend the management function of the basic board, and as the management center of the entire system, it provides management functions such as equipment, security, energy efficiency and reliability. The basic board and the extension board are coupled through their respective external interfaces to achieve inter-board connection; the external interface is also used for data communication between the basic board or the extension board and the extension devices such as IO components, storage components, acceleration components or memory extension components. Therefore, when there is a need to update the processor or expand the computing power of the processor, it is only necessary to replace or improve the basic board, without redesigning and replacing the extension board, which reduces the design difficulty and improves the compatibility of the extension board.

[0083] Among them, the standardized devices can be divided according to the minimum system that can provide general computing capabilities. For example, the processor and memory can provide general computing capabilities and can be set on the basic board, and other expansion devices such as IO components or storage components can be connected to the computing device through the external interface of the expansion board or the basic board, thereby decoupling the association between the processor and other devices in the traditional motherboard. Optionally, the degree of standardization of the device can also be divided according to the association with the startup of the computing device, and can also be divided according to the minimum system that the computing device can run.

[0084] It is worth noting that the conventional mainboard can be split into a base board and an expansion board, or a base board and multiple expansion boards. For ease of description, the following embodiments are described by taking a base board and an expansion board as an example.

[0085] Next, the computing device is a server, and the processor in the server is a CPU. In addition, the connection method of the expansion device and the basic board or the expansion board can be flexibly combined according to business needs. For ease of description, the following embodiments are described by taking the expansion device as an IO component and a storage component as an example.

[0086] Figure 1A schematic diagram of the structure of a motherboard provided for the present application. As shown in the figure, the motherboard 1000 includes a basic board 10 and an expansion board 20. The basic board 10 is used to set the basic components and the first external interface 11 required for the server startup. The expansion board 20 is used to configure the expansion components and the second external interface 21 that do not affect the server startup. The basic board 10 is coupled with the second external interface 21 of the expansion board 20 through the first external interface 11. The expansion component is a device for realizing the extended function of the basic board. Among them, the basic component and the expansion component can be connected to the basic board 10 or the expansion board 20 through a slot according to the hardware attributes of the device, or can be connected to the basic board 10 or the expansion board 20 respectively through a board form, or can be connected to the basic board 10 or the expansion board 20 through a pin (pin) or an integrated form. Hardware attributes include hardware-related parameters such as type, model, performance parameters, and supported communication interfaces.

[0087] Furthermore, a baseboard management controller 40 may be provided on the expansion board 20, and the baseboard management controller 40 is used to realize automatic identification and monitoring management configuration of hardware in the computing device, and communicate with basic components in the basic board 10 to realize data interaction in the computing device. Figure 3 , Figure 3 This is a structural diagram of the expansion board and various functional components provided by the present application connected to the basic board. As shown in the figure, the baseboard management controller 40 can be in the form of a PCIe card, which is plugged into the expansion board 20. Line 61 shows the high-speed interface, and lines 62 and 63 show the power supply interface. The management interface and the low-speed interface are not shown in the figure. Optionally, the baseboard management controller 40 can also use pins, integration or other methods to achieve its connection with the expansion board 20.

[0088] Optionally, the expansion board 20 may also be used to set an auxiliary chip of the processor. For example, when the basic board 10 is set with Intel When a processor is used, a bridge chip adapted to the processor can be placed in the expansion board 20.

[0089] Under the traditional motherboard architecture, the motherboard's expansion devices such as the IO interface circuit and the chassis panel control circuit are also integrated on the motherboard to form an integrated motherboard. In the process of motherboard design and development, it is necessary to consider not only the impact of the CPU architecture and memory matching compatibility, but also the matching compatibility between the IO interface circuit, the chassis panel control circuit and other expansion devices and the CPU and memory. On the one hand, due to the limitations of CPUs of different architectures and generations, and on the other hand, because the expansion devices are also affected by the CPU architecture and generation, the motherboard development and design is difficult, and the motherboard development cost and development cycle cannot be effectively controlled. In addition, the large amount of hardware integrated on the integrated motherboard also makes the manufacturing cost of the motherboard with traditional architecture relatively high. In addition, for servers, server motherboards of different forms cannot be shared, and the problem that both the design cost and the manufacturing cost cannot be reasonably controlled is more significant.

[0090] Compared with the traditional motherboard, the basic board 10 disclosed in the present application is only configured with basic components that can be standardized by the server, forming a very simplified computing unit. The design and development of the basic board 10 does not need to pay attention to the impact of the CPU on the IO components, storage components, chassis panel control components, etc., and focuses on the performance and matching compatibility of basic components such as CPU and memory that are necessary for server startup. On the one hand, the development of the basic board is simplified. On the other hand, the supporting manufacturers of functional components such as IO components and storage components do not need to consider the impact of the CPU, which also simplifies the development of functional components, thereby forming a model in which the basic board and functional components are independently developed, changing the architecture, design mode and development mode of the traditional integrated motherboard.

[0091] Combine the following Figure 2 A structural schematic diagram of a base plate provided in the present application is introduced in detail.

[0092] Different servers can set one or more CPUs according to the business requirements to meet the requirements of different computing power. In the new motherboard architecture provided in this application, a single basic board can be set with one or more CPUs and different numbers of memory slots. As shown in the figure, two CPUs 12 are configured on the basic board, and the two CPUs 12 and any CPU 12 can be coupled with the hardware outside the basic board 10 through a high-speed input / output interface. Each CPU 12 matches the corresponding number of memory 13 slots as needed, and each CPU is also connected to multiple fused bus connectors (Unified Bus Cable, UBC) (also known as unified bus connector) or fused double-density bus connectors (Unified Bus Connectors-Double Density, UBC-DD) (also known as unified double-density bus connector) through a high-speed input / output interface. The fused bus connector or fused double-density connector can be coupled with expansion devices such as IO components or storage components respectively. In addition, the processor can also be flexibly configured into bus interface forms such as the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe), Compute ExpressLink (CXL), and unified bus (UB or Ubus) supported by the processor to realize the communication and data transmission between the devices of the basic board, and the devices of the basic board can communicate and transmit data with the expansion devices such as IO components or storage components based on the high-speed input / output interface. Among them, the high-speed input / output interface includes a high-speed serial port (Hisport). Optionally, the high-speed input / output interface also includes the Huawei Cache Coherence System (HCCS) bus (used to realize high-speed interconnection between multiple processors (e.g., artificial intelligence processors) and support cache consistency functions between multiple chips), the serial attached small computer system interface (SAS) bus, the serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) bus, etc., which can be used for the connection between devices. At least one of the interfaces of the bus, realize the connection and data transmission between the devices in the basic board, and between the devices of the basic board and the expansion devices.

[0093] Optionally, in order to meet the data processing requirements of basic devices such as the CPU, the basic board 10 can also be configured with a clock circuit 14 and a complex programmable logic device 15 (CPLD), wherein the CPLD can be connected to the CPU through the management input / output bus of the basic board 10 to facilitate the transmission of management signals or management instructions between the CPLD and the CPU.

