Device for testing standby power duration of standby power capacitor

Abstract

The utility model relates to the technical field of servers, in particular to a device for testing standby power duration of a standby power capacitor, which comprises a TDC monitoring circuit, a temperature adjusting circuit, a constant current charging circuit and a single chip microcomputer. The input end of the TDC monitoring circuit is connected with a discharge circuit of the standby power capacitor, and the output end of the TDC monitoring circuit is connected with the single-chip microcomputer. The constant-current charging circuit is connected with the standby power capacitor and charges the standby power capacitor; the temperature adjusting circuit comprises a heating resistor, a temperature sensor and an adjustable power supply, the heating resistor and the temperature sensor are installed at the positions close to the standby power capacitor, and the adjustable power supply and the temperature sensor are in communication connection with the single-chip microcomputer. A real server operation environment is simulated through the temperature adjusting circuit, so that the standby power duration of the standby power capacitor in a real scene is obtained, meanwhile, the standby power duration of the standby power capacitor is detected through the TDC monitoring circuit and the constant-current charging circuit, capacitance detection is converted into time detection, and the standby power duration detection precision is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model belongs to the technical field of servers, and in particular relates to a device for testing the backup power time of a backup power capacitor. Background Art

[0002] Enterprise-level SSDs often have power-off protection. To protect data during power failure, there must first be an energy source. In addition to power supply, batteries and capacitors can be used as additional power sources. The problem with batteries is that they are expensive, while the problem with capacitors is that the voltage drops quickly and the support time is short. However, in order to only have a few abnormal power failures during the life cycle of the SSD disk, installing a battery on the hard disk is too expensive and not very environmentally friendly. Therefore, the use of backup capacitors is a common choice for SSDs. Since the backup process starts with the power failure of the SSD interface, the entire process is completed under the power supply of a large capacitor. Therefore, the size of the capacitor directly determines the length of the backup process. If the backup time is too short, it is not enough to write all the contents in the DDR into the NAND FLASH. Blindly pursuing large capacitors will also increase the cost of hardware design.

[0003] Therefore, it is necessary to test the backup power duration of the backup capacitor. The current test method is a board-level signal test, which directly connects the signals involved in the backup process to an oscilloscope, and then manually unplugs the SSD from the interface to simulate an abnormal power failure. This method ignores the impact of the server operating environment on the discharge of the backup capacitor, so the test results have large errors. Utility Model Content

[0004] In view of the above-mentioned deficiencies in the prior art, the utility model provides a device for testing the backup power duration of a backup power capacitor to solve the above-mentioned technical problems.

[0005] The utility model provides a device for testing the backup power time of a backup power capacitor, comprising:

[0006] TDC monitoring circuit, temperature regulation circuit, constant current charging circuit and single chip microcomputer;

[0007] The input end of the TDC monitoring circuit is connected to the discharge circuit of the backup capacitor, and the output end of the TDC monitoring circuit is connected to the single chip microcomputer;

[0008] The constant current charging circuit is connected to the backup capacitor, and the constant current charging circuit charges the backup capacitor;

[0009] The temperature regulating circuit comprises a heating resistor, a temperature sensor and an adjustable power supply. The heating resistor and the temperature sensor are installed close to the backup capacitor. The adjustable power supply and the temperature sensor are in communication connection with the single chip microcomputer.

[0010] In an optional embodiment, the TDC monitoring circuit includes a PSφ21 chip.

[0011] In an optional embodiment, the backup capacitor is connected to the input end of the threshold trigger via a discharge circuit, and the output end of the threshold trigger is connected to the TDC circuit in the PSφ21 chip; a test analog switch is provided on the discharge circuit, and the PSφ21 chip includes a controller, and the controller is electrically connected to the control end of the test analog switch.

[0012] In an optional implementation, the PSφ21 chip further includes a register, and the output end of the TDC circuit is connected to the register.

[0013] In an optional embodiment, the PSφ21 chip includes a synchronous communication interface, and the synchronous communication interface is connected to the single-chip microcomputer via a synchronous communication signal line.

[0014] In an optional implementation, the synchronous communication interface is connected to the register, and the register is connected to the controller.

