Hot-Swappable Chassis Power Control Module Preventing Short Circuits
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
High availability computing systems face challenges in maintaining reliability and avoiding data loss during component failures, particularly in densely packed rack-mounted chassis where top access can lead to foreign objects causing short circuits during module replacement.
Innovation Solution
An electronics chassis with a power control module that uses sense signals to manage power connections, ensuring the ground connection is established before power, and employing redundant power supplies and energy storage devices in an OR-type configuration to allow for uninterrupted operation during servicing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If modules are made hot-swappable for continuous operation, then system availability is improved, but risk of inadvertent short circuits during module replacement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The power connection is disconnected before the ground connection is interrupted during module removal, and re-established after ground connection during insertion. This preliminary sequencing of electrical connections prevents short circuits by ensuring the ground path exists before power is applied, eliminating the harmful effect while maintaining hot-swappability for continuous operation
Solution Approach 2:
The connector design with longer ground pins preemptively counteracts the potential short circuit hazard by physically ensuring ground connection precedes power connection. This preliminary anti-action neutralizes the harmful effect before it can occur, allowing hot-swappable modules to be replaced without system shutdown while preventing the short circuit risk that would otherwise arise
2Reliability
If ground pin is made longer than power pin to prevent short circuits, then safety is improved, but connector design complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connector employs asymmetric pin lengths where ground pins extend further than power pins. This asymmetric design naturally enforces the correct connection sequence (ground before power) through the physical geometry itself, achieving short circuit prevention through a simple dimensional difference rather than complex control circuitry or sequencing mechanisms
3Reliability
If redundant power supplies are provided for high availability, then system reliability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple power supplies are merged into a single common power bus that distributes power to all modules. This consolidation approach provides redundant power sources while avoiding the complexity of multiple independent power distribution systems. The unified bus architecture allows any power supply to serve any module, achieving high reliability through redundancy without proportionally increasing system complexity
Data Source
AI summary
Maintenance of reliable and highly available electronic systems to perform servicing and preventive maintenance may need to be performed without interruption of operations. Removal of circuit cards from a chassis may render the connectors on a chassis vulnerable to inadvertent short circuiting of power sources by stray metallic objects. A configuration where the power is removed from a connector as the circuit card is being extracted eliminates his possibility. The control circuits for the power supply connections and the power supplies are themselves redundant so that they may be similarly serviced.