阅读说明：本技术 具有转接卡的正交结构 (Orthogonal structure with adapter card ) 是由 郑凤泉 R·E·圣·杰曼 于 2021-03-12 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种计算系统,包括具有前面和后面的壳体组件、朝向所述壳体组件的前面定位并且包括多个I/O连接器的CPU模块以及朝向所述壳体组件的后面定位的多个I/O模块,其中每个I/O模块包括第二I/O连接器。所述计算系统还包括多个转接卡,每个转接卡具有PCB,该PCB具有相对的侧表面、前边缘、后边缘、顶边缘、底边缘、耦合到所述底边缘的第三I/O连接器以及耦合到所述后边缘的第四I/O连接器。每个转接卡上的第三I/O连接器连接于其中一个第一I/O连接器,并且每个转接卡上的第四I/O连接器连接于其中一个第二I/O连接器,使得转接卡彼此平行地定向。(A computing system includes a housing assembly having a front and a rear, a CPU module positioned toward the front of the housing assembly and including a plurality of I/O connectors, and a plurality of I/O modules positioned toward the rear of the housing assembly, wherein each I/O module includes a second I/O connector. The computing system also includes a plurality of riser cards, each having a PCB with opposing side surfaces, a front edge, a back edge, a top edge, a bottom edge, a third I/O connector coupled to the bottom edge, and a fourth I/O connector coupled to the back edge. The third I/O connector on each riser card is connected to one of the first I/O connectors and the fourth I/O connector on each riser card is connected to one of the second I/O connectors such that the riser cards are oriented parallel to each other.)

1. A computing system, comprising:

a housing assembly including a front face and a rear face;

a Central Processing Unit (CPU) module positioned toward the front face and within the housing assembly, the CPU module including a plurality of first input/output (I/O) connectors;

a plurality of I/O modules positioned toward the rear and within the housing assembly, each I/O module including a second I/O connector; and

a plurality of I/O riser cards, each I/O riser card including a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) having opposing side surfaces, a front edge, a rear edge, a top edge, a bottom edge, a third I/O connector coupled to the bottom edge, and a fourth I/O connector coupled to the rear edge, wherein the third I/O connector on each I/O riser card is connected to one of the first I/O connectors and the fourth I/O connector on each I/O riser card is connected to one of the second I/O connectors such that the I/O riser cards are oriented vertically in parallel to define a space therebetween relative to a front-to-back direction of the housing assembly.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the third I/O connector of each I/O riser card is an electrical trace on the PCB, the bottom edge of the PCB being plugged into the first I/O connector.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the housing assembly includes a base having a plurality of plates defining slots therebetween, each of the I/O modules being located within one of the slots.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the housing assembly further comprises a receptacle, the CPU module being located within the receptacle, the receptacle being inserted into the base from a front of the housing assembly.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the housing assembly further comprises a cover covering the base and the container.

6. The system of claim 4, further comprising a fan assembly mounted to a front of the container.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one Power Supply Unit (PSU) comprising a first PSU connector and at least one PSU riser card comprising a PCB having opposing side surfaces, a front edge, a rear edge, a top edge, a bottom edge, a second PSU connector coupled to the bottom edge, and a third PSU connector coupled to the rear edge, wherein the first PSU connector is connected to the third PSU connector and the second PSU connector is connected to a fourth PSU connector mounted to the CPU module such that the at least one PSU riser card is oriented parallel to the I/O riser card side.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein one or more of said I/O riser cards includes a retimer circuit mounted to a side of said PCB.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the CPU module runs one of peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) Gen 4(16GT/s), PCIe Gen 5(32GT/s), open coherence accelerator processor interface (OpenCAPI), Gen-Z, accelerator Cache Coherence Interconnect (CCIX), and compute-Cacheline (CXL) protocols.

10. A computing system, comprising:

a housing assembly including a base and a container slidably inserted within the base;

a Central Processing Unit (CPU) module located within the container and including a plurality of first input/output (I/O) connectors;

a plurality of I/O modules located within the chassis, each I/O module including a second I/O connector; and

a plurality of I/O riser cards, each I/O riser card comprising a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) having opposing side surfaces, a front edge, a rear edge, a top edge, a bottom edge, a third I/O connector coupled to the bottom edge, and a fourth I/O connector coupled to the rear edge, wherein the third I/O connector on each I/O riser card is connected to one of the first I/O connectors and the fourth I/O connector on each I/O riser card is connected to one of the second I/O connectors such that the I/O riser cards are oriented vertically in parallel to define a space therebetween with respect to a front-to-back direction of the housing assembly, wherein one or more of the I/O riser cards include a retimer circuit, the retimer circuit is mounted to a side of the PCB.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the third I/O connector on each I/O riser card is an electrical trace on the PCB, the bottom edge of the PCB being plugged into the first I/O connector.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the base includes a plurality of plates defining slots therebetween, each of the I/O modules being located in one of the slots.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the housing assembly further comprises a cover covering the base and the container.

