Expandable data processing chassis and method of assembly thereof

• US 5,689,406 A
• Filed: 09/06/1996
• Issued: 11/18/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Marconi Communications Technology, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Alantec Corp. (Cornhill Corp. Holdings LLP)
• Inventors: Wood, Samuel F., Wakerly, John F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Picard, Leo P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dinkins, Anthony
• Application Number:
  US08/709,038
• Time in Patent Office: 438 Days
• Field of Search: 361/796, 361/729, 361/752, 361/797, 361/733, 439/61, 439/74, 439/62, 439/75, 439/928, 439/77, 312/108, 312/111, 364/708, 174/50
• US Class Current: 361/796
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/1429 for circuits carrying a CPU and adapted to receive expansion cards
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/1435 Expandable constructions
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/1454 Alignment mechanisms; Drawout cases

Abstract

An expandable data processing chassis and method of assembly of an expandable data processing chassis includes stackable circuit board housings and a central circuit board housing. The stackable circuit board housings and the central housing each have a rigid interlockable stabilizing frame plate to maintain mechanical tolerances as stackable circuit board housings are added to the stack. Each of the circuit board housings also has an associated backplane for coupling the circuit boards received in each housing to each other and to the central housing. The backplanes also extend to a power backplane for supplying power to the circuit boards received in the expandable data processing chassis.

Claims

1. An expandable chassis for receiving a plurality of circuit boards in a plurality of circuit board slots including a central slot and having a plurality of connector positions for each slot, the connector positions being aligned in columns including a central column, comprising:

a circuit board housing having a plurality of circuit board slots; and

a plurality of backplanes mounted to the chassis, each backplane having;

a first connector aligned in the central slot and aligned in any one of the column positions;

a second connector aligned in the central column and aligned in a slot other than the central slot and;

a bus electrically coupling the first connector and the second connector.

2. The expandable chassis of claim 1 wherein at least one backplane further comprises:

a third connector aligned with a first slot;

a fourth connector aligned with a second slot; and

a local bus coupling the third and fourth connectors.

3. The expandable chassis of claim 1 further comprising:

at least one power module adapted to house at least one power supply wherein the power module is coupled to at least one backplane by a power backplane.

4. The expandable chassis of claim 1 wherein the circuit board housing comprises:

first and second stackable circuit board housings;

a first frame plate mounted to the first stackable housing; and

a second frame plate mounted to the second circuit board housing and interlocked with the first frame plate.

6. The expandable chassis of claim 4 wherein the backplane further comprises third and fourth connectors, each aligned with a different slot and not aligned with the central column and a private bus coupling the third and fourth connectors.

5. An expandable chassis for receiving a plurality of circuit boards in a plurality of circuit board slots including a central slot and having a plurality of connector positions for each slot, the connector positions being aligned in columns including a central column, comprising:

a circuit board housing having a plurality of circuit board slots; and

a backplane mounted to the chassis, the backplane having;

a first plurality of connectors aligned with the central slot;

a second plurality of connectors aligned with the central column; and

a plurality of central buses each electrically coupling a connector of the first plurality of connectors to a connector of the second plurality of connector.

7. The expandable chassis of claim 5 further comprising:

at least one power module adapted to house at least one power supply wherein the power module is coupled to at least one backplane by a power backplane.

8. The expandable chassis of claim 5 wherein the circuit board housing comprises:

first and second stackable circuit board housings;

a first frame plate mounted to the first stackable housing; and

a second frame plate mounted to the second stackable housing and interlocked with the first frame plate.

9. A method for distributing electrical signals in an expandable chassis having a plurality of circuit board slots including a central slot, each slot defining a row and having a planar backplane having a plurality of columnarly aligned connectors associated with the plurality of slots, the method comprising:

coupling each of a plurality of connectors aligned with the central slot to a respective connector aligned with another slot to form a coupled connector pair and wherein each of the respective connectors is aligned in a common column.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein each connector pair is coupled by a bus formed on the planar backplane.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising coupling the backplane to a power unit using a power backplane.

12. An expandable data processing system comprising:

a plurality of stackable communication shelves each mounted on an adjacent stackable communication shelf by a mechanical attachment mechanism to form a fixed stack of communication shelves, wherein the plurality of stackable communication shelves comprise;

a plurality of processing modules each having at least one first electrical connector, said first electrical connectors being planarly aligned; and

one or more central communication modules having a plurality aligned second electrical connectors; and

a plurality of planar backplanes, each associated with and mounted to one or more of the plurality of stackable communication shelves, each planar backplane having a complementary connector for each electrical connector of each associated stackable communication shelf; and

wherein;

each processing module is coupled by said first electrical connectors to only one of said plurality of planar backplanes; and

each central communication module is coupled by said second electrical connectors to each of said plurality of planar backplanes.

13. The expandable data processing system of claim 12 in which the plurality of planar backplanes comprises:

a base backplane associated with and mounted to one or more shelves at the bottom of the fixed stack of communications shelves; and

an expansion backplane associated with and mounted to one or more shelves at the top of the fixed stack of communication shelves and which is also associated with and mounted to the topmost of the one or more shelves at the bottom of the fixed stack of communication shelves.

14. The expandable data processing system of claim 13 in which the one or more central communication modules are installed at the topmost position of the topmost shelf associated with the base backplane.

15. The expandable data processing system of claim 13 in which the plurality of planar backplanes comprises a plurality of base backplanes, such that base backplanes and the expansion backplane can be used in different combinations to create a family of system with different configurations.

16. The expandable data processing system of claim 13 in which the plurality of planar backplanes comprises a plurality of expansion backplanes, such that base backplane and the expansion backplanes can be used in different combinations to create a family of systems with different configurations.

17. The expandable data processing system of claim 13 in which the plurality of planar backplanes comprises a plurality of base backplanes and a plurality of expansion backplanes, such that base backplanes and the expansion backplanes can be used in different combinations to create a family of systems with different configurations.