Chip chassis including a micro-backplane for receiving and connecting a plurality of computer chips
First Claim
1. A chip chassis for housing a plurality of semiconductor devices having electrical contacts, the chip chassis comprising:
- a housing, wherein the housing includes a plurality of slots, wherein each of the plurality of slots is configured to receive a particular type of semiconductor device;
wherein the housing further comprises a plurality of connectors comprised in each of the slots, wherein each of the plurality of connectors within a respective slot of the housing is configured to physically and electrically contact corresponding electrical contacts of the package of the particular type of semiconductor device when the particular type of semiconductor device is inserted within the respective slot;
wherein the housing includes signal traces defining an electrical backplane;
wherein each of the plurality of connectors comprised in each of the slots includes an internal bus connector, wherein said internal bus connectors are electrically coupled through the electrical backplane to provide command pathways and data pathways among only the semiconductor devices placed within the housing;
wherein each of the plurality of connectors comprised in each of the slots is electrically coupled through the electrical backplane within the housing for electrical communications between each of the slots.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A chip chassis comprises a housing for enclosing a plurality of semiconductor devices having electrical contacts. The housing is configured to include a plurality of slots each adapted for receiving a semiconductor device. The housing further comprises a plurality of connectors in each of the slots. Each connector within a respective slot of the housing is adapted to electrically contact corresponding electrical contacts of the semiconductor device when the semiconductor device is inserted within the respective slot. Each of the plurality of connectors in each of the slots is electrically coupled to provide an electrical backplane within the housing for electrical communications between each of the slots. The housing may be configured to couple thermally with a heat sink and provide access for a flow-through of a forced coolant. The slots may be adapted to receive a particular type of semiconductor device. Moreover, the connectors comprised in a particular slot may be configured for electrically contacting corresponding electrical contacts on the particular type of semiconductor device designed for the corresponding slot when that particular type of semiconductor device is inserted within the slot. The particular types of semiconductor devices which may be housed in the chip chassis include processors, memories, or I/O control modules. Some slots may be configured for the semiconductor devices to access external data storage devices for the storage and retrieval of data. The chip chassis may also include one or more of the semiconductor devices configured to be housed in the slots of the housing.
113 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A chip chassis for housing a plurality of semiconductor devices having electrical contacts, the chip chassis comprising:
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a housing, wherein the housing includes a plurality of slots, wherein each of the plurality of slots is configured to receive a particular type of semiconductor device; wherein the housing further comprises a plurality of connectors comprised in each of the slots, wherein each of the plurality of connectors within a respective slot of the housing is configured to physically and electrically contact corresponding electrical contacts of the package of the particular type of semiconductor device when the particular type of semiconductor device is inserted within the respective slot; wherein the housing includes signal traces defining an electrical backplane; wherein each of the plurality of connectors comprised in each of the slots includes an internal bus connector, wherein said internal bus connectors are electrically coupled through the electrical backplane to provide command pathways and data pathways among only the semiconductor devices placed within the housing; wherein each of the plurality of connectors comprised in each of the slots is electrically coupled through the electrical backplane within the housing for electrical communications between each of the slots. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A chip chassis for housing a plurality of semiconductor devices, the chip chassis comprising:
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a housing, wherein the housing includes a plurality of slots, wherein each of the plurality of slots is configured to receive a particular type of semiconductor device, wherein the housing further includes a plurality of connectors comprised in each of the slots, wherein each of the plurality of connectors is configured to physically and electrically contact corresponding electrical contacts of the particular type of semiconductor device when the particular type of semiconductor device is inserted within a respective slot of the housing; wherein each of the plurality of connectors comprised in each of the slots is electrically coupled to provide an electrical backplane within the housing for electrical communications between each of the slots and between each of the slots and the outside wall; and one or more of the particular type of semiconductor device configured to be housed in one or more slots of the housing, wherein each of the one or more particular type of semiconductor device includes electrical contacts configured to physically and electrically contact the electrical connectors comprised in the respective slot when the particular type of semiconductor device is inserted in the respective slot; and wherein each of the plurality of slots is configured to receive a particular type of semiconductor device, wherein the plurality of connectors comprised in said each of the plurality of slots are configured for physically and electrically contacting corresponding electrical contacts on the package of the particular type of semiconductor device designed for the corresponding slot when the particular type of semiconductor device is inserted within the corresponding slot of the housing wherein at least two of the plurality of slots have differing physical dimensions, wherein the particular type of semiconductor device that each of the at least two of the plurality of slots is configured to receive also has differing physical dimensions. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A chip chassis for housing a plurality of semiconductor devices having electrical contacts, the chip chassis comprising:
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a housing, wherein the housing includes a plurality of slots, wherein each of the plurality of slots is configured to receiving a semiconductor device, wherein the housing further includes a plurality of connectors comprised in each of the slots, wherein each plurality of connectors within a respective slot of the housing is configured to physically and electrically contact corresponding electrical contacts of the semiconductor device when the semiconductor device is inserted within the respective slot; wherein each of the plurality of connectors comprised in each of the slots is electrically coupled to provide an electrical backplane within the housing for electrical communications between each of the slots; and wherein each of the plurality of slots is configured to receive only a particular type of semiconductor device, wherein the plurality of connectors comprised in said each of the plurality of slots are configured for physically and electrically contacting corresponding electrical contacts on the particular type of semiconductor device designed for the corresponding slot when the particular type of semiconductor device is inserted within the corresponding slot of the housing. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification