WO2001057604A1

WO2001057604A1 - Computer system with removable cpu module and peripheral devices

Info

Publication number: WO2001057604A1
Application number: PCT/US2001/003608
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kent Tabor
Original assignee: Granite Microsystems, Inc.
Priority date: 2000-02-01
Filing date: 2001-02-01
Publication date: 2001-08-09

Abstract

A computer system (10) including a removable CPU module (14) within a Device Bay (16) compatible enclosure (12), eliminating the need for a separate computer installed in a different enclosure and connected to a Device Bay enclosure by USB (106) and IEEE 1394 (104) data buses. The device Bay enclosure (12) of the present invention is designated to include a removable CPU module (106) along with a plurality of additional bays (75A-D) for adding peripheral devices (108A, 108B) to the enclosure. USB (106) and IEEE 1394 (104) serial buses connect the CPU to the peripheral devices (108A-B). The CPU module includes a processor (132), RAM (134), video components, and possibly some type of mass storage, such as a hard drive, and multiple I/O components. The enclosure having a plurality of bays (75A-D) is electronically accessible from the front and the rear. The enclosure may accommodate a number of USB or IEEE 1394 peripherals and is accessible to other enclosures to support virtually an unlimited expansion of peripheral devices. Each enclosure contains a number of walk-up ports for convenient front panel or rear panel connection of additional peripheral devices.

Description

COMPUTER SYSTEM WITH REMOVABLE CPU MODULE AND PERIPHERAL DEVICES

Cross-Reference to Related Applications

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/178,959, filed February 1, 2000. This application is a continuation-in-part of International Application Serial No. PCT/USOO/31619, filed November 17, 2000.

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to computer systems, and more particularly to personal computer (PC) systems having at least one removable Central Processing Unit (CPU) module installed within an enclosure having additional bays for adding peripheral devices. The present invention provides a specifically designed enclosure for housing the CPU module and a plurality of peripheral devices. The system is especially useful for controlling devices of embedded applications, such as consumer devices, industrial devices, telecommunication devices, medical equipment devices, data acquisition devices, etc. The system is also useful for expanding existing computer systems by adding more conventional peripheral devices, such as memory devices or storage devices.

Background of the Invention

The development of high-speed serial buses has prompted the need for a specification to facilitate system expansion for custom peripheral devices. A constant in the evolution of the history of computers has been the demand for increasingly higher bandwidths for buses and interface technology. In the early days, when the IBM PC XT was the PC standard, the 8-bit ISA bus was the standard for peripheral interface. With the advent of the AT, the 8-bit ISA bus was found to be short on resources and short on speed, so the 16-bit ISA bus was born. This bus ran at the same clock frequency, but its data path was twice as wide. As the 16-bit ISA bus became too slow for the processing power of evolving computers, other standards began to appear such as the EISA and the VESA buses. However, these buses were short hved and never truly gained popularity in embedded applications. Shortly after the introduction of EISA and VESA, the PCI bus came along, offering more bandwidth and features. The PCI bus is a 32-bit data bus with a clock frequency more than four times faster than that of the ISA bus.

For several years, computers had been shipping with both PCI and ISA bus slots. These slots had given developers of industrial and telecommunication applications the opportunity to leverage the high volume commodity PC platform as the basis of their control system.

As a result of inherent problems with the PCI and ISA buses, the USB and IEEE 1394 buses were created. These new serial buses were intended to make peripheral designs easy to develop, inexpensive to manufacture, and simple to install and service. The USB is a medium bandwidth bi-directional serial bus operating at transfer speeds of 12Mb/sec or more. This hot- swappable, plug and play, half duplex, bi-directional serial bus permits nearly unlimited expansion by allowing a single externally accessible port to support up to 127 peripheral devices on the same bus. With USB, expanding the PC became as straightforward as plugging a cable into an USB port on a computer. Following insertion of a cable from a peripheral device into a USB port on the computer, the computer's operating system enables the device and loads the drivers, so that the peripheral device becomes available for use almost instantly.

