IP Library › Granted Patent US 12706405

Granted Patent B2

US 12706405 · App. 17/524,565 · Granted Aug 11, 2026

I/O device connector with internal cable connections

Inventors: Xiang Li (Portland, OR); Anthony M. Constantine (Portland, OR); Jingbo Li (Portland, OR)

Assignee: Intel Corporation

H01R12/724 H01R12/53 H01R12/727 G06F13/40 G06F13/4004 G06F13/4027 G06F13/4045 G06F13/409 G06F13/42 G06F13/4221 G06F13/4234 G06F13/4265 G06F13/4282 H01B7/17 H01R12/51 H01R12/59 H01R12/592 H01R12/594 H01R12/596 H01R12/71 H01R12/72 H01R12/722 H01R12/725 H01R12/73 H01R12/735 H01R12/737 H01R13/646 H01R13/6461 H01R13/6463

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 12706405
App. No.: 17/524,565
Granted: Aug 11, 2026
Kind: B2

External Links

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Abstract

An apparatus includes a rigid housing, a first connector coupled to the housing, the first connector to receive an edge connector of an input/output (I/O) device, and a second connector coupled to the housing, the second connector to couple to an edge connector socket. Pairs of electrical connection pins of the first connector are coupled to respective pairs of electrical connection pins of the second connector via shielded differential cables inside the housing.

Claims (41)

1 . An apparatus comprising:

a rigid housing;

a first connector coupled to the housing, the first connector to receive an edge connector of a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe)-compatible input/output (I/O) device; and

a second connector coupled to the housing, the second connector to insert into a PCIe-compatible edge connector socket;

wherein pairs of electrical connection pins of the first connector are coupled to respective pairs of electrical connection pins of the second connector via shielded differential cables inside the housing and the first and second connectors each comprise a ground bar coupling a set of electrical connection pins of the connectors other than the pairs connected to the shielded differential cables.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the shielded differential cables are twinaxial cables.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the shielded differential cables are coaxial cables.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the shielded differential cables are twisted pair cables.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the ground bar is connected to the shielding of each shielded differential cable inside the housing.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first connector housing is oriented orthogonally to the second connector housing.

7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a third connector coupled to the housing, the third connector to receive an edge connector of an input/output (I/O) device;

a fourth connector coupled to the housing, the fourth connector to couple to an edge connector socket;

wherein pairs of electrical connection pins of the third connector are coupled to respective pairs of electrical connection pins of the fourth connector via shielded differential cables inside the housing.

8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus comprises a first set of electrical connection pins of the first connector coupled to a first set of electrical connection pins of the second connector via shielded differential cables inside the housing, and a second set of electrical connection pins of the first connector coupled to a second set of electrical connection pins of the second connector via printed circuit board (PCB) stripline wiring.

9 . A system comprising:

a motherboard;

a system-on-chip (SoC) comprising a processor, the SoC coupled to the motherboard;

an input/output (I/O) device connector coupled to the motherboard, the I/O device connector electrically coupled to the SoC through the motherboard, the I/O device connector comprising:

a rigid housing;

a first connector coupled to the housing, the first connector to receive an edge connector of a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe)-compatible input/output (I/O) device;

a second connector coupled to the housing, the second connector coupled to a PCIe-compatible edge connector socket on the motherboard;

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the shielded differential cables are twinaxial cables.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the shielded differential cables are coaxial cables.

12 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the shielded differential cables are twisted pair cables.

13 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the ground bar is connected to the shielding of each shielded differential cable inside the housing.

14 . The system of claim 9 , further comprising an I/O device coupled to the first connector.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the I/O device is a memory device.

16 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the first connector is to receive an edge connector of a first I/O device, the second connector is coupled to a first edge connector socket of the motherboard, and the I/O device connector further comprises: a third connector coupled to the housing, the third connector to receive an edge connector of a second I/O device; a fourth connector coupled to the housing, the fourth connector coupled to a second edge connector socket of the motherboard; wherein pairs of electrical connection pins of the third connector are coupled to respective pairs of electrical connection pins of the fourth connector via shielded differential cables inside the housing.

17 . The system of claim 16 , further comprising an I/O device coupled to the fourth connector.

18 . An apparatus comprising:

a rigid housing;

a first connector coupled to the housing, the first connector to receive an edge connector of a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe)-compatible input/output (I/O) device;

a second connector coupled to the housing, the second connector to couple to insert into a PCIe-compatible edge connector socket; and

high-speed cabling means for connecting pairs of electrical connection pins of the first connector to respective pairs of electrical connection pins of the second connector, wherein the first and second connectors each comprise a ground bar coupling a set of electrical connection pins of the connectors other than the pairs connected to the high-speed cabling means.

19 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the first connector housing is oriented orthogonally to the second connector housing.

20 . The apparatus of claim 18 , further comprising:

a third connector coupled to the housing, the third connector to receive an edge connector of an input/output (I/O) device;

a fourth connector coupled to the housing, the fourth connector to couple to an edge connector socket;

high-speed cabling means for connecting pairs of electrical connection pins of the third connector to respective pairs of electrical connection pins of the fourth connector.