JP5516246B2 - Signal transmission apparatus and information equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a signal transmission device and information equipment.

  As a communication standard in data communication, for example, PCI-Express (registered trademark) has been originally developed for the purpose of relatively short-distance host-device communication such as in the same case of a computer such as a PC (Personal Computer). However, in recent years, application to communication between different devices has been actively performed. For this reason, a communication standard by cable connection (PCI-Express External Cabling Specification) has been established. However, in the communication based on the PCI-Express External Cabling standard, an electric signal is transmitted as it is using a metal cable, so that the extendable distance is limited to about 15 m at the maximum. Therefore, it is already known that transmission over a longer distance can be realized by directly converting an electrical signal into an optical signal and transmitting the signal using an optical cable. However, if the distance over which signals can be transmitted is extended using an optical cable, a problem may occur in the reference clock. In order to solve such a problem, a device having an optical conversion module that converts an electrical signal into an optical signal and a PCI-Express switch mounted on a conversion board to which an optical cable is connected has been developed (for example, Patent Documents). 1).

  However, in a conversion board equipped with a conventional PCI-Express switch, the PCI-Express switch on the conversion board is activated and linked due to a difference in activation time between the PCI-Express switch on the conversion board and the optical conversion module. In some cases, the optical conversion module is not in a communicable state by the time when the training sequence is entered, and the PCI-Express switch cannot be linked up.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and provides a signal transmission device and an information device that can guarantee that a device for connecting a first device and a second device is operable. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides a signal transmission device provided between a first device and a second device, the first device and the second device. A device for connecting a device; an input unit for inputting a signal for instructing to turn on the power of the first device; and the power input from the power source when the signal is input. A supply unit for supplying to the motherboard, an output unit for outputting the signal delayed by a predetermined time to the motherboard of the first device, and a power source connected to the motherboard and in response to the delayed signal. And a connection unit for inputting power supplied to the motherboard from the motherboard.

  Further, the present invention is an information device including a power source, a motherboard, and a signal transmission device, wherein the signal transmission device is a device for connecting to an external device, and a signal for instructing to turn on the power. An input unit for inputting the power, a supply unit for supplying power input from the power source to the device when the signal is input, and an output for outputting the signal delayed by a predetermined time to the motherboard And a connection unit that is connected to the motherboard and inputs power supplied from the power source to the motherboard according to the delayed signal from the motherboard.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to ensure that a device for connecting the first device and the second device is in an operable state.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional conversion board. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an information device including a conventional conversion board. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing system including the information device of the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a transmission path between the server and the printer. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the information device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a detailed configuration of the information device and the conversion board. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the overall flow of the power supply control process in the present embodiment. FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a specific configuration of the control unit. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a timing chart of the control unit in FIG.

  Exemplary embodiments of a signal transmission device and an information device according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  First, a configuration example of a conversion board equipped with a conventional PCI-Express switch will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a conventional conversion board 10.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional conversion board 10 includes optical cable connectors 11a and 11b, repeater / retimers 12a and 12b, a switch 13, an SSC (Spread Spectrum Clocking) 14, an external power supply connector 15, and a card. Edge 16. As shown in FIG. 1, the conversion board 10 is configured so that, for example, the long side and the short side are 280 mm and 110 mm.

  The optical cable connectors 11a and 11b are devices for connecting a device (first device) to which the conversion board 10 is mounted to another device (second device). The optical cable connectors 11a and 11b are, for example, SFP (Small Form-factor Pluggable), QSFP (Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable), and XFP (10 Gigabit Small Form-Factor Pluggable Standard).

  As the optical active cables 20a and 20b connected to the optical cable connectors 11a and 11b, for example, optical active cables having an electrical / optical conversion function are used.

  The card edge 16 is connected to a card edge connector 32 configured on the motherboard (not shown) of the first device, and receives power supply from the first system power supply via the motherboard and the card edge connector 32. . As the card edge 16, for example, PCI-Express-Gen2-x8 conforming to the PCI-Express standard can be used.

  The repeater / retimer 12a, 12b adjusts the electrical characteristics of the electrical signal of the PCI-Express standard. The SSC 14 modulates the clock signal in a minute amount and spreads the output electromagnetic spectrum (energy).

  The switch 13 relays an electrical signal between the optical cable connectors 11 a and 11 b and the card edge 16. The switch 13 is, for example, a PCI-Express switch that conforms to the PCI-Express standard. The switch 13 connects the PCI-Express signal line from the card edge 16 to the upstream port of the switch 13. The switch 13 connects the eight differential signal lines at the downstream port of the switch 13 to the optical cable connectors 11a and 11b.

  The external power supply connector 15 is a connector for connecting to an external power supply (not shown) different from the system power supply (not shown) of the first apparatus and receiving power supply from the external power supply.

  In the conventional conversion board 10 as shown in FIG. 1, the power of the optical cable connectors 11a and 11b is supplied through the external power connector 15, and other than the optical cable connectors 11a and 11b (repeater / retimers 12a and 12b, switch 13, SSC 14 and The power supplied to the other components is the power supplied from the card edge 16. The power supply from the external power supply needs to be performed prior to the power supply from the card edge 16.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an information device including the conventional conversion board 10. FIG. 2 shows an example of an information device such as a PC system including the system power supply 40, the motherboard 30, and the conversion board 10 of FIG.

  The motherboard 30 includes a connector 31 for connecting to a system power supply, a card edge connector 32, and a receiving unit 33. The accepting unit 33 accepts a system power-on signal (hereinafter simply referred to as system power-on) that is a signal instructing to turn on the system power.

  An instruction to power on the system (turn on the system power) is given at one place (for example, one power switch). When there is a power-on command, that is, when the accepting unit 33 accepts system power-on, the motherboard 30 controls the system power supply 40 and supplies power to the card edge connector 32. Thereby, the conversion board 10 receives power supply from the card edge connector 32.

  As described above, the conversion board 10 supplies power from the external power supply 50 to the optical cable connectors 11a and 11b via the external power supply connector 15 prior to system power-on.

  Thus, the conventional conversion board 10 has to prepare an external power supply different from the system power supply. In addition, it is necessary to perform control so that power is supplied from the external power source to the optical cable connectors 11a and 11b before power is supplied from the system power source. The signal transmission device and the information device according to the present embodiment control the supply of electric power so as to ensure that the optical cable connectors 11a and 11b are operable when the switch 13 is activated without using an external power source. .

  FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a print system 100 including the information device of the present embodiment. The print system 100 of this embodiment includes a server 200 as an information device, a printer 400 as an information device, optical active cables 20a and 20b, a plurality of terminals 800, a network 900, and the like.

  The server 200 is a so-called print server, and is connected to a plurality of terminals (for example, PCs) 800 via a network 900.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the server 200 has a card edge connector 32 mounted on its motherboard. Each card edge connector 32 is equipped with a conversion board 300 as a signal transmission device of this embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the printer 400 has a card edge connector 32 mounted on its motherboard. A conversion board 300 is attached to each card edge connector 32.

  Each conversion board 300 has an optical transceiver 600 attached thereto.

  The optical transceiver 600 on the server side and the optical transceiver 600 on the printer side are individually connected by optical active cables 20a and 20b. Here, in the present embodiment, the optical transceiver 600 has a function of converting an electrical signal and an optical signal. In addition, you may comprise so that the conversion function between an electrical signal and an optical signal may be provided in the conversion board 300. FIG.

  Here, image information (black image information, cyan image information, magenta image information, and yellow image information) is transmitted from the server 200 to the printer 400.

  The printer 400 forms a color image according to the received image information.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the information device according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the information device of this embodiment includes a system power supply 40, a motherboard 30-2, and a conversion board 300.

  The motherboard 30-2 includes a connector 31, a card edge connector 32, and a receiving unit 33-2. Since the functions of the connector 31 and the card edge connector 32 are the same as those in FIG. 2, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. The reception unit 33-2 is different from the reception unit 33 in FIG. 1 in that the system power-on signal is received from the conversion board 300.

