Data bus cable having SCSI and IIC bus functionality and process for using the same

• US 6,463,499 B1
• Filed: 10/14/1999
• Issued: 10/08/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Company (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Wakeley, Timothy
• Primary Examiner(s): Myers, Paul R.
• Application Number:
  US09/418,679
• Time in Patent Office: 1,090 Days
• Field of Search: 710/315, 710/11, 710/105, 710/314
• US Class Current: 710/315
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4004 Coupling between buses
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4221 being an input/output bus, e.g. ISA bus, EISA bus, PCI bus, SCSI bus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4282 on a serial bus, e.g. I2C bus, SPI bus on daisy chain buses G06F13/4247

Abstract

The present invention provides a data bus cable that allows the simultaneous transfer of both SCSI and IIC signals over a conventional SCSI bus cable without changing the functionality of the same during the transfer of either signal. More specifically, the present invention utilizes two unused conductive wires of a conventional SCSI bus cable to transfer the desired IIC signals before, during, or after a SCSI signal has been sent. With this invention, a conventional system for handling both SCSI and IIC signals has been simplified to increase efficiency and reduce cost.

Claims

1. An assembly, comprising:

a primary enclosure including a first external connector coupled to;

an IIC controller; and

a SCSI controller;

an expansion enclosure including a second external connector coupled to;

IIC device components; and

SCSI target components; and

a SCSI bus cable coupled between the first and second external connector.

2. The assembly of claim 1, further including a primary buffer circuit coupled between the first external connector and the IIC controller.

3. The assembly of claim 1, further including a secondary buffer circuit coupled between the second external connector and the IIC device components.

4. The assembly of claim 2, further including a low pass filter circuit coupled between the first external connector and the IIC controller.

5. The assembly of claim 3, further including a low pass filter circuit coupled between the second external connector and the IIC device components.

6. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the SCSI bus cable further includes a plurality of conductive wires used only for SCSI bus signal transfer and two additional conductive wires used only for IIC bus signal transfer, wherein the SCSI and IIC bus signal transfers can occur simultaneously.

7. The assembly of claim 1, wherein SCSI target addresses are not utilized to transfer data from the IIC devices to the host system over the SCSI bus.

8. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the SCSI bus cable is a high density bus cable.

9. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the SCSI bus cable is a low density bus cable.

10. The assembly of claim 8, wherein the high density SCSI bus cable can be selected from a 50 or 68 wire cable structure.

11. The assembly of claim 9, wherein the low density SCSI bus cable is a 50 wire cable structure.

12. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the primary enclosure can be selected from the group including a personal computer and a server.

13. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the expansion enclosure is peripheral device.

14. The assembly of claim 13, wherein the peripheral device is selected from the group including disc drive, CD-ROM, and DVD.

15. The assembly of claim 1, where the two additional conductive wires can be any two wire serial bus cable selected from the group including an IIC bus and an SM bus.

16. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the SCSI bus cable provides 2 target address lines for the IIC controller and IIC device components to communicate, and 16 target address lines for the SCSI controller and SCSI target components to communicate.

17. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the SCSI bus cable provides 2 target address lines for the IIC controller and IIC device components to communicate, and 8 target address lines for the SCSI controller and SCSI target components to communicate.

18. A process of manufacturing a system that utilizes a SCSI bus cable having at least two unused conductive wires coupled between a primary and expansion enclosure to simultaneous transfer both SCSI and IIC signal information, comprising:

a) providing the SCSI bus cable having at the least two unused conductive wires that extend between first and second SCSI bus cable connectors;

b) electrically coupling an IIC controller to a SCSI bus connector of the primary enclosure;

c) electrically coupling an IIC device component to a SCSI bus connector of the expansion enclosure;

d) coupling the first SCSI bus cable connector to the SCSI bus connector of the primary enclosure, wherein the at least two unused conductive wires electrically couple to the IIC controller; and

e) coupling the second SCSI bus cable connector to the SCSI bus expansion connector, wherein the at least two unused conductive wires electrically couple to the IIC device component.

19. The process of claim 18, further including:

electrically coupling a first buffer circuit between the SCSI bus connector and the IIC controller of the primary enclosure; and

electrically coupling a second buffer circuit between the SCSI bus connector and the IIC device components of the expansion enclosure.

20. The process of claim 19, further including:

electrically coupling a first low-pass filter circuit between the SCSI bus connector and the first buffer circuit of the primary enclosure; and

electrically coupling a second low-pass filter circuit between the SCSI bus connector and the second IIC buffer circuit of the expansion enclosure.

21. The process of claim 18, further including:

electrically coupling a SCSI controller to the SCSI bus connector of the primary enclosure; and

electrically coupling a SCSI target component to the SCSI bus connector of the expansion enclosure,

wherein the steps of electrically coupling the first and second SCSI bus cable connectors to the SCSI bus primary and expansion connectors further includes electrically coupling the SCSI controller to the SCSI target component.

22. A data bus cable being coupled between a primary and expansion enclosure having IIC and SCSI electronic component electrically coupled to a respective SCSI bus primary and expansion connector, the data bus cable comprising:

a plurality of conductive wires;

a first connector having a plurality of conductive pins, each pin being electrically coupled to one of the plurality of conductive wires at a first end; and

a second connector having a plurality of conductive pins, each pin being electrically coupled to one of the plurality of conductive wires at a second end,

wherein a first portion of the plurality of conductive pins being electrically coupled to the IIC components within the primary and expansion enclosures, and a second portion of the plurality of conductive pins being electrically coupled to the SCSI components within the primary and expansion enclosures.

23. The assembly of claim 22, wherein the first portion of the conductive pins provide 2 target address lines for the IIC components to communicate, and the second portion of conductive pins provide 16 target address lines for the SCSI components to communicate.

24. The assembly of claim 22, wherein the first portion of the conductive pins provide 2 target address lines for the IIC components to communicate, and the second portion of conductive pins provide 8 target address lines for the SCSI components to communicate.