Patent · US Expired

Mother board with flexible layout for accommodating computer system design options

US5703760A · kind A · utility

15Cited by
6References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateDec 7, 1995
Grant dateDec 30, 1997
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 7, 2015

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH05K1/14
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Mother board 10M provides a flexible circuit component layout for computer system 10 within housing 10H. The mother board accommodates system component options such as an add-on card 12C or a disk drive bay 10D. Memory module footprint sites 14A-F within memory region 14 are defined on the mother board. Footprints designated in the layout receive components which provide the option flexibility of mother board 10M. Memory module connectors are to be emplaced within the memory region depending on the space requirements of component options. The M memory connectors may be arranged in any configuration selected from a set of multiple possible configurations permitted by M module connectors of T types emplaced in F footprint sites (where F>M). F minus M footprint sites remain vacant without a module connector emplaced therein. These vacant sites provide empty spaces which may be "shuffled around" to accommodate the various system component options. Once a design option has been determined (such as an expansion circuit card or a relocated drive bay) a workable memory connector configuration is selected. The memory connectors are then emplaced in the memory region on the mother board and …

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.