Method and Apparatus for Digital Leak Detection in Liquid-Cooled Information Handling Systems

A method comprising:

• driving a first microstrip differential trace with an alternating-current (AC) waveform;
• providing a first received signal obtained from the first microstrip differential trace;
• driving a second microstrip differential trace with the alternating-current (AC) waveform;
• providing a second received signal obtained from the second microstrip differential trace;
• performing digital signal processing (DSP) to obtain a first magnitude representative of a first moisture level at the first microstrip differential trace and a second magnitude representative of a second moisture level at the second microstrip differential trace;
• and
• providing an alert when a comparison of the first magnitude and the second magnitude indicates a presence of a coolant leak.

An apparatus comprising:

• a transmitter circuit configured to provide a transmitted waveform at a transmitter output;
• a first voltage divider circuit;
• a second voltage divider circuit;
• a first receiver circuit;
• a second receiver circuit;
• and
• a processor,
• wherein the first voltage divider circuit includes:
• a first microstrip differential trace extending from a first microstrip differential trace first end to a first microstrip differential trace second end;
• and
• a first impedance device having a first impedance device first end coupled to the transmitter output and a first impedance device second end coupled to the first microstrip differential trace first end;
• wherein the second voltage divider circuit includes:
• a second microstrip differential trace extending from a second microstrip differential trace first end to a second microstrip differential trace second end;
• and
• a second impedance device having a second impedance device first end coupled to the transmitter output and a second impedance device second end coupled to the second microstrip differential trace first end,
• wherein the first receiver circuit has a first receiver circuit input coupled to the first microstrip differential trace second end, the first receiver configured to provide a first received signal,
• wherein the second receiver circuit has a second receiver circuit input coupled to the second microstrip differential trace second end, the second receiver configured to provide a second received signal;
• and
• wherein the processor is configured to receive the first received signal and the second received signal and to perform digital signal processing on the first received signal and the second received signal, to detect a coolant leak, and to provide an alert upon detection of the coolant leak.