JP5501720B2 - Motherboard, additional board power supply method for motherboard, and additional board power supply system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mother board to which an expansion board can be connected, an expansion board power supply method for the motherboard, and an expansion board power supply system.

  In recent years, as a mother board of a computer, a mother board having an expansion slot into which an expansion board for adding an expansion function can be mounted has become widespread. Some expansion boards mounted on this motherboard obtain power from an outlet without going through the computer so that the computer can operate independently even when the computer is not powered on. However, if the expansion board uses an outlet for obtaining power in addition to the outlet for obtaining power from the computer, multiple outlets are used, and a large space for installing the computer has to be secured. Therefore, it is conceivable to supply power to the expansion board from the computer having the motherboard via the expansion slot. However, if there is not enough power for the computer, the operation of the computer itself is affected. there were.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a technique of an expansion board that can be mounted on a plurality of computers and can stabilize the power supply voltage of the computer for each model is disclosed (for example, Patent Document 1). In the technique of the above-mentioned patent document 1, the power supply voltage and model information of the connected computer are acquired, and when the power supply voltage is a predetermined value or less and the computer is a pre-registered model, the computer model is set as the computer model. Perform function restrictions accordingly. As a result, the power supply voltage can be stabilized for each computer model.

JP 2008-158923 A

  However, there are a wide variety of expansion boards. For example, some expansion boards mounted on a motherboard require a specific power supply in addition to the power supply voltage supplied via the expansion slot. That is, there is a problem that an expansion board that requires a power supply voltage that is not defined in the standard of the expansion slot cannot be used normally after being mounted in the expansion slot.

  For example, a USB 3.0 card, which is an expansion board, requires a voltage of 5 V, but the 5 V power supply voltage is not supplied from a PCI slot, which is a normal expansion slot, when the computer is in a sleep state. More specifically, for example, when a mouse is connected to the USB connector of a USB 3.0 card, it is necessary to supply a power supply voltage of 5 V in order to return the computer from the sleep state using this mouse. However, when the computer is in a sleep state, a power supply voltage of 5 V is not supplied from the computer to the USB 3.0 card. Therefore, when the computer is in the sleep state, the computer cannot be returned from the sleep state using the mouse connected to the USB connector of the USB 3.0 card.

  In order to solve the above problem, as shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the normally supplied power supply voltage, it is conceivable that the inherent power supply voltage required for a certain extension board is always supplied from a so-called reserve pin of the expansion slot. However, when an expansion board other than the above-described expansion board is installed in this expansion slot, if the unique power supply voltage is supplied unconditionally, there is a possibility that a problem may occur depending on the expansion board. In other words, when the motherboard has the above-described configuration, it is necessary to provide a plurality of dedicated slots for each extension board, and there is a problem that the versatility of the expansion slots provided on the motherboard is impaired.

  On the other hand, it is conceivable to supply the power supply voltage necessary for a certain expansion board from the motherboard or PSU to the expansion board using a new cable, etc., but the cost of the cable, etc. is high and the cost increases. There was a problem.

  On the other hand, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, no consideration is given to a case where an expansion board having a different required power supply voltage is mounted in the expansion slot. That is, the technique described in Patent Document 1 has a problem that the above-described problem cannot be solved.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, the above problem is solved, while suppressing lowering of the versatility of expansion slots, and an object thereof to supply a power supply voltage necessary for each extension board .

The motherboard according to the present invention is a spare pin provided in the expansion slot for an expansion slot for connecting the expansion board and a discrimination signal generated by the expansion board based on a signal that the motherboard always supplies to the expansion board . A determination signal receiving means for receiving via one reserve pin , and a control for determining whether there is an inherent power supply voltage required by the expansion board by determining an expansion board connected to the expansion slot based on the determination signal and means, based on the judgment result of the control unit, a unique extension board power generator to generate a power supply voltage to extension board requires a specific power voltage power generating unit for extension board produced, expansion slots Power supply voltage supply means for supplying power to the extension board via a second reserve pin, which is another spare pin provided on the board.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to supply a necessary power supply voltage for each expansion board while suppressing a decrease in versatility of the expansion slot.

It is a block diagram which shows the schematic function structural example of the motherboard which concerns on this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the example of a schematic function structure of the expansion board with which the motherboard concerning this embodiment is mounted | worn. It is a figure which shows the schematic structural example of the expansion board electric power feeding system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the specific example for demonstrating the schematic structural example of the expansion board electric power feeding system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the expansion board electric power feeding system relevant to this invention.

