CROSS-REFERENCE

The present application claims priority from European Patent Applications No. 20315266.5, No. 20315267.3, and No. 20315268.1, all of which were filed on May 28, 2020, the disclosure of all which is incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

FIELD

The present technology relates to power delivery arrangements. In particular, the present disclosure introduces a power supply combination for delivering power at multiple voltages.

BACKGROUND

Many devices such as servers in datacenters need to receive power at more than one voltage. ATX has become a de facto industry standard for powering servers at 12 volts DC, 3.3 volts DC and 5 volts DC. Apart from servers, other devices in datacenters and other devices in various industrial or commercial sites may require power at more than one voltage; for example and without limitation, electronic equipment such as discs and networking devices may consume power at 5 volts while cooling fans and water cooling pumps may consume power at 12 volts.

In large datacenters, power redundancy delivery is important, as many servers may be assigned to critically important functions.FIG. 1(prior art) illustrates an arrangement in which a server receives power from an ATX power supply connected to a pair of redundant power supplies. In an arrangement100, a first power source110and a second power source120receive power from an AC power supply (not shown) on their respective power inputs112and122. Power rails114and124of the power supplies110and120deliver power at 12 volts DC to an ATX power supply125(a DC-DC converter in the case ofFIG. 1). The power is delivered via diodes140and150that are both connected to a single power input129of the ATX power supply125. The ATX power supply125provides power to a server160. The diodes140and150ensure that power from one of the power supplies110and120cannot return to the other of the power supplies110and120. Matching diodes140and150are selected to minimize any difference between their output voltages in order to prevent drawing most of the power from a single one of the power supplies110and120. Ideal diodes may be used to minimize any voltage difference between the power rails114,124and the power input129. In more details, a power rail126of the ATX power supply125is connected to a power input162of the server160to deliver power at 12 volts. A power rail127of the ATX power supply125is connected to a power input164of the server160to deliver power at 3.3 volts. A power rail128of the ATX power supply125is connected to a power input166of the server160to deliver power at 5 volts.

In the illustrated example, the server160may consume up to 1000 watts, each power source110and120is capable of providing 1000 watts of power, and the ATX power supply125is also rated at 1000 watts. Tests have shown that a major portion of the power consumed by servers such as the server160ofFIG. 1, for example 70% of the power, is consumed at 12 volts. In the ATX power supply125, the power rail126is therefore required to support an output of up to 700 watts.

The two power supplies110and120are entirely redundant and, should one of them fail, the other remains able to fulfill the entire power requirement of the server160. However, a problem to be solved lies in the fact the ATX power supply125becomes a single point of failure in the arrangement100. Should the ATX power supply125fail entirely, or fail to provide power at 12, 3.3 or 5 volts, the server160may become unable to function properly.

Another problem to be solved relates to the risk of arcing when connecting the power inputs162,164and166of the server160to the power rails126,127and128of the ATX power supply125. An initial connection is made between the server160and the ATX power supply125by establishment of a physical contact between the power inputs and the power rails. For a very brief moment, usually within a few milliseconds, this physical contact is unstable, being repeatedly established, disconnected and established again. Very high current peaks could be generated by these spurious interrupts, should the power be present on all power rails of the ATX power supply125.FIG. 2(prior art) shows a timing sequence for activation of the ATX power supply ofFIG. 1. The timing sequence ofFIG. 2is implemented in an ATX specification in view of preventing damage causing by arcing to the ATX power supply125and/or to the server160. Initially, no voltage is present on the power rails126,127and128of the ATX power supply125. A 5 volts standby power connection170(FIG. 1) present between the ATX power supply125and the server160allows a motherboard (not shown) of the server160to execute an initiation sequence. When the initiation sequence is completed, the server160sends a “PS_ON” signal to the ATX power supply125via a signalling lead172(FIG. 1). As shown onFIG. 2, the signal emitted by the server160on the signalling lead172changes from an initial high voltage to a low voltage—the PS_ON signal is thus deemed active when at the low voltage. In response to the PS_ON signal, the ATX power supply125starts raising the voltage on the power rails126,127and128. Within a time T1, generally less than 500 milliseconds after the PS_ON signal, the voltages at the power rails126,127and128reach values close to their nominal 12, 3.3 and 5 volts ratings, for example reaching at least 95% of their rated voltages, within a time T2of less than 20 milliseconds. After another delay T3, generally between 100 and 300 milliseconds, the ATX power supply125emits a “PWR_OK” (also called a “power good” signal) on a signalling lead174(FIG. 1). The PWR_OK signal has a brief rise time T4, generally less than 10 milliseconds. Having detected the PWR_OK signal, the server160can now operate using all required power from the power rails126,127and128of the ATX power supply125.

