Integrated socket with chip carrier

Details Integrated socket with chip carrier Integrated socket with chip carrier

1998-10-07

2002-04-30

Pham, Chi (Department: 2631)

Pulse or digital communications

Cable systems and components

C375S219000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06381283

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to network communications. More specifically, the present invention relates to a network cable socket (or plug) that is integrated with a chip carrier and associated circuitry.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Communication between computers and network devices typically occurs over cables that are connected to a hardware device using a pair of male and female connectors. A cable is typically terminated at each end by a male plug (or connector) which connects to a female jack (or socket) mounted on a printed circuit board or within a hardware device.
FIG. 1
illustrates a prior art network interface card (NIC)
10
that includes a jack
16
and supporting circuitry. Network interface card
10
is used to interface analog signals from a network cable to a computer. In this example, NIC
10
is an Ethernet card. Shown is an Ethernet communications cable
12
terminating in an RJ-45 plug
14
. Plug
14
mates with RJ-45 jack
16
which is mounted on NIC
10
. Also mounted on NIC
10
is a variety of analog circuitry
18
which is in communication with jack
16
and with a transceiver integrated circuit
20
.
Jacks such as RJ-45 jack
16
are known in the art. Jack
16
may also include electromagnetic shielding around its plastic casing to shield the internal connections from outside circuitry and vice-versa. Some RJ-45 jacks also include a coil and/or LEDs within the jack itself.
Analog circuitry
18
includes discrete components such as inductance coils, resistors and capacitors, all which are useful in the processing of the analog signal over cable
14
. Transceiver
20
is a known device that performs low-level processing of a communications signal. Transceiver
20
includes A/D and D/A converters and other related circuitry. By way of example, transceiver
20
is an Intel 82555 device. Media access controller (MAC) integrated circuit
22
is also a known device that performs high level processing of the communications signal and is in communication with transceiver
20
and a computer bus interface
24
. MAC
22
provides the high-level interface to the computer bus and to the computer software. By way of example, MAC
22
is an Intel 82557 device. Computer bus interface
24
is an interface from NIC
10
to a computer bus of the computer into which it is inserted. By way of example, interface
24
connects to a PCI bus, a VME bus, and the like. Not shown on NIC
10
is other circuitry such as a microprocessor, boot PROM, memory, etc.
NIC
10
illustrates an example of how a computer (or other hardware device) interfaces to a network communications cable (such as an Ethernet cable). As can be seen from
FIG. 1
, the interface requires not only jack
16
, but also discrete analog components
18
, and two separate integrated circuits
20
and
22
, all of which are spread out over a substantial portion of NIC
10
.
Although able to operate correctly, such a design has a number of inherent drawbacks. Primarily, the physical separation of the various components from jack
16
leads to noise, impedance and radiation difficulties. For example, jack
16
may be separated from analog components
18
, transceiver
20
, and MAC
22
by a number of inches. This separation allows noise to interfere with the analog signal and requires that a board designer make allowances for the noise. In addition, because signals are traveling over relatively large distances on metal traces on NIC
10
, there is a greater problem with electromagnetic radiation. Not only is there a problem with electromagnetic radiation being received from other hardware on the card and from within the computer, but also components
16
-
22
produce a certain amount of electromagnetic radiation themselves. The fact that they are physically separated only aggravates the noise and radiation problems. Because radiation is produced, any such design of a NIC
10
must comply with FCC regulations. Also, because jack
16
is separate from transceiver
20
, a designer must also match the impedance between the two, thus requiring extra work and increase cost for the designer.
Because of the separation of all these components, a manufacturer of a transceiver
20
and/or a MAC
22
is required to provide specifications for these devices which includes the resistors, capacitors and coils needed. The integrated circuit manufacturer must also provide specifications for optimal distances to jack
16
, locations for the discrete components, etc. Even after supplying all of these specifications, a manufacturer who has produced a high quality transceiver
20
or MAC
22
must still rely upon a board manufacturer to abide by all of the specifications and to correctly design the placement of components and the routing of signals on a device such as NIC
10
. If a board manufacturer fails to follow specifications or does not allow for noise, impedance matching, electromagnetic radiation, etc., such a NIC
10
will not function properly with a network communications cable even though the best efforts of an integrated circuit manufacturer has produced a properly functioning transceiver
20
and media access controller
22
.
Another drawback to having various components on NIC
10
separated by relatively large distances is that the communications protocol being used may not be able to operate at as high a speed as desired. For example, although the current standard for Ethernet communications uses a 100 Mbits/sec rate, it is more difficult to achieve higher speeds using a network interface card that has higher noise, higher inductance and higher capacitance. Furthermore, excess noise over a network communication cable means that the cable's length is limited. Because the signal attenuates over a lengthy cable, introduction of noise on the cable from a network interface card would make a relatively weak signal on a longer cable hard to detect at the other end.
Other prior art techniques attempt to address this separation of components problem but each have their own drawbacks involving complexity, size, cost, etc. One technique uses a multi-chip module. In one variation, both the transceiver and MAC dies are placed into one package.
Although this technique results in the transceiver and MAC being closer to one another, it is still an expensive technique. And even though the transceiver and MAC are within the multi-chip module, the necessary resistors, capacitors and coils are still mounted outside the package. Having the components external to the package means that their sizes and locations must be specified and there is the possibility of excess noise and electromagnetic interference. As discussed above, a manufacturer of such a multi-chip module must still rely upon a board designer to use the correct discrete components and to place them correctly. In addition, such a multi-chip module has a great number of output pins and appears to the external world as two devices; thus more space is taken up and the module is more costly to use.
Furthermore, because the transceiver incorporates both digital and analog technology, the geometry used for manufacturing the transceiver is constrained by limitations on miniaturization of analog technology. For example, currently analog geometry lags behind the miniaturization of digital technology. Analog geometry is down at the 0.5 to 0.8 micron size, while digital geometry is down to the 0.25 micron size and below. Because the transceiver incorporates both digital and analog technology, a single process used to manufacture the transceiver uses the larger analog geometry. Such a larger geometry is inefficient for digital technology.
Use of analog geometry sizes for a transceiver that incorporates a high percentage of digital technology means that such a transceiver cannot be made as small as desired. As digital technology takes up more of a percentage of a transceiver, this presents a problem. For example, in the early days of Ethernet a transceiver chip communicating using 10Base5 protocol (10 Mbits/sec) was mostly all analog technology and in

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