Hot-plug capable input and output (IO) subsystem

• US 10,133,698 B2
• Filed: 02/09/2016
• Issued: 11/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Baidu USA LLC (Baidu Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Baidu USA LLC (Baidu Incorporated)
• Inventors: Shao, Wesley, Li, Ji, Bao, Junwei, Lu, Weiyu Wendy
• Primary Examiner(s): Myers, Paul R.
• Application Number:
  US15/019,822
• Publication Number:
  US 20170228339A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,015 Days
• Field of Search: 43960729
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/185 Mounting of expansion boards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/102 where the programme performs an interfacing function, e.g. device driver G06F13/105 takes precedence; scheduling within device drivers G06F9/52; contention policies within device drivers G06F9/4881
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/20 for access to input/output bus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4081 Live connection to bus, e.g. hot-plugging current or voltage limitation during live insertion H02H9/004
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4282 on a serial bus, e.g. I2C bus, SPI bus on daisy chain buses G06F13/4247

Abstract

An IO subsystem chassis includes IO modules and IO slots to receive the IO modules inserted from a frontend of a housing, a baseboard disposed within the housing, the baseboard including first connectors corresponding to the IO slots to receive and connect the IO modules. Each of the IO modules can be coupled a server via the backend panel using a cable. Each IO module includes an IO card having a peripheral device mounted thereon and a card holder having a first receiving socket to receive and hold the IO card plugged in vertically and downwardly. The card holder further includes a second connector to engage with or disengage from a corresponding one of the first connectors of the baseboard horizontally, when the IO module is inserted into or removed from a corresponding IO slot from the frontend, without having to removing the housing.

Claims

1. An input and output (IO) subsystem chassis, comprising:

a plurality of IO modules;

a housing having a frontend and a backend, the housing including a plurality of IO slots to receive the plurality of IO modules inserted from the frontend of the housing; and

a baseboard disposed within the housing, the baseboard including a plurality of first connectors corresponding to the IO slots to receive and connect the plurality of IO modules, wherein each of the IO modules can be coupled to one of a plurality of servers via the backend panel using a cable,

wherein each of the IO modules comprises

an IO card having a peripheral device mounted thereon,

a card holder including

a printed circuit board (PCB),

a first receiving socket disposed perpendicularly on a surface of the PCB to receive and hold the IO card plugged in vertically and downwardly with respect to the surface of the PCB and the baseboard,

a second connector disposed on a backend edge of the PCB parallel with the surface of the PCB to engage with or disengage from a corresponding one of the first connectors of the baseboard horizontally with respect to the surface of the PCB and the baseboard, when the IO module is inserted into or removed from a corresponding IO slot from the frontend, without having to remove the housing, and

wherein the IO subsystem chassis and a server chassis housing the plurality of servers are disposed within an electronic rack.

2. The IO subsystem chassis of claim 1, wherein the IO card is inserted into or removed from the first receiving socket of the card holder vertically, and wherein the IO module having the IO card and the card holder mounted therein is inserted into or removed from the baseboard horizontally via the frontend of the housing and without removing the housing.

3. The IO subsystem chassis of claim 1, wherein the PCB includes circuitry to convert electrical signals between the first receiving socket and the second connector according to a signaling protocol associated with the peripheral device.

4. The IO subsystem chassis of claim 3, wherein the card holder further comprises an L-shape metal frame having a vertical section and a horizontal section, wherein the PCB having the first receiving socket mounted thereon is mounted onto the horizontal section, and wherein the IO card is inserted into the first receiving socket of the horizontal section and mounted onto the vertical section of the L-shape frame.

5. The IO subsystem chassis of claim 4, wherein the card holder further comprises a holder board mounted on the vertical section of the L-shape metal frame to provide protection to the IO card.

6. The IO subsystem chassis of claim 4, wherein the card holder further comprises a plurality of non-conductive stands disposed between the PCB and the horizontal section of the L-shape metal frame, such that the PCB is mounted onto the horizontal section of the L-shape metal frame without short circuit.

