Limiting reverse airflow

Abstract

In various examples, a fan comprises a fan rotor, logic, and a component electrically coupled to the fan rotor to control operation of the fan rotor. The logic may determine that the component has failed. Responsive to determining that the component has failed, the logic to cause a backup component to apply power to the fan rotor, wherein applying the power causes blades of the fan to reduce spinning.

1 . A method comprising:
 determining that a component of a fan has failed;   responsive to determining that the component has failed:
 activating a backup component for the failed component to resume normal operation of the fan. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining that the component of the fan has failed comprises:
 determining that a microcontroller of the fan has failed, the method comprising:   responsive to determining that the microcontroller has failed:
 activating a backup microcontroller that is separate from the microcontroller; and 
 resuming, with the backup microcontroller, normal operation of the fan. 
   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein activating the backup microcontroller comprises taking control of a rotor of the fan away from the failed microcontroller. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein determining that the microcontroller has failed comprises:
 determining that the microcontroller has failed based on receiving, from the microcontroller, an indication that the microcontroller has failed.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining that the component of the fan has failed comprises:
 determining that a MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor) has failed, wherein the MOSFET provides power to a rotor of the fan; and   wherein resuming normal operation of the fan comprises providing, with a backup MOSFET, power to the fan rotor.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein determining that the MOSFET has failed is based on sensing an electrical parameter of the MOSFET. 
     
     
         7 . A device comprising a fan, the fan comprising:
 a fan rotor;   a component electrically coupled to the fan rotor to control operation of the fan rotor;   a backup for the component; and   logic,   the logic to:
 responsive to determining that the component has failed: 
 activate the backup component, 
   the backup component to:
 apply power to the fan rotor, wherein applying the power causes blades of the fan to reduce spinning. 
   
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 7 , wherein the component comprises a microcontroller,
 wherein the backup component comprises a backup microcontroller separate from the microcontroller,   wherein responsive to determining that the microcontroller has failed, the logic to:
 activate the backup microcontroller; 
   wherein to apply the power to the fan rotor, the backup microcontroller to:
   apply the power, with the backup microcontroller, to the fan rotor to cause the fan rotor to reduce spinning.   
   
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 8 , wherein to activate the backup microcontroller, the logic to allow the backup microcontroller to take control of the fan rotor away from the microcontroller. 
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 8 , wherein the failed microcontroller comprises a pin that indicates a failure state, the logic to:
 determine that the microcontroller has failed based on a current of the pin indicating the failure state.   
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 8 ,
 wherein the logic to determine that the microcontroller has failed based on at least one of: not receiving a signal or receiving an invalid signal value from the microcontroller.   
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 7 , wherein to determine that the component of the fan has failed, the logic to:
 determine that a MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor) has failed, wherein the MOSFET controls power provided to the fan rotor; and   responsive to determining that the MOSFET has failed,
 provide power for the fan rotor with a backup MOSFET to reduce spinning of the fan. 
   
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 12 , wherein the logic to determine that the MOSFET has failed based on sensing an electrical parameter of the MOSFET. 
     
     
         14 . A system comprising:
 an enclosure;   a first fan coupled to the enclosure; and   a second fan coupled to the enclosure, the second fan comprising:
 a fan rotor; and 
 logic to:
 determine that at least one of a microcontroller or a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) of the second fan has failed; 
 responsive to determining that that at least one of the microcontroller or the MOSFET has failed: 
 activate a backup component to control spinning of blades of the fan. 
 
   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , the second fan comprising:
 a backup microcontroller that is separate from the microcontroller,   the logic to:
 responsive to determining that the microcontroller has failed: 
 activate the backup microcontroller; 
   wherein to apply the current to the fan rotor, the backup microcontroller to:
 apply, with the backup microcontroller, power to the fan rotor to cause the fan rotor to resume normal operation. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein to activate the backup component, the microcontroller to:
 responsive to determining that the MOSFET has failed:
 provide power for the fan rotor with a backup MOSFET to cause the fan rotor to resume normal operation.