[0094] Optionally, at least one of a basic input output system (BIOS), a flash memory (FLASH) and other devices may also be configured on the basic board.

[0095] In addition, combined Figure 1 and Figure 3 , the first external interface 11 on the basic board 10 includes a data interface (not shown in the figure) and a management interface (not shown in the figure). Among them, the data interface is used for data interaction, including a high-speed interface and a low-speed interface, and the high-speed interface is used to realize the CPU and other devices in the basic board 10 and the functional components to use a high-speed transmission protocol for data transmission. For example, the CPU in the basic board 10 and the storage component 1 (for example, a hard disk) use the PCIe bus protocol for high-speed data interaction. The low-speed interface is used to realize the CPU and other devices in the basic board 10 and the functional components to use a low-speed transmission protocol for data transmission. For example, the CPU in the basic board 10 and the storage component 301 use the SAS bus protocol for low-speed data interaction. The management interface is used to realize the transmission of control signals between the CPU and other devices in the basic board 10 and the hardware such as the chassis panel controller component 203 and the baseboard management controller. For example, the CPU can transmit control signals to functional components such as the chassis panel control component 203 and the heat dissipation component 302 through the management interface. The data interface can realize data transmission through at least one of the peripheral component interconnect express standard PCIe, computing express link CXL, fusion bus UB, Huawei cache consistency system HCCS, serial small computer system interface SAS and serial advanced technology attachment SATA.

[0096] Furthermore, in order to achieve Figure 1The power supply of the motherboard architecture shown in the figure, the basic board can be connected to the power supply (also referred to as a power module or a power component or a power module or a power component) through an external interface, and the external interface includes a power supply interface, and the basic board can realize the power supply of the basic device and / or the expansion device through the above-mentioned power supply interface. For the convenience of description, the external interface of the basic board can be referred to as the first external interface, and the power supply interface for powering the device of the basic board is referred to as the first power supply interface. The external interface of the expansion board is referred to as the second external interface, and the power supply interface for powering the device of the expansion board is referred to as the second power supply interface.

[0097] Specifically, the first power supply interface can be connected to a power converter to convert the input power provided by the power supply into a voltage required for the operation of the basic device. Optionally, the first power supply interface can also provide the required voltage for the functional components connected to the basic board.

[0098] Next, Figure 3 As an example, the connection relationship between the basic board and the expansion board is further introduced. Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the connection between the expansion board 20 and the base board 10 provided in this application. Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 3 The basic board 10 is provided with two CPUs 12 and a memory 13, and the expansion board 20 is coupled to the basic board 10 through a first external interface (not shown in the figure) on the basic board 10 and a second external interface (not shown in the figure) of the expansion board 20. The power supply component 201 is connected to the basic board 10. The first external interface 11 also includes a first power supply interface, which is used to connect the power supply component 201 to obtain input power, and realize the power supply of each component according to the power supply requirements of the basic device 10 in the basic board 10 and the expansion board 20.

[0099] It is worth noting that the power supply requirement can be expressed in various forms. For example, parameters such as voltage and power consumption can be used to identify the power supply requirement of a component. For ease of description, the following embodiments are described using the power supply requirement as a voltage requirement as an example.

[0100] In actual applications, each component has a different voltage requirement (e.g., 100 volts or 10 volts), and the voltage provided by the power supply component 201 is a fixed value (e.g., 220 volts). Directly distributing the voltage provided by the power supply component to the device may damage the device due to excessive power supply voltage or cause the device to fail to work due to too low power supply voltage. Therefore, the power supply component 201 needs to power different hardware according to the voltage requirements of the devices or link components set in the basic board or expansion board.

[0101] As a possible embodiment, the power supply component 201 can power the components in the basic board or the expansion board by using any one of a cable direct power supply mode and an inter-board transfer power supply mode.

[0102] Mode 1: When the voltage requirement of the device is less than or equal to the first threshold, an inter-board switching power supply mode is used to connect the power supply component 201 and the basic board 10 or the expansion board 20.

[0103] Mode 2: When the voltage requirement of the device is greater than or equal to the second threshold, a cable direct power supply mode is used to connect the power supply component 201 and the basic board 10 or the expansion board 20.

[0104] The first threshold and the second threshold may be the same or different. In a specific implementation, they may be set according to hardware properties.

[0105] For ease of understanding, the connection between the power supply component 201, the basic board 10 and the expansion board 20 is explained in detail below with reference to an example.

[0106] Normally, the voltage requirement of the CPU in the basic board 10 is relatively large, while the voltage requirement of the devices in the expansion board 20 is relatively small. At this time, the basic board 10 can be powered by direct connection, and the expansion board 20 can be powered by inter-board switching. Specifically, the power supply component 201 can be directly connected to the basic board 10 via a cable, and the basic board 10 performs direct current (DC) / alternating current (AC) conversion through the first power supply interface, and divides the voltage according to the requirements of the devices in the basic board 10 or the connected expansion devices, thereby supplying power to each device in the basic board. The second power supply interface of the expansion board 20 can be connected to the first power supply interface of the basic board 10, and the basic board 10 uniformly distributes the voltage, and implements resource allocation according to the power supply requirements of the devices in the expansion board 20. In addition

[0107] It is worth noting that the first power supply interface can realize the function of the power conversion circuit, that is, the first power supply interface can realize the function of power conversion requirements such as conversion between DC and AC. Optionally, a power conversion circuit can be set outside the first power supply interface in the basic board 10, and the power conversion circuit can realize the function of power conversion requirements such as conversion between DC and AC.

[0108] It should be understood that the first external interface 11 is a collection of the first power supply interface, the data interface, and the management interface, rather than a physical slot. In terms of physical form, the first external interface 11 can have multiple forms, for example, the first power supply interface, the data interface, and the management interface can be set as an independent interface respectively, or can be an integrated interface, that is, the power supply interface, the data interface, and the management interface are implemented by one interface.

[0109] Further, based on different forms of the first external interface 11, the expansion board 20, the functional component 30, and the heat dissipation component 302 can be connected to the basic board 10 in the following ways:

[0110] Mode 1: The expansion board 20 is connected to the base board 10 via a slot.

[0111] The basic board 10 is provided with a slot, and the expansion board 20 is provided with a socket adapted to the slot, and is plugged into the slot on the basic board 10 through the socket, so as to be connected to the basic board 10. The expansion board 20 interacts with the basic board 10 through the slot.

[0112] Mode 2: The functional components are connected to the basic board 10 through the expansion board 20.

[0113] The expansion board 20 is plugged into the base board 10 through a slot, and the functional components (e.g. Figure 3 The expansion board 20 uses the management interface in the first external interface 11 to communicate with the basic board 10, for example, through an internal integrated circuit (Inter-Integrated Circuit, IIC or I 2 C) protocol for low-speed data exchange. 2 C is a simple, bidirectional, two-wire synchronous serial bus that requires only two wires to transmit information between devices connected to the bus.