14. The system of claim 10, further comprising a fan assembly mounted to a front of the container.

15. The system of claim 10, further comprising at least one Power Supply Unit (PSU) comprising a first PSU connector and at least one PSU riser card comprising a PCB having opposing side surfaces, a front edge, a rear edge, a top edge, a bottom edge, a second PSU connector coupled to the bottom edge, and a third PSU connector coupled to the rear edge, wherein the first PSU connector is connected to the third PSU connector and the second PSU connector is connected to a fourth PSU connector mounted to the CPU module such that the at least one PSU riser card is oriented parallel to the I/O riser card side.

16. A computing system, comprising:

a housing assembly including a base and a container slidably inserted within the base;

a Central Processing Unit (CPU) module located within the container and including a plurality of first input/output (I/O) connectors;

a plurality of I/O modules located within the chassis, each I/O module including a second I/O connector;

a plurality of I/O riser cards, each I/O riser card comprising a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) having opposing side surfaces, a front edge, a rear edge, a top edge, a bottom edge, a third I/O connector coupled to the bottom edge, and a fourth I/O connector coupled to the rear edge, wherein the third I/O connector on each I/O riser card is connected to one of the first I/O connectors and the fourth I/O connector on each I/O riser card is connected to one of the second I/O connectors such that the I/O riser cards are oriented vertically in parallel to define a space therebetween with respect to a front-to-back direction of the housing assembly, wherein the third I/O connector on each I/O riser card is an electrical trace on the PCB, the bottom edge of the PCB is inserted into the first I/O connector; and

at least one Power Supply Unit (PSU), the PSU comprising a first PSU connector and at least one PSU riser card, the PSU riser card comprising a PCB having opposing side surfaces, a front edge, a rear edge, a top edge, a bottom edge, a second PSU connector coupled to the bottom edge, and a third PSU connector coupled to the rear edge, wherein the first PSU connector is connected to the third PSU connector and the second PSU connector is connected to a fourth PSU connector mounted to the CPU module such that the at least one PSU riser card is oriented parallel laterally to the I/O riser card.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the base includes a plurality of plates defining slots therebetween, each of the I/O modules being located in one of the slots.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the housing assembly further comprises a cover covering the base and the container.

19. The system of claim 16, further comprising a fan assembly mounted to a front of the container.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein one or more of said I/O riser cards includes a retimer circuit mounted to a side of said PCB.

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to computing systems, and more particularly to a computing system including a plurality of riser cards (riser cards) that provide electrical connections between a plurality of I/O modules and a CPU module, wherein the riser cards are configured to allow airflow through the system.

Background

A typical computing system includes a motherboard or Central Processing (CPU) module that provides computing and processing for the system, and a number of input/output (I/O) modules that connect the CPU module to other computing systems via a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) bus or other similar high speed bus. Modern computing systems of this type typically support hot-swappage (hot-swappage) of failed I/O modules, i.e., replacement of failed I/O modules while the system is operating, where certain system-level features are required to implement such hot-swappage. One design feature that allows for hot plugging is the provision of a midplane (midplane), which is typically a board that includes separate connectors for connecting the I/O module to the CPU module. Another design feature that allows for hot plugging of I/O modules includes using separate orthogonal connectors for each I/O module, which may be part of a common midplane or a separate unit. However, known midplanes can be very complex, typically including twelve or more layers, providing many signal paths for connecting the I/O module to the CPU module. Furthermore, quadrature connectors provide good signal quality, but due to their quadrature design, may not provide enough pins for high speed buses and are costly.

As the industry moves from PCIe Gen 4(16GT/s) to PCIe Gen 5(32GT/s) protocols and higher versions, these increased speeds will require more traces with larger and higher pin count connectors, which will take up more space on the midplane, resulting in a more expensive high-level fabric. Higher speed solutions consume more power and require additional shorter traces. This combination of more traces and higher power consumption would be a challenge in providing adequate ventilation for cooling CPU modules when known mid-planes are employed, as these mid-planes block airflow and reduce thermal performance.

