Voltage control method and computer system

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a voltage control method and a computer system. The voltage control method comprises the steps that a substrate management controller obtains the running state of system equipment; the substrate management controller determines a voltage ratio of a register in a voltage regulator based on the running state; the voltage ratio is a value representing the proportional relation between the reported power supply voltage provided by the voltage regulator to the system equipment and the real power supply voltage; and the voltage regulator adjusts the real power supply voltage of the system equipment based on the voltage ratio.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of computer technology, and relate to, but are not limited to, a voltage control method and a computer system. Background Art

[0002] Currently, with the continuous development of science and technology, data processing hardware such as core processors (CPU, Central Processing Unit), graphics processors (GPU, Graphics Processing Unit), memory (Memory) and acceleration chips are also being upgraded and iterated to meet higher data processing requirements.

[0003] To improve data processing hardware performance or support higher workloads, these hardware is often operated at higher voltages. This technology typically uses a voltage regulator to report a false voltage value to the system, lowering the reported voltage value to the actual voltage supplied to the hardware. However, the voltage regulator is firmware, and modifying its reported voltage requires a firmware update, so it can only be modified during a system reboot.

[0004] However, this approach cannot adapt to the dynamic load scenarios of current computer systems, which will result in a mismatch between the voltage value actually supplied to the data processing hardware and the actual load demand, potentially causing problems with power supply stability, hardware reliability, and system availability. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To solve the problems existing in the related art, embodiments of the present application provide a voltage control method and a computer system.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a voltage control method, the voltage control method comprising:

[0007] The baseboard management controller obtains the operating status of the system equipment;

[0008] The baseboard management controller determines a voltage ratio of a register in a voltage regulator based on the operating status; the voltage ratio is a value representing a proportional relationship between a reported power supply voltage provided by the voltage regulator to a system device and an actual power supply voltage;

[0009] The voltage regulator adjusts the actual supply voltage of the system device based on the voltage ratio.

[0010] In some embodiments, the baseboard management controller determines a voltage ratio of a register in a voltage regulator based on the operating status, including:

[0011] The baseboard management controller determines a voltage regulation strategy and a current operating power of the system device based on the operating status;

[0012] The voltage ratio is determined based on the voltage regulation strategy, the current operating power, and the required power of the system device; wherein the required power represents the required power value sent by the system device to the voltage regulator.

[0013] In some embodiments, the operating state includes a first load state and a second load state, the first load state indicating that the current operating power of the system device is less than the heat dissipation power of the system device; the second load state indicating that the current operating power of the system device is greater than or equal to the heat dissipation power of the system device;

[0014] The baseboard management controller determines a voltage regulation strategy for the system device based on the operating status, including:

[0015] In response to the system device being in the first load state, the voltage regulation strategy is to put the system device in a high-alarm state, where the high-alarm state indicates that the actual supply voltage is less than the reported supply voltage;

[0016] In response to the system device being in the second load state, the voltage regulation strategy is to put the system device in an under-reporting state, where the under-reporting state indicates that the actual supply voltage is greater than the reported supply voltage.

[0017] In some embodiments, the voltage control method further includes:

[0018] In response to the system device being in the low-alarm state, the baseboard management controller obtains the operating temperature of the system device;

[0019] In response to the operating temperature being greater than a temperature threshold, the baseboard management controller determines the voltage ratio based on the operating temperature;

[0020] Correspondingly, the voltage regulator adjusts the actual power supply voltage of the system device based on the voltage ratio, including:

[0021] The voltage regulator reduces the actual supply voltage of the system device based on the voltage ratio, so that the system device is in the high alarm state.

[0022] In some embodiments, the voltage control method further includes:

[0023] In response to the system device being in the low alarm state, the baseboard management controller controls the cooling system to perform a temperature reduction process on the system device;

[0024] Among them, the cooling system includes an air cooling system and a water cooling system; the cooling treatment includes at least one of the following: increasing the speed ratio of the air cooling system, increasing the water flow rate of the water cooling system and lowering the water inlet temperature of the water cooling system.

[0025] In some embodiments, the voltage control method further includes:

[0026] The baseboard management controller obtains the operating parameters of the system equipment, and the operating parameters at least include operating voltage, operating power consumption, and operating temperature;

[0027] The baseboard management controller compares the operating parameter with a preset parameter threshold to obtain a comparison result;

[0028] The baseboard management controller determines the operating status of the system device based on the comparison result.

[0029] In some embodiments, the voltage control method further includes:

[0030] The baseboard management controller obtains user behavior for the system device;

[0031] The baseboard management controller performs behavior analysis on the user behavior to determine the operating status of the system device.

[0032] In some embodiments, the voltage control method further includes:

[0033] The baseboard management controller sends an adjustment request including the voltage ratio to the voltage regulator;

[0034] The voltage regulator adjusts the initial voltage ratio value in the register to the voltage ratio value in response to the adjustment request.

[0035] In some embodiments, the baseboard management controller sends an adjustment request including the voltage ratio to the voltage regulator, including:

[0036] The baseboard management controller sends an adjustment request including the voltage ratio to the voltage regulator based on a field programmable gate array; or

[0037] The baseboard management controller sends an adjustment request including the voltage ratio to the voltage regulator based on an integrated circuit bus.

