Bac grou d

|MCHJ As m!ianee on computing sysienis contn ss to grow, so too does the demand for reliable power systems and. acku schemes lor fhese com uting s i iis. Servers, for example, m y provde fi ct res for b cki g up data to Hash: o arsisfeftt mamoi as well ^' as back-up power sources for powering !ftis back-up of data after the loss of power, Back-up power soarcea-may sometimes include energy components euel? as capacitors or oaigres,

B ief ^ascri tio of the Drawings

£TOS2J The detailed description section references the drawings, heein:

FIGURE i Is a block diagram of an gxsrtipfe ^' back-up power •a araus including a tsofc~y.p ower control module to selectsve!y- ersafcle iha output of back-up power;;

IGURE 2 s a ock diagram of an exam le system including a back-up power sii s slei including a back-up power control module to •§@ie ¾ ^' valy-ena fe he output of back-up power; and

FIGURE 3 - FIGURE 8: faHo cnsrts of example n thods for selectively e abling ie output of back-u power y a back-u ower apparatus: all in which various e nibCKlments may bo implemented,

Q talteii Description of Embedments

[00031 Reliable power systems and back-u schemes for computing systems may help moid or reduce the loss of critical data in the ant of surprise losses or Pips i main owe . Devices that help accomplish this may s met mes Include devices such as ηαπ«νοΐ8¾!ΐ8 memory and arra

controllers, which may he -provided Pack-tip power from energy components such as capacitors a d batteries,

[00041 Energy com onents for providing back-ti power may s etimes- require a recharging period during which the en rg components may fee unavailable to .-provide _, back-up ower. Though multiple energy components may be used in some insta c s to provide some assurance of the availability of hack-up power, the number of energy components ^' thai ear* practically be used may be limited due to limited space. Fast*e.bargi.ng alternatives may l>P available, but t ese solutions may tend to g era a large amount of heat, which may lead to reduced battery tifecyefes and an increase in overall cast,

fO S] Described herein art va rious -Implementations of hack- power apparatuses including a battery module a d a back-u power control, module _* The back-up power control module may dete mi e bae^-up power-demand of a host device and selectively enable an output of power torn the battery modulo to the host devce if the battery module has a power capacity greater than the hack-op power demand.: In various implementations, the selective* enabling.: of back-up power output may al ow the battery module to be available to provide back-up power earler than may otherwise be ossible if the output of ck-u we as delayed until the battery module is fully cha ged

Eef&m ^' rtg now to t e d awings, FIGURE 1 1s a block diagram of example back-u power apparatus 102,. The back-up power apparatus 102 includes a battery module 104 arid -a back- p power control module 106, The battery module 104 way comprise art energy component to convert stored energy to electrical energy to deliver power 188 to atieast one lead (fyplcaly multiple toads) cou le to the b ck-up power apparatus 102, Examples of the battery module ^' 104 a Include, but are pot limited to, a rechwgeabie

the like. Powe 108, as used herein, may include current, voltage, electrical charge, watts, or other type of energy pro ided to the lead from the battery module 104-,

fWC*?l T he back-up owe apparatus 102 may be configured to be coupled to a host device (not iustrated here) tor providing back-up power 10$ to the host dev c . In various implementations, the back-up power control module 108 may selectively enable or disable the battery module 104 t provide the back-up power 108 to at l ast on e load of the hos t device when main power supplying the load{s) tails, as described more fully herein.

various Implementations, the back-up power control modale. 106 may be configured with additional functionalities. For exam l , the -back-up power control module 108 may control power charging and discharging of th battery modyie 1 4 or other operati ns of the back-up power apparatus 102 suc s _s for example, analyzing, mofiitofing, or protecting the control module 106 and <¾nt ilii¾g-wmm. nicaSofts with the host device in various implementations, * acku .power control module 106 may be configu d to rovide rotecton to the back-up power ap etite 02 such as, but not limited to, short circuit proiecti-on, ch g scharge protection, eyment/veitage

otection, temperature protecfen, communication- aoc f&cv/error robust protection, etc. E m les of tiie back-up w r ^' control module 1:06 may

Include, but are not limited to, a processor, circuit logc, a set of Instructions executable by a processor* a mic ochi * a chipset an electronic circuit, a microprocessor, a E lcrocontfollef, central processing unit or the like.