  Hereinafter, examples of embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic functional configuration example of the motherboard according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the motherboard 1 according to the present embodiment includes an expansion board connection unit 10, a signal generation unit 11, a discrimination signal reception unit 12, a control unit 13, an expansion board power generation unit 14, a power supply unit 15, It has.

  The expansion board connection unit 10 connects the expansion board 2 to the motherboard 1 via an expansion slot or the like. The signal generator 11 generates a signal and transmits it to the expansion board 2. The determination signal receiving unit 12 receives a determination signal transmitted from the extension board 2 connected to the motherboard 1 via a so-called reserve pin included in the expansion slot. Here, the reserve pin is a spare pin provided in the expansion slot, and is a means for transmitting and receiving a signal including a power supply voltage and the like. The control unit 15 controls each unit. For example, the control unit 15 determines whether the connected expansion board 2 is an expansion board that requires a specific power supply voltage based on the determination signal received from the expansion board 2, and supplies the expansion board power generation unit 14. Control power supply voltage generation. The power supply unit 15 supplies the power supply voltage generated by the expansion board power generation unit 14 to the expansion board 2 via a reserve pin different from the reserve pin used for receiving the determination signal.

  FIG. 2 shows a schematic functional configuration example of the expansion board 2 mounted on the motherboard 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the extension board 2 includes a motherboard connection unit 20 and a determination signal generation unit 21. The motherboard connection unit 20 attaches the expansion board 2 to the motherboard 1 via an expansion slot or the like. The determination signal generation unit 21 generates a determination signal based on the signal transmitted from the signal generation unit 11 of the motherboard 1 and transmits the determination signal to the determination signal reception unit 12 of the motherboard 1.

  As a signal generated by the signal generation unit 11, for example, a signal that is always transmitted from the motherboard 1 to the expansion board 2 can be applied. In other words, in the present embodiment, a specially generated signal is not used for the determination signal generation of the determination signal generation unit 21, but is always generated by the motherboard 1 by the signal generation unit 11 and transmitted to the extension board 2. A signal can be used.

  FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration example of the extension board power supply system according to the present embodiment. Next, a flow of an extension board power supply operation example in the extension board power supply system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, first, the signal generation unit 11 of the motherboard 1 generates a signal and transmits the signal to the extension board 2. The determination signal generation unit 21 that has received the signal generated by the signal generation unit 11 generates a determination signal based on the signal and transmits it to the motherboard 1.

  Next, the discrimination signal transmitted from the signal generator 21 is received by the discrimination signal receiver 12 and transferred to the controller 13. Based on the determination signal, the control unit 13 determines whether the installed expansion board is an expansion board that requires a specific power supply voltage, and determines whether or not to cause the expansion board power generation unit 14 to generate power. Determine whether. When the control unit 13 determines that a power supply voltage specific to the installed expansion board 2 is not necessary, the power supply generation unit for expansion board 14 does not generate a specific power supply voltage. On the other hand, when the control unit 13 determines that a specific power supply voltage is required for the installed expansion board 2, the expansion board power generation unit 14 generates a specific power supply voltage. The power supply unit 15 supplies the power supply voltage generated by the expansion board power generation unit 14 to the expansion board 2.

  That is, in this embodiment, the unique power supply voltage that is not defined in the expansion slot standard can be supplied to the extension board only when the target extension board is mounted. Thereby, the malfunction at the time of mounting the expansion board other than object can be prevented. That is, it is possible to prevent the versatility of the expansion slot from being impaired.

  Next, a flow of an example of the expansion board power supply operation in the expansion board power supply system will be described with a specific example. Hereinafter, a case where a USB 3.0 card is applied as the extension board 2 will be described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  In the example shown in FIG. 4, a power generation unit that generates a power supply voltage that is constantly supplied from the motherboard 1 to the expansion board 2 is applied as the signal generation unit 11. As the discrimination signal generation unit 21, a resistor normally provided in a USB 3.0 card is applied. A resistor such as 10 kΩ can be applied as this resistor, but the resistance value is not limited to this. Further, VCC3_SB is applied as a signal generated by the power supply generation unit, USBC_DET is applied as a determination signal generated by the resistor, and VCC5_SB is applied as a voltage signal generated by the power supply generation unit 14 for an additional board. In the example shown in FIG. 4, a PCI slot is applied as an expansion slot for connecting the motherboard 1 and the USB 3.0 card.

