Granted Patent B2

US 12,393,542 · App. 18/323,354 · Granted Aug 19, 2025

Inventors: P. Daniel Kangas (Raleigh, NC); James Michael Dupuy (Cary, NC)

Assignee: Lenovo (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.

G06F13/4081G06F1/183G06F11/325G06F13/4282

Abstract

Claims (45)

1. An apparatus comprising:

an edge connector comprising a plurality of pin fingers, the edge connector conforming with a first connector type;

a socket connector configured to receive a computer expansion card conforming with a second connector type; and

a printed circuit board (“PCB”) comprising a logic adapter configured to convert a first set of signals associated with the first connector type into a second set of signals associated with the second connector type, wherein the logic adapter comprises a serializer input/output expander configured to multiplex a plurality of digital inputs into a plurality of bits.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first connector type comprises an E1.S edge connector, and wherein the second connector type comprises an M.2 socket connector.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the edge connector has a 2C connector size, and wherein the edge connector comprises a notch separating a first set of the plurality of pin fingers from a remainder of the plurality of pin fingers.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a subset of the plurality of pin fingers corresponding to ground pins comprises an extended finger length compared to a remainder of the plurality of pin fingers.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the PCB supports a first superset of signals via the edge connector and supports a second superset of signals via the socket connector, wherein the first superset of signals comprises the first set of signals and a third set of signals, wherein the second superset of signals comprises the second set of signals and the third set of signals, and wherein the PCB is configured to bridge the third set of signals between the edge connector and the socket connector.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the PCB comprises an amber light emitting diode (“LED”) and a blue LED, and wherein the logic adapter is configured to receive an electrical signal from a particular pin of the edge connector and to convert the electrical signal into user information presentable to a user via the amber LED and the blue LED.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the PCB comprises a green light emitting diode (“LED”), and wherein the logic adapter is configured to receive an electrical signal from a particular pin of the edge connector, to pass the electrical signal to a corresponding pin of the socket connector, and to convert the electrical signal into user information presentable to a user via the green LED.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the serializer input/output expander comprises a serial general purpose input/output (“SGPIO”) interface.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of digital inputs comprises a power loss indication signal and a power loss acknowledgement signal.

10. A system comprising:

an enclosure dimensioned to conform to a first form factor;

a computer expansion card located within the enclosure; and

a bridge card coupled to the computer expansion card and located within the enclosure, the bridge card comprising:

an edge connector comprising a plurality of pin fingers, the edge connector conforming with a first connector type;

a socket connector configured to receive the computer expansion card, the socket connector conforming with a second connector type; and

a printed circuit board (“PCB”) comprising a logic adapter configured to convert a first set of signals associated with the first connector type into a second set of signals associated with the second connector type, wherein the logic adapter comprises a serializer input/output expander configured to multiplex a plurality of digital inputs into a plurality of bits.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first form factor comprises an E1.S form factor, wherein the first connector type comprises an E1.S edge connector, and wherein the second connector type comprises an M.2 socket connector.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the edge connector has a 2C connector size, wherein the edge connector comprises a notch separating a first set of the plurality of pin fingers from a remainder of the plurality of pin fingers, and wherein a subset of the plurality of pin fingers corresponding to ground pins comprises an extended finger length compared to the remainder of the plurality of pin fingers.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the bridge card supports a first superset of signals via the edge connector and supports a second superset of signals via the socket connector, wherein the first superset of signals comprises the first set of signals and a third set of signals, wherein the second superset of signals comprises the second set of signals and the third set of signals, and wherein the PCB is configured to bridge the third set of signals between the edge connector and the socket connector.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the bridge card comprises an amber light emitting diode (“LED”), a blue LED, and a green LED, wherein the logic adapter is configured to:

receive a first electrical signal from a first pin of the edge connector,

convert the first electrical signal into user information presentable to a user via the amber LED and the blue LED,

receive a second electrical signal from a second pin of the edge connector,

pass the second electrical signal to a corresponding pin of the socket connector, and

convert the second electrical signal into state information presentable to the user via the green LED.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the serializer input/output expander comprises a serial general purpose input/output (“SGPIO”) interface, and wherein the plurality of digital inputs comprises a power loss indication signal and a power loss acknowledgement signal.

16. A method of a bridge card, the method comprising:

engaging a computer expansion card with a first socket connector conforming with a first connector type;

engaging an edge connector with a second socket connector conforming with a second connector type; and

transforming a first set of signals associated with the first connector type into a second set of signals associated with the second connector type, wherein transforming the first set of signals into the second set of signals comprises multiplexing a plurality of digital inputs into a plurality of bits via a serializer input/output expander.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the serializer input/output expander comprises a serial general purpose input/output (“SGPIO”) interface, wherein the plurality of digital inputs comprises a power loss indication signal and a power loss acknowledgement signal.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first connector type comprises an E1.S edge connector, and wherein the second connector type comprises an M.2 socket connector.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

supporting a first superset of signals via the first socket connector, wherein the first superset of signals comprises the first set of signals and a third set of signals;

supporting a second superset of signals via the second socket connector, wherein the second superset of signals comprises the second set of signals and the third set of signals; and

bridging the third set of signals between the first socket connector and the second socket connector.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the bridge card comprises an amber light emitting diode (“LED”), a blue LED, and a green LED, wherein transforming the first set of signals associated with the first connector type into the second set of signals associated with the second connector type comprises:

receiving a first electrical signal from a first pin of the first socket connector;

converting the electrical signal into user information presentable to a user via the amber LED and the blue LED;

receiving an electrical signal from a second pin of the first socket connector;

passing the electrical signal to a corresponding pin of the socket connector, and

converting the electrical signal into state information presentable to the user via the green LED.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (12)