[0114] In one specific embodiment, the management interface in the slot of the base board 10 is compatible with I 2 C bus protocol serial port, the expansion board 20 is plugged into the slot on the basic board 10, and communicates with the basic board 10 through I 2 C bus communication, for example, plugged into a board 202 with a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, thereby enabling communication between the board and the basic board 10 through I 2 C bus realizes data interaction and completes data input and control functions.

[0115] High-speed IO components such as graphics cards can also be connected to the basic board 10 through the expansion board 20 in a similar manner. Specifically, the expansion board 20 is plugged into the basic board 10 through a slot, and the graphics card and other IO components are connected to the expansion board 20 through the interface on the expansion board 20, and communicate with the basic board 10 using the high-speed interface in the external interface 11, such as high-speed data interaction through the PCIe bus. In a specific embodiment, the expansion board 20 is plugged into the basic board 10, and communicates with the basic board 10 through the PCIe bus. The expansion board 20 is provided with a PCIe slot, and a graphics card with a PCIe interface is plugged into the PCIe slot of the expansion board 20. Thus, through the expansion board 20, the graphics card and the basic board 10 achieve high-speed data interaction through the PCIe bus.

[0116] Method 3: The functional components or heat dissipation components are directly connected to the base board 10 .

[0117] In a specific implementation, the heat dissipation component can be plugged into the base board 10 through a slot, and the slot can be used to perform low-speed data interaction with the base board 10, for example, through I 2 C bus protocol transmits management control signals, thereby realizing the heat dissipation function of the device.

[0118] Similarly, storage components such as hard disk drives can also be connected to the basic board 10 through slots or connectors. Specifically, the basic board 10 also has a slot that is the same as the high-speed interface in the first external interface 11. Storage components such as hard disk drives are plugged into the slots on the basic board 10 and use the slots to perform high-speed data interaction with the basic board 10, such as through the PCIe protocol, thereby achieving high-speed reading and writing of storage components such as hard disk drives.

[0119] Other functional components can be connected to the basic board 10 in the above-mentioned corresponding manners to realize data transmission or management control, which will not be explained one by one here.

[0120] It is worth noting that the slots can be divided into single slots and integrated slots. A single slot means that the first power supply interface, data interface and management interface are separately constructed into different single slots on the basic board; an integrated slot means that the first power supply interface, data interface and management interface are integrated together and constructed on the basic board, or the first power supply interface, data interface and management interface are arbitrarily combined in pairs and constructed separately on the basic board.

[0121] It is understandable that the specific physical connection method between the functional components and the expansion board or the base board can be selected according to the actual product design needs to take into account the requirements of internal space utilization of the computing device.

[0122] As a possible implementation manner, Table 1 shows an example of an interface of the first external interface 11, specifically including an interface type, an interface name, and a function description.

[0123] Table 1 An example of a first external interface

[0124]

[0125]

[0126] It is worth noting that the classification of the above-mentioned first external interface is only an example. During the specific implementation, different interfaces can be selected to transmit different types of signals or data according to business requirements. The classification of specific interfaces included in various types of interfaces does not constitute a limitation on this application.

[0127] Based on the description of the first external interface in Table 1, the basic board 10 inputs a DC 12V power supply through the first power supply interface, and then converts it into a corresponding voltage required for the operation of various devices and functional components on the basic board 10 through a power conversion module (such as but not limited to a DC-DC conversion module) on the basic board 10. Of course, the input voltage of the basic board 10 is not limited to DC 12V, and other voltages such as DC 48V can also be used.

[0128] It should be noted that the PCIe interface is a high-speed interface supported by most current processors. Considering the upgrade of CPUs and the differences of CPUs with different architectures, the high-speed interface in this embodiment can use the PCIe interface in addition to the

[0129] In the specific implementation, the above-mentioned PCIe / CXL / UB / HCCS / SAS / SATA interfaces can be flexibly configured through, but not limited to, the Flexible I / O interface mode formed by UBC and UBC-DD connectors.

[0130] Next, combine Figure 4 The structural diagram of the server including the motherboard architecture of the present application is further explained.

[0131] like Figure 4 As shown, the server includes a frame 1001, and the frame 1001 includes a basic board 10, an expansion board 20, a storage component 301 and a heat dissipation component 302. The basic board 10 is adapted to the fixed structure on the frame 1001 through the fixing hole 101 to achieve a fixed connection between the basic board 10 and the frame 1001. Two CPUs 12 are configured on the basic board 10, each CPU is matched with a plurality of memory slots, and a memory 13 is respectively inserted in each memory slot, and the expansion board 20 is connected to the basic board 10. The expansion board 20 is provided with a power supply interface and a data interface. The power supply component 201 is used to power the computing device. The baseboard management controller 40 is plugged into the expansion board 20 through a slot. The storage component 301 and the heat dissipation component 302 are respectively plugged into the basic board 10 through slots.

[0132] In order to meet business needs, the physical size of the basic board can be determined according to the number and size of the devices configured on the basic board. In a specific implementation, the physical size of the basic board 10 will be different depending on the type or quantity of hardware configured on the basic board 10. The physical size is expressed as (length × width). Table 2 is an example of a set of basic board physical sizes, including six physical form basic boards.

[0133] Table 2 Example of a set of base plate physical dimensions

[0134]

[0135]

[0136] In Table 2, "P" represents the number of processors, and "DPC" represents dual in-line memory module per channel (DIMM Per Channel).

[0137] The following further describes the fixing methods of base plates of different sizes to the machine frame in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0138] As a possible embodiment, a mounting hole is opened on the base plate, and the mounting hole is used to connect with Figure 4 In order to ensure that the chassis can adapt to a variety of base boards with different physical forms to adapt to the update and upgrade of the base board, some of the multiple fixed structures on the chassis are reused to achieve fixed connection between base boards of different sizes and the chassis, thereby reducing the difficulty of engineering design.

[0139] refer to Figure 1 In the middle base plate 10, taking the opening of four fixing holes 101 as an example, the aperture size of each mounting hole and the relative position between each mounting hole in the horizontal and vertical directions are set based on the above principles, so that the base plate can be reliably assembled at the corresponding mounting position on the frame. According to the multiple fixed structures on the frame, the corresponding mounting holes on the base plates of different physical forms are configured and set. On the one hand, it is convenient to flexibly assemble and install the base plate and the server frame, and to facilitate assembly and overhaul and maintenance operations; on the other hand, by applying the form of the standardized mounting hole position, in specific applications, different base plates can be replaced and installed based on the mounting position of the same server frame, such as but not limited to base plates based on different CPU models, different CPU architectures (ARM / X86) or different CPU manufacturers (intel / AMD / Feitian / Kunpeng), and base plates from different base plate manufacturers can be directly replaced. Such a setting can meet differentiated customer scenarios and application needs.