  The conversion board 300 includes a control unit 310 that controls power supply. The control unit 310 is supplied with the power branched from the system power supply 40 and the system power-on, and supplies power separated from the power supplied to the conversion board 300 via the card edge 16. The power source branched from the system power source 40 is, for example, a power source that is always supplied from the system power source 40 regardless of whether the system is on or off, that is, regardless of whether the system power on is input (hereinafter referred to as a sub power source). System power).

  In this embodiment, as in the conventional PC system, the system is powered on at one location. When there is a power-on command, control unit 310 accepts the system power-on and supplies the delayed system power-on to motherboard 30-2. The motherboard 30-2 controls the system power supply 40 according to the delayed system power-on input to supply power to the card edge connector 32. The conversion board 300 receives power supply from the card edge connector 32.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a detailed configuration of the information device and the conversion board 300. As shown in FIG. 6, the conversion board 300 includes optical cable connectors 11 a and 11 b, repeater / retimers 12 a and 12 b, a switch 13, an SSC 14, a card edge 16, and a control unit 310. The conversion board 300 is different from the conventional conversion board 10 of FIG. 1 in that the conversion board 300 does not include the external power connector 15 but includes the control unit 310.

  The power supply destination from the control unit 310 is the two optical cable connectors 11a and 11b, and the power supply destination from the card edge 16 is all components other than the two optical cable connectors 11a and 11b.

  The control unit 310 includes an input unit 311, a supply unit 312, a delay unit 313, and an output unit 314.

  The input unit 311 inputs system power on. The supply unit 312 inputs power from the subsystem power supply when system power-on is input, and supplies the input power to the optical cable connectors 11a and 11b. The delay unit 313 delays system power-on by a predetermined time. The output unit 314 outputs the system power-on (hereinafter referred to as system power-on delay) delayed by the delay unit 313 to the reception unit 33-3 of the motherboard 30-2.

  Note that the system power-on, the power from the subsystem power supply, and the system power-on delay are input or output via, for example, a connector (not shown). The connector may be individually provided for each of the system power-on, the power from the subsystem power supply, and the system power-on delay, or may be configured to include at least two of these three connectors. May be.

  Next, power control processing by the conversion board 300 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the overall flow of the power supply control process in the present embodiment.

  First, the input unit 311 of the control unit 310 inputs system power-on instructed from a power switch or the like (step S101). When system power-on is input, the supply unit 312 starts processing to supply power from the subsystem power supply to the optical cable connectors 11a and 11b (step S102). When system power-on is input, the delay unit 313 starts a process of delaying system power-on for a predetermined time (step S103). In addition, the processing order of step S102 and step S103 is not restricted to this, You may reverse and may perform both in parallel.

  When the delay process by the delay unit 313 is completed, the output unit 314 outputs the delayed system power-on to the mother board 30-2 (the receiving unit 33-2) (step S104). As a result, the mother board 30-2 starts the power supply control process from the system power supply 40 in response to the delayed system power-on input, and supplies power to the card edge connector 32.

  The conversion board 300 inputs the started system power supply via the card edge connector 32 (step S105).

  FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a specific configuration of the control unit 310 of the conversion board 300. As shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 310 includes elements U1 to U4 and a relay R1.

  The elements U1 and U2 are timers that generate a pulse that is at the HI level for a certain period of time when the system power-on is input. The element U3 is a timer that generates a pulse that becomes the LO level for a predetermined period from the falling timing of the output of the element U1. The element U4 is a combinational circuit that becomes the HI level when the system power-on is inputted and becomes the LO level when the system power-off (a signal that instructs to shut off the system power supply) is inputted.

  The relay R1 supplies the subsystem power to the optical cable connectors 11a and 11b in the conversion board 300 while the output of the element U4 is at the HI level.