[0038] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer system, comprising:

[0039] A baseboard management controller is configured to obtain the operating status of system devices in the computer system;

[0040] The baseboard management controller is further configured to determine a voltage ratio of a register in a voltage regulator based on the operating status; the voltage ratio is a value representing a proportional relationship between a reported power supply voltage and an actual power supply voltage provided by the voltage regulator to the system device;

[0041] The voltage regulator is configured to adjust the actual supply voltage of the system device based on the voltage ratio.

[0042] The above description is only an overview of the technical solution of the present application. In order to more clearly understand the technical means of the present application, it can be implemented in accordance with the contents of the specification. In order to make the above and other purposes, features and advantages of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the specific implementation methods of the present application are listed below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] Figure 1 This is an optional flow diagram of the voltage control method provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 ;

[0044] Figure 2 This is an optional structural diagram of a computer system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the correspondence between low reporting rate and processor performance in related technologies;

[0046] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the operating status of the computer system provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Figure 5 It is a structural diagram of the computer system provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of this application clearer, the application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The described embodiments should not be regarded as limiting this application. All other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0049] In the following description, reference is made to "some embodiments," which describe a subset of all possible embodiments. However, it will be understood that "some embodiments" may be the same subset or different subsets of all possible embodiments and may be combined with each other without conflict. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used in the embodiments of this application have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which the embodiments of this application pertain. The terms used in the embodiments of this application are for the purpose of describing the embodiments of this application only and are not intended to limit this application.

[0050] In some embodiments, because the voltage regulator is firmware, modifying the reported voltage requires programming and can only be performed during a system reboot. However, during operation, hardware loads can change rapidly, making it easy for system health issues to trigger throttling events. For example, when the system detects a power anomaly (such as a fluctuation or failure in the output voltage of the power supply unit (PSU)), the voltage regulator may trigger throttling due to overcurrent or overheating protection mechanisms, limiting the hardware load to maintain stability. This can significantly reduce the processing speed of data processing hardware and even interrupt data computing tasks, affecting applications in computer systems with high real-time requirements.

[0051] Based on the problems existing in the related technology, an embodiment of the present application can provide a voltage control method, in which a baseboard management controller obtains the operating status of the system equipment. The baseboard management controller determines the voltage ratio of the register in the voltage regulator based on the operating status. The voltage ratio is a value that represents the proportional relationship between the reported power supply voltage provided by the voltage regulator to the system equipment and the actual power supply voltage. The voltage regulator adjusts the actual power supply voltage of the system equipment based on the voltage ratio.

[0052] In this way, the baseboard management controller collects the operating status of the system equipment such as current, temperature, load, etc. in real time, determines the actual power supply voltage provided by the voltage regulator to the hardware device according to the operating status, and provides a dynamic voltage adjustment strategy when the computer system is running. It can reduce the problem of excessive power supply and waste when the computer system is idle and insufficient power supply and low performance when busy, which is caused by the fixed voltage ratio strategy in related technologies. It achieves a balance between power consumption and performance. The method provided in the embodiment of the present application can enable the system to provide higher performance output as much as possible while consuming the least amount of power. At the same time, when the voltage regulator adjusts the actual power supply voltage, there is no need to restart, the implementation method is simple, and it can also avoid service interruption of the computer system, thereby improving system availability and reliability.

[0053] In an embodiment of the present application, the system device may be a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) of a computer system, or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, storage devices and other hardware.

[0054] The technical solution of this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0055] Figure 1 This is an optional flow diagram of the voltage control method provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 1The voltage control method provided in the embodiments of the present application is implemented by a computer system, which includes at least a baseboard management controller and a voltage regulator. Here, a computer system may refer to an overall architecture in which hardware (e.g., a processor, memory, storage devices, power supply system, management module, peripherals and interfaces), software (e.g., an operating system, drivers, and applications), firmware, and network components work together to implement computing functions.

[0056] like Figure 1 As shown, the voltage control method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be implemented through steps S101 to S103:

[0057] Step S101: The baseboard management controller obtains the operating status of system devices.

[0058] In the embodiment of the present application, a baseboard management controller (BMC) is a controller in a computer system for monitoring and managing the hardware status and system health status of system devices in the computer system.

[0059] In some embodiments, the system device may refer to hardware devices such as a CPU, a GPU, a memory, and a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) device.

[0060] In some embodiments, the BMC, as a core component of hardware management in a computer system, can communicate with the host system (including system devices such as the CPU) through an enhanced serial peripheral interface (eSPI) to achieve real-time monitoring and management of the operating status of system devices.

[0061] In some embodiments, the operating state may refer to the load state of the system device, for example, no load, light load or heavy load, where no load may mean that the system device does not carry any effective load and only maintains its own basic operation, with power being zero or close to zero; light load may mean that the power of the system device is less than the heat dissipation power of the system device, that is, less than the thermal design power consumption of the system device (the power required for heat dissipation under maximum load); heavy load may mean that the power of the system device is greater than or equal to the heat dissipation power of the system device.

[0062] Step S102: The baseboard management controller determines a voltage ratio of a register in a voltage regulator based on the operating status; the voltage ratio is a value representing a proportional relationship between a reported power supply voltage provided by the voltage regulator to system devices and an actual power supply voltage.

[0063] In an embodiment of the present application, the voltage regulator (VR) is programmable, and the configuration parameters corresponding to the voltage regulator can be changed by modifying the value of the register, thereby achieving precise control of parameters such as output voltage, power consumption mode, and operating frequency. The voltage regulator can be operated through a specific register address.