QSSI The back-up power control module 10i may determine whether to enable or .disable the battery moctofe 104 based at least in part on a power capacity of the ba&ery module 104 and the back-u power demand of the ioad(s of the ^' ost device. In various implementations, the ckup power control module- 1Q8 may receive a quantity of leads from the host device -via the input -port 110 nd the h ^- p power control module 106 may determine the back-up power demand by estimating of the back-up power dem a d based on the quantity of loads of trie host device and an estimated power demand per load., in the same or different mbedments, the back-up power control module 198 may determine the sack-up power demand by averaging a plurality of outputs of back-up power 108 from the battery module 104 to the host ctevice of a corresponding - plurality of revious power loss events. pMOij n various I pl m fjaitioss, the b ck-up po er ^' apparatus 102 may include an -out ut port 112 via which he back-up ower control module 108 may transmit messages such as, for xampl , messages, to th host device, for exam le, indicating; that the battery module 104 I anafcled or disabled,

|00 | A block diagram: of a example s stem 2:00 is illustrated in FIGURE 2, The various hack-up ^' o er a paratuses described herein (such as. e.g., he back-up wer apparatus 102 described herein with reference to FIGURE 1) may e incorporated into various types of systems or may comprise an apparatus, hich, may be -coupled with at least one im utng: device to form a system.,

[0011| As illustrated in FIGURE 2, the s stem: 200 includes a feeek-up power su system 202 Including a battery module 204 and a b ck-op power control module 06. ^' The back-up power subs stem 2:02 may be operattveiy coupled is a host device 21 < In vinous im ie eriialQns, the btek-yp power control module 208 may be configured to communicate with the host device 218. For example, the communication etween the back-op power control module 208 ar the host device 218 may include a quantify of loads 214 of the host device 21 S _s a sta tue of the host device 26, among other things, In various i le enatio s, the system 200 may include s plurality of baeknjp ow -su systems 202 in parallel,, operative!y coupled to the host device 216, p312| The host device 216 may comprise a device such as, bit not limited to, a computing device, a server, or any other ^' computing system suitable ^' to support the back-tip power subsystem 202 The host -device 216 m y support at least one toad 214, The teacl(s) 214 ma comprise an electrical circuit, electrical ^' impedance,, or other ty e .of circuit capable of receiving powe 2:0S from: t back-up power subsystem 202. In various implementations _^ the !oad(s) 21 may comprise, for e a le _s a storage arra controller, rion-volatile memory (such as _t e.f., non-volatile 4ml Mine memory), or other load to facilitate becking up of data of the . st device 218 to memory au¾h as flash or persistent memory in trte ^' event of loss of main power 218 {m \ as, $,,. power failure, power di , etc.) to the system 200 or ost fJaviee 216,

|0013| The back-u power su ystem 202 may provide back-u powe 208 to the toad(s) 214 of the host device 216 In the ©vent of loss of main power 214, but may the back-up power control module 208 may selectively en le or disable the output of back-u ower SOS from ihe _. battery module 204· ba sed on .a power capacity of to® battery module 204 and a back-up power demand of the !oad(s} 214 of ie host 18, Per determining the power c aci y of the battery module ¾04 _: , the back-u power control modyle 206 may use an actual -available power capacity of the battery module 204 or may factor in same dlminisomect In power capacity. For example, an actual power capacity ma be reduced b margin percentage as the battery module 204 ages nd/or b a tolerance percentage given the particular operating conditions: of tie system 200 w host device 210. for xalte, tfw back-up power control module- 205 may calculate an adjusted power capacity, 20 as follows: where PC^ * & the actual power capacity of the battery module 204, x Is tie tolerance percentage, and j/is the magin percentage,

PS14J he Pa¾k~ujp ower control module _. 20i m y determine the back-u powe d#ma«d of t e load(s) £14 of the host devise 2 © by esti aing the back-op power demand of calculating an a erage of back-u power dem nds of the host device 2 of previous power loss events. In various im lementations, the back-y -power control module 206 m y receiv a qu ntity of the load(s) 214 torn t e riost de ice vi tie Input port 210, and the b e¾ i power control module 206 may determine the estimated b ckup power demand, b sed on the quantit of loads, n,. -a d ^' an estimated or typical power demand per load, ¾, as ^' follows:

For example. If the back-up pow apparatus 202: receives a ualify of 2 loads from the host device 21-6 and a redetermi ed estimated or typical power demand per load value is n watts ( } oad, the back-yp power control module 206 may ^■■ determine the estimate of the back-up power demand, R¾ to be about 24n W,

oi S| In various implementations, the host device 218 may provide a actual number of !oad (s) 214 supported by the host d vice 2:18 ( ^., ail operating foads) or some number fewer than all operating adfs) 214, For example _;f In some implementations, the host 218 may phohilie the lo¾d|s) 214 such t ai only a sybseief the load(s) 214 ^' would receive ack-up power 208 alter a ower toss event,

£SQ1i| In the same or other em d¾merils _f the back-u power control module 208 may determine tie back-up power demand by averaging a plurality of outputs of power 208 from the battery module 2S4 to f e host device 218 of a corresponding plurality of previous power oss vents. In various o $ of these im temeftta iom, the back-up power control module 206 may first attempt to use an average f the back-u o e demand _s ami then use an es imate If he average is not available. For xam e, if the quantity of loads chang s* the average was not calculated previously, etc.* an average back-up power dem nd of those loads may not be available, pEH ff After determining the back-up power demand of the tiost 21 i _s the backu power control module 206 may selectively enable or disable the battery module 204. The ack-u power control module 208 may selectively enable or disable the battery module 204 based at: least in part on the powe capacity of th battery mo$ule- 0 and the etermin d backu power demand of the host 218. n various lmpiem niations _s ..the back-Hi power control module 2:08 may selectively enable the battery module 204· If the battery module 204 has a power capacity at least equal to the back-up power demand.. In various ones of the same or different im lementations,; the backup power control module 200 may selectively disable the battery module 204 if the battery module 204 has a power capacity ess than th back-up power demand. pj Hll i various implementations, .the back-up power apparatus 2:02 may transmit a mess ge v a an output port 212 to the host device 216 indicating that the battery- modul 204 is enabled or dlsah!edL

£001 to the ena led slat©, the battery module 204 may wait lor a power loss e½snt _s at which time the battery module 2S4 may supply b ck-ti po er 298 to the host 216 for su pl g: the !dsd(s) 21 , When the battery mod&tle 206 is the disabled state, the back-up power control module 206 may continually ©r periodically check the o er cap city of the bate ^' ry module 204 to determfnewhefhef-the power capacity h s inc eased o a level at least e ual to the back-u power dem nd of the host.21§, t2ij FIGURE 3 - FIGURE 8 are flowcharts: of exam le methods performed on a system to selectively -enable a back-u power subsystem to provide back-up power to at least one toad of a host device when main power supplying the at least ne toad fails..It should be noted fiat various operations iscussed anoVof illustrate may be generally referred to as multiple discrete operations in turn to help to underst nding, various implementations _* The order of description should not be construed to imply that these operations are order dependent, unless explicitly, stated. Moreover, some implementations may include more or fewer operations than may b« described,

$021 J Turning now to FIGURE ¾ a method 300 tor selectively enaollng an output of power from a battery- module to a host device for a power toss event, n accordance th various impfementailons, may begin or proceed with determining a back-up power demand of the. host de ic , at block 32Q\ In various im le entations _* the acku power demand may st determined by estimating the back-up power demand based on a quantity of toads of the host .device and an estimated power demand per ad _s or by averaglmg a plurality of outputs of power torn the battery modul to th ost d vice of a oorresponding plurality ttf pr o power loss everrls. In various ^' ones of these implementations, the haok-u power demand ma he: determined by first determining if either art ave age baek»up power d mand value or multi le values whfcb may be averaged are available, and if not then estimating th hack - up power demand based on ejuar&t of toads of the host device and an estimated power demand per load ( r using an estimate already calculated and stored in the acku power ^' su system .

& ¾ The method 30€ may proceed to block 322 ith selectively enabling an output of power from the batery module to the host device if the battery module has a power capacity greater than the back-u owe

demand, in various Impi mentaions,. the output of power from the battery module to the host device may be selectively enabled if the ^■ atter module has a power capacity at least: epue! to the back-u power demand. Ones en bled, the battery module a wait for a power loss event to the host devic at which time the battery module may provid back-o power to th loac s) of the host device.