Complimentary to USB is a higher speed serial bus, IEEE 1394, commonly referred to as

1394. IEEE 1394 is a hot swappable, plug and play, full duplex, bi-directional serial bus. The 1394 serial bus is also commonly referred to as 1394a, with a future version to be known as 1394b. The 1394a serial bus allows for transfer speeds up to 400Mb/sec, with the future 1394b serial bus to provide speeds of up to 3.2Gb/sec or more. The IEEE 1394 serial bus can support up to 63 peripheral devices on the same bus.

Although USB and IEEE 1394 are rich in technological advantages, a few implementation issues present difficulties for certain embedded applications. One implementation problem is the issue of surprise removal of peripheral devices. Because USB and IEEE 1394 are hot swappable and plug and play by nature, a user may decide at any time to remove the cable that connects the device to the CPU This may happen at an inopportune time, for example, during a motion operation or during data acquisition. Such surprise removal could cause catastrophic failure in a control or instrumentation system, rendering the devices useless.

Another implementation problem with USB and IEEE 1394 in industrial applications concerns the power required for peripheral devices. Though both USB and IEEE 1394 can provide power to devices, the use of this power is limited to low current devices using a single voltage rail. Most industrial applications require clean power with a relatively large amount of current at several different voltage levels. Most developers would therefore choose to design embedded power supplies or provide power from an external power supply, increasing system cost and complexity.

A final implementation difficulty has to do with mechanical issues. Neither USB nor 1394 has an associated specified standard for mechanical enclosure for peripheral devices. The problem this creates is that every device in a computer system could conceivably be a different size and have a separate set of requirements for installing the device in an enclosure or rack. This can render servicing difficult, because the system may need significant disassembly to remove damaged devices or components from an enclosure. Upgrading also becomes more complicated, since changes in mechanical dimensions may necessitate redesigns.

In order to solve the aforementioned implementation problems and to open USB and IEEE 1394 up to a wider array of devices, a new industry standard has recently emerged and is building some momentum in the embedded computer market. The Device Bay standard developed by Compaq, Intel, and Microsoft, enhances the USB and IEEE 1394 specifications. The Device Bay standard is a specification for an electrical and mechanical form factor for the USB and IEEE 1394 high-speed serial buses, and is designed to allow hot swappable, plug and play expansion of computer peripherals in computer systems.

Device Bay incorporates a single connector that supports both USB and IEEE 1394 and provides additional power to accommodate more power hungry devices. By its nature, Device Bay is inherently portable in that any computer that has a USB port, a EEEE 1394 port, a Device Bay controller, and a Device Bay compatible operating system is capable of using Device Bay technology. If a peripheral device works on one system with a Device Bay configuration, it will work on all Device Bay systems.

Under current applications of peripheral devices, current ISA or PCI designs would be ported to Device Bay modules. However, these modules would need an onboard, low cost, microprocessor to communicate with the Device Bay controller and to handle communications with the USB and IEEE 1394 interfaces. The microprocessor would also be used to add local intelligence to the peripheral device. For example, the microprocessor could initialize a high speed A/D, perform a power up self-test of the A/D, or handle background functions such as polling the A/D channels and signal conditioning. The microprocessor could also compress, time stamp, and organize the data in a logical way sparing the PC CPU from having to perform these functions.

Since Device Bay is plug and play, the system can be powered up when a peripheral device is installed in the enclosure. The operating system and CPU immediately recognize the device, load the appropriate drivers, and run the application of the compatible peripheral device.

It is believed that high-speed serial interfaces will become the standard peripheral interface for computer based embedded systems for most original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). OEM embedded systems involved with industrial control, consumer applications, medical applications, instrumentation, telecommunications, and other applications typically contain one or more proprietary cards that perform OEM specific functions. Due to low cost and ease of development, many OEMs in the past have designed these cards for the ISA bus. As the ISA bus disappears from commodity computers, OEMs will need to find a different bus for new designs as well as a bus to which they can port their existing designs. The only interface buses for OEMs to use in PC based computer systems are PCI, USB, and IEEE 1394.