Disclosure of Invention

The following discussion discloses and describes a computing system that includes a housing assembly having a front and a rear, a Central Processing Unit (CPU) module positioned toward the front of the housing assembly and within the housing assembly and including a plurality of first input/output (I/O) connectors, and a plurality of I/O modules positioned toward the rear of the housing assembly and within the housing assembly, wherein each I/O module includes a second I/O connector. The computing system also includes a plurality of I/O riser cards, each I/O riser card having a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) with opposing side surfaces, a front edge, a back edge, a top edge, a bottom edge, a third I/O connector coupled to the bottom edge, and a fourth I/O connector coupled to the back edge. The third I/O connector on each I/O riser is connected to one of the first I/O connectors and the fourth I/O connector on each I/O riser is connected to one of the second I/O connectors such that the I/O risers are oriented vertically in parallel and define a space therebetween relative to the front-to-back direction of the housing assembly that accommodates increased airflow through the housing assembly.

Additional features of the invention will become apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a front perspective exploded view of a known computing system including a mid-plane that provides electrical connections between I/O modules and CPU modules;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective exploded view of the computing system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front perspective exploded view of a computing system including a riser card that replaces the midplane of the computing system shown in FIG. 1 and provides connectivity between the CPU module and the I/O module;

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective exploded view of the computing system shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the computing system shown in FIG. 3 with the external chassis removed;

FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of a CPU module detached from the computing system shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a rear perspective view of the CPU module shown in FIG. 6, showing a riser card inserted into the I/O connector;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of one of the riser cards separated from the CPU module shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a partial rear perspective exploded view of the computing system shown in FIG. 3, including various elements for aligning and inserting CPU receptacles;

FIG. 10 is a partial rear perspective exploded view of the computing system shown in FIG. 3, showing a pair of ejector levers;

FIG. 11 is a partial rear perspective exploded view of the computing system shown in FIG. 3, showing an ejector lever and guide rod;

FIG. 12 is a front perspective view of the base detached from the computing system shown in FIG. 3, showing an ejector lever and guide rods;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a cut-out portion of the computing system shown in FIG. 9, illustrating a receptacle slot relative to a lever pin;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the guide bar detached from the computing system shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 15 is a rear perspective view of the container detached from the computing system shown in FIG. 3;

16-18 are perspective views of a boot block detached from the computing system shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a cut-out portion of the computing system shown in FIG. 3, illustrating engagement of a joystick pin with a slot;

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of a cut-out portion of the computing system shown in FIG. 3, showing a lever pin engaged within a slot at all times;

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a cutout portion of the computing system shown in FIG. 3, illustrating alignment between the base and the CPU module;

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of a cut-out portion of the computing system shown in FIG. 3, showing an adapter card engaged with a wind tunnel;

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of a cut-out portion of the computing system shown in FIG. 3, showing one of the I/O modules secured to the air chute and the rail; and

FIG. 24 is a top view of a cutout portion of the computing system shown in FIG. 3, showing one of the I/O modules connected to the riser card.

Detailed Description

The following discussion of the embodiments of the invention directed to a computing system including a plurality of vertically oriented riser cards that provide electrical connections between a plurality of I/O modules and a CPU module is merely exemplary in nature, and is in no way intended to limit the invention or its applications or uses.

Fig. 1 is a front perspective exploded view of a known computing system 10, and fig. 2 is a rear perspective exploded view of the known computing system 10, with an external chassis of the system 10 removed. Computing system 10 is intended to represent any computer, server, etc., that performs any computing function or operation consistent with the discussion herein and operates using any appropriate protocol, such as peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) Gen 4(16GT/s), PCIe Gen 5(32GT/s), open coherence accelerator processor interface (OpenCAPI), Gen-Z, accelerator Cache Coherence Interconnect (CCIX), and compute cache link (CXL). The system 10 includes a CPU module 12 having a Printed Circuit Board (PCB)14 on which is mounted a CPU16 having a heat sink, a memory module 18 coupled in a slot 20, a heat sink 22, and an I/O connector 24. The system 10 also includes an I/O module assembly 30 having a plurality of I/O modules 32, each I/O module including a PCB 34, the PCB 34 having mounted thereon a module assembly 36, a connector 38 for connecting to other computing systems and components (not shown) by wires, and a connector 40 for connecting the I/O modules 32 to the CPU module 12. The system 10 also includes an intermediate board 50 of the type discussed above for connecting the I/O module 32 to the CPU module 12 and includes a PCB 52, a plurality of connectors 54 connected to the connector 40 on one side of the PCB 52 and a plurality of connectors 56 connected to the connector 24 on the other side of the PCB 52. As described above, the I/O modules 32 are connected to the CPU modules 12 using the midplane 50 to allow hot plugging of the I/O modules 32, but to limit airflow through the system 10 and therefore limit cooling capacity.

