Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Richard R Creason

Raymond Kai Ho

Victor E Jochiong

Kaamel M Kermaani

Clifford B Willis

Michael White

Vince P Hileman

Denise R Silverman

Timothy E Mautz

David M Arstein

Carl L Meert

Adiymar Bigio

Steve M Wilson

A system and apparatus for a compact peripheral component interconnect (CPCI) computer system having exclusive front card access for both active and passive CPCI cards is provided. This system is further comprised of an active backplane with a front and rear side, a plurality of slots, each of these slots comprising of at least one connector and each of these connectors having a column and row arrangement of connector-pins, wherein individual ones of these connector-pins correspond to selected pairs of adjacent slots, and wherein selected adjacent slot pairs are reserved for particular pairs of CPCI cards comprising a single active card and a single passive card.

Front access only CPCI computer system

A system for distributing power in a compact peripheral component interconnect (CPCI) computer architecture is provided. A CPCI computer architecture comprises a plurality of CPCI systems each having respective backplanes. The backplanes further having respective local power rails providing power for a corresponding one of the plurality of CPCI systems. The power distribution system provides power to the backplanes, and comprises a common power rail connected to each one of the local power rails of the backplanes. A plurality of power supplies is connected to the common power rail of the power distribution system. Power taken from any one of the plurality of power supplies is available to any one of the backplanes.

System for distributing power in CPCI computer architecture

A computer bus rack includes at least one circuit board. The circuit board has an increased density of add-on card slots, with the at least one circuit board having a front side and a back side, and the rack comprising a first plurality of slots coupled to the front side, and a second plurality of slots coupled to the back side. The first and second plurality of slots are arranged such that corresponding ones of the first and second slots are in substantial alignment, respectively. Also provided are a plurality of connectors having respective connector-pins extended in a direction substantially perpendicular to and away from the circuit board and having a column and row arrangement within the connectors. The connectors are affixed to the circuit board in alignment with the first and second plurality of slots, and each one of the plurality of connectors has connector-pins that are physically distinct from connector-pins of connectors of the other slots. Note that the slots on the front side and the back side are adapted to mate with add-on cards so as to increase the amount of add-on slots for a given form factor.

Computer bus rack having an increased density of card slots

A computer system comprising a chassis and housing removable servers supported in subchassis, each chassis having optional front or read cable access. Power and signal connectivity to the servers may be made from the front or rear of the system. The subchassis may be half the width of the chassis or a quarter of a width of the chassis. The subchassis further include an upper bay and a lower bay as well as a plurality of field replaceable units, which all may be access through the front of the chassis. One or more of the field replaceable units connect to the system through a midplane, located within the subchassis.

Computer system having front and rear cable access

The present invention includes a computer bus rack having a circuit board for accommodating a plurality of stand-alone computers. The circuit board has a front side and a back side, and the rack comprises a first plurality of slots coupled to the front side, and a second plurality of slots coupled to the back side. The first and second plurality of slots are arranged such that corresponding ones of the first and second plurality of slots are in alignment together. Also, a plurality of connectors are affixed to the circuit board in alignment with the first and second plurality of slots, and have respective pass-through connector-pins that extend into each of the first and second slots, wherein certain ones of the connector-pins allocated to carry power signals are commonly connected for each of the plurality of connectors, and remaining ones of the connector-pins with respect to a particular slot are electrically isolated from connector-pins with respect to another slot on the same one of the front side and the back side. Because the connector-pins of the slots in the present invention are not electrically connected to each other, except for the connector-pins carrying power signals, each slot acts as an isolated bus. This allows an independent stand-alone computer to be coupled to each slot of the circuit board.

Growing community of inventors

Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

Richard R Creason