The present invention improves the Device Bay standard for application to computer based embedded systems for OEMs by incorporating a removable CPU module within a Device bay standard enclosure with expansion capability for a plurality of peripheral devices.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention improves the Device Bay standard by incorporating at least one removable CPU module within a Device Bay compatible enclosure, therefore eliminating the need for a separate PC installed in a different enclosure and connected to the Device Bay compatible enclosure by USB and IEEE 1394 data buses. The Device Bay compatible enclosure of the present invention is designed to include at least one removable CPU module along with a plurality of additional bays for adding peripheral devices to the enclosure. The present invention also involves adding and controlling peripheral devices especially for embedded applications involving consumer electronics, industrial control, medical equipment, instrumentation, telephony and other applications. The present invention is essentially a PC within a Device Bay compatible enclosure with a plurality of open bays or slots for adding peripheral devices.

The computer system includes a Device Bay compatible enclosure for housing at least one removable CPU module and a plurality of removable peripheral devices, and USB and IEEE 1394 serial buses connecting the CPU module to the peripheral devices and possibly other cascaded Device Bay enclosures. The Device Bay compatible enclosure includes a plurality of bays accessible from the front and connected to the CPU module through USB and/or IEEE 1394 connections, and a custom I/O interface for supporting various interfaces.

The Device Bay compatible enclosure may accommodate a plurality USB or IEEE 1394 compatible peripherals and is cascadable to support virtually unlimited expansion of peripheral devices. Each enclosure contains a number of so-called "walk-up ports" for convenient front panel connection of additional peripherals, such as printers, keyboards, mice and scanners. In a preferred embodiment, a four bay enclosure is approximately 7 inches high by 8.44 inches wide by 12.5 inches long, and provides four USB walk-up ports and three IEEE 1394 walk-up ports. The enclosure can be rack-mounted, with two units fitting side by side in a 5U chassis, or cascaded to accommodate up to 127 USB devices and up to 63 IEEE 1394 devices.

The Device Bay compatible enclosure provides the required power to each peripheral device, eliminating the need for independent peripheral power supplies. The enclosure ensures data integrity by disallowing the removal of any peripheral device without first closing all applicable files and applications associated with the peripheral and removing power from the device.

The present invention is a way to expand and integrate computer systems by using both USB and IEEE 1394 high-speed serial buses. Both standards permit hot-swapping, plug-and- play of peripherals to permit a user to easily add or remove any compatible peripheral. The peripherals can be quickly added or removed from a computer system without opening an enclosure, or powering down and rebooting. The remote enclosures permit expansion of desktop, industrial, and embedded PCs. This is accomplished by connecting multiple remote enclo sures together.

The present invention provides a mechanical and electrical form factor for USB and IEEE 1394 peripheral devices within the Device Bay standard. The present invention provides support of up to 127 USB devices, 63 EEEE 1394 devices, USB walk up ports, IEEE 1394 walk up ports, full power management for peripheral modules inside and outside of the enclosure, power and communication LED indicators, and prevention of surprise removal of device modules. One aspect of the invention is the mechanical surprise removal prevention.

The Device Bay compatible enclosure supports a plurality of standard PC form factor devices. They can be plugged in or removed while the system is under power. The enclosure links to the host computer or other system via IEEE 1394 or USB serial buses. The USB provides a serial link with a current maximum throughput of 12Mb/sec or more and EEEE 1394 supports 100, 200 or 400 Mb/sec with current extensions moving those rates up to 800 and 1600 Mb/sec or more. These serial buses, especially IEEE 1394, can serve as a connection for connecting multiple enclosures. Thus, developers can string together multiple enclosures to create a unique PC based system for a variety of applications. Additionally, developers can add processing power and special functions available in modules to fit the standard peripheral form factors.

The enclosures include their own power supplies that can be linked via the USB or IEEE

1394 serial buses. In a rack mount configuration, the enclosures can share one another's power supply, eliminating the need for a power supply in each enclosure.

Another aspect of the invention is the removable CPU module. The CPU module operates and controls a plurality of peripheral devices installed in the enclosure, and any external peripheral devices electrically connected to the enclosure by USB, EEEE 1394, or other control data buses. The CPU module preferably includes a processor, memory (RAM), and a plurality of interface connections available at the front and rear of the module. Included on the front panel of the CPU module are a power indicator, a reset indicator, and several system status indicators, preferably LEDs, to monitor the power and status of the CPU module. The interfaces on the front panel of the module include PCMCIA slots, PS/2 ports, a video port for accepting VGA, LVDS, DN1, ΝTSC and PAL video format signals The rear interfaces include an interface panel with a plurality of serial ports, parallel ports, USB walk-up ports, and IEEE 1394 walk-up ports, and a Device Bay control interface port.