Fig. 3 is a front perspective exploded view of a computing system 60, and fig. 4 is a rear perspective exploded view of the computing system 60, the computing system 60 being similar to the computing system 10, but without the need for the middle plate 50, wherein like elements are identified by like reference numerals. The system 60 includes an external base 62 having a slot 64 for receiving the I/O module 32, a CPU receptacle 66 for holding the CPU module 12 in place of the CPU module 12 and slid into the base 62, a top cover 68, an air duct cover 70, a cooling fan assembly 72 mounted to the front of the CPU receptacle 66, and a pair of Power Supply Units (PSU)74 also slid into the slot 64, wherein the system 10 may also include these elements for the illustrated embodiment. Fig. 5 is a side view of the system 60 with the base 62, container 66, and covers 68 and 70 removed.

As will be discussed in detail below, the computing system 60 uses a plurality of orthogonal riser cards 76, one orthogonal riser card 76 for each I/O module 32 and PSU74, which connect the I/O module 32 and PSU74 to the CPU module 12. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the CPU module 12 detached from the system 60, showing the I/O connector 78 and PSU connector 80 to which the riser card 76 is connected. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of CPU module 12 detached from system 60, showing riser card 76 plugged into connectors 78 and 80. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of one of the riser cards 76 detached from the CPU module 12.

The riser card 76 includes a PCB 84 having the general shape shown. The bottom edge of the adapter card 76 includes a plurality of connector lugs 86 separated by slots 88, wherein the lugs 86 slide into the connectors 78 or 80. An interface connector 90 is mounted on the rear edge of the riser card 76 and is configured to connect to the connector 40 on the I/O module 32. In this configuration, the adapter cards 76 are oriented vertically and aligned longitudinally, i.e., parallel, with air flowing through the container 66 and the base 62, with an effective space between the adapter cards 76 that allows for increased air flow. In addition, this configuration simplifies routing, reduces complexity, and allows for a higher I/O pin count.

As computing systems become more complex and operate at faster speeds, where signal length and integrity become more critical, some I/O modules 32 may be more critical than other I/O modules 32. It may be desirable for some of these I/O modules 32 to employ a retimer circuit (retimer circuit)92, the retimer circuit 92 being a mixed signal device including an equalization function plus a Clock Data Recovery (CDR) function to compensate for deterministic and random jitter, the retimer circuit 92 being mounted to the PCB 84. Thus, some riser cards 76 may include retimer circuitry 92, while some do not.

Many challenges have been identified in providing adequate system packaging through the implementation of a vertically oriented riser card 76 as described above. For example, how all I/O modules 32 within CPU receptacle 66 are mounted, supported, and aligned; how to ensure that I/O modules 32 inserted from the back of the system 60 are properly aligned with I/O interface cards (interface cards) on the CPU receptacle 66; how to overcome the insertion and extraction forces associated with the CPU receptacle 66, when the CPU receptacle 66 is installed, the various I/O connectors of the CPU receptacle 66 attempt to be inserted and extracted simultaneously; how to prevent the I/O module 32 from being pulled out of the front of the system 60 when the CPU receptacle 66 is pulled out, and how to control the insertion depth of the CPU receptacle 66 and the I/O module 32 so as to have a robust and reliable interface between the I/O module 32 and the CPU receptacle 66. More specifically, when the receptacle 66 is slid into the base 62 from the front, all of the riser cards 76 must be properly aligned with the I/O modules 32 and able to withstand the insertion pressure and not require too much force to remove the receptacle 66 from the base 62.

Fig. 9, 10, 11, and 12 are partial perspective exploded views of computing system 60 illustrating various features that address the above-described problems. In particular, as will be discussed, the computing system 60 includes interconnected features and elements that allow the receptacle 66 to be easily inserted into the base 62 such that the connector 90 on the riser card 76 is accurately aligned with the connector 40 on the I/O module 32 and can be easily coupled together, and that allow the receptacle 66 to be slid out of the base 62 such that the connector 40 and the connector 90 are easily disconnected. The duct cover 70 is fixed to the CPU case 66 by thumb screws 104. The side walls 106 and 108 of the duct cover 102 include notches 110 and 112, respectively, the notches 110 and 112 fitting into alignment holes on the PCB 14 such that the duct cover 70 is aligned with the PCB 14 for proper alignment of the riser card 76, for reasons that will become apparent from the discussion below.

