Disk Array Power Supply Pre-Charging for Voltage Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional disk array apparatuses require a large capacity capacitor and increased circuit size to maintain voltage during power failures, leading to higher manufacturing costs due to varying battery warm-up times across different specifications.
Innovation Solution
A disk array apparatus with a power supply unit that generates a predetermined voltage from an external power supply, a battery unit for charging and determining backup power activation, and a monitoring unit that controls the activation of the backup power supply based on operational mode, allowing seamless voltage switching without a switching operation after power failure detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a large capacity capacitor is used to maintain voltage during battery warm-up time after power failure, then voltage stability is improved, but circuit size and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-charges the capacitor before power failure occurs during normal operation. This preliminary charging action ensures that when power failure happens, the capacitor already has sufficient energy to maintain voltage during the battery warm-up period, eliminating the need for oversized capacitors designed to cover the entire warm-up duration from an uncharged state.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically adjusts the capacitor's role based on system state. During normal operation, the capacitor is charged and ready to provide immediate voltage support. Upon power failure detection, the system transitions to using the pre-charged capacitor while the battery simultaneously charges, creating a dynamic power supply architecture that adapts to different operational phases.
2Reliability
If custom power supply units are designed for each disk array apparatus specification, then power supply performance is optimized, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs a universal power supply unit that can serve multiple disk array apparatus specifications. The key insight is that the battery warm-up time varies by specification, but by pre-charging the capacitor during normal operation, the same basic power supply architecture can handle different warm-up time requirements without custom design, achieving multi-functionality across product lines.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the power supply system by introducing a pre-charging phase. Instead of designing capacitors based on worst-case warm-up duration for each specification, the system uses parameter change (pre-charging) to decouple capacitor size from warm-up time requirements, enabling standardized designs across different specifications.
3Speed
If the battery unit immediately supplies voltage after power failure detection, then backup response time is improved, but voltage stability deteriorates due to warm-up period
Solution Approach 1:
The capacitor is pre-charged during normal operation before power failure occurs. This preliminary action ensures that when power failure happens, the voltage support is already in place immediately, while the battery simultaneously begins charging. This eliminates the warm-up gap without requiring the battery to immediately supply full voltage.
Solution Approach 2:
The pre-charged capacitor acts as an intermediary between the power failure event and the battery's voltage supply. It provides immediate voltage support during the critical transition period, mediating between the need for immediate response and the battery's warm-up time, allowing smooth power transfer without voltage instability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution reduces the time needed to maintain output voltage, decreases capacitor capacity and circuit size, enables a general-purpose power supply, and lowers manufacturing costs by eliminating the need for custom power supply units for each disk array apparatus specification.
Implementation Method 1
a power supply unit that generates a predetermined voltage from power supplied from an external power supply, and that supplies the voltage to the main power supply line
Implementation Method 2
a battery unit that charges the battery with the voltage supplied
Implementation Method 3
the battery unit determines whether to activate the backup power supply based on the output control signal
Implementation Method 4
The monitoring unit judges whether the disk array apparatus is in an operation mode... and outputs an output control signal to the battery unit
Data Source
AI summary
A power supply unit generates a predetermined voltage from power supplied from an external power supply and outputs the voltage to a power supply line. A battery charge/discharge circuit charges a battery with the voltage supplied and determines whether to supply an output voltage of the battery to the power supply line to activate a backup power supply based on an output control signal. A monitoring unit judges whether a disk array apparatus is operable in accordance with an instruction from a host computer, and outputs, when the disk array apparatus is operable, an output signal for activating the backup power supply, and when the disk array apparatus is not in the operation mode, outputs an output control signal for inactivating the backup power supply to the battery charge/discharge circuit.