Fan device and control method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a fan device and a control method thereof. The fan device comprises a mainboard, a control board electrically connected with the mainboard, and a plurality of fans electrically connected with the control board. The mainboard and the control board jointly execute a fan control method for driving the fan. The mainboard sends a time-division multiplexing control signal to the control panel in a time-division multiplexing mode, the control panel generates a plurality of driving signals according to the time-division multiplexing control signal and then sends the driving signals to the fans to enable the fans to operate, different control signals are respectively sent to different fans, so that the fans can dissipate heat at a proper rotating speed, and the heat dissipation efficiency is improved. Therefore, the effect of improving the utilization efficiency of the power supply is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a fan device and its control method, and more particularly to a fan device and its control method for controlling multiple cooling fans. Background Technology

[0002] In recent years, as the speed and performance of Central Processing Units (CPUs) have increased, the amount of heat generated during operation has also gradually increased. Current CPUs rely heavily on cooling systems to dissipate this heat and maintain their operating temperature range. At the same time, the number of components within the computer case that generate heat is also increasing, such as graphics cards, memory, and hard drives. Therefore, installing cooling systems within the computer case has become a common method for heat dissipation.

[0003] See Figure 1 A common computer host cooling system 900 is installed in a computer host (not shown) and includes a motherboard 91 and several fans 93 electrically connected to the motherboard 91 via a fan hub 92. The fans 93 are installed in several different areas within the computer host. The motherboard 91 sends a control signal to the fans 93 via the fan hub 92, and the fans 93 rotate at the same speed according to the control signal.

[0004] However, the temperature rise of each area in the computer host is not the same, and the motherboard 91 can only send the control signal synchronously to all fans 93, so that all fans 93 rotate synchronously according to the same control signal. It cannot adjust the speed of the fans 93 according to the condition of each area in the computer host, resulting in a waste of power efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Therefore, if different control signals are sent to different fans according to the different temperature rise conditions in each area, the fans can be made to use appropriate speeds for heat dissipation, thereby improving the efficiency of power supply utilization.

[0006] One objective of this invention is to provide a fan control method that sends different control signals to several fans respectively, so that the fans operate at appropriate speeds, thereby improving the efficiency of power supply utilization.

[0007] The fan control method of the present invention is executed by a motherboard and a control board electrically connected to the motherboard to drive a plurality of fans electrically connected to the control board, and includes the following steps.

[0008] The motherboard transmits a time-division multiplexing (TDM) control signal containing several fan control signals to the control board. The fan control signals correspond to the respective fans and are presented in the form of pulse-width modulation (PWM).

[0009] The control board performs demultiplexing on the time-division multiplexing control signal to obtain the fan control signal, and generates several drive signals in the form of pulse width modulation based on the fan control signal.

[0010] The control board outputs the drive signals to the fans respectively, so that the fans rotate according to the drive signals.

[0011] The present invention provides a fan control method.

[0012] Transmitting the time-division multiplexing control signal includes: in one cycle of the time-division multiplexing control signal, after the motherboard sequentially transmits the fan control signal, it then transmits a control endpoint signal, which is presented in the form of pulse width modulation and corresponds to a duty cycle of less than 20%.

[0013] Demultiplexing the time-division multiplexing control signal includes: determining the period of the time-division multiplexing control signal based on the control endpoint signal in order to obtain the fan control signal.

[0014] The fan control method of the present invention further includes:

[0015] The control board receives multiple tachometer signals from the fan, each signal representing the fan's rotational speed; and

[0016] The control board generates several fan speed signals in the form of pulses based on the tachometer signal, and transmits a time-division multiplexed speed signal containing the fan speed signals to the main board in a time-division multiplexing manner.

[0017] The fan control method of the present invention further includes: the motherboard performing demultiplexing on the time-division multiplexing speed signal to obtain the fan speed signal, and determining the frequency of the pulse in the fan speed signal to obtain the fan speed.

[0018] The present invention provides a fan control method.

[0019] Transmitting the time-division multiplexing speed signal includes: the control board adds a constant to the largest value of the speed to obtain an endpoint data, converts the endpoint data into a speed endpoint signal presented in the form of a pulse, and transmits the speed endpoint signal after sequentially transmitting the fan speed signals in one cycle of the time-division multiplexing speed signal.

[0020] Another object of the present invention is to provide a fan device that sends different control signals to several fans respectively, so that the fans operate at appropriate speeds to improve the efficiency of power supply utilization.

[0021] The fan device of the present invention includes a main board, a control board electrically connected to the main board, and a plurality of fans electrically connected to the control board.