7. The IO subsystem chassis of claim 1, wherein the baseboard further includes a plurality of third connectors corresponding to the plurality of first connectors, and wherein each of the third connectors is capable of receiving a cable to connect a corresponding IO module to one of a plurality of server blades of a server chassis representing the plurality of servers.

8. The IO subsystem chassis of claim 7, wherein the baseboard further includes a printed circuit board (PCB) having circuitry to convert electrical signals between the first connectors and the third connectors according to a signaling protocol associated with the peripheral devices mounted on the IO cards.

9. The IO subsystem chassis of claim 7, further comprising one or more cooling fans mounted on the backend of the housing to provide cooling to the IO modules inserted into the hosing.

10. The IO subsystem chassis of claim 9, wherein the baseboard is mounted on a bottom of the housing in a horizontal orientation while the IO modules are positioned vertically within the housing, such that the baseboard does not significantly block a cooling air flow provided by the cooling fans.

11. The IO subsystem chassis of claim 7, wherein the housing further comprises a cable runway extended between the backend and frontend of the housing, wherein the cable runway allows a plurality of cables coupled to the third connectors of the baseboard to reach the frontend of the housing in order to connect with the server blades of the server chassis from the frontend of the housing.

12. The IO subsystem chassis of claim 11, wherein the IO subsystem chassis and the server chassis are mounted within an electronic rack, and wherein one or more of the IO modules can be coupled to any one of the server blades using a cable extended from the baseboard.

13. The IO subsystem chassis of claim 1, wherein a peripheral device of each IO card comprises a peripheral component interface (PCI) express (PCIe) compatible device, wherein each of the server blades includes at least one of a PCIe hub device or a PCTe root complex device to allow one or more PCIe compatible devices of the IO modules to be coupled to the server blade.

14. The IO subsystem chassis of claim 13, wherein the first receiving socket is compatible with a PCIe specification with at least one of 1 PCIe lane, 4 PCIe lanes, 8 PCIe lanes, or 16 PCIe lanes.

15. An electronic rack, comprising:

a server chassis having a plurality of server blades, each server blade including one or more processors and a memory, wherein each server blade represents a server; and

an input and output (IO) subsystem chassis, wherein the IO subsystem chassis comprises

a plurality of IO modules,

a housing having a frontend and a backend, the housing including a plurality of IO slots to receive the plurality of IO modules inserted from the frontend of the housing, and

a baseboard disposed within the housing, the baseboard including a plurality of first connectors corresponding to the IO slots to receive and connect the plurality of IO modules, wherein each of the IO modules can be coupled one of the server blades of the server chassis via the backend panel using a cable,

wherein each of the IO modules comprises

an IO card having a peripheral device mounted thereon, and

a card holder including

a printed circuit board (PCB),

a first receiving socket disposed perpendicularly on a surface of the PCB to receive and hold the IO card plugged in vertically and downwardly with respect to the surface of the PCB and the baseboard,

a second connector disposed on a backend edge of the PCB parallel with the surface of the PCB to engage with or disengage from a corresponding one of the first connectors of the baseboard horizontally with respect to the surface of the PCB and the baseboard, when the IO module is inserted into or removed from a corresponding IO slot from the frontend, without having to remove the housing.

16. The electronic rack of claim 15, wherein the IO card is inserted into or removed from the first receiving socket of the card holder vertically, and wherein the IO module having the IO card and the card holder mounted therein is inserted into or removed from the baseboard horizontally via the frontend of the housing and without removing the housing.

17. The electronic rack of claim 15, wherein the PCB includes circuitry to convert electrical signals between the first receiving socket and the second connector according to a signaling protocol associated with the peripheral device.

18. The electronic rack of claim 17, wherein the card holder further comprises an L-shape metal frame having a vertical section and a horizontal section, wherein the PCB having the first receiving socket mounted thereon is mounted onto the horizontal section, and wherein the IO card is inserted into the first receiving socket of the horizontal section and mounted onto the vertical section of the L-shape frame.