Various other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be made apparent to those skilled in the art from the following drawings and detailed description of the invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the computer system of the present invention; FIG. 2A is a front perspective view of a two-bay enclosure of the computer system in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG 2B is a rear perspective view of the two-bay enclosure of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3 A is a front perspective view of a four-bay enclosure of the computer system in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3B is a rear perspective view of the four-bay enclosure of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 is a functional black diagram of the components of the four-bay enclosure shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B;

FIG. 5A is a front perspective view of a removable CPU module which may be installed into one of the bays of the enclosures of FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B;

FIG. 5B is a rear perspective view of the CPU module of FIG. 5A;

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of the CPU module of FIG 5A and 5B; and

FIG 7 is a functional block diagram of the electronic circuitry on a motherboard or Device Bay Controller printed circuit board located within the enclosures of FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3 A and 3B.

Detailed Description of the Invention

Referring first to FIG. 1, which shows an overall general block diagram of a first embodiment of a computer system of the present invention. The computer system 10 includes a Device Bay compatible enclosure 12 having a plurality of open bays 14 for installation of a removable CPU module 16 and a plurality of removable peripheral devices 18. The removable CPU module 16 is responsible for operating and controlling the plurality of peripheral devices 18 connected to the CPU module 16 over high-speed serial data buses, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) and an IEEE 1394 bus The CPU module 16 and the peripheral devices 18 are removably installed in a uniquely designed enclosure 12. The enclosure 12 is preferably a Device Bay compatible enclosure, which meets the Device Bay standards and specification. The CPU module 16 and peripheral devices 18 communicate with each other over these high-speed serial data buses. The computer system may also include a plurality of external peripheral devices 24 connected to the Device Bay enclosure 12 through USB and IEEE 1394 high speed data bus cables 26, 28.

The CPU module 16 operates and controls the plurality of peripheral devices 18, 24 installed in the enclosure 12 and external to the enclosure 12 over high-speed USB and IEEE 1394 serial data buses. The CPU module 16 includes at least one printed circuit board (motherboard) with a processor and memory (RAM). The CPU module 16 may also contain video components, and some type of mass storage device, such as a hard drive or solid state disk drive. The CPU module 16 further includes a plurality of I O interface connectors available at the front and rear of the module 16 for connecting one or more of a monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, modem, scanner, etc., to the CPU module.

The enclosure 12 depending on its size and number of open bays 14, supports at least one

CPU module 16 and a plurality of USB or IEEE 1394 compatible peripheral devices 18. Each USB host and IEEE 1394 controller can support up to 127 USB internal and external devices and 63 IEEE 1394 internal and external devices. In the most preferred embodiment, the enclosure 12 includes a plurality of USB and IEEE 1394 walk-up ports for convenient front or rear panel connection of external peripherals. The peripherals connected to these walk-up ports would be included in the maximum number of connected devices indicated earlier in this paragraph. The USB and EEEE 1394 walk-up ports also allow for the connection of additional enclosures for expansion of the system. The enclosures may be cascaded with other Device Bay compatible enclosures to support a virtually unlimited expansion of peripheral devices. Thus, developers can network and string together multiple enclosures to create a unique system for a variety of applications. The enclosures preferably include two to four open bays, but may also comprise other configurations

FIG. 2A illustrates a first embodiment of a Device Bay enclosure, which is preferably a two-bay peripheral device enclosure 20. The enclosure 20 includes a top panel 24, two side panels 26, 28, a bottom panel 30, a rear panel 32, and a front panel 34. At least one of the side panels 26, 28 includes air vents 35 to facilitate cooling of the electronic circuitry and components within the enclosure 20. The enclosure 20 further includes two bays or slots 36A, 36B for receiving two peripheral devices 22A, 22B. Underneath each of the two bay openings 36A, 36B are power supply status LEDs 38A, 38B, activity or communication LEDs 40 A, 40B, remove request push buttons 42A, 42B, and an ejector levers 44A, 44B for ejecting the peripheral devices 22A, 22B installed in the bays 36A, 36B