[0015] In an optional implementation, the constant current charging circuit includes a constant power supply, a charging resistor and an analog switch, and the charging resistor and the analog switch are connected in series between the constant power supply and the backup capacitor.

[0016] In an optional implementation, the control end of the analog switch is connected to the single chip microcomputer.

[0017] In an optional implementation, the analog switch uses a transistor, and the base of the transistor is connected to the single chip microcomputer.

[0018] In an optional implementation, the single chip microcomputer is connected to a test server.

[0019] The beneficial effect of the utility model lies in that the device for testing the backup power time of the backup power capacitor provided by the utility model simulates the real server operating environment through the temperature adjustment circuit, so as to obtain the backup power time of the backup power capacitor in the real scene, and at the same time adopts the TDC monitoring circuit and the constant current charging circuit to detect the backup power time of the backup power capacitor, converts the capacitance detection into time detection, and improves the detection accuracy of the backup power time.

[0020] In addition, the utility model has a reliable design principle, a simple structure and a very broad application prospect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the utility model or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, for ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0022] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of a device for testing the backup power duration of a backup power capacitor according to an embodiment of the utility model.

[0023] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of a TDC monitoring circuit according to an embodiment of the present utility model. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions in the present invention, the following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of them. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work should fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0025] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art of the present invention. The terms used herein in the specification of the present invention are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0026] For details, please refer to Figure 1 , the device for testing the backup time of the backup capacitor includes:

[0027] TDC monitoring circuit, temperature regulation circuit, constant current charging circuit and single chip microcomputer;

[0028] The input end of the TDC monitoring circuit is connected to the discharge circuit of the backup capacitor, and the output end of the TDC monitoring circuit is connected to the single chip microcomputer;

[0029] The constant current charging circuit is connected to the backup capacitor, and the constant current charging circuit charges the backup capacitor;

[0030] The temperature regulating circuit includes a heating resistor, a temperature sensor and an adjustable power supply. The heating resistor and the temperature sensor are installed close to the backup capacitor. The adjustable power supply and the temperature sensor are connected to the single-chip microcomputer for communication.

[0031] The single-chip microcomputer first controls the temperature regulation circuit to adjust the ambient temperature, enters the target temperature in the single-chip microcomputer, and adjusts the ambient temperature to the target temperature. The single-chip microcomputer obtains the actual temperature through the temperature sensor, and adjusts the output current of the adjustable power supply based on the difference between the actual temperature and the target temperature. The specific regulation strategy is the conventional strategy.

[0032] The single chip microcomputer controls the constant current charging circuit to charge the backup capacitor. This constant current charging circuit is directly electrically connected to the SSD hard disk. The constant current charging circuit can directly use the server power supply or an external power supply.

[0033] When the charging time reaches a preset time threshold, the single chip microcomputer controls the constant current charging circuit to disconnect and stop charging.

[0034] In another embodiment, the voltage fluctuation or current fluctuation of the constant current charging circuit can also be collected by a voltage sensor or a current sensor, the voltage sensor or the current sensor is electrically connected to the single-chip microcomputer, and the single-chip microcomputer determines whether the backup capacitor is fully charged according to the voltage fluctuation or the current fluctuation. After learning that charging is completed, the single-chip microcomputer controls the constant current charging circuit to disconnect.

[0035] At the same time, a trigger signal is sent to the TDC monitoring circuit, and the TDC monitoring circuit starts to detect the backup power time of the backup power capacitor and sends the detection result to the single chip microcomputer.

[0036] In this embodiment, the TDC monitoring circuit includes a PSφ21 chip, which is a chip for measuring capacitance based on TDC technology.

[0037] For specific structure, please refer to Figure 2 The backup capacitor is connected to the input end of the threshold trigger sensor through a discharge circuit, and the output end of the threshold trigger sensor is connected to the TDC circuit in the PSφ21 chip; the discharge circuit is provided with a test analog switch, and the PSφ21 chip includes a controller, and the controller is electrically connected to the control end of the test analog switch. The PSφ21 chip also includes a register, and the output end of the TDC circuit is connected to the register. The PSφ21 chip includes a synchronous communication interface, and the synchronous communication interface is connected to the single-chip microcomputer through a synchronous communication signal line. The synchronous communication interface is connected to the register, and the register is connected to the controller.

