Mobile data center

• US 10,660,232 B1
• Filed: 11/01/2019
• Issued: 05/19/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Arnouse Digital Devices Corporation
• Original Assignee: Arnouse Digital Devices Corporation
• Inventors: Arnouse, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Dinh, Tuan T
• Application Number:
  US16/671,751
• Publication Number:
  US 20200137916A1
• Time in Patent Office: 200 Days
• Field of Search: 361679, 361788, 361801-802, 455410-420, 4555561-5562
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1628 Carrying enclosures containing additional elements, e.g. case for a laptop and a printer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1423 by reconfiguration of paths
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2023 Failover techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/1488 Cabinets therefor, e.g. chassis or racks or mechanical interfaces between blades and support structures
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/1489 characterized by the mounting of blades therein, e.g. brackets, rails, trays H05K7/1491 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/1492 having electrical distribution arrangements, e.g. power supply or data communications
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20709 for server racks or cabinets; for data centers, e.g. 19-inch computer racks
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20736 within cabinets for removing heat from server blades
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 9/0007 Casings standardised racks H05K9/0062

Abstract

A portable and mobile deployable data center (DDC) is disclosed, which includes various components that enables the DDC to have multiple functions including, computing, data storage and retrieval, communications and routing. A DDC includes a rugged case that suitable for harsh environments, an interconnection mechanism, a plurality of hot swappable readers, a plurality of hot swappable portable computing devices, and a plurality of hot swappable power supplies.

Claims

1. A readily mobile deployable data center (DDC), the mobile DDC comprising:

a carrying case comprising a first portion and a second portion having open and closed states;

an interconnection mechanism removably disposed within the second portion of the carrying case, the interconnection mechanism comprising one or more connectors and a region, the region defining an opening and at least two sidewalls;

a rack;

a backplane coupled to the rack;

a plurality of computing assemblies, each of said computing assemblies removably disposed within said rack; and

at least one power supply disposed on the interconnection mechanism and electronically coupled via the one or more connectors of the interconnection mechanism to said plurality of computing assemblies,

wherein;

the rack is removably disposed within the region of the interconnection mechanism via the opening, such that the plurality of computing assemblies are electrically coupled to the one or more connectors via the backplane,

said plurality of computing assemblies are removed collectively from said carrying case by removal of said rack from said region of the interconnection mechanism,

the interconnection mechanism, the rack and the plurality of computing assemblies being contained in the carrying case for transportation when the first portion and the second portion of the carrying case are in the closed state,

the plurality of computing assemblies being accessible when the first portion and the second portion of the carrying case are in the open state,

one or more of the interconnection mechanism, the rack, and one or more of said plurality of computing assemblies being removable from the carrying case in the open state, and

the first portion and the second portion are coupled to each other by a latch.

2. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 1, wherein, in addition to said plurality of computing assemblies, at least one reader is disposed in said carrying case, said at least one reader providing a slot having at least one connector disposed therein.

3. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of computing assemblies each comprises a reader and a portable computing device, and said reader and said portable computing device being interconnected and coplanar.

4. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 1, wherein said interconnection mechanism includes a plurality of sidewalls and wherein a plurality of interfaces are disposed in at least one of said plurality of sidewalls.

5. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 1, wherein said carrying case is protected from ingression by liquids and dust.

6. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 1, wherein said carrying case protects each of said plurality of computing assemblies from at least one of dust, shock, water, condensation, and electromagnetic interference.

7. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 1, wherein the readily mobile DDC is one or more of a computer cluster, a data storage and retrieval system, a communications router, and a resource server.

8. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 1, further including a mass storage device, wherein said mass storage device is removably coupled to at least one of said plurality of computing assemblies.

9. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 1, wherein access to the readily mobile DDC is securely controlled by authentication methods including at least one of a password, a fob token entry, a subscriber identity module (SIM) Card, a Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet) token, a common access card (CAC), an electronic token, an ignition key, and a biometric.

10. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 1, further including a display device, wherein said display device is electronically coupled to at least one of said plurality of computing assemblies.

11. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 1, wherein said carrying case further comprises wheels.

12. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 1, wherein at least one reader is disposed in said second portion of said carrying case.

13. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 1, wherein the interconnection mechanism is disposed in an inner portion of the carrying case, and the plurality of computing assemblies are arranged in the rack and disposed in the carrying case such that the plurality of computing assemblies extend from and are perpendicular to the inner portion.

14. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 1, further comprising a display device disposed on the first portion of the carrying case and electronically coupled to the plurality of computing assemblies.

15. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of computing assemblies comprises at least one input device and at least one output device.

16. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 1, wherein the carrying case is transportable by hand by a single person.

17. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 1, wherein the at least one power supply is removably disposed on the interconnection mechanism.

18. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 2, further including a portable computing device having a processor and removably coupled to said at least one connector, said portable computing device being disposed, when coupled to said at least one connecter, within said slot so as to have a major plane of said portable computing device parallel to a major plane of said at least one reader.

19. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 4, wherein a power connector is disposed in said plurality of sidewalls.

20. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 13, wherein the plurality of computing assemblies are arranged perpendicular to the backplane and coupled to the one or more connectors.

21. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 15, wherein at least one of the at least one input device and the at least one output device includes at least one of a keyboard, a keypad, a camera, a touch screen, a microphone, a personal digital assistant, a video recorder, a monitor, a display and a speaker.

22. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 19, wherein said interconnection mechanism includes a cooling fan in at least one of said plurality of sidewalls.

23. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 20, wherein one or more of the computing assemblies comprises one or more interfaces accessible via an opening in said carrying case.

24. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 20, wherein the carrying case comprises an opening, at least one assembly of the computing assemblies includes one or more indicators disposed along an edge of said at least one assembly, and the at least one assembly arranged in the rack such that the one or more indicators are visible from the opening of the carrying case.

25. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 20, wherein at least one of said plurality of assemblies comprises the reader functionality and the portable computer device functionality on a single device.

26. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 20, wherein at least one of said plurality of assemblies comprises a reader and a portable computing device removably coupled to the reader via a slot connector of the reader, the reader and the portable computing device being arranged in a same geometric plane via a coupling of the slot connector to the portable computing device, such that the reader and the portable computing device are coplanar and are each perpendicular to the backplane.

27. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 22, wherein said interconnection mechanism includes an airflow path, said airflow path including:

directing air into said interconnection mechanism through said cooling fan;

propelling the entering air through said interconnection mechanism;

directing the air around each of said plurality of computing assemblies; and

driving the air out of said interconnection mechanism through an opposite side of said interconnection mechanism.

28. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 26, wherein the reader is arranged in the rack such that the reader is coupled to one or more among the one or more connectors.

29. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 26, wherein the portable computing device extends from the rack toward an opening in the carrying case via the slot connector of the reader.

30. The readily mobile DDC according to claim 27, wherein said carrying case includes no additional fan or air movement device except said cooling fan.