[0140] In a specific implementation, the fixed structures on the frame can be divided into at least one group of fixed structures according to the positional relationship, and one group of fixed structures in at least one group of fixed structures can be adapted to base boards of different sizes. In other words, based on the number of configurations of the adapted CPU and the number of configurations of the memory, the base board can have different sizes, and the relative positions and hole spacings between the mounting holes on the base boards of corresponding sizes are not exactly the same. One of the groups of fixed structures on the frame in this solution can adapt to it, thereby satisfying the rapid disassembly and assembly operations of base boards of different sizes; in other specific implementations, at least part of the fixed structures can be divided into at least two fixed structure groups as the fixed structure grouping rules on the frame, which can further improve adaptability.

[0141] It should be noted that the mounting holes on the base plate may include a fixing hole 101 and a positioning hole 102. Among them, the fixing hole 101 is used to be fixed to the corresponding fixing structure by a fastener, such as but not limited to a screw or a snap-on; the positioning hole 102 is used to be positioned on the fixing structure by a limiter, such as a positioning pin. At this time, the fixing structure in the chassis that is adapted to the fixing hole 101 may be a screw hole, and the fixing structure in the chassis that is adapted to the positioning hole 102 may be a guide hole. Of course, in other specific applications, the fixing structure may also adopt other structural forms, as long as the functional requirements of the quick disassembly and assembly of the base plate are met.

[0142] Optionally, in addition to Figure 1 In addition to the four mounting holes provided in the base plate 10 shown, more or fewer mounting holes may be provided depending on the size of the base plate, and the number of mounting holes does not constitute a limitation to the present application.

[0143] Combine the following Figure 5 and Figure 6 Describe in detail how to reuse fixed structures in the chassis.

[0144] like Figure 5 As shown, each fixed structure on the frame includes twelve screw holes (1-12) and two guide holes (A, B). The twelve screw holes (1-12) can be divided into three groups, as shown by dimension boundaries A2, B1 and B2. In specific assembly, different hole positions are selected for different types of base plates, and the corresponding screw installation constraint specifications are followed when designing the chassis. For example, in the area inside the chassis that can be used to set the fixed structure, the number and position of the fixed structure are set according to at least one of the size and weight of the base plate, so that the same chassis can support Figure 6 The three basic boards A2, B1, and B2 are shown. Among them, the area in the chassis that can be used to set up the fixed structure is based on the space and layout required for the printed circuit board, fan, air duct baffle, power supply, fan and other hardware to be placed in the chassis. The space reserved for the fixed mechanism, the size and position of this space can be set according to business needs.

[0145] Please also see Figure 6 , which respectively shows the structural schematic diagrams of three different base plates A2, B1 and B2 in Table 2.

[0146] As shown in the figure, Figure 6 (a) shows a basic board of the A2 form in Table 2, on which a CPU is configured, and an architecture of two DIMM slots per channel (2DIMM Per Channel) is adopted. Therefore, the basic board is configured with sixteen memory slots, and the sixteen memory slots are divided into two groups and arranged on both sides of the CPU. Figure 6(b) shows a basic board of the B1 form in Table 2, on which two central processing units (CPUs) are configured, and an architecture of one DIMM slot per channel (1DIMM Per Channel) is adopted. Therefore, the basic board is configured with sixteen memory slots, which are divided into four groups, each with four memory slots, and are arranged on both sides of the two CPUs. Figure 6 (c) shows a basic board of the B2 form in Table 2, on which two central processing units CPU are configured, and an architecture of two DIMM slots per channel (2DIMM Per Channel) is adopted. Therefore, the basic board is configured with thirty-two memory slots, and the thirty-two memory slots are divided into two groups, which are arranged on both sides of the two CPUs.

[0147] The fixing holes on the above three types of base plates correspond to the three groups of screw holes divided on the chassis, as shown in the following Table 3.

[0148] Table 3 Example of screw holes in a base plate

[0149] Basic plate number Screw holes Guide hole A2 2、3、5、6 A.B B1 2、7、8、5、11、12 A.B B2 1-12 A.B

[0150] In this embodiment, screw holes 2 and 5 on the frame are reused in the assembly of the A2 form base board, the B1 form base board and the B2 form base board, screw holes 2, 3, 5, and 6 are reused in the assembly of the A2 form base board and the B2 form base board, and screw holes 5, 7, 8, 11, and 12 are reused in the assembly of the B1 form base board and the B2 form base board. It can be understood that in other different server frame sizes, the screw holes can be divided according to the above reuse principle to replace base boards of different performance forms.

[0151] In addition, in the assembly relationship between the base plate and the frame in this embodiment, the design of the positioning holes and guide holes also provides a pre-installation positioning function. Figure 5 The two guide holes A and B shown are shared by the three types of base plates shown in the figure. It is understandable that based on the situation where the replaceable plate has a large size span, the guide holes can also be divided according to the above reuse principle, which will not be repeated here.

[0152] It can be seen that different types of base boards can be interchangeably adapted to the same server frame through standardized constraints on parameters such as physical dimensions and mounting hole compatibility, facilitating the upgrading of base boards.

[0153] By splitting the traditional motherboard into a standardized basic board and an expansion board, the basic board 10 is only configured with basic components such as CPU and memory that provide general computing power, which can adapt functional components with maximum flexibility, simplify the design, save development effort, and reduce the motherboard design cycle and difficulty. Furthermore, basic boards of different sizes are set according to the number and size of processors. When it is necessary to expand the computing power of the computing device or to upgrade the cross-platform type by changing the processor type, only the basic board needs to be replaced to quickly complete the computing power expansion or cross-platform upgrade operation, thereby improving the processing efficiency of expansion or upgrade. In addition, the components in the system are completely decoupled, and the physical interfaces, electrical characteristics, management protocols and parameters between each other are standardized. In addition to the basic board, the physical dimensions of other modules can be defined and selected as needed, making the motherboard architecture design more flexible and able to meet different business needs.

[0154] As a possible embodiment, in addition to being split into a base board and an expansion board, the traditional mainboard can have multiple expansion boards. During the specific implementation process, the expansion devices such as IO components, storage components, acceleration components or memory expansion components can be connected to one or more expansion boards according to their functional differences, and then connected to the base board through the expansion boards they are connected to. For example, the expansion board can be divided into peripheral interaction expansion boards, data processing expansion boards, etc. according to their functions to facilitate the management of expansion devices. Alternatively, it can be divided into storage component expansion boards or IO component expansion boards, etc. according to different devices.

[0155] Optionally, in addition to connecting the expansion device and the expansion board according to the hardware type, one or more expansion boards can be connected according to the number and size of the expansion devices to be connected, and then communicate with the basic board through the expansion board. It can also be divided into multiple expansion boards according to the degree of integration or different manufacturers, and each expansion board can be connected to the basic board through an external interface.