[0038] After the PSφ21 chip receives the trigger signal from the microcontroller, the controller controls the test analog switch S to turn on and the backup capacitor discharges. The threshold trigger sensor outputs a start signal when it is first turned on, and the threshold trigger sensor outputs a stop signal when the discharge voltage reaches the set low threshold. The TDC circuit detects the interval between the start signal and the stop signal, and writes the interval as the discharge time into the register. The microcontroller can read the discharge time in the register through the synchronous communication interface. The synchronous communication interface can operate the SPI interface.

[0039] The constant current charging circuit includes a constant power supply, a charging resistor and an analog switch. The charging resistor and the analog switch are connected in series between the constant power supply and the backup capacitor. The analog switch uses a triode, and the base of the triode is connected to the microcontroller. In this way, the microcontroller can automatically control the charging.

[0040] The test server obtains the backup power duration of the backup capacitor from the MCU and analyzes the maximum required time of the SSD based on the local SSD specifications. The maximum required time is the time it takes to flush all the data written in the DDR to the NAND. The test server determines whether the SSD is qualified by comparing the backup power duration of the backup capacitor with the maximum required time. If the backup power duration is greater than the maximum required time, the SSD is qualified.

[0041] Although the present invention is described in detail by referring to the accompanying drawings and in combination with the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto. Without departing from the spirit and essence of the present invention, a person skilled in the art may make various equivalent modifications or substitutions to the embodiments of the present invention, and these modifications or substitutions shall be within the scope of the present invention. Any person skilled in the art who is familiar with the present technical field may easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention, and these shall be within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A device for testing the backup time of a backup capacitor, characterized in that: include: TDC monitoring circuit, temperature regulation circuit, constant current charging circuit and single chip microcomputer; The input end of the TDC monitoring circuit is connected to the discharge circuit of the backup capacitor, and the output end of the TDC monitoring circuit is connected to the single chip microcomputer; The constant current charging circuit is connected to the backup capacitor, and the constant current charging circuit charges the backup capacitor; The temperature regulating circuit comprises a heating resistor, a temperature sensor and an adjustable power supply. The heating resistor and the temperature sensor are installed close to the backup capacitor. The adjustable power supply and the temperature sensor are in communication connection with the single chip microcomputer.

2. The device for testing the backup power duration of a backup power capacitor according to claim 1, characterized in that: The TDC monitoring circuit includes a PSφ21 chip.

3. The device for testing the backup power duration of the backup power capacitor according to claim 2, characterized in that: The backup capacitor is connected to the input end of the threshold trigger via a discharge circuit, and the output end of the threshold trigger is connected to the TDC circuit in the PSφ21 chip; a test analog switch is provided on the discharge circuit, and the PSφ21 chip includes a controller, and the controller is electrically connected to the control end of the test analog switch.

4. The device for testing the backup power duration of a backup power capacitor according to claim 3, characterized in that: The PSφ21 chip also includes a register, and the output end of the TDC circuit is connected to the register.

5. The device for testing the backup power duration of a backup power capacitor according to claim 4, characterized in that: The PSφ21 chip includes a synchronous communication interface, and the synchronous communication interface is connected to the single-chip microcomputer via a synchronous communication signal line.

6. The device for testing the backup power duration of a backup power capacitor according to claim 5, characterized in that: The synchronous communication interface is connected to the register, and the register is connected to the controller.

7. The device for testing the backup power duration of a backup power capacitor according to claim 1, characterized in that: The constant current charging circuit comprises a constant power supply, a charging resistor and an analog switch, wherein the charging resistor and the analog switch are connected in series between the constant power supply and the backup capacitor.

8. The device for testing the backup power duration of a backup power capacitor according to claim 7, characterized in that: The control end of the analog switch is connected to the single chip microcomputer.

9. The device for testing the backup power duration of a backup power capacitor according to claim 8, characterized in that: The analog switch adopts a triode, and the base of the triode is connected to the single chip microcomputer.

10. The device for testing the backup power duration of a backup power capacitor according to claim 1, characterized in that: The single chip microcomputer is connected to a test server.

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