Expansion Card Power Pooling Across Multiple PCIe Slots
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Solution Overview
Problem
Expansion cards in computer systems are constrained by power consumption limits of their slots, leading to performance bottlenecks, especially when some cards operate below their limits while others are at peak workloads, and empty slots waste potential power resources.
Innovation Solution
A mechanism where expansion cards share and combine their individual power budgets, allowing cards to exceed their slot limits temporarily and utilize unused power from other or empty slots, managed by a system-on-chip (SoC) that monitors and adjusts power consumption through voltage regulation and signal sharing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If expansion cards operate within their slot power consumption limits, then system stability is maintained, but performance is constrained when cards need higher power for peak workloads
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines power budgets from multiple expansion slots into a shared power pool. Cards can draw power from any slot in the group, not just their assigned slot, allowing underutilized slots to contribute power to cards needing additional power for peak performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically monitors power consumption across all slots and reallocates power budgets in real-time based on actual usage patterns. When a card needs more power, the system identifies slots with unused power capacity and temporarily allocates that power, creating a flexible and adaptive power distribution mechanism.
2Productivity
If some expansion cards operate below their power limits while others are at peak workloads, then individual card power management is simple, but overall system power efficiency is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal power management system where all expansion slots participate in a common power pool. Each slot can both consume and provide power to any card in the system, making the power infrastructure multi-functional and highly efficient. The system automatically balances power distribution across all slots based on real-time needs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors power consumption levels across all expansion cards and slots, using this feedback to dynamically reallocate power budgets. When a card operates below its power limit, the system detects the unused capacity and redirects it to cards at peak workload, optimizing overall system efficiency through closed-loop control.
3Power
If empty expansion slots are left unused, then slot availability is maintained, but potential power resources are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the power distribution system to self-regulate and automatically utilize available power capacity. Empty slots or slots with unused power budgets automatically contribute their capacity to the shared pool, which is then distributed to cards that need power. The system self-optimizes without external intervention, ensuring no power capacity goes to waste.
Data Source
AI summary
A first printed circuit board (PCB) comprises a first hardware interface, compatible with an interface standard, to couple the first PCB to a first socket of a second PCB, which further comprises a second socket, and first and second busses respectively coupled to the first and second sockets. The first PCB comprises a second hardware interface to communicate a first signal, to indicate a total current drawn by multiple PCBs, and a second signal each with a third PCB while the third PCB is coupled to the second PCB at the second socket. The first PCB comprises circuitry to impose a limit on power consumption by the first PCB, circuitry to generate, with the third PCB, the first signal, and circuitry to generate a second signal, which is to provide, for each of the multiple PCBs, an indication of whether respective circuitry of the PCB is to be throttled.