FIG. 2B is a rear perspective view of the two-bay enclosure 20 showing the top 24, side 26, and rear 32 panels of the enclosure. Attached to the rear panel 32 is a power supply 46 with an AC input connector 48, power switch 49 and air vents 47. The enclosure is preferable cooled with forced air connected to a forced air tube extending through the enclosure. Also attached to the rear panel 32 is a first interface panel 50 with a USB host computer connection 52, two USB walk-up ports 54, two IEEE 1394 walk-up ports 56, and an IEEE 1394 host computer connection 58, and a second interface panel 51 for other multi-function I/O interface connections, such as audio, video, bus expansion, etc The enclosure 20 shown in FIGS 2A and 2B includes two open bays 36A, 36B for inserting peripheral devices 22A, 22B, therein,, a power supply 46, a uniquely designed printed circuit board including at least one Device Bay Controller, a small solenoid activated peripheral device lock and unlock printed circuit board, and interface hardware for connecting the i peripheral devices to the CPU module and other peripheral devices.

FIG. 3 A illustrates another embodiment of a peripheral device enclosure comprising a computer system of the present invention. The enclosure 60 is preferably a four-bay Device Bay compatible enclosure. The enclosure 60 includes a top panel 62, two side panels 64, 66, a bottom panel 68, a rear panel 70, and a front panel 72 At least one of the side panels 64, 66

) includes air vents 73 to facilitate cooling of the electronic circuitry and components within the enclosure 60. The enclosure 60 further includes four bays or slots 75A, 75B, 75C, 75D for receiving up to four peripheral devices 74A, 74B, 74C, 74D therein. Underneath each of the bay openings 75 A, 75B, 75C, 75D are power supply status LEDs 76A, 76B, 76C, 76D, activity or communication LEDs 78A, 78B, 78C, 78D, remove request push buttons 80A, 80B, 80C, 80D, i and an ejector levers 82A, 82B, 82C, 82D for ejecting the peripheral devices 74A, 74B, 74C, 74D installed in the bays 75A, 75B, 75C, 75D The enclosure 60 further includes a keyed lock 84 on the front panel 72 to prevent unauthorized removal of a peripheral device from the enclosure during use. The front panel 72 of the enclosure 60 also includes two USB walk-up ports 86.

⁾ FIG. 3B is a rear perspective view of the four-bay enclosure 60 showing bottom 68, side

64, and rear 70 panels of the enclosure. Attached to the rear panel 70 is a power supply 88 with an AC input connector 90, power switch 92 and air vents 89. The enclosure is preferable cooled with forced air connected to a forced air tube extending through the enclosure. Additional air vents 94 extend through the rear panel 70 for cooling the components within the enclosure. Also attached to the rear panel 70 are interface connections for two USB walk-up ports 96, three EEEE 1394 walk-up ports 98, an IEEE 1 94 host computer connection 98, and a USB host computer connection 100. A multi-function I/O interface 95 includes possible connections for audio,

» video, bus expansion, etc.

The enclosure 60 shown in FIGS. 3 A and 3B includes four open bays 75 A, 75B, 75C, 75D for inserting peripheral devices 74A, 74B, 74C, 74D therein, a power supply 88, a uniquely designed printed circuit board including at least one Device Bay Controller, a small solenoid activated peripheral device lock and unlock printed circuit board, and interface hardware for ) connecting the peripheral devices to the CPU module and other peripheral devices.

FIG. 4 shows a functional black diagram of the components and electronics within the four-bay enclosure 60 The enclosure 60 includes electronic circuitry and components on at least one circuit board for controlling the computer system of the present invention. The circuit boards preferably include a Device Bay controller, which may be located in the CPU module or i on an external circuit board, and a solenoid activated lock and unlock circuit board. The Device Bay controller circuitry includes a controller and associated firmware for controlling operation of the computer system. The Device Bay compatible enclosure 60 includes four bays 75 A, 75B, 75C, 75D controlled by two Device Bay controllers 102A, 102B. The bays 75 A, 75B, 75C, 75D are essentially mechanical sockets that accept a CPU module or peripheral devices. These