  Thus, the control unit 310 supplies the subsystem power to each block in order to generate these control signals. In this embodiment, a current always flows through the elements U1 to U4 and the relay R1. However, it is a standby current except during operation, and is almost zero, and power consumption can be ignored compared to the case where a dedicated power supply monitoring unit is provided. Furthermore, the elements U1 to U4 and the relay R1 are single function elements. For example, the element U1 and the element U2 are timer ICs, the element U3 is a one-shot multi, and the element U4 is an OR gate. In this example, the control unit 310 is very advantageous in terms of cost because neither the CPU nor the program is interposed.

  Note that the circuit diagram of FIG. 8 is an example, and any configuration is possible as long as the functions of the input unit 311, the supply unit 312, the delay unit 313, and the output unit 314 can be realized. Further, the function of the control unit 310 may be realized by a program. In this case, a program for realizing the function of the control unit 310 is provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like.

  The program is recorded in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, and a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) in a file that can be installed or executed. -You may comprise so that it may provide as a program product.

  Furthermore, the program may be provided by being stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and downloaded via the network. The program may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

  The program has a module configuration including the above-described units (input unit, supply unit, delay unit, output unit). As actual hardware, a CPU (processor) reads the program from the ROM and executes it. As a result, the respective units are loaded onto the main storage device, and the respective units are generated on the main storage device.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a timing chart of the control unit 310 of FIG. The output of the element U1 changes to the HI level when the system power-on is inputted, and maintains the HI level for a certain time (2 seconds in the example of FIG. 9). Similarly, when the system power-on is input, the output of the element U2 also changes to the HI level and maintains the HI level for a certain time (4 seconds in the example of FIG. 9).

  The element U3 is triggered by the rising edge of the element U1 (rising edge 2 seconds after the system power is turned on), changes to the LO level, maintains the LO level for 1 second, and then changes to the HI level. The output of the element U3 is supplied to the motherboard 30-2 as a delayed system power-on. The power supply (card edge) is performed at the power-on timing of the system power supply 40 under the control of the motherboard 30-2 (bold arrow).

  The output of the element U4 is input to the control input of the relay R1, and power is supplied at the system power-on timing (bold arrow). This is supplied as a power source for the optical cable connectors 11a and 11b. In this embodiment, the power supply (card edge) is performed for 3 seconds or more.

  As described above, the signal transmission device and the information device according to the present embodiment can guarantee that the optical cable connectors 11a and 11b are operable when the switch 13 is activated without using an external power source.

10 Conversion board 11a, 11b Optical cable connector 12a, 12b Repeater / Retimer 13 Switch 14 SSC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 External power supply connector 16 Card edge 20a, 20b Optical active cable 30 Motherboard 31 Connector 32 Card edge connector 33 Reception part 40 System power supply 50 External power supply 100 Print system 200 Server 300 Conversion board 310 Control part 311 Input part 312 Supply part 313 Delay Unit 314 output unit 400 printer 600 optical transceiver 800 terminal 900 network

JP 2007-121922 A

Claims (5)

A signal transmission device provided between the first device and the second device,
A device for connecting the first device and the second device;
An input unit for inputting a signal instructing to power on the first device;
A supply unit that supplies power input from the power source to the device when the signal is input;
An output unit for outputting the signal delayed by a predetermined time to the motherboard of the first device;
A connection unit that is connected to the motherboard and inputs power supplied from the power source to the motherboard in response to the delayed signal;
A signal transmission device comprising: The input unit, the supply unit, and the output unit are configured of a single function element;
The signal transmission device according to claim 1. The supply unit inputs power supplied from the power source regardless of whether the signal is input, and supplies the input power to the device.
The signal transmission device according to claim 1. The device connects the first device and the second device with a cable conforming to the QSFP standard;
The signal transmission device according to claim 1. An information device comprising a power source, a motherboard, and a signal transmission device,
The signal transmission device is:
A device for connecting to external devices;
An input unit for inputting a signal instructing to turn on the power;
A supply unit that supplies power input from the power source to the device when the signal is input;
An output unit for outputting the signal delayed by a predetermined time to the motherboard;
A connection unit that is connected to the motherboard and inputs power supplied from the power source to the motherboard in response to the delayed signal;
An information device comprising:

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