  Here, VCC3_SB is a power supply voltage of about 3 V that is constantly supplied from the PCI slot to the USB 3.0 card. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the power supply voltage that is constantly supplied is used as a signal. Accordingly, since it is not necessary to provide a new configuration for supplying the power supply voltage specific to the extension board, it is possible to suppress an increase in cost and complexity of the motherboard.

  VCC5_SB is a power supply voltage of about 5 V that is not always supplied from the PCI slot to the USB 3.0 card. This VCC5_SB is a unique power supply voltage required for the USB 3.0 card, but is not supplied to the USB 3.0 card when the computer on which the motherboard 1 is mounted is in a sleep state or the like.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, the power generation unit generates VCC3_SB defined by the PCI slot and transmits it to the USB 3.0 card. The USB 3.0 card that has received VCC3_SB passes this VCC3_SB to the resistor. The resistor that has received VCC3_SB converts VCC3_SB into USBC_DET, which is a determination signal, and transmits it to the motherboard 1. The mother board 1 receives USBC_DET via the reserve pin. Here, a reserve pin that receives a determination signal such as USBC_DET is defined as a first reserve pin.

  When the USBC_DET received via the first reserve pin is High, the control unit 13 causes the additional board power generation unit 14 to generate VCC5_SB required by the USB 3.0 card. Then, the generated VCC5_SB is transmitted to the USB 3.0 card via the reserve pin. This reserve pin is used as a second reserve pin. The USB 3.0 card that has received VCC5_SB transfers this VCC5_SB to an extension board power generation unit (not shown). For example, the extension board power generation unit determines whether to supply a 5 V power supply voltage to a mouse or the like connected to a USB connector included in the USB 3.0 card. When the expansion board power generation unit determines to supply the power supply voltage of 5V to the mouse or the like, the mouse or the like can receive the 5V power supply voltage via the USB connector included in the USB 3.0 card.

  On the other hand, when the USBC_DET received via the first reserve pin is Low, the control unit 13 determines that the USB 3.0 card that is the target expansion board 2 that requires the specific power supply voltage is not attached. . Then, VCC5_SB required by the USB 3.0 card is not generated in the expansion board power generation unit 14.

  As described above, for example, when a mouse is connected to the USB connector of a USB 3.0 card, it is necessary to supply a power supply voltage of 5 V in order to return the computer from the sleep state using this mouse. However, when the computer is in a sleep state, a power supply voltage of 5 V is not supplied from the computer to the USB 3.0 card.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, it is determined whether the expansion board installed in the expansion slot is an expansion board that requires a specific power supply voltage. Only when it is determined that the installed expansion board is an expansion board that requires a specific power supply voltage, a power supply voltage that is not defined in the expansion slot is generated even if the computer is in the sleep state. Supply to the expansion board. Therefore, in the present embodiment, even when the computer is in the sleep state, for example, a unique power supply voltage of 5 V is supplied to the USB 3.0 card, so a mouse connected to the USB connector of the USB 3.0 card is used. The computer can be returned from the sleep state.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, the case where the resistance is applied as the determination signal generation unit 21 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be appropriately selected based on a signal transmitted from the motherboard 1. It can be changed. For example, USBC_DET may be connected to GND on the USB 3.0 card side. In this case, High is output from the motherboard 1 to the USBC_DET, and when the expansion board is connected, the USBC_DET becomes Low, so that it is determined that the USB 3.0 card as the target expansion board has been installed, and VCC5_SB can be supplied.

  Further, the extension board connection unit 10, the signal generation unit 11, the signal, the specific power supply voltage, the extension board, the motherboard connection unit 20, the discrimination signal generation unit 21, and the discrimination signal shown in FIG. 4 are just one example. It is not limited.

  According to the present embodiment, only when it is determined that an expansion board that requires a specific power supply voltage is attached, a power supply voltage that is not defined in the expansion slot can be supplied to the expansion board. As a result, it is possible to realize power supply to the extension board that does not impair the versatility of the expansion slot and suppress the increase in cost.

  In this embodiment, an example has been described in which a signal that is always produced and supplied on the motherboard side is used as a signal that the motherboard transmits to the extension board. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a so-called reserve pin may be further used to generate a signal dedicated to identifying the installed expansion board.