At FIGURE 4, a method 400 for -selectively enabling an output of power t rn a batte y module to a host device for a .power toss event. In accordance with various Implementations, may begin or proceed with eter: mmm^ a back-up power demand sf W host device, at block 424 in various iiti leme iafio s, the ack-u power demand may e determined by estimating the back-up po er demand based on a quantity of loads of the host device and an estimated power dem nd per load, or fey averaging a plurality of outputs of power torn the battery module to the host -device of a corresponding pluralit of previous po er loss events.,, as .de crbed, herein, 00241 At block 428, t e method 400 m y proceed with determining the power cap city of the batte module. In ari u implementations, the power capacity may comprise the power capacity of the battery module factoring a tolerance percent and/or a margin percent, as described her in.

£®02§J The method 400 may proceed to lock 428 wi comparing t e back-up power demand and the power capacity of the batter module to determine whether to disable or enable t e output of power torn the battery module, if the power capacity of the ba!fer module is greater than or at least equal to the backu power demand, trie method 400 may proceed to block 430 b enabling ti ^: out ut of power from a battery modyle to the host device for a power loss e ent f, m the other and _s the power capacity of the battery module Is less then the back-up power demand, the method 400 may proceed to block 432 by disabling the output of power from a baftery module to the host device. The mathsd 400 may then proceed back to block 426 for dete mi ing whether the power capacity- of the battery module has increased sufficiently to provide back-up power to the host device, P502S| FIGURE 5 itistfates an axampife method 500 for determining whether a u ntity of loads of the host device has c anged from a previous power loss event As described herein, sn yahoos impfemeota!lQns, the backup power deman of a host device may e determined based at least in pari on a uantity of teds of the host e ice _* and in s ma Im iementatione, an ^• aveage of a plurality of baoK-u power dem nd from previous power l ss e ents may be used whe determini g whet r to selectivel ^' enaibi¾ a batery: rnodyie of a bao j power syfesystem.

I&027] At block S34, the method SO0 may beojn or proceed with receiving a quantit of loads torn a nost device, and then to block 536 by determinng whether the uantity of loads as changed from a previous qu ntit of loads. In various implementations, such a change ma be doe to a change in operation of the ost devic , a re^prionfeation of toads fe the host device, etc. if ft is determined that th quantity of loads has changed : _s the method 500 may proceed with resetting the stored aver gs hack-up power demand, and then proceed to determining whether to selectively enable the out ut of power by the battery module, as desalted erein (such as _: eg _: in accordance with one or more of methods 300, 400, or 600 described herein with reference to FIGU E 3, FIGURE 4, and FIGURE e, res ectsv iy}- if, on the ether hand, I f is determined that the Quantity of loads has n t changed, the metho 500 may. proceed to d ter ni g whether to seleoiively ertaole the mitp«t of power by the battery m duo, without resoling tie stored average back-up power demand value. |Μ2Ι1 A FIGURE 6 _: a method 600 for selectively enabling an out u of power from a battery module to a host device for power loss event, in accordance with varioys implementattofts, may begin or proceed with determini g whether a quantity of loads Is available, si block §40, In various implementations, the quantity of toads may be provided by a Host device, a d may com rise a total number of loads supported oy the tost device or some quantity fewer than a total numbar of the eads. If tie quantity of loads Is not av ilable,, the method 600 may proceed to block 842 by disabling the output of power from the battery module to the host device w the quantity of loads Is

It on the oilier and, the quantify of loads Is available, t e method 80S may proceed to block 844 with determin ng. whether a ackup power demand value Is available, in various implementations, the ack-u power demand value may comprise a pf v ously-determlnied value such as, for example, are average of previous ^, actual back-up power demands lor evious power loss events, If a back-tip o er demand value Is available, th method QQ may proceed to method TOO described later with reference to FIGURE 7,

