Expansion device housing multiple components
An expansion device is disclosed for including a plurality of modular devices within a pre-defined volume, such as the drive bay of a computing device. The expansion device may include a standardized bus connection and circuitry connecting to a controller chip, circuitry electrically coupling the controller chip to a plurality of modular devices, and a housing that houses the controller chip, connecting circuitry, and modular devices and that fits within the pre-defined volume.
1. An expansion device for containing and connecting a plurality of modular devices to a computing device, the expansion device comprising:
a housing dimensioned to be exchanged for a single drive within a drive bay and to contain the plurality of modular devices, the drive bay being within the computing device and having a pre-defined size dimensioned to house only the single drive, the housing comprising a first housing part having a first housing latch mechanism and a second housing part having a second housing latch mechanism, the first housing part being secured to the second housing part by the first housing latch mechanism engaging with the second housing latch mechanism; and
a circuit board secured within the housing, the circuit board including:
i. a controller chip,
ii. a plurality of modular device connectors electrically coupled directly to the controller chip by first interface circuitry, and
iii. an expansion device connector configured to connect to a drive connector in the drive bay and electrically coupled directly to the controller chip by second interface circuitry,
wherein the first housing part further comprises an inside surface having a plurality of perpendicularly extending cylindrical pins for slidably engaging with a plurality of openings on the circuit board, each cylindrical pin having a distal section, a middle section and a proximal section relative to the inside surface, the middle section having a diameter smaller than a diameter of the distal section, each of the plurality of openings comprising a circular portion and an elongated channel slot portion having a width, the circular portion having a diameter larger than the channel slot width such that the distal and middle sections of each cylindrical pin fit within the circular portion in a first position and slide within the channel slot when the circuit board is moved in a direction parallel to the first housing part into a second position.
2. The expansion device of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of modular devices connected to the plurality of modular device connectors.
3. The expansion device of claim 2 , wherein the modular devices comprise a plurality of PCIe modules and the controller chip comprises a PCIe switch.
4. The expansion device of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of PCIe modules are selected from the group consisting of a solid state drive (SSD) module, a wireless network module, a GPS module, a GSM module, a LTE module, a WiGig module, a WWAN module, a Gigabit Ethernet LAN module, a Dual Gigabit LAN module, a 2G/3G modem module, a FireWire modules, a SAS Host Bus Adapter module and a SATA RAID module.
5. The expansion device of claim 1 , wherein the first housing latch mechanism comprises a first spring element, the second housing latch mechanism comprises a first edge element, such that the first spring element and the first edge element engage when the first housing part is connected to the second housing part.
6. An expansion device for containing and connecting a plurality of modular devices to a computing device, the expansion device comprising:
a housing dimensioned to be exchanged for a single drive within a drive bay and to contain the plurality of modular devices, the drive bay being within the computing device and having a pre-defined size dimensioned to house only the single drive;
a first circuit board secured within the housing, the first circuit board including a plurality of modular device connectors electrically coupled to at least one first board connector by first interface circuitry, and a second circuit board secured within the housing including:
i. a controller chip,
ii. second interface circuitry electrically coupling the controller chip at least one second board connector configured to electrically couple to the at least one first board connector on the first circuit board, and
iii. an expansion device connector configured to connect to a drive connector in the drive bay and third interface circuitry electrically coupling the controller chip to the expansion device connector,
wherein the first housing part further comprises an inside surface having a plurality of perpendicularly extending cylindrical pins for slidably engaging with a plurality of openings on the circuit board, each cylindrical pin having a distal section, a middle section and a proximal section relative to the inside surface, the middle section having a diameter smaller than a diameter of the distal section, each of the plurality of openings comprising a circular portion and an elongated channel slot portion having a width, the circular portion having a diameter larger than the channel slot width such that the distal and middle sections of each cylindrical pin fit within the circular portion in a first position and slide within the channel slot when the circuit board is moved in a direction parallel to the first housing part into a second position.
7. The expansion device of claim 6 , further comprising a plurality of modular devices connected to the plurality of modular device connectors.
8. The expansion device of claim 7 , wherein the modular devices comprise a plurality of PCIe modules and the controller chip comprises a PCIe switch.
9. The expansion device of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of PCIe modules are selected from the group consisting of a solid state drive (SSD) module, a wireless network module, a GPS module, a GSM module, a LTE module, a WiGig module, a WWAN module, a Gigabit Ethernet LAN module, a Dual Gigabit LAN module, a 2G/3G modem module, a FireWire modules, a SAS Host Bus Adapter module and a SATA RAID module.
10. The expansion device of claim 6 , wherein the housing comprises a first housing part releasably connected to a second housing part, such that connecting the first housing part to the second housing part results in connecting the at least one first board connector to the at least one second board connector.
11. The expansion device of claim 10 , wherein the first housing part further comprises a slot for slidably receiving and securing the first circuit board within the first housing part.
12. The expansion device of claim 10 , wherein the first housing part further comprises a slot for slidably receiving and securing the first circuit board within the first housing part, and wherein the second circuit board is secured to the second housing part.
13. The expansion device of claim 6 , wherein the first board includes a first connector and a second connector and the second circuit board includes a third connector and a fourth connector such that in a first configuration, the first board connector is connected to the third board connector and the second board connector is connected to the fourth board connector.
14. The expansion device of claim 13 , wherein in a second configuration, the first connector is connected to the fourth connector and the second connector is connected to the third connector such that the first board in the second configuration has an orientation that substantially 180 degrees apart from an orientation of the first board in the first configuration.