[0156] As a possible embodiment, based on the structure of the above-mentioned motherboard, the present application also provides a technical solution for automatic identification and configuration management of functional components in a computing device. The hardware self-description information of the functional component is preset on the functional component, and the corresponding functional component management object template is configured in the baseboard management controller BMC. The management object instance of the functional component is generated according to the hardware self-description information of the functional component, thereby realizing automatic identification and monitoring management of the functional component. In this way, the manufacturer of functional components such as IO components is no longer limited to the architecture, version or model of the CPU. It only needs to follow the standard definition of the external interface on the basic board, and configure the corresponding hardware self-description information according to the hardware self-description information definition defined in the standard, and the automatic discovery and automatic configuration of the functional components can be realized through the BMC. After the basic board is decoupled from the functional components such as the IO components, the manufacturer of the functional components has greater design and production flexibility, which can promote the development and progress of the manufacturers of functional components such as the IO components.

[0157] It should be understood that based on the design concept of the hardware self-description information and management object template in the embodiment of the present application, the basic board and expansion board in the embodiment of the present application can also preset self-description information, and further optimize the mainboard design by configuring the corresponding management object template in the baseboard management controller BMC.

[0158] Specifically, the basic board has built-in basic board self-description information based on the basic board management object template definition, and the baseboard management controller BMC is preset with the basic board management object template. The baseboard management controller BMC uses a method based on the basic board management object template to identify and configure hardware information such as processors and memory, and generates a basic board management object instance to achieve automatic identification and adaptive management of the basic board. This embodiment not only improves the compatibility of processors, memories, etc., but also can automatically adapt to CPUs of different architectures and generations as long as management object templates of processors of different architectures, models or versions are configured, without upgrading the baseboard management controller BMC software, which facilitates the upgrade and maintenance of the basic board.

[0159] Furthermore, the expansion board has built-in expansion board self-description information based on the expansion board management object template definition, which may specifically include expansion interface description information, management interface description information, etc. Accordingly, the baseboard management controller BMC is preset with an expansion board management object template, and generates an expansion board management object instance according to the expansion board self-description information, thereby realizing automatic identification and adaptive management of the expansion board. In this way, when the standard of the expansion interface or management interface changes, such as the interface definition changes, the interface rate changes, etc., the baseboard management controller BMC can obtain a new interface through the expansion board self-description information and the corresponding management object template construction, without the need to redesign and develop the expansion board, and without the need to upgrade the baseboard management controller BMC software, thereby improving the adaptability and compatibility of the expansion board.

[0160] The motherboard provided in this embodiment, the BMC can support automatic identification and configuration of functional components such as IO components. Corresponding to different types of functional components, the baseboard management controller is pre-set with management object templates corresponding to different types of functional components, and each type of management object template is used to record information of each type of device, such as serial number, manufacturer, type and other information.

[0161] According to different types of management object templates, different categories of functional components respectively define the hardware self-description information and store the hardware self-description information in the storage area of ​​the functional component. After the basic board is powered on, the baseboard management controller can obtain the hardware self-description information in the functional component storage area, thereby realizing the hardware automatic detection and identification function of the baseboard management controller, and then write the configuration information in the hardware self-description information to the corresponding position in the corresponding management object template in the BMC, thereby creating a specific management object instance of the functional component, which is equivalent to the driver of the functional component, thereby realizing the automatic identification and configuration of the corresponding functional component.

[0162] Furthermore, based on this mechanism, it can fully support the automatic discovery and configuration of components, realize code-free development and management of components, and provide server equipment management functions to the outside world. Applied to this solution, the new model of the same CPU series basic board can be directly started and run; of course, for basic boards across CPU series, the software version of the corresponding CPU series is set in the BMC, and it can also be compatible with replacement.

[0163] Taking the automatic identification and adaptation of functional components as an example, the detailed technical solution of the present application for implementing automatic identification and adaptation of functional components based on the baseboard management controller BMC is described in detail below.

[0164] See also Figure 7 , which shows a schematic block diagram of the software module composition of the baseboard management controller of the embodiment of the present application, and the baseboard management controller is used to realize automatic identification and monitoring management of functional components. Among them, corresponding to different categories of functional components 30, the baseboard management controller is preset with a management object template 71 corresponding to each functional component, and at the same time, corresponding to different categories of functional components (301...30n), and corresponding hardware self-description information is defined respectively.

[0165] like Figure 8As shown, the hardware self-description information may include basic hardware information, management topology information, management device information, and monitoring alarm information. Among them, the hardware basic information is used to identify the corresponding functional hardware or basic board, including attribute categories such as specification version, component type, component identifier (identifier, ID), component manufacturer, and various version numbers that are convenient for automatic identification and adaptation. "Specification version" refers to the version number that complies with the specified specification, for example, the specification version number defined by the BMC, so as to facilitate unified management. "Component type" refers to expansion boards, basic boards, IO components, acceleration components (for example, acceleration cards, system on chip, business-driven infrastructure cards), etc., to correspond to different types of management object templates. "Component ID" refers to the ID number of the component, which is formed based on its generation rules defined in the BMC specification, such as but not limited to the form of "manufacturer ID + serial number". In a specific implementation, the main composition of its basic hardware information can be determined according to the characteristics of different component types. Management topology information is used to create a management topology for functional components, including temperature sensors, voltage sensors, connectors, I 2 C MUX (multiplexer) and other categories. Management device information is used to identify the attributes of functional components, including device type, device manufacturer model, product line number and other necessary information. Monitoring alarm information is used to monitor the working status of functional components and indicate whether the functional components are operating normally, including sensor type, sensor subtype, sensor monitoring object, monitoring frequency, sensor current count, alarm value and alarm threshold and other necessary information. Among them, sensor types include temperature sensors, voltage sensors, current sensors, etc., and temperature sensors are divided into two subtypes: thermal resistor sensors and thermocouple sensors. Other sensor types and subtypes are divided according to industry common sense and will not be described here one by one. The current count of the sensor is the detection value of the sensor, the alarm value represents a single physical quantity of the upper or lower limit of the alarm, and the alarm threshold represents the numerical range formed by the upper and lower limits of the alarm. Of course, for components that need to be monitored in real time during system operation, such as hard disks, the hardware self-description information of this type of component also includes monitoring alarm information, such as but not limited to heat dissipation information. In this way, when the operating temperature of the hard disk exceeds the threshold value, the corresponding heat dissipation management control is executed.

[0166] Generally, the individual functions and management requirements of different types of functional components have their own characteristics, and the corresponding self-description information needs to be set according to the component type.

[0167] Based on the above description, hardware self-description information is stored in the storage area within each functional component. After the mainboard is powered on, the baseboard management controller automatically detects the connected functional component, and obtains its hardware self-description information by reading the fixed storage area on the functional component. The hardware self-description information is parsed and assembled into the management object template to create a management object instance of the functional component, thereby realizing automatic identification and monitoring management of each functional component in this application.