> devices may include such peripherals as CD ROMS, hard drives, floppy drives, telecommunication devices such as modems and POTS interfaces, servo and stepper controllers, communication devices, data acquisition devices, test and measurement devices, medical devices, etc. for virtually any application A connector located at the rear of each of the bays provides all electrical connections between the Device Bay controller, USB, IEEE 1394, and power to each peripheral device A six-port PHY (physical layer interface) interface circuit 104 receives an input from the host CPU module, and outputs EEEE 1394 signals to two IEEE 1394 three-port PHYs 108 A, 108B A USB four port hub 106 accepts an input signal from the CPU module, and outputs USB signals through the Device Bay controllers 102A, 102B to the bays 75A, 75B, 75C, 75D and walk-up ports The walk-up ports 96, 98 are discrete USB and EEEE 1394 ports, which are available at the front and rear panels of the enclosure. These ports allow the connection of external peripherals to the enclosure These devices can be any USB or 1394 compatible device These walk-up ports also allow the addition of other enclosures for expansion A power supply 88 provides power to the bays and other electronic components and circuitry within the enclosure

FIG 5 A is a perspective front view of a preferred embodiment of a removable CPU module 110, which may be inserted into one of the bays of the enclosure. The CPU module 110 operates and controls a plurality of peripheral devices installed in the enclosure, and any external peripheral devices electrically connected to the enclosure by USB, IEEE 1394, or other control data buses. The CPU module 1 10 preferably includes a processor, memory (RAM), and a plurality of interface connections available at the front and rear of the module as shown. The CPU module 1 10 may also include video components, flash memory, a hard drive or a solid state disk drive The CPU module 1 10 has dimensions, which fit into the Device Bay mechanical form factor A plurality of mechanical notches 1 12 are formed in the CPU module 1 10 to provide means for attaching and locking the CPU module 1 10 into one of the bays of the enclosure. The CPU module 1 10 also includes a plurality of vent holes 114 for cooling airflow through the CPU module enclosure Included on the front panel of the CPU module are a power indicator 122, a reset indicator 124, and several system status indicators 126, preferably LEDs, to monitor the power and status of the CPU module 1 10. The interfaces on the front panel of the module include PCMCIA slots i 16, PS/2 ports 1 18, a video port 120 for accepting NGA, LVDS, DVI, ΝTSC and PAL video format signals.

FIG. 5B is a perspective rear view of the CPU module 1 10 of FIG 5A. The rear interfaces include an interface panel 128 with a plurality of serial ports, parallel ports, USB walk-up ports, and IEEE 1394 walk-up ports. The rear panel also includes a Device Bay control interface port 136. The CPU module 1 10 further includes a cooling port 130 extending through the rear panel and coupled to an air pump located within the Device Bay compatible enclosure to provide forced air cooling through the CPU module.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of the CPU module 1 10 and its interfaces. The CPU module preferably includes a CPU or processor 132, memory (RAM) 134 and a storage device 135, such as a hard drive or a solid state disk drive. As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the interfaces may include one or all of the following: serial ports 128, parallel ports 128, a video port 120 such as NGA, DNI, LNDS, ΝTSC, PAL, a PS-2 mouse port 1 18, a PS-2 keyboard port 118, a plurality of PCMCIA slots 1 16 for PCMCIA cards, USB walk-up ports 128, IEEE 1394 walk-up ports 128 and a Device Bay control interface port 136. In addition, the CPU module 110 preferably includes a power indicator 122, a reset indicator 124, and several system status indicators 126, preferably LEDs, to monitor the power and status of the CPU module 110.

FIG. 7 illustrates a functional block diagram of the Device Bay compatible enclosure of the present invention with the Device Bay controller circuit board 140 as its main component. The circuitry on the Device Bay controller circuit board 140 together with an embedded software program and operating system coordinates and controls all of the functions of the CPU module 158 and peripheral bays 160. These functions include power monitoring and control 142, peripheral device detection 144, peripheral device lock and unlock 146, USB and IEEE 1394 coordination 148, eject request control 150, mechanical key lock detection 152, and power and activity status LEDs 154.

