Systems and methods for dynamic and adaptive cooling fan shadowing in information handling systems

A method for controlling cooling fan response within a chassis enclosure of an information handling system, comprising:

• operating at least one heat-producing component contained within the chassis enclosure, and using at least one temperature sensor to sense and provide a heat-producing component temperature signal representing the real time sensed temperature of the heat-producing component;
• operating at least two separate variable speed cooling fans to provide different flow rates of cooling air within the chassis enclosure, at least one of the variable speed cooling fans being mapped as a primary cooling fan to cool the at least one heat-producing component and at least one of the variable speed cooling fans being a secondary cooling fan assigned to shadow the real time fan speed of the primary cooling fan;
• and
• receiving the heat-producing component temperature signal from the temperature sensor, and controlling a real time fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on the heat-producing component temperature signal to cool the heat-producing component;
• and
• further comprising:
• controlling a real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on a shadowing relationship,
• varying a value of the shadowing relationship so as to control the real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the varied real time controlled fan speed and determine at least two values of cooling power efficiency associated with at least two respective different shadowing relationship values,
• then selecting a value of the shadowing relationship from the at least two different shadowing relationship values that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency between the two different shadowing relationship values, and
• then controlling the real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on the selected shadowing relationship value that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency;
• and
• further comprising:
• varying the shadowing relationship value at least one of an upward or downward direction so as to control the real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the varied real time controlled fan speed using at least one of greater or lesser shadowing relationship values and determine a value of cooling power efficiency associated with each of the at least one greater or lesser shadowing relationship values,
• then selecting a value of the shadowing relationship from the at least one of greater or lesser shadowing relationship values that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency between the at least one of greater or lesser shadowing relationship values, and
• then controlling the real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on the selected greater or lesser shadowing relationship value that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency;
• and
• further comprising:
• storing an initial shadowing relationship value on non-volatile memory, and
• controlling at least two secondary cooling fans to shadow the real time fan speed of the primary cooling fan, where the primary cooling fan is assigned to a primary cooling fan zone defined within the chassis enclosure, the primary cooling fan zone including the heat-producing component, where each of the two secondary cooling fans is assigned to a respective secondary cooling fan zone that is different from the primary cooling fan zone and that is different from each other secondary cooling fan zone, and
• further comprising:
• simultaneously controlling a real time fan speed of each of the different secondary cooling fans relative to the real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on the initial shadowing relationship,
• then varying the shadowing relationship value in at least one of an upward or downward direction from the initial shadowing relationship value so as to simultaneously control the real time fan speed of each of the different secondary cooling fans relative to the varied real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan zone using at least one greater shadowing relationship value or at least one lesser shadowing relationship value, and determining a value of cooling power efficiency associated with each of the at least one greater or lesser shadowing relationship values,
• then determining if the at least one greater shadowing relationship value or at least one lesser shadowing relationship value corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency than the initial shadowing relationship,
• then at least one of selecting an upward direction for changing the shadowing relationship value if the greater shadowing relationship value corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency than the initial shadowing relationship value, or then selecting a downward direction for changing the shadowing relationship value if the lesser shadowing relationship value corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency than the initial shadowing relationship value,
• then iteratively varying the shadowing relationship value initial shadowing relationship value in the selected upward or downward direction multiple times by a selected incremental fixed value so as to simultaneously control the real time fan speed of each of the secondary cooling fans relative to the varied real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan using each of the incrementally varied shadowing relationship values, and determining a value of cooling power efficiency associated with each of the incrementally varied shadowing relationship values,
• then selecting a value of the shadowing relationship from the incrementally varied shadowing relationship values that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency between the different incrementally varied shadowing relationship values, and
• then simultaneously controlling the real time fan speed of each the secondary cooling fan relative to the real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on the selected incrementally varied shadowing relationship value that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency.

An information handling system, comprising:

• a chassis enclosure;
• at least one heat-producing component contained within the chassis enclosure;
• at least one temperature sensor configured to sense and provide a heat-producing component temperature signal representing the real time sensed temperature of the heat-producing component;
• at least two separate variable speed cooling fans configured to provide different flow rates of cooling air within the chassis enclosure, at least one of the variable speed cooling fans being mapped as a primary cooling fan to cool the at least one heat-producing component and at least one of the variable speed cooling fans being a secondary cooling fan assigned to shadow the real time fan speed of the primary cooling fan;
• and
• at least one processing device that is a CPU, microcontroller, processor, microprocessor, FPGA, or ASIC coupled to receive the heat-producing component temperature signal from the temperature sensor, the processing device being programmed to control a real time fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on the heat-producing component temperature signal to cool the heat-producing component;
• where the at least one processing device is further programmed to:
• control a real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on a shadowing relationship,
• vary a value of the shadowing relationship so as to control the real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the varied real time controlled fan speed and determine at least two values of cooling power efficiency associated with at least two respective different shadowing relationship values,
• then select a value of the shadowing relationship from the at least two different shadowing relationship values that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency between the two different shadowing relationship values, and
• then control the real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on the selected shadowing relationship value that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency;
• where the at least one processing device is further programmed to:
• vary the shadowing relationship in at least one of an upward or downward direction so as to control the real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the varied real time controlled fan speed using at least one of greater or lesser shadowing relationship values and determine a value of cooling power efficiency associated with each of the at least one greater or lesser shadowing relationship values,
• then select a value of the shadowing relationship from the at least one of greater or lesser shadowing relationship values that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency between the at least one of greater or lesser shadowing relationship values, and
• then control the real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on the selected greater or lesser shadowing relationship value that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency;
• and
• where the at least one processing device is further programmed to:
• control a real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on an initial shadowing relationship,
• then vary the shadowing relationship value in at least one of an upward or downward direction from the initial shadowing relationship value so as to control the real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the varied real time controlled fan speed using at least one greater shadowing relationship value or at least one lesser shadowing relationship value, and determine a value of cooling power efficiency associated with each of the at least one greater shadowing relationship value or lesser shadowing relationship values,
• then determine if the at least one greater shadowing relationship value or at least one lesser shadowing relationship value corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency than the initial shadowing relationship,
• then at least one of:
• select an upward direction for changing the shadowing relationship value if the greater shadowing relationship value corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency than the initial shadowing relationship value, or select a downward direction for changing the shadowing relationship value if the lesser shadowing relationship value corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency than the initial shadowing relationship value,
• then iteratively vary the shadowing relationship value in the selected upward or downward direction multiple times by a selected incremental fixed value so as to control the real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the varied real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan using each of the incrementally varied shadowing relationship values, and determine a value of cooling power efficiency associated with each of the incrementally varied shadowing relationship values,
• then select a value of the shadowing relationship from the incrementally varied shadowing relationship values that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency between the different incrementally varied shadowing relationship values, and
• then control the real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on the selected incrementally varied shadowing relationship value that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency.