[0168] It is understandable that the hardware self-description information defined based on the above management control logic is preset by the supporting manufacturer in the storage area of ​​the functional component when leaving the factory, so that the flexibly combined functional components can meet the automatic identification and adaptation requirements under the motherboard architecture.

[0169] Compared with the traditional motherboard architecture, the management software of the baseboard management controller in this implementation is decoupled from the managed functional components, and the update or replacement of functional components will not generate development investment for redeveloping or upgrading software. In other words, in order to adapt to the newly designed functional components, the traditional motherboard needs to upgrade the management software of the baseboard management controller and add the definition and hardware information of the newly designed functional components for identification and application. In the present application scheme, the management object module on the baseboard management controller is a standardized unified structure, and each functional component stores its hardware self-description information on the corresponding functional component itself. When the newly designed functional component is connected to the motherboard, the management object instance can be automatically generated by reading the hardware self-description information of the functional component and adapting it to the corresponding management object template. The management software of the baseboard management controller can automatically identify the newly designed functional component without upgrading, and automatically adapt it so that the newly designed functional component can be used normally.

[0170] The automatic identification and self-adaptation process of functional components is as follows Figure 7 and Fig. 9 As shown, when new functional components (301...30n) are added to the mainboard, the baseboard management controller can obtain the hardware self-description information of each functional component through the component discovery module 72, the component parsing module 73 interprets the hardware self-description information, and automatically generates a management object corresponding to the functional component (such as: sensor management object, chip management object, etc.) according to the management object template 71, which is managed by the component management module 74.

[0171] Here, the generated management object itself contains the necessary management information for the new functional component, ensuring that the baseboard management controller can adaptively manage the new functional component. Therefore, in different application scenarios where functional components are flexibly combined, according to the management mechanism of the baseboard management controller of this scheme, the function of managing the newly connected functional component can be achieved by automatically obtaining the self-description information of the newly connected functional component itself.

[0172] As a possible embodiment, the hardware self-description information corresponding to different types of hardware is not completely the same, so as to meet the management adaptation requirements respectively. Taking a graphics card as an example, the specific process of generating a management object instance according to the hardware self-description information by the management object template is as follows:

[0173] Step 1. After the graphics card is connected to the basic board or expansion board through the PCIe interface, the baseboard management control first reads the hardware self-description information of the graphics card from the graphics card, including: the name of the functional component (graphics card), the model of the graphics card, the manufacturer and other basic hardware information, as well as performance parameters such as resolution and refresh rate.

[0174] Step 2: The baseboard management controller searches for a corresponding management object template according to the basic hardware information in the graphics card hardware self-description information.

[0175] Step 3: The baseboard management controller parses the hardware self-description information to obtain the management topology information, management device information, and monitoring alarm information of the graphics card, assembles the above hardware self-description information into a management object template, and automatically generates a graphics card management object instance.

[0176] In addition, during the operation of the computing device, each functional component may also be monitored by the component monitoring module 85 of the basic management controller BMC.

[0177] In addition, in other embodiments, heat dissipation information can also be defined in the hardware self-description information of the functional component to achieve customized and flexible management of functional components with special requirements for heat dissipation. This can be achieved by defining the recommended target temperature and maximum temperature threshold of the functional component in the hardware self-description information.

[0178] As a possible implementation method, the present application also provides a technical solution for an adaptive heat dissipation control method. Fig.10 , Fig.10A flowchart of an adaptive heat dissipation control method provided by the present application. Adaptive heat dissipation control is performed by a heat dissipation management program, which can be stored in a baseboard management controller or in a BIOS. Here, taking the heat dissipation management program stored in a baseboard management controller as an example, for functional components with heat dissipation requirements, the baseboard management controller uses a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control algorithm to obtain the real-time temperature T of the functional component, the target temperature T0 of the functional component, and the maximum threshold temperature Tmax of the functional component using a sensor as the input of the PID control algorithm to perform heat dissipation management control. Among them, the real-time temperature T is used to indicate the current temperature of the functional component; the target temperature T0 is used to indicate the temperature or temperature range at which the functional component can work normally; the maximum threshold temperature Tmax is used to indicate the limit temperature of the operation of the functional component, exceeding which will cause the device to be damaged or unable to work normally. The real-time temperature T, the target temperature T0 of the functional component, and the maximum threshold temperature Tmax vary depending on the type of device or manufacturer. For functional components with different heat dissipation requirements, the target temperature T0 and the maximum threshold temperature Tmax of the functional components are set at different temperatures. Taking a graphics card as an example, the target temperature T0 of heat dissipation management is 50°C, and the maximum threshold temperature Tmax is 95°C. The adaptive heat dissipation control method includes the following steps:

[0179] S101. The baseboard management controller BMC collects the real-time temperature T of the functional component graphics card through a temperature sensor.

[0180] Among them, the temperature sensor is set on the graphics card or can collect the effective range of the real-time temperature T of the graphics card. The temperature sensor is connected to the basic board or the expansion board, and communicates with the baseboard controller BMC through the management interface.

[0181] S102, the baseboard management controller BMC determines whether the real-time temperature T is less than the target temperature T0 (50°C); if so, execute step S103, according to the proportional integral differential control algorithm, reduce the fan speed in steps of 1%; if not, execute step S104.

[0182] S104, determine whether the real-time temperature T is greater than the maximum threshold temperature Tmax (95°C); if so, execute step S105 for emergency processing or alarm; if not, execute step S106 to increase the fan speed in steps of 1% according to the proportional-integral-differential control algorithm.

[0183] The heat dissipation control method dissipates heat for the functional component by increasing or decreasing the fan speed, so that the real-time temperature T of the functional component approaches the target temperature T0, thereby meeting the operating temperature requirement of the functional component.

[0184] For in-place functional components, after being connected to the basic board or expansion board, the baseboard management controller BMC can automatically identify and configure them, and then create and generate the corresponding management object instance, which includes the aforementioned target temperature and maximum temperature threshold. The temperature sensor used to collect the real-time temperature of the functional component can be determined by the temperature sensor in the hardware self-description information of the functional component, that is, the basic management controller can determine the temperature sensor associated with the functional component through the hardware self-description information. Optionally, the sensor used to monitor the temperature of the functional component can also be selected by the baseboard management controller, that is, the basic management controller can specify any temperature sensor to collect the temperature information of the specified functional component according to the location and effective monitoring range of the temperature sensor in the server. At the same time, adaptive heat dissipation control is completed according to the target temperature and maximum threshold temperature in the hardware self-description information. Compared with the traditional motherboard architecture, this solution can flexibly adapt to different functional components, and can realize adaptive heat dissipation management for new components or devices, without retesting and upgrading the temperature management software, to achieve intelligent heat dissipation management.