  Further, in FIG. 4 showing a specific example of the present embodiment, an example is described in which it is determined whether or not the connected expansion board is a predetermined expansion board based on the determination signal received from the expansion board. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a plurality of expansion boards having different specific power supply voltages required based on the determination signal may be determined, and the power supply voltage required by each expansion board may be generated and supplied based on the determination result.

  Although specifically described based on the preferred embodiments above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described motherboard, the additional board power supply method and the additional board power supply system of the motherboard, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist thereof. It goes without saying that it is possible.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Motherboard 2 Expansion board 10 Expansion board connection part 11 Signal generation part 12 Discrimination signal receiving part 13 Control part 14 Power supply part for expansion board 15 Power supply part 20 Motherboard connection part 21 Discrimination signal generation part

Claims (7)

An expansion slot to connect the expansion board,
The determination signal motherboard has the extension board is generated based on a signal that is constantly supplied to the extension board, the determination signal reception for receiving via the first reserve pin are reserved pins provided in the expansion slot Means ,
Wherein said extension board connected to the expansion slot to determine on the basis of the discrimination signal, and control means for determining whether there is a specific power supply voltage to which the extension board is required,
Based on the determination result of the control means, an expansion board power generation means for generating a specific power supply voltage required by the expansion board;
Power supply voltage supply means for supplying the unique power supply voltage generated by the power supply generation means for the expansion board to the expansion board via a second reserve pin that is another spare pin provided in the expansion slot ; A motherboard characterized by comprising: The control means includes
  Based on the determination signal, determine whether the expansion board connected to the expansion slot is an expansion board that requires a power supply voltage unique to the expansion board that is not always supplied from the motherboard,
The expansion board power generation means is:
  If it is determined that the expansion board connected to the expansion slot is an expansion board that requires a power supply voltage specific to the expansion board, a unique power supply voltage required by the expansion board is generated,
  If it is determined that the expansion board connected to the expansion slot is an expansion board that does not require the power supply voltage specific to the expansion board, the power supply voltage specific to the expansion board is not generated. The motherboard according to claim 1. Signal the motherboard is constantly supplied to the expansion board, Ri supply voltage Der defined in the expansion slot,
The motherboard according to claim 1, wherein the inherent power supply voltage is a power supply voltage not defined in the expansion slot. 4. The power supply voltage according to claim 1, wherein the inherent power supply voltage is a power supply voltage that cannot be supplied from the device when the device on which the motherboard is mounted is in a sleep state. 5. Motherboard. And extension board connection step of connecting the expansion board in the expansion slot,
The determination signal motherboard has the extension board is generated based on a signal that is constantly supplied to the extension board, the determination signal reception for receiving via the first reserve pin are reserved pins provided in the expansion slot Steps,
Wherein said extension board connected to the expansion slot to determine on the basis of the discrimination signal, and a control step of determining whether there is a specific power supply voltage to which the extension board is required,
Based on the determination result of the control step, a power generation step for an expansion board that generates a specific power supply voltage required by the expansion board;
A power supply voltage supply step of supplying the unique power supply voltage generated in the power supply generation step for the expansion board to the expansion board via a second reserve pin that is another spare pin provided in the expansion slot ; An additional board power supply method for a motherboard, comprising: An expansion board power supply system comprising a motherboard and an expansion board ,
The motherboard is
An expansion slot for connecting the expansion board;
Determination signal the motherboard a determination signal the extension board based on the signal being supplied constantly generated on the extension board, received via the first reserve pin are reserved pins provided in the expansion slot Receiving means ;
Wherein said extension board connected to the expansion slot to determine on the basis of the discrimination signal, and control means for determining whether there is a specific power supply voltage to which the extension board is required,
Based on the determination result of the control means, an expansion board power generation means for generating a specific power supply voltage required by the expansion board;
Power supply voltage supply means for supplying the unique power supply voltage generated by the power supply generation means for the expansion board to the expansion board via a second reserve pin that is another spare pin provided in the expansion slot ; With
The expansion board,
An expansion board power supply system comprising: a determination signal generation unit configured to generate a determination signal based on a signal constantly supplied from the motherboard and transmit the determination signal to the motherboard.   The expansion board is
  Power supply generating means for supplying the unique power supply voltage supplied from the motherboard to a device connected to the extension board;
  When the device on which the motherboard is mounted is in a sleep state, using the device connected to the extension board, a return means for returning the device from the sleep state;
  The expansion board power feeding system according to claim 6, further comprising:

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