[0064] Here, the voltage ratio can be represented as the proportional relationship between the reported power supply voltage provided by the voltage regulator to the system device and the actual power supply voltage. The reported power supply voltage is the voltage value reported by the VR to the system (such as the BMC or operating system) through the management interface (such as the power management bus (PMBus) or the integrated circuit bus (I2C)). The system will use this value to determine the power supply status of the system device and trigger protection mechanisms (such as overvoltage frequency reduction and low voltage alarm); the actual power supply voltage is the power supply voltage actually output by the VR to the system device (such as the CPU and GPU).

[0065] In some embodiments, the voltage ratio may also be represented by a value representing a proportional relationship between the reported power and the actual power provided by the voltage regulator to the system device.

[0066] In an embodiment of the present application, a serial voltage identification (SVID) communication mechanism can be implemented between a voltage regulator (VR) and system devices. This mechanism is a collaborative working mechanism based on a serial protocol, used to dynamically adjust the voltage of the system device to adapt to different workloads and frequency requirements. When the system device is running, it sends a power demand value to the voltage regulator, i.e., the power required for the system device to operate. The voltage regulator then provides the system device with a supply voltage based on this power demand value.

[0067] Here, the baseboard management controller can determine the actual operating power of the system in the current operating state based on the operating status of the system equipment, and can calculate the voltage ratio based on the actual operating power value and the required power value. For example, the voltage ratio can be the difference between the required power value and the actual operating power value.

[0068] In some embodiments, the voltage regulator is typically integrated with an integrated circuit bus (I2C, Inter-Integrated Circuit) or a serial peripheral interface (SPI, Serial Peripheral Interface). After determining the voltage ratio of the register in the voltage regulator, the baseboard management controller can modify the voltage ratio in the register based on the I2C or SPI interface.

[0069] In some embodiments, the voltage ratio can be the low reporting rate or high reporting rate of the voltage regulator. The voltage ratio is the low reporting rate when the reported supply voltage is less than the actual supply voltage, and the voltage ratio is the high reporting rate when the reported supply voltage is greater than the actual supply voltage.

[0070] Step S103: The voltage regulator adjusts the actual power supply voltage of the system device based on the voltage ratio.

[0071] The voltage regulator can obtain the actual supply voltage when powering the system device based on the voltage ratio and the reported supply voltage, and the voltage regulator can power the system device based on the actual supply voltage.

[0072] In the embodiment of the present application, the baseboard management controller collects the operating status of the system equipment such as current, temperature, load, etc. in real time, determines the actual power supply voltage provided by the voltage regulator to the hardware device according to the operating status, and provides a dynamic voltage adjustment strategy when the computer system is running. It can reduce the problem of excessive power supply and waste when the computer system is idle and insufficient power supply and low performance when busy in the related technology through the fixed voltage ratio strategy, and achieves a balance between power consumption and performance. The method provided in the embodiment of the present application can enable the system to provide higher performance output as much as possible while consuming the least amount of power. At the same time, when the voltage regulator adjusts the actual power supply voltage, there is no need to restart, the implementation method is simple, and it can also avoid service interruption of the computer system, thereby improving system availability and reliability.

[0073] In some embodiments, the baseboard management controller can determine a voltage regulation strategy for the voltage regulator based on the operating status of the system device, and determine the voltage ratio based on the voltage regulation strategy. Determining the voltage ratio of the register in the voltage regulator in step S102 can be implemented through steps S1021 and S1022:

[0074] Step S1021 : The baseboard management controller determines a voltage regulation strategy and a current operating power of the system device based on the operating status.

[0075] In an embodiment of the present application, the operating state of the system device may include a first load state and a second load state, wherein the first load state indicates that the current operating power of the system device is less than the heat dissipation power (TDP, Thermal Design Power) of the system device, that is, a light load or no-load state; the second load state indicates that the current operating power of the system device is greater than or equal to the heat dissipation power of the system device, that is, a heavy load state.

[0076] In an embodiment of the present application, the BMC can collect the current and voltage data of the system equipment in real time through hardware sensors and power monitoring chips, and calculate the current operating power of the system equipment; the BMC can also obtain the power consumption data of the system equipment through an interface or a custom protocol to obtain the current operating power.

[0077] Correspondingly, determining the voltage regulation strategy of the system device in step S1021 can be implemented through steps S1 and S2:

[0078] Step S1: In response to the system device being in the first load state, the voltage regulation strategy is to put the system device in a high-alarm state, where the high-alarm state indicates that the actual supply voltage is less than the reported supply voltage.

[0079] In an embodiment of the present application, when the system device is in a first load state, that is, light load or no load, the voltage regulation strategy is to put the system device in a high-reporting state. The high-reporting state indicates that the actual power supply voltage is less than the reported power supply voltage, that is, the actual power supply voltage supplied to the system device by the voltage regulator is reduced, thereby reducing resource waste and making the computer system run more energy-efficient.

[0080] And step S2, in response to the system device being in the second load state, the voltage regulation strategy is to put the system device in a low-reporting state, where the low-reporting state indicates that the actual supply voltage is greater than the reported supply voltage.

[0081] In some embodiments, when the system device is in a second load state, that is, when it is overloaded, the voltage regulation strategy is to put the system device in an under-reporting state. The under-reporting state indicates that the actual power supply voltage is greater than the reported power supply voltage, that is, the actual power supply voltage supplied to the system device by the voltage regulator is increased, so that the system device is overclocked, the performance of the system device is avoided, and the computer system is ensured to still run stably under high load.