[0185] Of course, for the heat dissipation scheme that uses air cooling to achieve temperature regulation, it is necessary to control it by changing the management mechanism of the fan speed as mentioned above. For the heat dissipation scheme that uses liquid cooling to achieve temperature regulation, it can be controlled by controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle, for example, it is not limited to controlling the opening and closing of the corresponding refrigerant flow path, and changing the flow opening size for control. It should be noted that the specific functional realization of the method of using a fan for air cooling and using the refrigerant phase change heat to provide heat dissipation is not the core invention point of this application, and those skilled in the art can realize it based on the existing technology, so it will not be repeated in this article.

[0186] The following is a specific example to further introduce the heat dissipation management of the power supply components and graphics card based on the componentized motherboard provided by this application.

[0187] In this embodiment, the heat dissipation of the power supply component is achieved by the power supply fan, and the heat dissipation of the graphics card is achieved by the graphics card fan. The recommended target temperature and maximum threshold temperature for the heat dissipation of the power supply component are recorded in the hardware self-description information of the power supply component, and the recommended target temperature and maximum threshold temperature for the heat dissipation of the graphics card are recorded in the hardware self-description information of the graphics card. After the power supply component and the graphics card are connected to the basic board, the hardware self-description information in the power supply component and the graphics card is read through the BMC to obtain the recommended target temperature and maximum threshold temperature for the heat dissipation of the power supply and the graphics card, and the heat dissipation management of the power supply component and the graphics card is performed accordingly. When the new power supply component and graphics card are replaced, since the recommended target temperature and maximum threshold temperature of the new power supply component and the graphics card exist in the hardware self-description information of the new power supply component and the graphics card, after reading through the BMC, a new power supply component and graphics card heat dissipation solution will be generated without upgrading the motherboard management program, so that the motherboard heat dissipation solution can be automatically adapted according to the functional components.

[0188] As a possible embodiment, the present application can also use BMC to implement the legitimacy verification of functional components or expansion boards in the server. Specifically, BMC can use field replaceable unit description (FRUD) to complete component management topology information identification, and then implement management enhancement functions based on component management topology information, including: BMC management port expansion, illegal addition of board management, custom temperature management, and flexible adaptation of component slots, etc. Among them, FRUD can be set on the basic board, expansion board and functional component.

[0189] like Fig.11 As shown in the figure, the process of using FRUD to implement component management topology self-discovery and management enhancement functions is as follows:

[0190] Step S111 : the baseboard management controller BMC is powered on and started.

[0191] Step S112, determining whether the management software of the baseboard management controller BMC has a management enhancement function preset and whether the management enhancement function is in an on mode, if yes, executing step S113; if not, executing step S114.

[0192] Step S113, running the added management function.

[0193] Step S114, reading the FRUD information of the board where the BMC is located, and obtaining the BMC management port information.

[0194] The BMC is usually set on an expansion board. As a possible implementation, the BMC can also be set on a basic board. The BMC management port information specifies the BMC management port number and the device access address of the corresponding functional component.

[0195] Step S115, the BMC determines whether the BMC management port is enabled according to the BMC management port number in the BMC management port information. If yes, step S116 is executed; otherwise, the process ends.

[0196] Step S116: The BMC reads the FRUD information of the functional component corresponding to the BMC management port, and establishes a component management topology according to the FRUD information of the functional component.

[0197] If the management software of the baseboard management controller BMC does not have the management enhancement function, the BMC management port information is directly obtained, and the FRUD information of each functional component is read through the management port to form a component management topology.

[0198] The management enhancement function can be used as an optional function and enabled through authorization, for example, by inputting or updating an activation code to obtain authorization for the management enhancement function. After obtaining authorization, the management enhancement function can be enabled or disabled automatically or manually.

[0199] Based on the above component management topology, the management enhancement function implemented in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail as follows:

[0200] First, BMC management port expansion.

[0201] Normally, the number of BMC management ports is limited, while the number of managed objects is much larger than the number of BMC management ports. Here, the managed objects can be devices associated with the base board, expansion board, and functional components, such as temperature sensors, voltage sensors, current sensors, etc., which are used to detect the working status of different devices. In this embodiment, a self-discovery component management topology mechanism is used to establish a component management topology between the BMC management port and the devices on the functional component. The component management topology can be used to directly access the devices on the corresponding functional component, thereby realizing the expansion of the BMC management port.

[0202] Taking the expansion of the BMC management port on the expansion board as an example, in this embodiment, the baseboard management controller BMC is set on the expansion board, and the FRUD information on the expansion board is filled with the extended topology information of each BMC management port on the expansion board, and the extended topology information is used to specify the device addresses in each functional component that the BMC can directly access. After the baseboard management controller BMC is powered on and started, by reading the FRUD information on the expansion board, the address of the device on the functional component that can be accessed by each BMC management port can be obtained, thereby establishing a layer of management topology information of the accessible address of the BMC and the device on each functional component, and realizing the expansion of the BMC management port according to the layer of management topology information. For example, under normal circumstances, the correspondence between the BMC management port and the device access address on the functional component is solidified in the BMC management software, so a BMC management port can only manage one device on the corresponding functional component. In this embodiment, the BMC management interface and the device access address on each functional component are written in the FRUD information, rather than being fixed in the BMC management software. After reading the FRUD information, the BMC can establish a layer of management topology information between the BMC management port and the devices on each functional component. The layer of management topology information can specify the correspondence between any BMC management port and any device on any functional component, and then the corresponding device on the specified functional component can be accessed according to the correspondence, thereby realizing the expansion of the BMC management port. Here, a layer of management topology refers to the topology composed of devices that can be directly accessed by the management interface of the BMC to each functional component. For example, the memory that stores the hardware self-description information must be located in a layer of management topology, so that the BMC can directly obtain the hardware self-description information of the functional component. Furthermore, the hardware self-description information can describe the second-layer or even third-layer management interface extended inside the functional component. For example, the management interface uses the I2C bus, and the inside of the functional component may be accessed through I 2 C. Multiplexer (MUX) to I 2 C channel is expanded, and the expanded I 2 Topology C is a Layer 2 management topology.

[0203] In a specific embodiment, a temperature sensor, a current sensor and a voltage sensor are provided on the power supply assembly, and the above three sensors need to be controlled and managed. In this embodiment, the baseboard management controller BMC obtains a layer of management topology information of the BMC management port on the expansion board and the temperature sensor, current sensor and voltage sensor on the power supply assembly by reading the FRUD information on the expansion board. Through this layer of management topology information, a BMC management port can access the corresponding temperature sensor, current sensor and voltage sensor, and implement corresponding control management.

[0204] Second, illegally increase board management.

[0205] Computer or server manufacturers do not want users or others to install boards or cards that are not produced or specified by the manufacturer for the finished computers or servers they sell. Boards or cards produced or specified by the manufacturer are called legal boards, and boards or cards that are not produced or specified by the manufacturer are called illegal boards. The boards can be identified as legal or illegal by setting an identifier (ID) for the boards. For example, the legitimacy of the boards can be determined by the serial number (SN) of the boards or other information that uniquely identifies the boards. When it is detected that the identifier of the newly connected boards meets the numbering rules or other verification methods, the newly connected boards can be identified as legal boards; when it is detected that the identifier of the newly connected boards does not meet the numbering rules or other verification methods, the newly connected boards can be identified as illegal boards.