The timing sequence illustrated onFIG. 2is illustrative and may vary according to various implementations. The various times T1, T2, T3and T4are provided for illustration only, as they may also vary in various implementations. Regardless, this timing sequence imposes a one-to-one correspondence between a given server160receiving power from a dedicated ATX power supply125. This lack of flexibility in the configurations used to deliver power to servers is far from being ideal from economic and operational standpoints.

The power consumption of thousands or tens of thousands of servers hosted in large datacenters is considerable. There is a need for economical, flexible, optimized and redundant power delivery solutions.

Even though the recent developments identified above may provide benefits, improvements are still desirable.

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present technology have been developed based on developers' appreciation of shortcomings associated with the prior art.

In particular, such shortcomings may comprise (1) the last of redundancy of the ATX power supplies used to provide power to servers and other loads; and/or (2) the lack of flexibility in the delivery of power to servers and other loads.

In one aspect, various implementations of the present technology provide a power supply combination, comprising:a first power source comprising a first power rail adapted to deliver power at a first voltage and a second power rail adapted to deliver power at a second voltage;a second power source comprising a third power rail adapted to deliver power at the first voltage and a fourth power rail adapted to deliver power at the second voltage;a first power combining circuit electrically connected to the first power rail of the first power source and to the third power rail of the second power source, the first power combining circuit being adapted to deliver power at the first voltage to a first voltage input of a load; anda second power combining circuit electrically connected to the second power rail of the first power source and to the fourth power rail of the second power source, the second power combining circuit being adapted to deliver power at the second voltage to a second voltage input of the load.

In some implementations of the present technology, the load comprises one or more servers.

In some implementations of the present technology, the first power combining circuit comprises a first diode connecting the first power rail of the first power source to the first voltage input of the load and a third diode connecting the third power rail of the second power source to the first voltage input of the load; and the second power combining circuit comprises a second diode connecting the second power rail of the first power source to the second voltage input of the load and a fourth diode connecting the fourth power rail of the second power source to the second voltage input of the load.

In some implementations of the present technology, the first power combining circuit comprises a first emulating circuit connecting the first power rail of the first power source to the first voltage input of the load and a third emulating circuit connecting the third power rail of the second power source to the first voltage input of the load; the second power combining circuit comprises a second emulating circuit connecting the second power rail of the first power source to the second voltage input of the load and a fourth emulating circuit connecting the fourth power rail of the second power source to the second voltage input of the load; and each of the first, second, third and fourth emulating circuit is adapted to operate as an ideal diode.

In some implementations of the present technology, the power supply combination further comprises a first voltage comparator comprising: a first sensing input electrically connected to the first power rail of the first power source, and a third sensing input electrically connected to the third power rail of the second power source, the first voltage comparator being adapted compare voltages sensed by the first and third sensing inputs to detect a failure of one of the first and second power sources to deliver power at the first voltage; a second voltage comparator comprising: a second sensing input electrically connected to the second power rail of the first power source, and a fourth sensing input electrically connected to the fourth power rail of the second power source, the second voltage comparator being adapted compare voltages sensed by the second and fourth sensing inputs to detect a failure of one of the first and second power sources to deliver power at the second voltage; and a monitoring device operatively connected to the first and second voltage comparators and adapted to report a detected failure of one of the first and second power sources.

In some implementations of the present technology, the first power combining circuit, the second power combining circuit, the first voltage comparator, the second voltage comparator and the monitoring device are mounted on a common platform.

In some implementations of the present technology, the first and second power sources are adapted to convert power received from a power distribution unit (PDU) into power delivered at the first and second voltages; and the monitoring device is communicatively connected to the PDU and is adapted send a signal to the PDU to report the detected failure of one of the first and second power sources.

In some implementations of the present technology, the first power source further comprises a fifth power rail adapted to deliver power at a third voltage; the second power source further comprises a sixth power rail adapted to deliver power at the third voltage; and the power supply combination further comprises a third power combining circuit electrically connected to the fifth power rail of the first power source and to the fourth power rail of the second power source, the second power combining circuit being adapted to deliver power at the third voltage to a third voltage input of the load.

In some implementations of the present technology, the first and second power sources are ATX power supplies; the first voltage is 12 volts DC; the second voltage is 3.3 volts DC; and the third voltage is 5 volts DC.