A pair of ejector joysticks 122 and 124 guide and control the insertion and removal of the pod 66 into and out of the base 62 and provide mechanical force to simultaneously engage and disengage the pod 66 from all I/O modules 32. More specifically, one can pivotally disengage the levers 122 and 124, which will disengage the receptacle 66 from the I/O module 32. The operating levers 122 and 124 include cam pins 126 and 128, respectively, at one end and retaining rings 132 and 134, respectively, at an opposite end, wherein the cam pins 126 and 128 are rotatably secured to a base plate 136 of the base 62. Fig. 12 shows the ejector levers 122 and 124 located in a protrusion (emboss)140 in the floor 136 of the base 62, the protrusion 140 allowing the levers 122 and 124 to pivot freely under the receptacle 66. Fig. 13 shows the receptacle 66 slid into the base 62 with two angled lead-in slots 142 in the floor 144 of the receptacle 66 aligned with the pins 126 and 128. The slot 142 is configured such that when the levers 122 and 124 are in this position, the receptacle 66 may be inserted into the base 62 sufficiently deep to allow the pins 126 and 128 to engage the slot 142, but not to allow the CPU module 12 to engage the I/O module 32.

Guide rods 146 are mounted to the floor 136 forward of the slot 64 and two spaced apart guide blocks 148 are mounted to the rear edge of the floor 144 of the receptacle 66 by mounting pins 150 and 152, which are located within bores 138 in the floor 144 and adjacent the slot 122 as shown. Fig. 14 is a perspective view of the guide rod 146 separated from the system 60, fig. 15 is a rear perspective view of the container 66 separated from the system 60, and fig. 16, 17, and 18 are perspective views of one of the guide blocks 148 separated from the system 60.

FIG. 19 shows pin 126 initially engaged in slot 142 such that guide pins 154 and 156 on guide rod 146 are aligned with opening 158 in guide block 148, wherein receptacle 66 cannot engage I/O connector 40 without pivoting levers 122 and 124. Fig. 20 shows the levers 122 and 124 after pivoting so that the pins 126 and 128 are driven into the angled portions of the slots 142, which drives the receptacle 66 rearwardly so that the opening 158 in the guide block 148 engages the pins 154 and 156, the rear edge of the receptacle 66 abuts the guide bar 146, and the connector 90 engages the connector 40 on the I/O module 32. By pivoting the levers 122 and 124 in the opposite direction, the CPU module 12 is disconnected from the I/O module 32.

Fig. 21 is a perspective view of the receptacle 66 and cut-out portion of the CPU module 12 showing how the guide blocks 148 align the CPU module 12 with the receptacle 66 and thus the connector 90 with the I/O connector 40. A lug 160 extends from the guide block 148 and includes a pin 162 coaxially aligned with the pin 152. The PCB 14 includes a slot 164 and a bore 166, with the guide block 148 located within the slot 164 and the pin 162 located within the bore 166. The thickness of tab 160 maintains the desired spacing between PCB 14 and board 144.

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of a cut-out portion of the system 60 showing that the top plate 180 of the air duct cover 70 includes a slot 182 that captures a tab 184 extending from the top edge of the adapter card 76 to hold the top of the adapter card 76 in precise alignment.

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of a cut-out portion of the system 60, and FIG. 24 is a top view of the cut-out portion of the system 60 showing one of the I/O modules 32 electrically coupled to one of the riser cards 76. As shown, guide rods 146 include a series of recesses 190 for each I/O module 32. Each recess receives a lug 192 extending from I/O module 32, and top plate 180 includes a slot 194, slot 194 receiving PCB 34 in I/O module 32 so that I/O module 32 is properly positioned. The guide bar 148 also includes a series of spacers 198 such that when the riser card 76 is connected to the connector 78 on the PCB 14 and coupled to the air duct cover 70, the connector 90 is inserted and held between adjacent spacers 198, as shown. Thus, when the receptacle 66 is slid into the base 62, the connectors 40 and 90 are properly aligned and easily engaged with each other.

The foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplary embodiments of the present invention. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from such discussion and from the accompanying drawings and claims that various changes, modifications and variations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.