MULTIPLE PINS OF DIFFERENT LENGTHS CORRESPONDING TO DIFFERENT DATA SIGNALING RATES

• US 20170244198A1
• Filed: 03/04/2015
• Published: 08/24/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Inventors: WANNER, Christopher C.
• Granted Patent: US 10,063,011 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/04 Pins or blades for co-operation with sockets
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/641 by indicating incorrect coupling; by indicating correct or full engagement
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6474 by variation of conductive properties, e.g. by dimension variations
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6691 with built-in signalling means H01R13/717 takes precedence

Abstract

Examples disclose an electrical connector comprising a first pin and a second pin. Each pin has a different length corresponding to a different data signaling rate.

Claims

1. An electrical connector comprising:

a first pin; and

a second pin, each pin having a different length corresponding to a different data signaling rate.

2. The electrical connector of claim 1 wherein a shorter pin length among the first pin and the second pin corresponds to a higher data signaling rate.

3. The electrical connector of claim 1 comprising:

a third pin, longer in length than the first pin and the second pin, to deliver data signals.

4. The electrical connector of claim 1 comprising:

a controller to receive a signal when the first pin and the second pin are partially mated to multiple contacts, the signal verifies a capability of the electrical connector to support at least one of the different data signaling rates.

5. The electrical connector of claim 1 comprising:

multiple contacts, coupled to the first pin and the second pin, wherein upon a disconnection of one of the pins to a contact indicates a slower data signaling rate between the different data signaling rates.

6. A method comprising:

coupling multiple contacts to multiple pins in a connector, each of the multiple pins are a different length corresponding to a different signaling rate; and

detecting a data signaling rate based on which multiple pins couple to the multiple contacts.

8. The method of claim 6 comprising:

determining a quality of the coupling between the multiple pins and the multiple contacts based on a signal, the quality indicative of amount of de-mate space between the multiple pins and the multiple contacts.

9. The method of claim 6 comprising:

verifying whether the connector is capable of handling the different data signaling rates corresponding to the multiple pins.

10. The method of claim 6 wherein a shortest pin length among the multiple pins corresponds to a higher data signaling rate and a longer pin length among the multiple pins corresponds to a lower data rate.

7. The method of claim couple to the 6 wherein detecting the data signaling rate based on which multiple pins couple to the multiple contacts comprises:

receiving a signal indicating an amount of de-mate between the multiple pins and the multiple contacts; and

determining if a connector is capable of supporting the different data signaling rates based on the received signal.

11. An electrical apparatus comprising:

a male portion of an electrical connector comprising;

multiple pins of different lengths, each length corresponding to a different data signaling rate; and

a female portion of the electrical connector comprising;

multiple contacts to connect to the multiple pins in the header portion, wherein the connection between each of the multiple contacts to each of the multiple pins indicates which data signaling rate is supported by the electrical connector.

12. The electrical apparatus of claim 11 comprising:

a mid-plane to support the male portion of the electrical connector; and

a server blade to support the female portion of the electrical connector.

13. The electrical apparatus of claim 11 comprising:

a controller, coupled to the female portion of the electrical connector, to receive a low signal upon the first pin and the second pin being fully mated to the multiple contacts.

14. The electrical apparatus of claim 11 comprising:

a controller, coupled to the female portion of the electrical connector, to receive a high impedance signal upon an amount of de-mate space between the multiple pins and the multiple contacts.

15. The electrical apparatus of claim 11 wherein a shortest pin length among the multiple pins corresponds to a highest data signaling rate.