BIOS Telemetry Accumulation for Proactive Fault Avoidance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for Information Handling Systems (IHS) lack effective methods for proactive fault avoidance and automated support, particularly when the system is in a degraded state and unable to boot the primary Operating System, leading to inefficient diagnosis and remediation of hardware or software failures.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a Basic I/O System (BIOS) with program instructions that accumulate telemetry data from sensors to identify potential faults before they occur, enabling proactive fault avoidance and automated support operations, such as identifying environmental stress conditions and predicting failures, even when the system is in a degraded state.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the system waits for the primary Operating System to boot for diagnosis and support operations, then comprehensive software-level diagnostics can be performed, but the system cannot provide support when the system is in a degraded state and unable to boot
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the diagnostic and support capabilities into two independent layers: a primary OS-level layer for comprehensive software diagnostics, and a secondary BIOS/UEFI-level layer for hardware and environmental monitoring. This segmentation allows support operations to function independently of the primary OS boot state, resolving the contradiction by enabling degraded-state support through the BIOS layer while preserving full software diagnostics capability when the OS is operational.
2Reliability
If the system performs proactive fault avoidance by accumulating telemetry data from sensors, then potential faults can be identified before they occur, but additional hardware components and data processing requirements increase system complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by continuously accumulating telemetry data from sensors (temperature, humidity, voltage, shock, etc.) and analyzing it against known failure patterns before actual faults occur. The BIOS/UEFI firmware proactively identifies environmental stress conditions and predicts potential hardware failures, enabling preventive maintenance and fault avoidance before the system enters a degraded state, thus resolving the contradiction between early fault detection and system complexity.
3Measurement precision
If the BIOS accumulates and analyzes telemetry data to identify environmental stress conditions, then potential hardware faults can be predicted, but the data processing and analysis requirements increase firmware complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by enabling the BIOS/UEFI firmware to autonomously accumulate telemetry data from sensors, compare readings against predefined thresholds and historical patterns, identify environmental stress conditions, and generate fault predictions without requiring external intervention or complex external processing systems. The firmware independently performs data analysis and generates support actions, resolving the contradiction between precise environmental monitoring and firmware complexity through self-contained autonomous operation.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for proactive fault avoidance. In some embodiments, an Information Handling System (IHS) includes: a processor and a Basic I/O System (BIOS) coupled to the processor, the BIOS having program instructions that, upon execution by the processor, cause the IHS to: accumulate telemetry data received from one or more sensors over a period of time; determine, based upon the accumulated telemetry data, that the IHS has been subject to a given type of environmental or stress condition; and identify, based upon the given type of environmental or stress condition, a potential IHS fault before the fault occurs.