[0022] The motherboard transmits a time-division multiplexing control signal containing several fan control signals to the control board in a time-division multiplexing manner. The fan control signals correspond to the fans respectively and are presented in the form of pulse width modulation.

[0023] The control board performs demultiplexing on the time-division multiplexing control signal to obtain the fan control signal, and generates several drive signals in the form of pulse width modulation based on the fan control signal.

[0024] The control board outputs the drive signals to the fans respectively, so that the fans rotate according to the drive signals.

[0025] In the fan device of the present invention, the main board sequentially transmits the fan control signal to the control board in one cycle of the time-division multiplexing control signal, and then transmits a control endpoint signal to the control board. The control endpoint signal is presented in the form of pulse width modulation and corresponds to a working cycle of less than 20%. The control board determines the cycle of the time-division multiplexing control signal based on the control endpoint signal in order to obtain the fan control signal.

[0026] The present invention relates to a fan device in which a control board receives multiple tachometer signals from the fan, the tachometer signals representing the fan speed; the control board generates several fan speed signals in the form of pulses based on the tachometer signals, and transmits a time-division multiplexed speed signal containing the fan speed signals to the main board in a time-division multiplexing manner.

[0027] The present invention relates to a fan device in which the main board performs demultiplexing on the time-division multiplexing speed signal to obtain the fan speed signal, and determines the frequency of the pulse in the fan speed signal to obtain the fan speed.

[0028] The fan device of the present invention, wherein the control board adds a constant to the largest value of the rotation speed to obtain an endpoint data, converts the endpoint data into a rotation speed endpoint signal presented in the form of a pulse, and transmits the rotation speed endpoint signal to the main board after sequentially transmitting the fan speed signal to the main board in one cycle of the time-division multiplexing rotation speed signal.

[0029] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: the motherboard sends the time-division multiplexing control signal to the control board in a time-division multiplexing manner, and the control board generates the drive signal according to the time-division multiplexing control signal and sends it to the fan to make the fan run. The present invention sends different control signals to different fans respectively, so that the fans use appropriate speeds for heat dissipation, thereby achieving the effect of improving power supply utilization efficiency. Attached Figure Description

[0030] Other features and effects of the present invention will be clearly presented in the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0031] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram illustrating a circuit connection method in which the motherboard controls several means through a fan hub;

[0032] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the circuit connection method of an embodiment of the fan device of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 3 It is a signal timing diagram, illustrating that the time-division multiplexing control signal contains several fan control signals and control endpoint signals in one cycle;

[0034] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating the fan drive process of executing the fan control method in this embodiment;

[0035] Figure 5 It is a signal timing diagram, illustrating that the time-division multiplexing speed signal contains several fan speed signals and the speed end signal in one cycle;

[0036] Figure 6 This is a flowchart illustrating the speed detection process of the fan control method in this embodiment. Detailed Implementation

[0037] See Figure 2An embodiment of the fan device 100 of the present invention includes a motherboard 11, a control board 12 electrically connected to the motherboard 11, and a plurality of fans 13 electrically connected to the control board 12. In some embodiments, the fans 13 are fan arrays installed in a server rack, or cooling fans installed in a computer case corresponding to different electronic component locations, but are not limited thereto. The fan device 100 executes a fan control method for driving the fans 13 through the motherboard 11 and the control board 12. The fan control method includes a fan driving process and a speed detection process.

[0038] The fan device 100 of the present invention can execute the fan control method through a programming language or instruction code language (such as C, C++, Java, assembly language, and Python) that includes various algorithms implemented in combination with data structures, programs, routines, or other programming configurations, but is not limited to this in practice. In one embodiment, a controller (not shown) capable of executing the above-mentioned algorithm is installed on the motherboard 11 and the control board 12 respectively, and the controllers of the motherboard 11 and the control board 12 respectively execute the steps performed by the motherboard 11 and the control board 12 in the fan control method.

[0039] See Figure 3 This is one embodiment of a cycle of a time-division multiplexing control signal 2 used by the fan device 100 of the present invention when executing the fan drive process. The time-division multiplexing control signal 2 includes several fan control signals 21 and a control endpoint signal 22 in this cycle, and both the fan control signals 21 and the control endpoint signal 22 are maintained for the same duration. The number of fan control signals 21 is the same as the number of fans 13. In this embodiment, the duration of both the fan control signals 21 and the control endpoint signal 22 is 5 seconds.

