What is claimed is:
1. A method, comprising:
building a central repository of data structures, the data structures provided to the central repository by hardware entities of a computing device; and
displaying hardware configuration settings of the hardware entities using a browser, the hardware configuration settings based at least in part on the data structures provided to the central repository.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising changing at least one of the hardware configuration settings in response to input received via the browser.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying the hardware configuration settings includes displaying the hardware configuration settings of the hardware entities using the browser running on a remote console communicatively coupled to the computing device via a network.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying further includes displaying hardware configuration settings based at least in part on the data structures and nonvolatile data associated with the hardware entities.
5. The method of claim 2 wherein building the central repository further includes providing the central repository with the data structures being described using a language convertible to a markup language.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the markup language is an extensible markup language (XML).
7. The method of claim 6 wherein displaying the hardware configuration settings includes executing a translator on the computing device, the translator to convert the data structures into the XML prior to displaying the hardware configuration settings using the browser.
8. The method of claim 6 wherein changing at least one of the hardware configuration settings includes executing a translator on the computing device, the translator to update nonvolatile data associated with the hardware entities with XML data received from the browser.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the hardware entities include at least one of a motherboard and an add-in card of the computing device.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying hardware configuration settings includes displaying policy settings of the hardware entities of the computing device using the browser, the policy settings based at least in part on the data structures provided to the central repository.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein building the central repository of the data structures includes building the central repository in a system memory of the computing device, the data structures obtained from binaries being stored in option read only memories (ROMs) of the hardware entities, the central repository being built during a pre-boot runtime of the computing device.
12. A method, comprising:
converting hardware configuration settings being stored in firmware of a computing device to a markup language; and
conveying the markup language to a browser to display the hardware configuration settings in the browser.
13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:
changing at least one of the hardware configuration settings stored in the firmware in response to input received via the browser.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the browser is a web browser executing on a remote console communicatively coupled to the computing device via a network.
15. A computer-accessible medium that provides instructions that, if executed by a computing device, will cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
generating a browser page to display hardware configuration settings of hardware entities of a computing device using a browser, the hardware configuration settings based at least in part on data structures provided by the hardware entities; and
changing at least one of the hardware configuration settings in response to input received via the browser.
16. The computer-accessible medium of claim 15 wherein the instructions for generating the browser page further include instructions to generate the browser page to be displayed in a web browser of a remote console communicatively coupled to the computing device via a network.
17. The computer-accessible medium of claim 15 wherein the instructions for generating the browser page further include instructions to display the hardware configuration settings based at least in part on the data structures and nonvolatile data associated with the hardware entities.
18. The computer-accessible medium of claim 15 wherein the data structures are described using a language convertible to a markup language.
19. The computer-accessible medium of claim 18 wherein the markup language is an extensible markup language (XML).
20. The computer-accessible medium of claim 19 wherein the instructions for generating the browser page include instructions to execute a translator to convert the data structures into the XML prior to generating the browser page to display the hardware configuration settings.
21. The computer-accessible medium of claim 15, wherein the hardware entities include at least one of a motherboard and an add-in card of the computing device.
22. The computer-accessible medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions for generating the browser page include instructions to generate the browser page during a pre-boot runtime of the computing device.
23. A system, comprising:
a computing device, including:
a processor;
multiple hardware entities communicatively coupled to the processor; and
a nonvolatile memory unit coupled to the processor, the nonvolatile memory unit having stored therein a translator to be executed by the processor, the translator to convert data structures corresponding to the multiple hardware entities into a markup language to generate a browser page to display hardware configuration settings of the multiple hardware entities in a browser.
24. The system of claim 23, further comprising:
a network communicatively coupled to the computing device; and
a remote console communicatively coupled to the network, the browser to execute on the remote console, the translator to update nonvolatile data associated with at least one of the hardware entities in response to markup language data received from the browser.
25. The system of claim 24, wherein the browser is a web browser.
26. The system of claim 23 wherein the browser is to be executed by the computing device and wherein the translator to update nonvolatile data associated with at least one of the hardware entities in response to markup language data received from the browser.
27. The system of claim 23 wherein the hardware entities each include a firmware unit, the firmware units of the hardware entities having the data structures stored therein as binaries, the binaries to be contributed as the data structures to a central repository.
28. The system of claim 27 wherein the binaries are to be contributed as the data structures to the central repository during a pre-boot runtime of the computing device.
29. The system of claim 23 wherein the nonvolatile memory unit comprises a firmware unit of a motherboard of the computing device.
30. The system of claim 23 wherein the nonvolatile memory unit comprises a hard disk of the computing device.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A motor drive circuit, comprising:
an output transistor configured to supply a drive current to a drive coil of a motor configured to cause a fan to rotate so as to blow air to cool an object to be cooled;
a switching control circuit configured to control switching of the output transistor so that the motor rotates in a first direction to cool the object to be cooled, or rotates in a second direction opposite to the first direction;
a switching circuit
configured to, when a first time has elapsed since start of rotation of the motor in the first direction, cause the switching control circuit to start switching control so that the motor stops rotating in the first direction and thereafter rotates in the second direction, and
configured to, when a second time has elapsed since start of rotation of the motor in the second direction, cause the switching control circuit to start switching control so that the motor stops rotating in the second direction and thereafter rotates in the first direction,
the switching control circuit including
a pulse width modulation circuit configured to generate a pulse width modulation signal, whose duty is increased in a gradual manner until reaching a predetermined duty ratio, in a case where switching control is started so that the motor rotates in the first direction or in the second direction, the predetermined duty ratio indicating a target rotating speed of the motor, wherein
the pulse width modulation circuit includes:
a frequency dividing circuit configured to be inputted with a first clock signal having a 12 duty ratio, frequency-divide the first clock signal, and output one or more second clock signals each of which has a period 2n times (n representing natural number) as long as a period of the first clock signal, and wherein
the pulse width modulation circuit generates, based on the first and the second clock signals, the pulse width modulation signal whose duty ratio is increased by 12n+1 each; and
a switching signal generating circuit configured to generate a switching signal according to the pulse width modulation signal, to be supplied to the output transistor.
2. The motor drive circuit of claim 1, wherein
the first time is equal to or greater than the second time, and wherein
the predetermined duty ratio when the motor rotates in the second direction is equal to or greater than the predetermined duty ratio when the motor rotates in the first direction.
3. The motor drive circuit of claim 2, wherein
the switching circuit causes the switching control circuit to perform switching control so that the motor rotates only in the first direction when a temperature of the object to be cooled is equal to or greater than a predetermined temperature.
4. The motor drive circuit of claim 1, wherein
the switching circuit causes the switching control circuit to perform switching control so that the motor rotates only in the first direction when a temperature of the object to be cooled is equal to or greater than a predetermined temperature.
5. An illumination apparatus comprising:
the motor drive circuit of claim 1;
an illumination element as the object to be cooled;
an illumination element drive circuit configured to drive the illumination element; and
a power supply circuit configured to supply power supply voltages to the motor drive circuit and the illumination element drive circuit.