[0082] Step S1022: Determine the voltage ratio based on the voltage regulation strategy, the current operating power, and the required power of the system device; wherein the required power represents the required power value sent by the system device to the voltage regulator.

[0083] In an embodiment of the present application, the required power value sent by the system device to the voltage regulator will change dynamically with its operating status (such as load intensity, operation type, frequency adjustment, etc.). Therefore, the embodiment of the present application dynamically adjusts the voltage ratio so that the voltage regulator can dynamically adjust the actual power supply voltage according to the operating status of the system device, so that the computer system can maintain a balance between performance and energy efficiency.

[0084] Here, the voltage control method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be performed when the required power of the system equipment changes. When the required power changes, the baseboard management controller determines the current operating power of the system equipment based on the operating status, and determines the voltage ratio based on the current operating power and the required power. The baseboard management controller modifies the voltage ratio of the register in the voltage regulator to the latest calculated voltage ratio.

[0085] In the embodiment of the present application, the baseboard management controller calculates the voltage ratio based on the real-time operating power and the required power, and directly modifies the parameters of the voltage regulator register, thereby avoiding the step of restarting the computer system to modify the voltage ratio in traditional control, reducing the situation where the computer system cannot provide services after restarting, and improving the reliability of the computer system; and dynamically determining the voltage ratio can quickly match the load requirements of the system equipment, reducing the overheating or aging of the system equipment caused by long-term operation in the non-optimal voltage range, and improving the service life of the system equipment.

[0086] In some embodiments, the BMC will continuously monitor the temperature of the system device. If the temperature of the system device is high enough (for example, exceeding 80 degrees (°C)), the BMC will also consider the system device to be in a high-load state; or if the power supply of the system device is high enough (for example, the CPU power supply exceeds 1.4V), the BMC will also consider the system device to be in a high-load state. Therefore, the voltage ratio can also be determined based on the temperature of the system device. The voltage control method provided in the embodiment of the present application can also include steps S3 and S4:

[0087] Step S3: In response to the system device being in the low-alarm state, the baseboard management controller obtains the operating temperature of the system device.

[0088] In some embodiments, if the system device is in a low-alarm state, that is, the system device is continuously in a high-load state, the BMC can obtain the operating temperature of the system device and adjust the power supply voltage based on the temperature to prevent the system device from being damaged by excessive temperature.

[0089] Step S4: In response to the operating temperature being greater than a temperature threshold, the baseboard management controller determines the voltage ratio based on the operating temperature.

[0090] In some embodiments, the temperature thresholds of different system devices may be different. For example, the temperature threshold of the CPU may be 80°C. When the operating temperature of the CPU is greater than 80°C, not only will the performance of the system device decline, but the system device will also be damaged. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application can adjust the voltage ratio when the temperature of the system device exceeds the temperature threshold, reduce the actual power supply voltage to the system device to cool the system device.

[0091] In an embodiment of the present application, determining the voltage ratio based on the operating temperature may be based on the operating temperature of the system device. The BMC obtains the current operating power of the system device. For example, the system device sends a demand power of 300W to the voltage regulator, the current operating power is 380 watts (W), and the temperature is 81°C. At this time, the BMC needs to adjust the current operating power of the system device to 280W to reduce the temperature of the system device. At this time, the voltage ratio is 300 / 280=1.07.

[0092] In some embodiments, the system equipment can also be tested in advance to obtain a correspondence table between operating temperature and operating power. When the operating temperature exceeds the temperature threshold, a target temperature can be determined by looking up the table, for example, 70°C, and the operating power corresponding to 70°C is determined as the operating power to be adjusted, and then the voltage ratio is determined.

[0093] In the embodiment of the present application, after determining the voltage ratio, the BMC may modify the voltage ratio of the register in the voltage regulator so that the voltage regulator provides power based on the voltage ratio.

[0094] Correspondingly, step S103 can be implemented through step S1031:

[0095] Step S1031 : The voltage regulator reduces the actual supply voltage of the system device based on the voltage ratio, so that the system device is in the high alarm state.

[0096] In the embodiment of the present application, when the system device is in the low-alarm state, the voltage regulator reduces the actual power supply voltage of the system device based on the modified voltage ratio, 1.07, so that the system device is in the high-alarm state.

[0097] In some embodiments, to prevent the performance of the system device from being degraded too much, the BMC may not reduce the current operating power too much when determining the voltage ratio. For example, the current operating power may be reduced to 310, at which point the voltage ratio is 0.97. The voltage regulator reduces the actual supply voltage of the system device based on the modified voltage ratio of 0.97, so that the system device remains in a low-alarm state, but the temperature of the system device can be reduced.

[0098] When the system equipment is operating in a low-alarm state, the embodiment of the present application monitors the operating temperature of the system equipment. When the operating temperature exceeds the temperature threshold, the actual power supply voltage is reduced. While maintaining the system hardware performance, the temperature is reduced, the hardware safety is guaranteed, and the service life of the hardware is extended. At the same time, active voltage reduction can avoid business interruption caused by frequency mutation, thereby improving the stability and reliability of the computer system.