[0040] The fan control signals 21 correspond to the respective fans 13 and are presented in the form of pulse width modulation (PWM), with a duty cycle of 20% or more. The control endpoint signal 22 follows the fan control signals 21, is presented in the form of PWM, and has a duty cycle of less than 20%. Generally, for a fan to operate normally, a drive signal with a duty cycle of 20% or more is needed to drive the fan motor. Therefore, the duty cycle of the control endpoint signal 22 is set to less than 20% to distinguish it from the fan control signals 21 and to indicate the end of one cycle of the time-sharing multiplexing control signal 2.

[0041] See Figure 4 The fan drive process includes the following steps:

[0042] (A1) The motherboard 11 generates fan control signals 21 corresponding to each fan 13 based on the speed at which the fan 13 is to operate, and generates control endpoint signals 22 that do not correspond to any of the fans 13. In one embodiment, the speed at which the fan 13 is to operate can be set by a user interface or by a control element (e.g., the controller) on the motherboard 11 based on the current component temperature. For each fan 13, the motherboard 11 will generate fan control signals 21 with different duty cycles according to different speeds to control the fan 13 accordingly. The method of determining the duty cycle of the fan control signals 21 by the speed is common knowledge in the art and will not be described in detail here.

[0043] (A2) The motherboard 11 combines the fan control signal 21 and the control endpoint signal 22 into the time-division multiplexing control signal 2, and then sends it to the control board 12 in a time-division multiplexing manner. The time-division multiplexing control signal 2 has multiple time slots of equal length. (See also...) Figure 3 During one cycle of the time-division multiplexing control signal 2, the motherboard 11 sequentially transmits the fan control signal 21 in the first time slot, and then transmits the control endpoint signal 22 in the last time slot.

[0044] (A3) The control board 12 determines the period of the time-division multiplexing control signal 2 based on the control endpoint signal 22 in the time-division multiplexing control signal 2, and performs demultiplexing on the time-division multiplexing control signal 2 to obtain the fan control signal 21.

[0045] (A4) The control board 12 generates several drive signals in the form of pulse width modulation based on the fan control signal 21 in the time-division multiplexing control signal 2, and outputs the drive signals to the fans 13 respectively, so that the fans 13 rotate according to the drive signals. In one embodiment, for each fan 13, the working period of the drive signal is the same as the working period of the corresponding fan control signal 21, and the working period of the drive signal continues until the control board 12 obtains a new fan control signal 21, for example, by receiving the next cycle of the time-division multiplexing control signal 2.

[0046] See Figure 5This is one embodiment of a cycle of a time-division multiplexing speed signal 3 used by the fan device 100 of the present invention when performing the speed detection process. The time-division multiplexing speed signal 3 includes several fan speed signals 31 and a speed endpoint signal 32 in this cycle, and both the fan speed signals 31 and the speed endpoint signal 32 are maintained for the same duration. The number of fan speed signals 31 is the same as the number of fans 13. In this embodiment, the duration of both the fan speed signals 31 and the speed endpoint signal 32 is 5 seconds.

[0047] The fan speed signal 31 corresponds to the fan 13 and is presented in the form of a pulse wave. The speed end signal 32 follows the fan speed signal 31 and is also presented in the form of a pulse wave. In this embodiment, both the fan speed signal 31 and the speed end signal 32 are presented in the form of square waves.

[0048] See Figure 6 The rotational speed detection process includes the following steps:

[0049] (B1) The control board 12 receives multiple tachometer signals from the fan 13, each tachometer signal representing the rotational speed of the fan 13. The control board 12 calculates the rotational speed of the fan 13 based on the tachometer signals and generates a fan speed signal 31. The higher the rotational speed, the higher the frequency of the fan speed signal 31. In one embodiment, each fan 13 includes a tachometer that detects the rotation of the fan 13 and outputs a tachometer signal. For example, when the fan 13 rotates one revolution, the tachometer outputs two square waves as the tachometer signal. The method of calculating the rotational speed of the fan 13 by analyzing the frequency of the tachometer signal is common knowledge in this field and will not be described in detail here.

[0050] (B2) The control board 12 adds a constant to the largest value of the fan 13's rotational speed to obtain a final value, and converts this final value into a rotational speed final signal 32. In this embodiment, the value of the constant is 120 (that is, a rotational speed of 120 per minute corresponds to a frequency of 2 Hz). In other embodiments, the value of the constant may be 180 (that is, a rotational speed of 180 per minute corresponds to a frequency of 3 Hz).

[0051] (B3) The control board 12 combines the fan speed signal 31 and the speed end signal 32 into the time-division multiplexing speed signal 3, and then sends it to the host board 11 in a time-division multiplexing manner. The time-division multiplexing speed signal 3 has multiple time slots of equal length. In one cycle of the time-division multiplexing speed signal 3, the control board 12 sequentially transmits the fan speed signal 31 in the first time slot, and then transmits the speed end signal 32 in the last time slot.

