IP Library › Granted Patent US 10,162,784
Granted Patent B2
US 10,162,784 · App. 15/116,155 · Granted Dec 25, 2018

Adapter for transmitting signals

Inventors: Jonathan D. Bassett (Fort Collins, CO); Byron A. Alcorn (Fort Collins, CO); Shane Ward (Windsor, CO)
Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
G06F13/4072G06F13/36G06F13/385G06F13/409G06F13/4282G06F2213/0026
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,162,784
App. No.
15/116,155
Granted
Dec 25, 2018
Kind
B2
Abstract

Examples of adapters for transmitting signals are disclosed. In one example implementation according to aspects of the present disclosure, an adapter may include a first connector communicatively couplable to PCIe port of a computing system via a first plurality of pins and a second connecter communicatively couplable to an electronic device via a second plurality of pins. The first plurality of pins is communicatively coupled to the second plurality of pins. Additionally, signals of a first type are transmittable between the computing system and the electronic device via a first subset of the first and the second pluralities of pins and signals of a second type are transmittable between the computing system and the electronic device via a second subset of the first and the second pluralities of pins. The second subset of the first plurality of pins and the second plurality of pins conforms to the SFF 8639 standard.

Claims (34)

1. An adapter comprising:

a first connector communicatively couplable to a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) port of a computing system via a first plurality of pins; and

a second connecter communicatively couplable to an electronic device via a second plurality of pins,

wherein the first plurality of pins is communicatively coupled to the second plurality of pins,

wherein signals of a first type are transmittable between the computing system and the electronic device via a first subset of the first and the second pluralities of pins,

wherein signals of a second type are transmittable between the computing system and the electronic device via a second subset of the first and the second pluralities of pins, and

wherein the second subset of the first plurality of pins and the second plurality of pins conforms to the SFF 8639 standard.

2. The adapter of claim 1 , wherein the first subset of the first and the second pluralities of pins conforms to the M.2 standard.

3. The adapter of claim 2 , wherein the electronic device is an M.2 compliant device.

4. The adapter of claim 3 , wherein the second subset of the first and the second pluralities of pins is unused when the signals of the first type are transmitted between the computing system and the M.2 compliant device.

5. The adapter of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is an SFF 8639 compliant device.

6. The adapter of claim 5 , wherein the second subset of the first plurality and the second pluralities of pins is used when the signals of the second type are transmitted between the computing system and the SFF 8639 compliant device.

7. The adapter of claim 1 , wherein the signals of the first type are M.2 compliant and wherein the signals of the second type are SFF 8639 compliant.

8. The adapter of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is selected from the group consisting of an M.2 SSD device, an M.2 WLAN device, and an SFF-8639 SSD device.

9. An adapter comprising:

a first connector communicatively couplable to a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) port of a computing system via a first plurality of pins; and

a second connecter communicatively couplable to one of an M.2 compliant device and an SFF 8639 compliant device via a second plurality of pins,

wherein the first plurality of pins is communicatively coupled to the second plurality of pins,

wherein, when the second connector is communicatively coupled to the M.2 compliant device, signals of a first type are transmittable between the computing system and the M.2 compliant device via a first subset of the first and the second pluralities of pins, and

wherein, when the second connector is communicatively coupled to the SFF 8639 compliant device, signals of a second type are transmittable between the computing system and the SFF 8639 compliant device via the first subset of the first and the second pluralities of pins and a second subset of the first and the second pluralities of pins.

10. The adapter of claim 9 , wherein the signals of the first type are M.2 compliant and wherein the signals of the second type are SFF 8639 compliant.

11. The adapter of claim 9 ,

wherein the first subset of the first and the second pluralities of pins conforms to the M.2 standard.

12. The adapter of claim 11 ,

wherein the signals of the first type are M.2 compliant, and

wherein the signals of the second type are SFF 8639 compliant.

13. A computing system comprising:

a circuit board having a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) slot;

an electronic device; and

an adapter having a first connector communicatively couplable to the PCIe slot via a first plurality of pins and a second connecter communicatively couplable to the electronic device via a second plurality of pins,

wherein the first plurality of pins is communicatively coupled to the second plurality of pins,

wherein signals of a first type are transmittable between the computing system and the electronic device via a first subset of the first and the second pluralities of pins, wherein the second subset of the first and the second pluralities of pins is unused when the signals of the first type are transmitted between the computing system and the electronic device when the electronic device is an M.2 compliant device, and

wherein signals of a second type are transmittable between the computing system and the electronic device via the first subset and a second subset of the first and the second pluralities of pins.

14. The computing system of claim 13 , wherein the first subset of the first and the second pluralities of pins conforms to the M.2 standard, and wherein the second subset of the first plurality of pins and the second plurality of pins conforms to the SFF 8639 standard.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 26, 2016
From: BASSETT, JONATHAN D.; ALCORN, BYRON A.; WARD, SHANE
To: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.
Reel/Frame 039860/0577 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20170177537A1 · Jun 22, 2017
Cited By (12)
US 12,267,178 US 12,301,372 US 12,335,054 US 12,418,429 US 12,422,981 US 12,430,271 US 12,476,832 US 12,541,477 US 12,541,480 US 12,556,417 US 12,561,266 US 12,561,270