[0206] In order to effectively avoid illegal addition of boards and cards, the embodiment of the present application may further add a restriction function, such as, but not limited to, restricting the unreasonable increase of the number of boards and cards, and restricting boards and cards provided by non-compliant manufacturers.

[0207] Specifically, the ID of the board is written in the FRUD information of the functional component, and the BMC is provided with the host device configuration information, including the basic board configuration and the configuration quantity and ID of the corresponding board.

[0208] After the board is connected to the mainboard, the baseboard management controller BMC reads the FRUD information on the functional board and obtains the ID number of the board. By comparing the ID number of the board obtained from the FRUD information with the ID number of the corresponding board in the basic board configuration information, it confirms whether the board is legal.

[0209] For a legitimate board, the baseboard management controller BMC reads the hardware self-description information of the board, constructs a management object instance of the board, completes the self-adaptation on the board, and enables the board to be used normally.

[0210] For an illegal board, the baseboard management controller BMC no longer reads the hardware self-description information of the board, and thus cannot construct a management object instance of the board, making the board unusable.

[0211] To further improve versatility, the board ID in the host device configuration information on the BMC can be replaced with an ID sequence range or a wildcard, such as A001-A100 or A1$. In this way, boards within the ID sequence will be considered legal boards.

[0212] Based on the above scheme, the present application can also conveniently perform remote configuration upgrades of the motherboard. For example, after the user purchases an upgrade service, such as upgrading the extended memory, the motherboard manufacturer can update the motherboard configuration information on the basic board through the network. In this way, after the user purchases the extended memory card, it can be automatically recognized and adapted when inserted into the basic board or extended board, and then used normally.

[0213] Third, customize the internal environment temperature management of computing devices.

[0214] Most computing devices are usually equipped with multiple heat dissipation devices, such as power supply heat sinks, CPU heat sinks, graphics card heat sinks, chassis heat sinks, etc. Correspondingly, multiple temperature sensors are also set in the chassis to obtain the real-time temperature of the corresponding devices. For some computing devices, due to personalized configuration, different functional components will put forward special requirements for ambient temperature and heat dissipation. To this end, the embodiment of the present application uses the FRUD information on the functional components to realize the management function of automatically adapting to different ambient temperatures.

[0215] Specifically, in the FRUD information on the functional component, it is possible to specify which sensor in the computing device is used as the environmental monitoring temperature of the functional component to meet special heat dissipation requirements (such as special requirements for ambient temperature). For example, for functional components such as graphics cards and power supplies with high heat dissipation requirements, the FRUD information can specify the temperature sensor corresponding to the position of the central processor as the matching sensor for determining its ambient temperature, and provide targeted heat dissipation management. For functional components such as hard disks with low heat dissipation requirements, the temperature sensor near the memory can be used as the matching sensor for determining its ambient temperature, and provide targeted heat dissipation control.

[0216] In this way, on the one hand, the heat dissipation management solutions of different functional components can be flexibly configured, and on the other hand, there is no need to configure a temperature sensor for each functional component that requires heat dissipation management, thereby reducing the number of temperature sensors to be arranged and saving costs.

[0217] Fourth, component slots are flexibly adaptable.

[0218] For the convenience of management, according to the requirements of the whole machine, it is necessary to match each functional component configured in the whole machine with the slot number or name of the whole machine. Compared with the fixed slot relationship of traditional servers, the baseboard management control BMC of this embodiment can write the slot number of the functional component into the FRUD in the functional component and establish a management correspondence, realizing the redefinition of the slot number or component name of the functional component, flexible adaptation, and easy management; at the same time, it also realizes the correspondence between the physical slot of the panel of the whole machine and the internal slot used by the actual component, avoiding the need to make the slot number and name of the functional component correspond through software upgrade due to different types of whole machines.

[0219] As a possible embodiment, the present application also provides a computing device, which has Figures 1 to 5 In a specific application, the computing device may be the aforementioned server, or an edge device including a motherboard that provides an entry point to a core network of an enterprise or service provider, such as, but not limited to, a router, a routing switch, an IAD (Integrated Access Device), a multiplexer, and various metropolitan area network (MAN) and wide area network (WAN) access devices. In addition, the computing device may also be a personal computer (PC).

[0220] The present application also provides a baseboard management controller, including a processor and a memory, wherein a program code is stored in the memory, and when the baseboard management controller is running, the processor executes the program code to implement the following Figures 8 to 11 The functions of the operation steps of the method executed by the baseboard management controller in any of the methods described above will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0221] The computing device provided in the embodiment of the present application has the beneficial effects of the mainboard provided in the embodiment of the present application. For details, please refer to the specific description of the mainboard in the above embodiment, and the embodiment of the present application will not be repeated here.

[0222] The above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any other combination. When implemented by software, the above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded or executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application of the present invention is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website site, computer, server or data center to another website site, computer, server or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that contains one or more available media sets. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium. The semiconductor medium can be a solid state drive (SSD).

[0223] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

Claims

1. A component topology management method, characterized in that: The method is executed by a baseboard management controller BMC, and includes: When the BMC is powered on, obtaining first field replaceable unit description information FRUD of a first board to obtain at least one management port number of the BMC, where the BMC is located on the first board; Based on the at least one management port number, acquiring at least one second FRUD, where the second FRDU is a FRUD of a second board corresponding to the management port number, where the second board is a board where the functional component is located; Based on the at least one second FRUD, a component management topology is generated.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first FRUD includes a plurality of first addresses, where the first addresses are device addresses of functional components on the second board that can be directly accessed by the BMC.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The generating a component management topology based on the at least one second FRUD includes: Based on the multiple first addresses, a first topology of each functional component corresponding to the device address in the BMC and each functional component is generated.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The functional components include a first functional component, hardware self-description information of the first functional component, the self-description information indicating that the first functional component includes a multi-layer management interface, and the method further includes: Based on the self-description information of the first functional component, a second topology of the first functional component is generated, and the first topology includes the second topology.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The FRUD of the functional component includes the ID of the board where the functional component is located, and the method further includes: Based on the ID of the board where the functional component is located, the legitimacy of the functional component is checked.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that Based on the ID of the board where the functional component is located, the legitimacy of the functional component is verified, including: If the functional component passes the legality check, the hardware self-description information of the functional component is read, and a management object instance of the functional component is constructed.

7. An expansion board, characterized in that: The expansion board is provided with a baseboard management controller BMC, and the BMC executes the method according to any one of claims 1-6.

8. A motherboard, characterized in that: The invention comprises a base board and an expansion board as claimed in claim 7, wherein the base board and the expansion board are physically independent of each other.

9. A computing device, characterized in that The computing device comprises the motherboard of claim 8.

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