International Business Machines Corporation

Globalfoundries Inc.

Andreas Christian Doering

Patricia Maria Sagmeister

Martin L Schmatz

Silvio Dragone

Florian Alexander Auernhammer

Ronald Pete Luijten

Rolf Clauberg

Ronald Peter Luijten

Stefano Sergio Oggioni

Thomas J Brunschwiler

Maria Gabrani

Rihards Dziedatajs

Richard Gerard Hofmann

Francois Abel

Nikolaos Chrysos

Andreas Guenther Herkersdorf

Charles Edward Kuhlmann

Joerg-Eric Sagmeister

Bruno Michel

Stephan Paredes

Kirsten Emilie Moselund

Mikael T Bjoerk

Beat Eugen Weiss

Mauro Spreafico

Jonathan Bruno Rohrer

Phillip Stanley-Marbell

Ralph Heller

Danilo Ansaloni

Victoria Caparros Cabezas

Embodiments of the invention provide a computer-implemented method for updating firmware of a Universal Serial Bus (USB) device. The USB device is configured to execute one or more applications of the USB device in a normal mode of operation of the USB device. The USB device includes a device descriptor indicative of one or more configuration descriptors, wherein a configuration descriptor is indicative of endpoints for data and command exchange. The device descriptor can be modified by adding a predefined bootloader configuration descriptor to the configurations descriptors for updating the firmware.

Updating firmware of a microcontroller

The present invention is notably directed to a printed circuit board, or PCB. This PCB has two main surfaces, each delimited by lateral edges, as well as lateral surfaces, each meeting each of the two main surfaces at one lateral edge. The present PCB further comprises a row of solder pads, which extends along a lateral edge of the PCB. Each solder pad is formed directly at the lateral edge and/or directly on a lateral surface (meeting one of the two main surfaces at said lateral edge). I.e., each pad interrupts a lateral edge and/or an adjoining lateral surface. One or more chips, e.g., memory chips, can be mounted on such a PCB to form an IC package. The above solder pad arrangement allows particularly dense arrangements of IC packages to be obtained. The present invention is further directed to related devices and methods of fabrication thereof.

Printed circuit board with edge soldering for high-density packages and assemblies

A checkpointing module, a method for storing checkpoints and a microserver including a checkpointing module for storing checkpoints are proposed. The checkpointing module includes an interconnect interface configured to receive checkpoints from at least one compute module, one or more non-volatile random access memory devices configured to store the received checkpoints, a memory management entity configured to assign storage locations for the received checkpoints in the one or more non-volatile random access memory devices, and a memory controller configured to store the received checkpoints at the assigned storage locations.

Checkpointing module and method for storing checkpoints

An electronic circuit card comprises a printed circuit board with electronic components. The electronic components comprise drivers for transmitting transmit (TX) signals and receivers for receiving receive (RX) signals, according to several groups of interface signals. There is further provided a connector edge, arranged at an edge of the card, and configured to allow the card to be connected to an external connector. This connector edge comprises two subsets of symmetric pins on respective (opposite) sides thereof. The drivers and the receivers are connected to the pins, for respectively conveying the TX signals and the RX signals. Pins are assigned such that, for each of the several groups of supported interface signals, any pin (of any of the subsets) connected to transmit TX signals is located opposite a pin (of the other subset) connected to receive RX signals. Pairs of consecutive pins (on each side) typically come in differential pairs.

Electronic circuit card with connector edge having alternated TX and RX pins assignment

A mechanism is provided for cooling electronic components of a printed circuit board module and for supplying power to the electronic components of the printed circuit board module. The computer module comprises a printed circuit board module, wherein the electronic components are attached to a first side of the printed circuit board module, and a cooling module being attached to a second side of the printed circuit board, being arranged in parallel to the printed circuit board and having a first layer being thermally and electrically conductive. The first layer is arranged such that heat is dissipated from the printed circuit board module and that power from a power source is supplied to the electronic components of the printed circuit board module.

Cooling electronic components and supplying power to the electronic components

Embodiments of the invention are directed to an integrated circuit (IC) package assembly, including: one or more printed circuit boards (PCBs); and a set of chip packages, each including: an overmold; and an IC chip, overmolded in the overmold, and wherein: the chip packages are stacked transversely to an average plane of each of the chip packages, thereby forming a stack wherein a main surface of one of the chip packages faces a main surface of another one of the chip packages; and each of the chip packages is laterally soldered to one or more of said one or more PCBs and arranged transversally to each of said one or more PCBs, whereby an average plane of each of said one or more PCBs extends transversely to the average plane of each of the chip packages of the stack. Further embodiments are directed to related devices and fabrication methods.