An information handling system, comprising:

• a chassis enclosure;
• at least one heat-producing component contained within the chassis enclosure;
• at least one temperature sensor configured to sense and provide a heat-producing component temperature signal representing the real time sensed temperature of the heat-producing component;
• at least two separate variable speed cooling fans configured to provide different flow rates of cooling air within the chassis enclosure, at least one of the variable speed cooling fans being mapped as a primary cooling fan to cool the at least one heat-producing component and at least one of the variable speed cooling fans being a secondary cooling fan assigned to shadow the real time fan speed of the primary cooling fan;
• and
• at least one processing device that is a CPU, microcontroller, processor, microprocessor, FPGA, or ASIC coupled to receive the heat-producing component temperature signal from the temperature sensor, the processing device being programmed to control a real time fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on the heat-producing component temperature signal to cool the heat-producing component;
• where the at least one processing device is further programmed to:
• control a real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on a shadowing relationship,
• vary a value of the shadowing relationship so as to control the real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the varied real time controlled fan speed and determine at least two values of cooling power efficiency associated with at least two respective different shadowing relationship values,
• then select a value of the shadowing relationship from the at least two different shadowing relationship values that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency between the two different shadowing relationship values, and
• then control the real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on the selected shadowing relationship value that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency;
• where the at least one processing device is further programmed to:
• vary the shadowing relationship in at least one of an upward or downward direction so as to control the real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the varied real time controlled fan speed using at least one of greater or lesser shadowing relationship values and determine a value of cooling power efficiency associated with each of the at least one greater or lesser shadowing relationship values,
• then select a value of the shadowing relationship from the at least one of greater or lesser shadowing relationship values that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency between the at least one of greater or lesser shadowing relationship values, and
• then control the real time fan speed of the secondary cooling fan relative to the real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on the selected greater or lesser shadowing relationship value that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency;
• and
• where the system further comprises:
• non-volatile memory coupled to the at least one processing device, the non-volatile memory having an initial shadowing relationship value stored thereon, and
• at least two secondary cooling fans assigned to shadow the real time fan speed of the primary cooling fan;
• where the primary cooling fan is assigned to a primary cooling fan zone defined within the chassis enclosure, the primary cooling fan zone including the heat-producing component,
• where each of the two secondary cooling fans is assigned to a respective secondary cooling fan zone that is different from the primary cooling fan zone and that is different from each other secondary cooling fan zone, and
• where the at least one CPU, microcontroller, processor, microprocessor, FPGA, or ASIC is further programmed to implement uniform shadowing methodology to:
• simultaneously control a real time fan speed of each of the different secondary cooling fans relative to the real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on the initial shadowing relationship,
• then vary the shadowing relationship value in at least one of an upward or downward direction from the initial shadowing relationship value so as to simultaneously control the real time fan speed of each of the different secondary cooling fans relative to the varied real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan zone using at least one greater shadowing relationship value or at least one lesser shadowing relationship value, and determine a value of cooling power efficiency associated with each of the at least one greater or lesser shadowing relationship values,
• then determine if the at least one greater shadowing relationship value or at least one lesser shadowing relationship value corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency than the initial shadowing relationship,
• then at least one of select an upward direction for changing the shadowing relationship value if the greater shadowing relationship value corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency than the initial shadowing relationship value, or then select a downward direction for changing the shadowing relationship value if the lesser shadowing relationship value corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency than the initial shadowing relationship value,
• then iteratively vary the shadowing relationship value initial shadowing relationship value in the selected upward or downward direction multiple times by a selected incremental fixed value so as to simultaneously control the real time fan speed of each of the secondary cooling fans relative to the varied real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan using each of the incrementally varied shadowing relationship values, and determine a value of cooling power efficiency associated with each of the incrementally varied shadowing relationship values,
• then select a value of the shadowing relationship from the incrementally varied shadowing relationship values that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency between the different incrementally varied shadowing relationship values, and
• then simultaneously control the real time fan speed of each the secondary cooling fan relative to the real time controlled fan speed of the primary cooling fan based on the selected incrementally varied shadowing relationship value that corresponds to a greater cooling power efficiency.