In some implementations of the present technology, the first power combining circuit comprises a first diode connecting the first power rail of the first power source to the first voltage input of the load and a third diode connecting the third power rail of the second power source to the first voltage input of the load; the second power combining circuit comprises a second diode connecting the second power rail of the first power source to the second voltage input of the load and a fourth diode connecting the fourth power rail of the second power source to the second voltage input of the load; and the third power combining circuit comprises a fifth diode connecting the fifth power rail of the first power source to the third voltage input of the load and a sixth diode connecting the sixth power rail of the second power source to the third voltage input of the load.

In some implementations of the present technology, the first power combining circuit comprises a first emulating circuit connecting the first power rail of the first power source to the first voltage input of the load and a third emulating circuit connecting the third power rail of the second power source to the first voltage input of the load; the second power combining circuit comprises a second emulating circuit connecting the second power rail of the first power source to the second voltage input of the load and a fourth emulating circuit connecting the fourth power rail of the second power source to the second voltage input of the load; the third power combining circuit comprises a fifth emulating circuit connecting the fifth power rail of the first power source to the third voltage input of the load and a sixth emulating circuit connecting the sixth power rail of the second power source to the third voltage input of the load; and each of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth emulating circuit is adapted to operate as an ideal diode.

In some implementations of the present technology, the power supply combination further comprises a first voltage comparator comprising: a first sensing input electrically connected to the first power rail of the first power source, and a third sensing input electrically connected to the third power rail of the second power source, the first voltage comparator being adapted compare voltages sensed by the first and third sensing inputs to detect a failure of one of the first and second power sources to deliver power at the first voltage; a second voltage comparator comprising: a second sensing input electrically connected to the second power rail of the first power source, and a fourth sensing input electrically connected to the fourth power rail of the second power source, the second voltage comparator being adapted compare voltages sensed by the second and fourth sensing inputs to detect a failure of one of the first and second power sources to deliver power at the second voltage; a third voltage comparator comprising: a fifth sensing input electrically connected to the fifth power rail of the first power source, and a sixth sensing input electrically connected to the sixth power rail of the second power source, the third voltage comparator being adapted compare voltages sensed by the fifth and sixth sensing inputs to detect a failure of one of the first and second power sources to deliver power at the third voltage; and a monitoring device operatively connected to the first, second and third voltage comparators and adapted to report a detected failure of one of the first and second power sources.

In some implementations of the present technology, the first power combining circuit, the second power combining circuit, the third power combining circuit, the first voltage comparator, the second voltage comparator, the third voltage comparator and the monitoring device are mounted on a common platform.

In some implementations of the present technology, the first and second power sources are adapted to convert power received from a power distribution unit (PDU) into power delivered at the first, second and third voltages; and the monitoring device is communicatively connected to the PDU and is adapted send a signal to the PDU to report the detected failure of one of the first and second power sources.

In some implementations of the present technology, the load comprises a plurality of servers, the power supply combination further comprising: a power management unit communicatively connected to the first and second power sources and to the plurality of servers, the power management unit being configured to: monitor a combined power level of the first and second power sources, and cause at least one of the plurality of servers to reduce its power consumption if a combined power consumption of the plurality of servers exceeds the combined power level of the first and second power sources.

In the context of the present specification, unless expressly provided otherwise, a computer system may refer, but is not limited to, an “electronic device”, an “operation system”, a “system”, a “computer-based system”, a “controller unit”, a “monitoring device”, a “control device” and/or any combination thereof appropriate to the relevant task at hand.

In the context of the present specification, unless expressly provided otherwise, the expression “computer-readable medium” and “memory” are intended to include media of any nature and kind whatsoever, non-limiting examples of which include RAM, ROM, disks (CD-ROMs, DVDs, floppy disks, hard disk drives, etc.), USB keys, flash memory cards, solid state-drives, and tape drives. Still in the context of the present specification, “a” computer-readable medium and “the” computer-readable medium should not be construed as being the same computer-readable medium. To the contrary, and whenever appropriate, “a” computer-readable medium and “the” computer-readable medium may also be construed as a first computer-readable medium and a second computer-readable medium.

In the context of the present specification, unless expressly provided otherwise, the words “first”, “second”, “third”, etc. have been used as adjectives only for the purpose of allowing for distinction between the nouns that they modify from one another, and not for the purpose of describing any particular relationship between those nouns.

Implementations of the present technology each have at least one of the above-mentioned object and/or aspects, but do not necessarily have all of them. It should be understood that some aspects of the present technology that have resulted from attempting to attain the above-mentioned object may not satisfy this object and/or may satisfy other objects not specifically recited herein.

Additional and/or alternative features, aspects and advantages of implementations of the present technology will become apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.

