Patents by Inventor Carl Morrell

Carl Morrell has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8265285
    Abstract: Aspects for monitoring audible tones indicative of operational status of each planar in a multiple planar chassis are described. Included in the aspects is the monitoring of a speaker channel of each planar of a plurality of planars in a common chassis for state changes of beep tones. An operational status of a specific planar emitting the beep tones is identified based on the state changes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Carl A. Morrell, William B. Schwartz
  • Publication number: 20120201392
    Abstract: Aspects for monitoring audible tones indicative of operational status of each planar in a multiple planar chassis are described. Included in the aspects is the monitoring of a speaker channel of each planar of a plurality of planars in a common chassis for state changes of beep tones. An operational status of a specific planar emitting the beep tones is identified based on the state changes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 19, 2012
    Publication date: August 9, 2012
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Carl A. Morrell, William B. Schwartz
  • Patent number: 8140705
    Abstract: A method and system for recovering a server blade, in a multiple server blade computer, that is lost during a flash update operation on a service processor in the server blade. Because of the flash update failure, the lost server blade is unaware of its location on a management pathway, which in an exemplary form may be a midplane or a bus, which connects the server blade and a management module in a server blade chassis. The lost server blade puts a signal on the management pathway indicating that the flash failed. The signal is put on a special channel reserved for such messages. The management module receives the signal, and then determines which of the multiple server blades are lost due to the flash update failure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gerhard Nikolaus Buckler, Jeffery Michael Franke, Donald Eugene Johnson, Carl A. Morrell, David Robert Woodham
  • Patent number: 8055927
    Abstract: A design structure embodied in a machine readable storage medium for designing, manufacturing, and/or testing a system is disclosed for monitoring a voltage supplied by a voltage regulation module to a processor in response to a dynamic VID generated by the processor. The voltage monitoring system monitors the voltage generated by the voltage regulation module to ensure the supplied voltage is within regulation thresholds. The voltage monitoring system acquires an analog reading of the supplied voltage and converts it to a digital value. If the VID changes during the conversion, the result of the A/D conversion is discarded. If the VID does not change, the voltage monitoring system accepts the result of the A/D conversion and compares the supplied voltage to the voltage expected in response to the VID. The voltage monitoring system may also compute the error between the actual and expected voltage for each accepted A/D conversion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2011
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Carl A. Morrell
  • Patent number: 8006028
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and products are disclosed for enabling memory module slots in a computing system after a repair action, the computing system having a plurality of memory module slots and having at least one memory module installed in one of the memory module slots, that includes: determining, during a boot process for the computing system, whether any of the memory module slots are disabled; and if any of the memory module slots are disabled: retrieving, for each memory module installed in one of the memory module slots, a memory module identifier for that memory module, retrieving, from non-volatile memory of the computing system, previously stored memory module identifiers, determining whether the retrieved memory module identifiers match the previously stored memory module identifiers, and enabling the disabled memory module slots if the retrieved memory module identifiers do not match the previously stored memory module identifiers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2011
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Tu T. Dang, Robert F. Kantner, Jr., Henry G. McMillan, Carl A. Morrell, Challis L. Purrington, Mark W. Williams
  • Patent number: 7996706
    Abstract: A system for recovering a server blade, in a multiple server blade computer, that is lost during a flash update operation on a service processor in the server blade. Because of the flash update failure, the lost server blade is unaware of its location on a management pathway, which in an exemplary form may be a midplane or a bus, which connects the server blade and a management module in a server blade chassis. The lost server blade puts a signal on the management pathway indicating that the flash failed. The signal is put on a special channel reserved for such messages. The management module receives the signal, and then determines which of the multiple server blades are lost due to the flash update failure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2011
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gerhard Nikolaus Buckler, Jeffery Michael Franke, Donald Eugene Johnson, Carl A. Morrell, David Robert Woodham
  • Patent number: 7970880
    Abstract: A computer program product is presented for recovering a server blade, in a multiple server blade computer, that is lost during a flash update operation on a service processor in the server blade. Because of the flash update failure, the lost server blade is unaware of its location on a management pathway, which in an exemplary form may be a midplane or a bus, which connects the server blade and a management module in a server blade chassis. The lost server blade puts a signal on the management pathway indicating that the flash failed. The signal is put on a special channel reserved for such messages. The management module receives the signal, and then determines which of the multiple server blades are lost due to the flash update failure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2011
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gerhard Nikolaus Buckler, Jeffery Michael Franke, Donald Eugene Johnson, Carl A. Morrell, David Robert Woodham
  • Publication number: 20110153899