[0099] In some embodiments, the computer system may further include a cooling system to cool down the system equipment when the system equipment is in a low alarm state to ensure system stability and prevent hardware damage. Therefore, the voltage control method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include step S5:

[0100] Step S5: In response to the system device being in the low-alarm state, the baseboard management controller controls the cooling system to cool the system device; wherein the cooling system includes an air cooling system and a water cooling system; the cooling process includes at least one of the following: increasing the rotation speed ratio of the air cooling system, increasing the water flow rate of the water cooling system, and reducing the water inlet temperature of the water cooling system.

[0101] In an embodiment of the present application, the cooling system includes an air cooling system and a water cooling system. The air cooling system may include a heat sink and a fan, etc., and the water cooling system may include a water-cooled radiator.

[0102] When a system device is in a low-alarm state, the BMC can control the air cooling system and water cooling system to cool the system device down, keeping the operating temperature below the temperature threshold. Cooling can involve increasing the air cooling system's speed ratio, such as by increasing the fan speed ratio. When the system device is in a low-alarm state, the air cooling system's speed ratio can be greater than 1. When the system device is in a normal or high-alarm state, the air cooling system's speed ratio can be equal to 1.

[0103] In some embodiments, cooling can also be achieved by increasing the water flow rate of the water cooling system and lowering the water inlet temperature of the water cooling system. When the system equipment is in a low-alarm state, the water cooling system can be set to a higher water flow rate and a lower water inlet temperature; when the system equipment is in a high-alarm or normal state, normal water flow rate and water inlet temperature are used.

[0104] In the embodiment of the present application, the BMC uses the cooling system to cool down the system equipment in the low-reporting state, so that the system equipment can dissipate heat more timely, prevent the system equipment from being aged due to long-term high temperature, and improve the life of the system equipment. It also avoids the computer system from triggering protective frequency reduction due to excessive temperature, ensuring the continuous and stable output of the computer system computing power and improving the system reliability.

[0105] In some embodiments, after the computer system is started, the operating status of the system device can be determined by the operating parameters of the system device in the computer system. The voltage control method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include steps S11 to S13:

[0106] Step S11: The baseboard management controller obtains operating parameters of the system device, where the operating parameters at least include operating voltage, operating power consumption, and operating temperature.

[0107] In an embodiment of the present application, the BMC can directly measure operating parameters such as operating voltage, operating temperature, and operating power consumption of system equipment through built-in or connected sensors, and can also obtain operating parameters through the PMBus or I2C interface.

[0108] In the embodiment of the present application, the BMC may obtain the operating parameters of the system devices in real time, or may obtain the operating parameters every preset time period (eg, 30 seconds).

[0109] Step S12: The baseboard management controller compares the operating parameter with a preset parameter threshold to obtain a comparison result.

[0110] In an embodiment of the present application, when the operating parameter is the operating voltage, taking the CPU as an example, if the operating voltage is less than 0.98V, the CPU can be considered to be in a light-load state, if it is between 0.98V and 1.3V, it is a normal state, and if the operating voltage is greater than 1.3V, the CPU can be considered to be in a heavy-load state.

[0111] In an embodiment of the present application, when the operating parameter is the operating voltage, taking the CPU as an example, if the operating temperature is less than 50°C, the CPU can be considered to be in a light-load state, if it is between 50°C and 80°C, it is in a normal state, and if the operating temperature is greater than 80°C, the CPU can be considered to be in a heavy-load state.

[0112] In an embodiment of the present application, in response to the operating parameter being the operating power consumption, taking the CPU as an example, if the operating power consumption is less than 50W, the CPU can be considered to be in a light-load state, if it is between 50W and 100W, it is a normal state, and if the operating power consumption is greater than 100W, the CPU can be considered to be in a heavy-load state.

[0113] Here, the preset parameter thresholds of different system devices are different. The above is only an example and is not intended to be limiting.

[0114] Step S13: The baseboard management controller determines the operating status of the system device based on the comparison result.

[0115] The baseboard management controller of the embodiment of the present application determines the operating status of the system equipment by comparing the operating parameters with the preset parameter thresholds. It can adjust the actual power supply voltage of the system equipment based on the operating status to avoid system crashes or performance degradation caused by hardware failures, and realizes active maintenance of the hardware status of the system equipment, providing guarantees for the efficient operation and maintenance and long-term stable operation of the computer system.

[0116] In some embodiments, the voltage control method provided in the embodiments of the present application may further include step S21 and step S22:

[0117] Step S21: The baseboard management controller obtains user behavior for the system device.

[0118] In some embodiments, the baseboard management controller obtaining user behavior for the system device may refer to the baseboard management controller obtaining user behavior parameters related to the user behavior, for example, the CPU load rate. When the user starts a large game, the CPU load rate may quickly exceed the preset maximum warning threshold (such as 80%). At this time, the BMC will obtain the event and determine that the current operating state of the CPU is an overloaded state; it may also be that the BMC monitors CPU power consumption, memory usage, process status and user operation logs to determine whether the user has started a high-computing task or a high-load task.

[0119] Step S22: The baseboard management controller performs behavior analysis on the user behavior to determine the operating status of the system device.

[0120] In an embodiment of the present application, the baseboard management controller can analyze the CPU load rate, CPU power consumption, memory usage, process status and user operation logs. When the CPU usage rate and memory usage rate are both low (such as a high proportion of CPU idle time and sufficient free memory), and the user operation frequency is low and the session requests are smooth, the BMC can consider that the operating status of the system device is lightly loaded; if the CPU load rate or memory usage rate exceeds the preset threshold (such as CPU peak ≥80%, memory usage ≥90%) for 5 consecutive minutes, or the load average value is significantly higher than the number of CPU cores, the BMC can consider that the operating status of the system device is lightly loaded.

