Hot Swappable Computer Card Carrier

• US 20100254100A1
• Filed: 04/01/2009
• Published: 10/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jpmorgan Chase Bank NA As The Agent
• Original Assignee: Fusion-IO Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Kim, Daehwan, Malwankar, Kiron
• Granted Patent: US 8,199,511 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 361/752
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/1461 Slidable card holders; Card stiffeners; Control or display means therefor

Abstract

Embodiments are described including a device comprising a carrier frame. The device includes a first connector on a first side of the carrier frame, and the first connector connects to a host system when the carrier frame is inserted into the host system. The device includes a second connector on a second side of the carrier frame, where the second side of the carrier frame is perpendicular to the first side. The second connector electrically couples to the first connector and connects to an input/output (I/O) adapter card inserted into a third side of the carrier frame, where the third side perpendicular to the first side. Consequently, the device has a flat structure that receives an adapter card and reorients the electrical connection of the adapter card. The device includes external visual status indicators and a switch for hot-swapping of the adapter card carrier in a running host system.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a chassis having an opening on a side;

a riser board perpendicularly mounted to the chassis and including a straight connector for receiving an adapter card carrier; and

a carrier housing having a rectangular shape including a front side, a back side, and two parallel sidewalls, wherein the front side includes an opening for accepting the adapter card carrier, wherein each of the two parallel sidewalls includes a flange for mechanically coupling the carrier housing to the chassis and a guide rail to horizontally receive the adapter card carrier, wherein the opening receives the carrier housing including the adapter card carrier and the adapter card carrier connects to the straight connector.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the riser board is a mid-plane riser board positioned in a middle region of the chassis.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the mid-plane riser board includes a second straight connector, the second straight connector receiving a motherboard.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein a first side of the mid-plane riser board includes the straight connector.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the first side of the mid-plane riser board includes the second straight connector.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein a second side of the mid-plane riser board includes the second straight connector.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the riser board is a back-plane riser board positioned in an end region of the chassis, the end region opposite the opening.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein a first side of the back-plane riser board includes the straight connector.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the back-plane riser board includes a second straight connector, the second straight connector receiving a motherboard.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the carrier housing has a horizontal orientation relative to a bottom of the chassis when the adapter card carrier in the carrier housing is connected to the straight connector.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the carrier housing has a vertical orientation relative to a bottom of the chassis when the adapter card carrier in the carrier housing is connected to the straight connector.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the riser board includes a third straight connector, wherein the third straight connector receives a second adapter card carrier.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the carrier housing accepts two adapter card carriers.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the riser board comprises a plurality of straight connectors.

15. The system of claim 14, comprising a plurality of carrier housings and a plurality of adapter card carriers, wherein each carrier housing accepts two adapter card carriers, wherein the opening receives the plurality of carrier housings including the plurality of adapter card carriers, and the plurality of adapter card carriers couple to the plurality of straight connectors.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the adapter card carrier comprises:

a carrier frame;

a first connector on a first side of the carrier frame, the first connector connecting to the straight connector when the carrier frame is inserted into the carrier housing; and

a second connector on a second side of the carrier frame, the second side of the carrier frame perpendicular to the first side, the second connector electrically coupled to the first connector and connecting to an adapter card inserted into a third side of the carrier frame, the third side perpendicular to the first side.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the second connector is horizontally positioned so the adapter card has a flat orientation relative to the carrier frame when the adapter card is connected to the second connector.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the carrier frame is inserted into the carrier housing along a first direction, the first direction toward an interior portion of the carrier housing, wherein the adapter card is inserted into the carrier frame along a second direction, the second direction oriented approximately normal to the first direction.

19. The system of claim 16, comprising a circuit board mounted to the carrier frame, wherein the first connector and the second connector are mounted to the circuit board.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the adapter card carrier is formed by the circuit board mounted on the carrier frame and the adapter card secured into the carrier frame.

21. The system of claim 16, comprising a signal conditioner circuit coupled between the first connector and the second connector.

22. The system of claim 21, comprising a circuit board mounted to the carrier frame, wherein the signal conditioner circuit is an application-specific integrated circuit on the circuit board.

23. The system of claim 16, comprising at least one visual indicator configured to indicate a power state and an operational status of the adapter card.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the at least one visual indicator faces in a direction external to the host system.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the at least one visual indicator is one of a uni-color light emitting diode (LED), a bi-color LED, and a tri-color LED.

26. The system of claim 23, comprising a circuit board mounted to the carrier frame, wherein the at least one visual indicator is carried on the circuit board.

27. The system of claim 16, comprising a switch adapted for hot-swapping the adapter card, wherein hot-swapping comprises at least one of inserting and removing the adapter card while the host system is operating.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the switch faces in a direction external to the host system.

29. The system of claim 16, wherein the third side of the carrier frame is coupled to the first side with a hinge, wherein the third side is placed in an open position by rotating the third side around the hinge.

30. The system of claim 29, comprising a latch that secures the third side of the carrier frame in a closed position, wherein the closed position secures the adapter card in the carrier frame.

31. The system of claim 16, wherein the adapter card is compliant to a standard form factor specified by PCI-SIG.

32. The system of claim 16, wherein the carrier housing is mounted in one of a 1U system chassis, a 4U system chassis, and a 5U system chassis.

33. A system comprising:

a chassis;

a riser board perpendicularly mounted to the chassis and including at least one straight connector for receiving at least one adapter card carrier; and

a carrier housing having a rectangular shape including a front side, a back side, and two parallel sidewalls, wherein the front side includes an opening for accepting the adapter card carrier, wherein each of the two parallel sidewalls includes a flange disposed outwardly at the bottom for mechanically coupling the carrier housing to the chassis, and a guide rail configured to horizontally receive the adapter card carrier, wherein the back side includes an opening providing access to the straight connector.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the adapter card carrier comprises:

a carrier frame;

a first connector on a first side of the carrier frame, the first connector connecting to the at least one straight connector when the carrier frame is inserted into the carrier housing; and

a second connector on a second side of the carrier frame, the second side of the carrier frame perpendicular to the first side, the second connector electrically coupled to the first connector and connecting to an adapter card inserted into a third side of the carrier frame, the third side perpendicular to the first side.

35. The system of claim 34, comprising a plurality of carrier housings, wherein each carrier housing includes a plurality of adapter card carriers, wherein each adapter card carrier includes at least one adapter card that couples to the at least one straight connector.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the plurality of carrier housings has a horizontal orientation relative to the chassis.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein the plurality of carrier housings has a vertical orientation relative to the chassis.

38. A method comprising:

forming an adapter card carrier by inserting an adapter card along a first direction into a carrier frame, wherein contacts of the adapter card connect to a first connector of the carrier frame; and

inserting the adapter card carrier into a carrier housing of a host system along a second direction, wherein a second connector of the carrier frame connects to a straight connector of a riser board mounted to a chassis of the host system, wherein the second connector is coupled to the first connector, wherein the second direction is toward an interior portion of the host system and is oriented approximately normal to the first direction.

39. The method of claim 38, comprising forming the carrier housing to have a rectangular shape including a front side, a back side, and two parallel sidewalls, wherein the front side includes an opening for accepting the adapter card carrier, wherein each of the two parallel sidewalls includes a flange for mechanically coupling the carrier housing to the chassis and a guide rail to horizontally receive the adapter card carrier.

40. The method of claim 39, comprising forming the back side to include an opening providing access to the at least one straight connector of the riser board.

41. The method of claim 38, comprising forming the carrier housing to accept two adapter card carriers positioned horizontally adjacent each other.

42. The method of claim 41, comprising forming the first side of the riser board to include a second straight connector for receiving a second adapter card carrier.

43. The method of claim 38, wherein forming the adapter card carrier comprises orienting the first connector horizontally so the adapter card has a flat orientation relative to the carrier frame when the adapter card is connected to the first connector.

44. The method of claim 38, comprising coupling the second connector to the first connector using traces of a circuit board mounted to the carrier frame.

45. The method of claim 38, comprising conditioning signals transferred between the first connector and the second connector.

46. The method of claim 38, comprising providing a visual indication of at least one of a power state and an operational status of the adapter card.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the visual indication faces in a direction external to the host system.

48. The method of claim 38, wherein the inserting of the adapter card carrier into the host system is performed while the host system is operating.

49. The method of claim 38, comprising removing the adapter card carrier from the host system by sliding the adapter card carrier along the second direction.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the removing of the adapter card carrier from the host system is performed while the host system is operating.

51. The method of claim 38, comprising inserting the carrier housing into a chassis of the host system such that the second connector of the carrier frame connects to the straight connector of the riser board.

52. The method of claim 51, comprising positioning the riser board so a first side of the riser board faces the carrier housing and a second side of riser board faces a motherboard of the host system.

53. The method of claim 51, comprising positioning the riser board so a first side of the riser board faces the carrier housing and a motherboard of the host system.

54. The method of claim 51, comprising orienting the carrier housing horizontally relative to a bottom of the chassis when the adapter card carrier in the carrier housing is connected to the straight connector.

55. The method of claim 51, comprising orienting the carrier housing vertically relative to a bottom of the chassis when the adapter card carrier in the carrier housing is connected to the straight connector.

56. The method of claim 51, comprising inserting a plurality of carrier housings into the chassis, wherein each carrier housing includes a plurality of adapter card carriers, wherein each adapter card carrier includes at least one adapter card that couples to at least one straight connector of the riser board.