    Abstract: Computer peripheral expansion apparatus, methods of operation, and computer program products including blade peripheral expansion units (‘BPEUs’), each BPEU including a peripheral interconnect multiplexer coupled for peripheral interconnect data communications through an upstream peripheral interconnect bus (‘PIB’) segment to a host blade, the upstream PIB segment fanned out by the multiplexer into two or more peripheral downstream interconnect channels, the multiplexer connecting the upstream PIB segment to only one of the downstream channels at a time; and the two or more downstream peripheral interconnect channels, at least one of the downstream channels connected to at least one peripheral interconnect device (‘PID’) in the BPEU, the peripheral interconnect device being a device that communicates with the host blade according to a peripheral interconnect data communications protocol, one of the downstream channels configured to connect to an upstream PIB segment in another BPEU.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2009
    Publication date: June 23, 2011
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Alfredo Aldereguia, Carl A. Morrell, Grace A. Richter
  • Patent number: 7873855
    Abstract: A method and system and calibration technique for power measurement and management over multiple time frames provides responsive power control while meeting global system power consumption and power dissipation limits. Power output of one or more system power supplies is measured and processed to produce power values over multiple differing time frames. The measurements from the differing time frames are used to determine whether or not system power consumption should be adjusted and then one or more devices is power-managed in response to the determination. The determination may compare a set of maximum and/or minimum thresholds to each of the measurements from the differing time frames. A calibration technique uses a precision reference resistor and voltage reference controlled current source to introduce a voltage drop from the input side of a power supply sense resistor calibration is made at the common mode voltage of the power supply output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2011
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Dhruv Manmohandas Desai, Nickolas J. Gruendler, Carl A. Morrell, Gary R. Shippy, Michael Leo Scollard, Michael Joseph Steinmetz, Malcolm Scott Ware, Christopher L. Wood
  • Patent number: 7844846
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for monitoring a voltage supplied by a voltage regulation module to a processor in response to a dynamic VID generated by the processor. In one embodiment, a voltage monitoring system monitors the voltage generated by the voltage regulation module to ensure the supplied voltage is within regulation thresholds. The voltage monitoring system acquires an analog reading of the supplied voltage and converts it to a digital value. If the VID changes during the conversion, the result of the A/D conversion is discarded. If the VID does not change, the voltage monitoring system accepts the result of the A/D conversion and compares the supplied voltage to the voltage expected in response to the VID. The voltage monitoring system may compute the error between the actual and expected voltage for each accepted A/D conversion. These errors may be accumulated and averaged. The accumulated error may be compared with regulation thresholds, such as a predefined allowable margin of error.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2010
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Carl A. Morrell
  • Publication number: 20090254732
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and products are disclosed for enabling memory module slots in a computing system after a repair action, the computing system having a plurality of memory module slots and having at least one memory module installed in one of the memory module slots, that includes: determining, during a boot process for the computing system, whether any of the memory module slots are disabled; and if any of the memory module slots are disabled: retrieving, for each memory module installed in one of the memory module slots, a memory module identifier for that memory module, retrieving, from non-volatile memory of the computing system, previously stored memory module identifiers, determining whether the retrieved memory module identifiers match the previously stored memory module identifiers, and enabling the disabled memory module slots if the retrieved memory module identifiers do not match the previously stored memory module identifiers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 8, 2008
    Publication date: October 8, 2009
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tu T. Dang, Robert F. Kantner, JR., Henry G. McMillan, Carl A. Morrell, Challis L. Purrington, Mark W. Williams
  • Patent number: 7536577
    Abstract: A calibration technique provides for precision calibration of system power measurement. The calibration technique uses a precision reference resistor and voltage reference controlled current source to introduce a voltage drop from the input side of a power supply sense resistor. Calibration measurements are thereby made for voltages substantially equal to the voltage of the power supply output, so that differential measurements are made at substantially the same common-mode voltage by appropriate selection of the relationship of the resistance of the precision reference resistor and the resistance of the sense resistor, where the common-mode voltage of the measurement is substantially equal to the power supply output voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2009
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Dhruv Manmohandas Desai, Nickolas J. Gruendler, Carl A. Morrell, Gary R. Shippy, Michael Leo Scollard, Michael Joseph Steinmetz, Malcolm Scott Ware, Christopher L. Wood
  • Publication number: 20090119420
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, system and computer program product for generating scalable addressing for expansion units. The method, system and computer program product for generate scalable addressing for an expansion unit is provided. The method, system and computer program product can include detecting a multiplexer of an expansion unit via a serial bus (e.g., an I2C bus), setting an address for the multiplexer of the first expansion unit, and upon accessing the multiplexer, switching the multiplexer to a first position to pass the serial bus to a second expansion unit to detect a multiplexer of the second expansion unit. The method can further include attempting to access the multiplexer of the second expansion unit and upon accessing the multiplexer of the second expansion unit, incrementing the address of the multiplexer of first expansion unit to set the address for the multiplexer of the second expansion unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 6, 2007