[0121] The embodiment of the present application analyzes user behavior on the system equipment to determine the operating status of the system equipment. It can predict in advance that the system equipment will enter a high-load state, adjust the operating mode of the system equipment in advance or cool it down in advance, which can effectively avoid system interruptions and pre-cooling to make the operation smoother.

[0122] In some embodiments, the voltage control method provided in the embodiments of the present application further includes step S31 and step S32:

[0123] Step S31: The baseboard management controller sends an adjustment request including the voltage ratio to the voltage regulator.

[0124] In an embodiment of the present application, after the baseboard management controller determines the voltage ratio, it can send an adjustment request including the voltage ratio to the voltage regulator, so that the voltage regulator modifies the voltage ratio in the register, so that the voltage regulator adjusts the actual power supply voltage based on the voltage ratio.

[0125] In some embodiments, step S31 may be implemented by step S311 or step S312:

[0126] Step S311 : The baseboard management controller sends an adjustment request including the voltage ratio to the voltage regulator based on a field programmable gate array.

[0127] In the embodiment of the present application, the baseboard management controller may send the adjustment request to the voltage regulator through a hardware interface of a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

[0128] Step S312: The baseboard management controller sends an adjustment request including the voltage ratio to the voltage regulator based on the integrated circuit bus.

[0129] In the embodiment of the present application, the baseboard management controller may also directly send the adjustment request to the voltage regulator via the integrated circuit bus.

[0130] Step S32: The voltage regulator adjusts the initial voltage ratio in the register to the voltage ratio in response to the adjustment request.

[0131] In the embodiment of the present application, after receiving the adjustment request, the voltage regulator adjusts the initial voltage ratio in the register to the voltage ratio.

[0132] The present application embodiment further provides a computer system, Figure 2 This is an optional structural diagram of the computer system provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 2 As shown, the computer system includes at least a baseboard management controller 201, a system device 202 and a voltage regulator 203, wherein the baseboard management controller 201 is configured to obtain the operating status of the system device in the computer system; the baseboard management controller 201 is further configured to determine the voltage ratio of the register in the voltage regulator based on the operating status; the voltage ratio is a value representing the proportional relationship between the reported power supply voltage provided by the voltage regulator to the system device and the actual power supply voltage; the voltage regulator 203 is configured to adjust the actual power supply voltage of the system device based on the voltage ratio.

[0133] In some embodiments, the baseboard management controller is further configured to determine the voltage regulation strategy and current operating power of the system device based on the operating status; and determine the voltage ratio based on the voltage regulation strategy, the current operating power and the required power of the system device; wherein the required power represents the required power value sent by the system device to the voltage regulator.

[0134] In some embodiments, the operating state includes a first load state and a second load state, the first load state indicating that the current operating power of the system device is less than the heat dissipation power of the system device; the second load state indicating that the current operating power of the system device is greater than or equal to the heat dissipation power of the system device; the baseboard management controller is further configured to, in response to the system device being in the first load state, the voltage regulation strategy is to put the system device in a high-reporting state, the high-reporting state indicating that the actual power supply voltage is less than the reported power supply voltage; in response to the system device being in the second load state, the voltage regulation strategy is to put the system device in a low-reporting state, the low-reporting state indicating that the actual power supply voltage is greater than the reported power supply voltage.

[0135] In some embodiments, the baseboard management controller is further configured to obtain the operating temperature of the system device in response to the system device being in the low-alarm state; in response to the operating temperature being greater than a temperature threshold, the baseboard management controller determines the voltage ratio based on the operating temperature; correspondingly, the voltage regulator is further configured to reduce the actual power supply voltage of the system device based on the voltage ratio so that the system device is in the high-alarm state.

[0136] In some embodiments, the baseboard management controller is further configured to control the cooling system to cool the system equipment in response to the system equipment being in the low-alarm state; wherein the cooling system includes an air cooling system and a water cooling system; the cooling treatment includes at least one of the following: increasing the speed ratio of the air cooling system, increasing the water flow rate of the water cooling system, and lowering the water inlet temperature of the water cooling system.

[0137] In some embodiments, the baseboard management controller is further configured to obtain operating parameters of the system device, where the operating parameters include at least operating voltage, operating power consumption, and operating temperature; the baseboard management controller compares the operating parameters with preset parameter thresholds to obtain a comparison result; and the baseboard management controller determines the operating status of the system device based on the comparison result.

[0138] In some embodiments, the baseboard management controller is further configured to obtain user behavior directed to the system device; the baseboard management controller performs behavior analysis on the user behavior to determine the operating status of the system device.

[0139] In some embodiments, the baseboard management controller is further configured to send an adjustment request including the voltage ratio to the voltage regulator; the voltage regulator is further configured to adjust the initial voltage ratio in the register to the voltage ratio in response to the adjustment request.

[0140] In some embodiments, the baseboard management controller is further configured to send an adjustment request including the voltage ratio to the voltage regulator based on a field programmable gate array; or, to send an adjustment request including the voltage ratio to the voltage regulator based on an integrated circuit bus.