Operation of the system as explained by adding and removing a peripheral device from the enclosure is as follows. To add a device, any USB or IEEE 1394 compatible device may be inserted into an open bay in the enclosure. As the device is inserted into a connector on a backplane at the rear of the enclosure, the Device Bay controller circuitry and software recognize the peripheral device, initialize it and prepare it for operation. The device is mechanically and electrically locked in the enclosure. To remove a device, a user presses the remove request push button, a signal is sent to the host computer to remove the device, power is removed from the device, and the user pulls the eject lever. The current design supports non-Device Bay peripherals and various operating systems not supported by the Device Bay standard.

While the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that certain substitutions, alterations and omissions may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, while embodiments of the Device Bay enclosures only included two and four open bays, the enclosures may include any number or a plurality of open bays. Accordingly, the foregoing description is meant to be exemplary only, and should not limit the scope of the invention.

Claims

ClaimsI claim:

1. A computer system for connecting a plurality of peripheral devices together, the system comprising: an enclosure having a frame and a plurality of open bays for accepting the plurality of peripheral devices therein. a removable CPU module for inserting into one of the open bays of the enclosure; a hardware interface to at least one bus which requires unique identifiers for each active device on the bus; a controller on the CPU module for controlling operation of the hardware interface; a locking means for locking and unlocking the peripheral devices in the enclosure; a power supply for supplying power to the control circuitry, hardware interface and open bays; and software embedded into the controller for recognizing and controlling operation of peripheral devices.

2. The computer system of claim 1 wherein the interface controller is a Device Bay Controller.

3. The computer system of claim 1 wherein the CPU module includes multiple I/O interface ports.

4. The computer system of claim I wherein the CPU module includes a hard drive.

5. The computer system of claim 1 wherein the CPU module includes flash memory.

6. The computer system of claim 1 wherein the CPU module includes multiple I/O interface ports.

7. The computer system of claim 1 wherein the CPU module includes a PCMCIA interface.

8. The computer system of claim 1 wherein the CPU module includes a PS-2 interface.

9. The computer system of claim 1 wherein the CPU module includes a video interface.

10. The computer system of claim 9 wherein the video interface is a LNDS interface.

1 1. The computer system of claim 9 wherein the video interface is a NGA interface.

12. The computer system of claim 9 wherein the video interface is a DNI interface.

13. The computer system of claim 9 wherein the video interface is a ΝTSC/PAL interface.

14. The computer system of claim 1 wherein the hardware interface is a USB interface.

15. The computer system of claim I wherein the enclosure provides hardware interface walk-up ports for connecting external devices.

16. The computer system of claim 1 wherein the controller and embedded software provide power and temperature monitoring and control, peripheral device detection, peripheral device lock and unlock, USB and IEEE 1394 coordination, eject request control, mechanical key lock detection, and power and activity status indication

17. A Device Bay compatible computer system comprising: a Device Bay enclosure and a Device Bay Controller which is electrically connected to connectors for externally removable device bay modules in the Device Bay enclosure; a removable CPU module. a USB hardware interface. an IEEE 1394 hardw are interface, and embedded software coupled to an operating system in a host computer for controlling the system.

18. The computer system of claim 17 wherein the Device Bay Controller interfaces to a USB system bus through a USB hub controller.

19. A computer system comprising: at least one device insertion location having a standard interface for components which may be inserted therein, the standard interface allowing the components to use any one of multiple different signal interface formats, and control electronics for controlling the components.

20. The computer system of claim 1 wherein the control electronics includes an interface controller.

21 The computer system of claim 19 wherein the control electronics includes a first bus interface circuiti y, which

ides data communications between the interface controller and a first system serial bus

22 The computer system of claim 21 wherein the first bus interface circuitry is a USB.

23. The computer system of claim 19 wherein the control electronics includes a second bus interface circuitry, which provides data communications between the interface controller and a second system serial bus

24. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the second bus interface circuitry is an EEEE 1394 bus

25 The computer system of claim 19 wherein the interface controller is connected directly to a USB.

26. The computer system of claim 19 wherein the interface controller is connected directly to an IEEE 1394 bus.

27. The computer system of claim 19 wherein the device insertion location is part of an enclosure.

28 The computer system of claim 27 wherein the enclosure conforms to a Device Bay specification