Electrical connectors – With indicating or identifying provision
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-25
2001-05-22
Donovan, Lincoln (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With indicating or identifying provision
C439S491000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06234829
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer systems, and more specifically to a method and device for installing computer components, particularly printed circuit boards or cards, such as dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs), which are mounted in slots or sockets of the computer system.
2. Description of Related Art
The basic structure of a conventional computer system
10
is shown in FIG.
1
. Computer system
10
has at least one central processing unit (CPU) or processor
12
which is connected to several peripheral devices, including input/output devices
14
(such as a display monitor, keyboard, and graphical pointing device) for the user interface, a permanent memory device
16
(such as a hard disk) for storing the computer's operating system and user programs, and a temporary memory device
18
(such as random access memory or RAM) that is used by processor
12
to carry out program instructions. Processor
12
communicates with the peripheral devices by various means, including a bus
20
or a direct channel
22
(more than one bus may be provided using a bus bridge).
Computer system
10
may have many additional components which are not shown, such as serial and parallel ports for connection to, e.g., modems or printers. Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that there are other components that might be used in conjunction with those shown in the block diagram of
FIG. 1
; for example, a display adapter connected to processor
12
might be used to control a video display monitor, and a memory controller may be used as an interface between temporary memory device
18
and processor
12
. Computer system
10
also includes firmware
24
whose primary purpose is to seek out and load an operating system from one of the peripherals (usually permanent memory device
16
) whenever the computer is first turned on.
Conventional computer systems often allow the user to add various components after delivery from the factory. For peripheral devices, this can be accomplished using an “expansion” bus, such as the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus or the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus. Another component that is commonly added by the user is main memory which supplements temporary memory device
18
. Additional memory, which supplements temporary memory device
18
. This memory is often made up of a plurality of memory modules that can be added or removed as desired. The memory modules usually have memory chips in dual in-line packages, mounted on a single circuit board or card, and so are referred to as dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs). DIMMs can be added to upgrade a system's memory, or to replace older modules that have become defective.
Each DIMM has an edge with a plurality of contacts or pins (e.g., 72 pins), adapted to mate with a card edge connector (socket or slot). A typical DIMM
30
and socket
32
connector are shown in FIG.
2
. DIMM
30
is generally comprised of a flat, rectangular substrate or card
34
, supporting a plurality of memory chips
36
. The body of socket
32
has a slot
38
formed therein for receiving the contact edge of DIMM
30
. DIMM
30
may be conveniently retained in slot
38
using retention tabs
40
having clips which engage small notches
42
formed in the side edges of card
34
. In this manner, the DIMM is latched firmly within connector
32
without possibility of accidental removal by inadvertent contact with the card, or external vibrations and impacts.
Tabs
40
are also used for ejecting card
34
from slot
38
. Tabs
40
are pivotally mounted and biased to the closed, locking position, but when they are forcibly moved (with a finger or tool) to the open, unlocked position, a lower boss member (not visible in
FIG. 2
) attached to each tab pushes the contact edge of card
34
, ejecting it out of slot
38
.
DIMMs are available in different sizes, and not only with respect to physical size, but also with respect to the amount of memory that they provide. For example, DIMMs used with personal computers (PCs) often come in sizes of 16 megabytes, 32 megabytes, 64 megabytes, 128 megabytes, 256 megabytes, etc.
Within a given computer, the slot connectors for the memory modules are often arranged in two or more banks. This arrangement of memory banks is usually both physical and logical, that is, the layout of the slot connectors on the memory card or computer's primary circuit board (the “motherboard”) has connectors grouped by banks, and these same groupings correspond to logical banks that are used by the hardware specific to that computer system, i.e., the memory controller. Oftentimes, it is necessary to place DIMMs in particular slots, due to the architecture of the hardware. For example, if DIMMs of different sizes (available RAM) are mixed in a single computer (e.g., several 64 megabyte DIMMs and several 128 megabyte DIMMs), it is necessary to place the particular types of DIMMs in certain respective slots. If the modules are not placed correctly, various problems may occur, such as the firmware simply not recognizing the full amount of memory that is available, which significantly impairs overall performance.
In the prior art, it is often difficult to identify which particular connector on a motherboard is to receive a new component, such as a DIMM. DIMM sockets are not clearly identified by logical group, and this lack of suitable identification presents a problem when DIMM's must be concurrently populated for the memory card to work. DIMM sockets can be identified using reference designations or silkscreen labelling on the memory card, but most often a service manual is required to determine where to plug particular DIMM's. It would, therefore, be desirable to devise a method which would eliminate the need for silkscreen labelling or other costly processes, and also remove the requirement for the customer to refer to the service manual in order to add DIMM's in the correct positions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide an improved method of installing computer components.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a method that is usable with dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs).
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method of installing DIMMs by logical group, to ensure that DIMM's that must be concurrently populated are properly placed for the memory card to work, such as in DIMM pairs, quads or octets.
The foregoing objects are achieved in a method of installing a plurality of components of a computer system, generally comprising the steps of mounting a plurality of socket connectors to a substrate (and electrically connecting contacts of the connectors to respective leads formed on the substrate), associating a subset of the connectors with a logical connector group that is to be concurrently populated, color-coding the socket connectors to identify the subset of connectors, and attaching a plurality of computer components to two or more of the socket connectors in the subset of socket connectors. The color-coding may be accomplished using color-coded retention tabs attached to the connectors, or the whole body of the socket can be colored. The invention can be implemented with a memory card that receives a plurality of DIMMs, wherein the memory card is further connected to a motherboard of the computer system.
In further detail, the subset of connectors is a first subset, and the logical connector group is a first logical connector group, and the method further comprises the step of associating additional subsets of connectors with additional logical connector groups such that each connector mounted on the substrate is included in one and only one subset. For example, the card may have 32 socket connectors, with a total of eight subsets of the connectors. In this manner, the present invention eliminates the need for cryptic connector labelling or resort to a service manual in order to add DIMMs.
The abo
Bracewell & Patterson LLP
Donovan Lincoln
International Business Machines - Corporation
Prasad Chandrika
LandOfFree
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