[0141] The description of the computer system in the embodiments of this application is similar to the description of the voltage control method described above and has similar beneficial effects as the voltage control method, so it will not be described in detail here. For technical details not disclosed in the computer system embodiments, please refer to the description of the voltage control method of this application for understanding.

[0142] Next, an application of a voltage control method in a practical scenario is provided.

[0143] In the server industry, related technology maximizes CPU performance by under-reporting the voltage regulator. Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the correspondence between low reporting rate and processor performance in related technologies, such as Figure 3 As shown, when the underreporting ratio is 0.75 and 0.8, the processor performance is improved the most.

[0144] The solution in the related art is easy to implement and can make full use of existing power supply / thermal design solutions. However, in the related art, when the low alarm rate changes, the system needs to be restarted, and there is no status detection of the computer system. When the computer system voltage is too high, the thermal trip occurs, or the fan or PSU fails, it is easy to trigger a throttling event.

[0145] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the operating status of the computer system provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 4 As shown, the computer system includes a startup state 401, an idle / light load state 402, a heavy load state 403, and a shutdown state 404. After the computer system is started, it may enter different operating states when running different tasks. In the idle / light load state 402, the voltage regulator may over-report the system status, and in the heavy load state 403, the voltage regulator may under-report the system status.

[0146] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the computer system provided in the embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 5 As shown, the computer system includes a baseboard management controller 501 , a system device 502 , a voltage regulator 503 , a field programmable gate array 504 , a power supply unit 505 and an operating system 506 .

[0147] Serial Voltage Identification (SVID) is a protocol used for communication between the system device 502 and the voltage regulator 503 ; I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) is a serial communication protocol used for communication between the field programmable gate array 504 and the voltage regulator 503 .

[0148] The Power Supply Unit (PSU) 505 converts external AC power to the DC power required by the computer system's internal components. The Operating System (OS) 506 is the system software that manages and controls the computer's hardware and software resources. It serves as the interface between the user and the hardware, coordinates resource allocation, and provides basic services.

[0149] The baseboard management controller 501 can determine user behavior based on the operating system 506 and determine the operating status of the system device 502 based on the user behavior. The baseboard management controller 501 can monitor the temperature, current, voltage, and other data of the system device 502. The baseboard management controller 501 can include a high / low reporting control module to control the high / low reporting of the system device 502 based on the temperature, current, and voltage of the system device 502.

[0150] To improve the performance of the system device 502, the system device 502 is usually overclocked. When the system device 502 requests 300 watts of power from the voltage regulator 503, the voltage regulator 503 provides the system device 502 with 350 watts of power. However, the voltage regulator 503 tells the system device 502 to only provide 300 watts. This results in underreporting, where the reported power is lower than the actual power. At this time, the underreporting ratio is 300 / 350=0.857.

[0151] The low reporting rate or high reporting rate (ie, voltage ratio) is written in the register of the voltage regulator 503 . The embodiment of the present application adjusts the state of the computer system by modifying the low reporting rate or high reporting rate of the voltage regulator 503 .

[0152] This embodiment of the present application provides a solution for dynamically adjusting the low or high reporting rate. Baseboard management controller 501 issues instructions to field programmable gate array 504, which establishes an I2C data link with voltage regulator 503. Baseboard management controller 501 can modify the high or low reporting rate of voltage regulator 503 through field programmable gate array 504.

[0153] After the computer system is started, if the system device 502 is in a light load, low load, or standby state, the baseboard management controller 501 controls the voltage regulator 503 to be in an over-reporting mode. When the system device 502 is under a high load, the baseboard management controller 501 controls the voltage regulator 503 to be in an under-reporting mode.

[0154] After the computer system starts up, the baseboard management controller 501 can determine whether the system devices 502 are under high or low load in two ways. The first way is to detect the power supply status of the system devices 502 (such as the CPU, memory, and PCledevice). If the power supply is very low (for example, 0.5V), the baseboard management controller 501 will assume that the system devices 502 are under no load or low load and will notify the field programmable gate array 504 to set the voltage regulator 503 to a high alarm state.

[0155] The second method is to detect user behavior or user operation characteristics. The baseboard management controller 501 is obtained through the operating system 506. When it detects that the user has performed a specific operation, the system device 502 enters a high-load state, such as the user starts a high-performance computing task, or the user starts a large game.

[0156] In some embodiments, the high load of the system device 502 will be delayed if it is determined through the status of the system device 502. If the system device 502 is already in a high load and is determined to be a high load based on the operating parameters, further adjustments will be delayed. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application can determine whether the system device is about to enter a high load state through real-time user operations fed back by the operating system. At this time, the baseboard management controller 501 can adjust the voltage regulator 503 to a low report through the field programmable gate array 504.

[0157] In an embodiment of the present application, if the temperature of the system device 502 exceeds a preset temperature threshold, or the power supply of the system device 502 is high enough, for example, the power supply voltage is 1.5V, the baseboard management controller 501 will also consider that the system device 502 is under high load, and the baseboard management controller 501 can adjust the voltage regulator 503 to a high alarm state through the field programmable gate array 504.

[0158] If the system device 502 is always in a low-alarm state, that is, it is always in a high-load operating condition, the baseboard management controller 501 will monitor the temperature of the system device 502 in real time. If the temperature is about to exceed the temperature threshold, the baseboard management controller 501 can adjust the voltage regulator 503 to a high-alarm state through the field programmable gate array 504 to reduce the voltage.