19. The electronic rack of claim 18, wherein the card holder further comprises a holder board mounted on the vertical section of the L-shape metal frame to provide protection to the IO card.

20. The electronic rack of claim 18, wherein the card holder further comprises a plurality of non-conductive stands disposed between the PCB and the horizontal section of the L-shape metal frame, such that the PCB is mounted onto the horizontal section of the L-shape metal frame without short circuit.

21. The electronic rack of claim 15, wherein the baseboard further includes a plurality of third connectors corresponding to the plurality of first connectors, and wherein each of the third connectors is capable of receiving a cable to connect a corresponding IO module to one of the server blades of the server chassis representing a plurality of servers.

22. The electronic rack of claim 21, wherein the baseboard further includes a printed circuit board (PCB) having circuitry to convert electrical signals between the first connectors and the third connectors according to a signaling protocol associated with the peripheral devices mounted on the IO cards.

23. The electronic rack of claim 21, wherein the IO subsystem chassis further comprises one or more cooling fans mounted on the backend of the housing to provide cooling to the IO modules inserted into the hosing.

24. The electronic rack of claim 23, wherein the baseboard is mounted on a bottom of the housing in a horizontal orientation while the IO modules are positioned vertically within the housing, such that the baseboard does not significantly block a cooling air flow provided by the cooling fans.

25. The electronic rack of claim 21, wherein the housing further comprises a cable runway extended between the backend and frontend of the housing, wherein the cable runway allows a plurality of cables coupled to the third connectors of the baseboard to reach the frontend of the housing in order to connect with the server blades of the server chassis from the frontend of the housing.

26. The electronic rack of claim 25, wherein the IO subsystem chassis and the server chassis are mounted within an electronic rack, and wherein one or more of the IO modules can be coupled to any one of the server blades using a cable extended from the baseboard.

27. An input and output (IO) module to be inserted into an IO subsystem chassis, the IO module comprising:

an IO card having a peripheral device mounted thereon; and

a card holder including

a printed circuit board (PCB),

a first connector disposed perpendicularly on a surface of the PCB as a receiving socket to receive and hold the IO card plugged in vertically and downwardly with respect to the surface of the PCB and the baseboard, and

a second connector disposed on a backend edge of the PCB parallel with the surface of the PCB to horizontally with respect to the surface of the PCB and the baseboard, engage with or disengage from a third connector disposed on a baseboard of an IO subsystem chassis, when the IO module is inserted into or removed from one of a plurality of IO slots from a frontend of the IO subsystem chassis, without having to remove a housing that houses a plurality of IO modules therein,

wherein the IO subsystem chassis is disposed within an electronic rack having a server chassis coupled to the IO modules of the IO subsystem chassis using cables, wherein the sever chassis includes a plurality of server blades, each representing a server, and

wherein the IO module is one of a plurality of IO modules each coupled to one of the plurality of server blades.

28. The IO module of claim 27, wherein the IO card is inserted into or removed from the first receiving socket of the card holder vertically, and wherein the IO module having the IO card and the card holder mounted therein is inserted into or removed from the baseboard horizontally via the frontend of the housing and without removing the housing of the IO subsystem chassis.

29. The IO module of claim 27, wherein the PCB includes circuitry to convert electrical signals between the first connector socket and the second connector according to a signaling protocol associated with the peripheral device.

30. The IO module of claim 29, wherein the card holder further comprises an L-shape metal frame having a vertical section and a horizontal section, wherein the PCB having the first receiving socket mounted thereon is mounted onto the horizontal section, and wherein the IO card is inserted into the first receiving socket of the horizontal section and mounted onto the vertical section of the L-shape frame.

31. The IO module of claim 30, wherein the card holder further comprises a holder board mounted on the vertical section of the L-shape metal frame to provide protection to the IO card.

32. The IO module of claim 30, wherein the card holder further comprises a plurality of non-conductive stands disposed between the PCB and the horizontal section of the L-shape metal frame, such that the PCB is mounted onto the horizontal section of the L-shape metal frame without short circuit.