Apparatus to facilitate functional shock and vibration testing of device connections and related method
An apparatus and associated method are disclosed for facilitating the testing of device connections, including functional shock and vibration testing of peripheral card slots or any other desired connector interface. In part, a power supply located on the peripheral device, or some other external power source, is used to power fault detection circuitry. In this way, faults can be identified, such as through visual fault indicators, without the necessity of powering the system. In addition, simulated peripheral cards are provided that include adjustable weights so that the weight distribution of an actual card can be simulated without the necessity of having a functional peripheral in hand.
1. An apparatus for testing device connections, comprising:
a device body having a connector configured to be coupled to another device;
a power source coupled to provide power to the device body; and
fault detection circuitry coupled to the connector and to the power source and configured to output at least one fault indication signal with respect to the connector when a connection fault occurs;
wherein the device body is configured to provide weight distribution simulation for another device; and further comprising one or more adjustable weights configured to be coupled to the device body to provide the weight distribution simulation.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the power source comprises power supply circuitry located on the device body.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the device body comprises a peripheral card for an information handling system.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the connector comprises a plurality of connections, and further comprising a plurality of fault indicators such that each fault indicator is associated with at least one connection and further comprising a plurality of control circuits such that each control circuit is associated with at least one fault indicator, the control circuits being configured to output a plurality of fault indication signals to control the fault indicators.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 , further comprising combining logic coupled to receive a plurality of fault indication signals from the control circuits and to provide as an output a combined fault indication signal.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a location for at least one of the weights is configured to be adjustable.
7. An information handling system for shock and vibration testing of device connections, comprising:
a chassis configured to hold components for the information handling system;
a power supply for the information handling system coupled to the chassis;
a first device body and a second device body, the first device body being coupled to the chassis and being electrically coupled to the power supply, the first device body having at least a first connector configured to be coupled to the second device body, and the second device body having a second connector configured to be coupled to the first connector of the first device body;
a power source coupled to provide power to the second device body, the power source being different from the power supply for the information handling system; and
fault detection circuitry coupled to the second device body, to the second connector and to the power source and configured to output at least one fault indication signal when a connection fault occurs between the first connector for the first device body and the second connector for the second device body during a connection test procedure;
wherein the second device body is configured to provide weight distribution simulation for another device; and further comprising one or more adjustable weights configured to be coupled to the second device body to provide the weight distribution simulation.
8. The information handling system of claim 7 , wherein the first device body comprises a motherboard having a slot connector as the first connector and the second device body comprises a peripheral card having a card edge connector as the second connector.
9. The information handling system of claim 8 , wherein the peripheral card has a panel located at least at one end, and further comprising a visible fault indicator located on the panel so as to be viewable from outside the chassis.
10. The information handling system of claim 9 , wherein the power source comprises power supply circuitry located on the second device body, wherein the first device body and the second device body have a common ground, wherein at least one ground connection on the second connector for the second device body is coupled to the common ground through the first connector for the first device body, and wherein the fault detection circuitry is configured to output a fault indication signal if a connection fault occurs between the ground connection and the common ground.
11. The information handling system of claim 7 , wherein the connector comprises a plurality of connections and further comprising a plurality of fault indicators coupled to the plurality of connections.
12. A method for facilitating testing of device connections, comprising:
coupling a connector of a first device body to a connector on a second device body;
powering connection fault detection circuitry on the first device body; and
generating at least one fault indication signal with respect to the connector on the first device body when a connection fault occurs during testing of the device connections; and
adjusting a weight distribution for the first device body to simulate weight distribution for another device.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the powering step comprises powering connection fault detection circuitry on the first device body utilizing power supply circuitry located on the first device body and providing a common ground between the first device body and the second device body.
14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising utilizing at least one visible fault indicator configured to indicate connection faults.
15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the generating step comprises generating at least one fault indication signal indicating whether a connection fault occurred at any time during testing and generating at least one fault indication signal indicating a current condition for connection continuity.