[0159] In an embodiment of the present application, in order to obtain higher performance, when the system device 502 is in a high-load state, the system device 502 can be cooled by an air cooling system and a water cooling system. For example, the fan speed ratio is greater than 1 when the alarm is low, and the fan speed ratio is equal to 1 when the alarm is high or normal. The water cooling system adopts a higher water flow rate and a lower water inlet temperature under low alarm conditions, and the water cooling system adopts a normal water flow rate and water inlet temperature under high alarm conditions or normal conditions.

[0160] The embodiment of the present application uses a voltage regulator, which can enable the computer system to operate under different system loads by adjusting the high reporting rate / low reporting rate, thereby achieving maximum performance of the computer system at the cost of higher power consumption and lower energy efficiency.

[0161] The above description is merely an embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, and improvements made within the spirit and scope of the present application are included in the scope of protection of the present application.

[0162] It should be understood that "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" mentioned throughout the specification means that the specific features, structures or characteristics related to the embodiment are included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" appearing throughout the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, these specific features, structures or characteristics can be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application. The above-mentioned serial numbers of the embodiments of the present application are for description only and do not represent the advantages and disadvantages of the embodiments.

[0163] It should be noted that, in this article, the terms "comprises," "includes" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method or device comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also includes other elements that are not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method or device. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the statement "comprises a..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device comprising the element. In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. The device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as: multiple units or components can be combined, or can be integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored, or not executed.

[0164] The above is merely an embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A voltage control method, comprising: The baseboard management controller obtains the operating status of the system equipment; The baseboard management controller determines a voltage ratio of a register in a voltage regulator based on the operating status; The voltage ratio is a value representing a proportional relationship between a reported power supply voltage provided by the voltage regulator to the system device and an actual power supply voltage; The voltage regulator adjusts the actual supply voltage of the system device based on the voltage ratio.

2. The voltage control method according to claim 1, wherein the baseboard management controller determines the voltage ratio of the register in the voltage regulator based on the operating state, comprising: The baseboard management controller determines a voltage regulation strategy and a current operating power of the system device based on the operating status; The voltage ratio is determined based on the voltage regulation strategy, the current operating power, and the required power of the system device; wherein the required power represents the required power value sent by the system device to the voltage regulator.

3. The voltage control method according to claim 2, wherein the operating state comprises a first load state and a second load state, the first load state indicating that the current operating power of the system device is less than the heat dissipation power of the system device; and the second load state indicating that the current operating power of the system device is greater than or equal to the heat dissipation power of the system device. The baseboard management controller determines a voltage regulation strategy for the system device based on the operating status, including: In response to the system device being in the first load state, the voltage regulation strategy is to put the system device in a high-alarm state, where the high-alarm state indicates that the actual supply voltage is less than the reported supply voltage; In response to the system device being in the second load state, the voltage regulation strategy is to put the system device in an under-reporting state, where the under-reporting state indicates that the actual supply voltage is greater than the reported supply voltage.

4. The voltage control method according to claim 3, further comprising: In response to the system device being in the low-alarm state, the baseboard management controller obtains the operating temperature of the system device; In response to the operating temperature being greater than a temperature threshold, the baseboard management controller determines the voltage ratio based on the operating temperature; Correspondingly, the voltage regulator adjusts the actual power supply voltage of the system device based on the voltage ratio, including: The voltage regulator reduces the actual supply voltage of the system device based on the voltage ratio, so that the system device is in the high alarm state.

5. The voltage control method according to claim 4, further comprising: In response to the system device being in the low alarm state, the baseboard management controller controls the cooling system to perform a temperature reduction process on the system device; Among them, the cooling system includes an air cooling system and a water cooling system; the cooling treatment includes at least one of the following: increasing the speed ratio of the air cooling system, increasing the water flow rate of the water cooling system and lowering the water inlet temperature of the water cooling system.

6. The voltage control method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: The baseboard management controller obtains the operating parameters of the system equipment, and the operating parameters at least include operating voltage, operating power consumption, and operating temperature; The baseboard management controller compares the operating parameter with a preset parameter threshold to obtain a comparison result; The baseboard management controller determines the operating status of the system device based on the comparison result.

7. The voltage control method according to claim 6, further comprising: The baseboard management controller obtains user behavior for the system device; The baseboard management controller performs behavior analysis on the user behavior to determine the operating status of the system device.

8. The voltage control method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: The baseboard management controller sends an adjustment request including the voltage ratio to the voltage regulator; The voltage regulator adjusts the initial voltage ratio value in the register to the voltage ratio value in response to the adjustment request.

9. The voltage control method according to claim 8, wherein the baseboard management controller sends an adjustment request including the voltage ratio to the voltage regulator, comprising: The baseboard management controller sends an adjustment request including the voltage ratio to the voltage regulator based on a field programmable gate array; or The baseboard management controller sends an adjustment request including the voltage ratio to the voltage regulator based on an integrated circuit bus.

10. A computer system, comprising at least: A baseboard management controller is configured to obtain the operating status of system devices in the computer system; The baseboard management controller is further configured to determine a voltage ratio of a register in a voltage regulator based on the operating status; the voltage ratio is a value representing a proportional relationship between a reported power supply voltage and an actual power supply voltage provided by the voltage regulator to the system device; The voltage regulator is configured to adjust the actual supply voltage of the system device based on the voltage ratio.

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