[0052] (B4) The motherboard 11 performs demultiplexing on the time-division multiplexing speed signal 3 to obtain the fan speed signal 31, and determines the frequency of the fan speed signal 31 to obtain the speed of the fan 13.

[0053] In summary, the motherboard 11 sends the time-division multiplexing control signal 2 to the control board 12 in a time-division multiplexing manner. The control board 12 generates the drive signal based on the time-division multiplexing control signal 2 and sends it to the fan 13 to make the fan 13 run. The fan 13 generates the tachometer signal according to its own speed and sends it to the control board 12. The control board 12 generates the time-division multiplexing speed signal 3 based on the tachometer signal and sends it to the motherboard 11 to report the speed of the fan 13. This invention sends different control signals to different fans to make the fans use appropriate speeds for heat dissipation, thereby achieving the purpose of improving power supply utilization efficiency.

[0054] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. Any simple equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the claims and description of the present invention shall still fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A fan control method, executed via a motherboard and a control board electrically connected to the motherboard to drive a plurality of fans electrically connected to the control board, characterized in that: The motherboard transmits a time-division multiplexing control signal containing several fan control signals to the control board in a time-division multiplexing manner. The fan control signals correspond to the fans respectively and are presented in the form of pulse width modulation. The control board performs demultiplexing on the time-division multiplexing control signal to obtain the fan control signal, and generates several drive signals in the form of pulse width modulation according to the fan control signal. as well as The control board outputs the drive signals to the fans respectively, so that the fans rotate according to the drive signals.

2. The fan control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Transmitting the time-division multiplexing control signal includes: in one cycle of the time-division multiplexing control signal, after the motherboard sequentially transmits the fan control signal, it then transmits a control endpoint signal, which is presented in the form of pulse width modulation and corresponds to a duty cycle of less than 20%. Demultiplexing the time-division multiplexing control signal includes: determining the period of the time-division multiplexing control signal based on the control endpoint signal in order to obtain the fan control signal.

3. The fan control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The control board receives multiple tachometer signals from the fan, each signal representing the fan's rotational speed; and The control board generates several fan speed signals in the form of pulses based on the tachometer signal, and transmits a time-division multiplexed speed signal containing the fan speed signals to the main board in a time-division multiplexing manner.

4. The fan control method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The motherboard performs demultiplexing on the time-division multiplexing speed signal to obtain the fan speed signal, and determines the frequency of the pulse in the fan speed signal to obtain the fan speed.

5. The fan control method according to claim 3, characterized in that: Transmitting the time-division multiplexing speed signal includes: the control board adds a constant to the largest value of the speed to obtain an endpoint data, converts the endpoint data into a speed endpoint signal presented in the form of a pulse, and transmits the speed endpoint signal after sequentially transmitting the fan speed signals in one cycle of the time-division multiplexing speed signal.

6. A fan device, characterized in that: Include One motherboard; A control board electrically connected to the mainboard; and Several fans are electrically connected to the control board; The motherboard transmits a time-division multiplexing control signal containing several fan control signals to the control board in a time-division multiplexing manner. The fan control signals correspond to the fans respectively and are presented in the form of pulse width modulation. The control board performs demultiplexing on the time-division multiplexing control signal to obtain the fan control signal, and generates several drive signals in the form of pulse width modulation according to the fan control signal. as well as The control board outputs the drive signals to the fans respectively, so that the fans rotate according to the drive signals.

7. The fan device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The motherboard sequentially transmits the fan control signal to the control board within one cycle of the time-division multiplexing control signal, and then transmits a control endpoint signal to the control board. The control endpoint signal is presented in the form of pulse width modulation and corresponds to a duty cycle of less than 20%. The control board determines the cycle of the time-division multiplexing control signal based on the control endpoint signal in order to obtain the fan control signal.

8. The fan device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The control board receives multiple tachometer signals from the fan, each tachometer signal representing the fan speed. Based on the tachometer signals, the control board generates several fan speed signals in the form of pulse waves and transmits a time-division multiplexed speed signal containing the fan speed signals to the main board in a time-division multiplexing manner.

9. The fan device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The motherboard performs demultiplexing on the time-division multiplexing speed signal to obtain the fan speed signal, and determines the frequency of the pulse in the fan speed signal to obtain the fan speed.

10. The fan device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The control board adds a constant to the largest value of the rotation speed to obtain an endpoint data, converts the endpoint data into a rotation speed endpoint signal in the form of a pulse, and transmits the rotation speed endpoint signal to the main board after sequentially transmitting the fan speed signal to the main board in one cycle of the time-division multiplexing rotation speed signal.

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