Dense assembly of laterally soldered, overmolded chip packages

A power converter for a computer device having a processing unit and a memory device is suggested. The power converter is connectable to the computer device by a coupling circuitry, wherein the computer device requires an actual input voltage. The power converter comprises a voltage regulator, a measuring entity, and a determining entity. The voltage regulator is configured to control an actual output voltage for the coupling circuitry based on a determined reference output voltage. The measuring entity is configured to measure an actual output current of the voltage regulator output to the coupling circuitry. The determining entity is configured to determine the determined reference output voltage such that the determined reference output voltage equals a sum of the actual input voltage of the computer device and the product of the measured actual output current and a resistance of the coupling circuitry.

Power converter for a computer device and method for operating a power converter

A buck converter for converting an input voltage into an output voltage including a first switch and a low-pass filter circuit comprising an inductor, a low-pass filter switching device and an output capacitor system. The output capacitor system comprises a parallel arrangement of a first path comprising a first capacitor and at least a second path comprising a serial connection of a second capacitor and a second switch. A controller is provided to turn on the first switch during an on-cycle, thereby switching the input voltage to the low-pass filter circuit, and to turn off the first switch during an off-cycle. The controller further turns off the second switch under normal load operations so that the second capacitor is not charged and turns on the second switch in case of a load reduction during the off-cycle so that the second capacitor is added to the output capacitor system by the second switch.

Buck converter

A printed circuit board (PCB) assembly includes a first PCB and a second PCB disposed substantially parallel and opposite to each other, such that a second side of the first PCB is opposite to a first side of the second PCB; wherein the second PCB has a first set of side connectors on its first side and a second set of side connectors on its second side, configured for both electrical power supply to and signal communication with the second PCB; the second PCB both electrically and mechanically connected to the second side of the first PCB via a first elastomeric connector; and the second PCB electrically connected to the first PCB via its second set of side connectors and a flexible electrical connector that is electrically connected to the second set of side connectors and the first PCB.

Method of forming a printed circuit board assembly

A device for reconfigurable power conversion includes a plurality of power-consuming modules adapted to receive a plurality of electrical voltages, and a power converter module including a plurality N of power stages, each of which includes a power output which is adapted to supply one of the plurality of electrical voltages and adapted to be coupled with at least one of the others of the power outputs off the power converter module. Also included is a backplane including a plurality of power rails, each of which is adapted to distribute one of the plurality of electrical voltages from the power converter module to the plurality of power-consuming modules. The power converter module further includes a programmable converter controller which is adapted to reversibly configure the plurality of power stages.

Device and method for reconfigurable power conversion

A computer-implemented method includes managing function calls between a plurality of nodes and a super node of a rack system having a distributed operating system (OS). The OS includes a plurality of functions divided into first class and a second class, and each of the plurality of nodes excludes functions in the second class. Managing the function calls includes detecting a call to a first function on a first node of the plurality of nodes. It is determined that the first function belongs to the second class of functions and is not available on the first node. The call to the first function is routed to the super node, responsive to determining that the first function belongs to the second class, where the super node includes code for the functions in the second class.

Distributed operating system functions for nodes in a rack

The memory module having a plurality of memory chips and a plurality of connections for connecting the memory module to a processor. At least part of the connections is configurable to be grouped into N sets of address and control connections for N separatively controllable groups of memory chips of the plurality of memory chips (N&#x2267;2).

Memory module and memory controller for controlling a memory module

A method is provided for customizing connections of conductors of a printed circuit board (PCB) including conductors and a cavity formed in a thickness of the PCB, and adjoining two of the conductors. The cavity includes two distinct electrical contacts, each in electrical communication with one of the two conductors. The cavity is at least partly filled with an electrically conductive material to enable electrical communication between the two conductors. The cavity is preferably a buried cavity, joined by one or more ducts, such that the electrically conductive material can be injected into the cavity via the duct. One, or each, of the two conductors is an inner conductor of the PCB. The injected conductive material may be a liquid or a gel; and is preferably a conductive adhesive. The present invention further concerns a PCB as obtained from the above method.

Growing community of inventors

Zufikon, Switzerland

Andreas Christian Doering