[0030] if, on it other hand, the back-up power demand value ie not available, the method 800 may proceed with estimating t e back-up power demand valu at blocK 6 8, I various jmolsmsrtfations, the ack-u power demand value may be asttm ted based at feast In part on the quantify of loads and an estimated or typical back-u power demand per load. !OOSIJ The method 800 may proceed to l ck 848 ith etermining the power capacity of the battery module, and comparing: the power capacity of the battery module t the estimate of the back-up power e and at fock 650, If the power capacity of t e battery module is greater than or at feast equal to the back-u power demand, the method 600 may proceed to block i52 by enabiiog the output o! power from battery module to the host d v ce for a power loss eve t, if _;! . on the other nd, . the power capacity of the battery module Is lass than the ack-u power demand.,, the method #00 may r ceed to block §54 by disabling the output of power f om a battery■module to the host ^' devte; The method S00 may than proceed back to block.848 for determi ing whether the power capacity of the battery modwis. ha Increased sufficiently to provide hack-up power to the host device,

|0032;| if the back-up power -demand value is available at bfoek S44, the method 600 m y proceed to method ^' TOO of FIGURE 7 _¾ , as noted .a o . At FIGURE ? ₅ the method TOO for selectively ena ling an ou put of power from a battery module, to a host dev-ce for a power loss event., In aomrdanoe with various impleme tations, may begin or proceed wih block 758 with

determining the ower capacity of the battery module, ano ^* comparing the powe capacity of the baitery module to the back-up power demand, at block 7S0, If the power ca acity ¹ of the battery module is greater than or at least equal to the back-up power dema d, the method 700 ma proceed to btock 784 by enabling the output of owe from a battery modulo to the host device for power loss event. If _s . on the otter hand, the power capacity of the battery module is less than the back-up power demand, the method 700 m y proceed to lock 782 fey disabling the output of power torn a battery module to the host d im The method 700 may then proved back to block 758 for determining whether the power capacity of the lotte y module has Incr sed atiffieleritly t pro ide: back-y powe to the host device ,

&33J in various Im lementatons., once the battery module of a backup power subsystem Is enabled, the battery module may wait for a powe loss e ent for providing hack-up power to the to ds of a host device. When

oviding isack-yp power to the loads of the host device, a o cfHj power control module of t e back-up power su system may calculate the actual back-up power provided to the host device, The calculated value may be use for the back-up power dem and value fer .determining whether. to selectively enable the battery module of m be used: for a veraging with at least one other actual back-u power de an value so that the average value may be used for the hack-up power demand ^' alue for determining whether to selecti el enable the battery module, fM34| FIGURE 8 illustrates a method 800 for operating a back-up power subsystem m which a battery, module has feesn selectively enabled, in accordance with various im lementations The method §00 may begin or proceed with determining loss of power to the host device at hlock 8Si, If there is mo power loss e ert, the method 800 may proceed back to block.88S until a power loss event. f£»03§| After the oemirrenoe of a po er lose m the method §00 may oceed to b ock 888 with outputtlng power outpuillng power from the battery ^■ modyia P the host device, O ring or after the owtpyillng of the beek-yp power, the back-up power control module may calculate the. actual back-up power demand of the host device, at block 870 _s w ic may comprise the actual oaok-up power provided- to t e loads of the host device yf rm t e power loss event The c& ulated actual ackup power demand ma then be averaged in at teast on© other

the host device, at block 872, The average back-up power demand may he used subse uentl lor defectively e a ling or disabling an output, of power from the battery module to the host de ice. In accordanc wth the various implementations described herein, oSSJ Various aspects of the illustrative embodiments are described herein using terms con monly emplopd by those skilled in the art to convey the substanc of ^' their worts to otters skied In the art, It will he apparent to those skied in the art f st alternate eoibodimenis may e practiced with only some of the described aspects, For purposes of explanation, specific numbers., materials, ^nct configurations are set forth in order to provides ihoroygh understanding of the Illustrative embodiments,. It will be apparent to one skilled in tie art that alternate, embodiments may foe practiced without the s ecific details, in other instances, el-Rnown features are omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the Illustrative embodiments. f£»037| Alt oug certain em odments have h&m iustfated and escribed eein. It will be appreciated those of ordinary skill In t e art that a wide variet of aftemafce andof equivalent embodiments ^' or Inipiameftalorss eateylated to achieve the s me purposes may be substituted for the

embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of this isclosure. Those iltt skill In the art i ea ily appreciate thai embodiments may fee im lemented in a wide variety of w ys. Ths lication Is intandad to cover any adaptations or variations ^' ofthe ^' emliCKJiments discussed herein It Is manifestly Intended, therefore, that embodiments fee limited only .by trie claims aod the e uival nts thereof.