    Publication date: May 7, 2009
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Carl A. Morrell
  • Publication number: 20080291071
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for monitoring a voltage supplied by a voltage regulation module to a processor in response to a dynamic VID generated by the processor. In one embodiment, a voltage monitoring system monitors the voltage generated by the voltage regulation module to ensure the supplied voltage is within regulation thresholds. The voltage monitoring system acquires an analog reading of the supplied voltage and converts it to a digital value. If the VID changes during the conversion, the result of the A/D conversion is discarded. If the VID does not change, the voltage monitoring system accepts the result of the A/D conversion and compares the supplied voltage to the voltage expected in response to the VID. The voltage monitoring system may compute the error between the actual and expected voltage for each accepted A/D conversion. These errors may be accumulated and averaged. The accumulated error may be compared with regulation thresholds, such as a predefined allowable margin of error.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 23, 2007
    Publication date: November 27, 2008
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventor: Carl A. Morrell
  • Publication number: 20080294924
    Abstract: A design structure embodied in a machine readable storage medium for designing, manufacturing, and/or testing a system is disclosed for monitoring a voltage supplied by a voltage regulation module to a processor in response to a dynamic VID generated by the processor. The voltage monitoring system monitors the voltage generated by the voltage regulation module to ensure the supplied voltage is within regulation thresholds. The voltage monitoring system acquires an analog reading of the supplied voltage and converts it to a digital value. If the VID changes during the conversion, the result of the A/D conversion is discarded. If the VID does not change, the voltage monitoring system accepts the result of the A/D conversion and compares the supplied voltage to the voltage expected in response to the VID. The voltage monitoring system may also compute the error between the actual and expected voltage for each accepted A/D conversion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 2, 2008
    Publication date: November 27, 2008
    Inventor: Carl A. Morrell
  • Publication number: 20080219461
    Abstract: Aspects for monitoring audible tones indicative of operational status of each planar in a multiple planar chassis are described. Included in the aspects is the monitoring of a speaker channel of each planar of a plurality of planars in a common chassis for state changes of beep tones. An operational status of a specific planar emitting the beep tones is identified based on the state changes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2008
    Publication date: September 11, 2008
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Carl A. MORRELL, William B. Schwartz
  • Patent number: 7395459
    Abstract: Aspects for monitoring audible tones indicative of operational status of each planar in a multiple planar chassis are described. Included in the aspects is the monitoring of a speaker channel of each planar of a plurality of planars in a common chassis for state changes of beep tones. An operational status of a specific planar emitting the beep tones is identified based on the state changes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2008
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Carl A. Morrell, William B. Schwartz
  • Publication number: 20080140859
    Abstract: A method and system for recovering a server blade, in a multiple server blade computer, that is lost during a flash update operation on a service processor in the server blade. Because of the flash update failure, the lost server blade is unaware of its location on a management pathway, which in an exemplary form may be a midplane or a bus, which connects the server blade and a management module in a server blade chassis. The lost server blade puts a signal on the management pathway indicating that the flash failed. The signal is put on a special channel reserved for such messages. The management module receives the signal, and then determines which of the multiple server blades are lost due to the flash update failure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 1, 2008
    Publication date: June 12, 2008
    Applicant: IBM CORPORATION
    Inventors: Gerhard Nikolaus Buckler, Jeffery Michael Franke, Donald Eugene Johnson, Carl A. Morrell, David Robert Woodham
  • Publication number: 20080141236
    Abstract: A system for recovering a server blade, in a multiple server blade computer, that is lost during a flash update operation on a service processor in the server blade. Because of the flash update failure, the lost server blade is unaware of its location on a management pathway, which in an exemplary form may be a midplane or a bus, which connects the server blade and a management module in a server blade chassis. The lost server blade puts a signal on the management pathway indicating that the flash failed. The signal is put on a special channel reserved for such messages. The management module receives the signal, and then determines which of the multiple server blades are lost due to the flash update failure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 1, 2008
    Publication date: June 12, 2008
    Applicant: IBM CORPORATION
    Inventors: GERHARD NIKOLAUS BUCKLER, Jeffery Michael Franke, Donald Eugene Johnson, Carl A. Morrell, David Robert Woodham
  • Patent number: 7383461
    Abstract: A method and system for recovering a server blade, in a multiple server blade computer, that is lost during a flash update operation on a service processor in the server blade. Because of the flash update failure, the lost server blade is unaware of its location on a management pathway, which in an exemplary form may be a midplane or a bus, which connects the server blade and a management module in a server blade chassis. The lost server blade puts a signal on the management pathway indicating that the flash failed. The signal is put on a special channel reserved for such messages. The management module receives the signal, and then determines which of the multiple server blades are lost due to the flash update failure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2008
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gerhard Nikolaus Buckler, Jeffery Michael Franke, Donald Eugene Johnson, Carl A. Morrell, David Robert Woodham