Riser card to support different kinds of connectors

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a connector apparatus, and more particularly to a connector apparatus used in computer system.

[0003] 2. General Background

[0004] The demands of emerging peripheral Input/Output devices exceed the capability of the traditional PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus. Technical innovations such as faster CPU front side bus speeds, faster memory speeds, high-performance graphics, faster networking devices, faster storage devices, high-speed consumer devices and other market requirements will drive the need for much greater internal system bandwidth.

[0005] So some high-speed buses are invented and used according to better signal transmission standards. For example, the PCI-X bus following PCI-X signal transmission standard is developed on the base of the PCI bus. The PCI-X bus has higher frequency and wider bus width than the PCI bus, so PCI-X bus has higher throughput. Another high speed bus that is widely used is PCI Express (PCI-E) bus following PCI-E signal transmission standard. PCI-E establishes a point-to-point connection from chip to chip, or chip to adapter on motherboard. This full-duplex, dedicated, scalable lane bus increases bandwidth, decreases latency, and allows devices to perform as they were meant to. A single lane (X1) of PCI-E has a bandwidth of 250 MB/sec. By running multiple lanes, (up to X32), the bandwidth increases arithmetically.

[0006] Users often hope to define more high-speed connectors in the motherboard to support peripheral devices. But the scale of the motherboard is limited, there is not enough space to set enough high speed connectors on the motherboard.

[0007] What is needed, therefore, is a connector apparatus of a connection system, such as a riser card and a riser card slot that can be used to transfer different kinds of signals, such as PCI-E signals and PCI-X signals, to corresponding cards.

[0008] A connecting apparatus of a connection system comprises a riser card as a first component thereof and a slot as a second component thereof. The riser card comprises a PCI-X slot, a PCI-E slot, a first connector, a second connector and a third connector. The first connector set a serial of PCI-X signal pads on one side thereof. The second connector is adapted to provide power and ground signals. The third connector set a serial of PCI-E signal pads on the same side thereof as the first connector. The slot is defined on a circuit board for the riser card inserted therein. The slot comprises a first portion and a second portion coupling to the second connector. The first portion comprises a first side with a series of PCI-X signal pins coupling to the serial of PCI-X signal pads of the first connector, when the riser card is inserted into the slot in a first direction with the first connector inserted into the first portion. The first portion comprises a second side with a series of PCI-E signal pins coupling to the serial of PCI-E signal pads of the third connector, when the riser card is inserted into the slot in a second direction which is reverse to the first direction with the third connector inserted into the second portion.

[0009] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0014] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a connecting apparatus of a connection system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a riser card 10 as a first component thereof and a riser card slot 20 as a second component thereof. The riser card 10 includes a standard PCI-E slot 11, a standard PCI-X slot 13, a first connectors 15, a second connector 17 and a third connector 19. The second connector 17 is adapted to provide power and ground signals. The PCI-E slot 11 is defined on an A-side of the riser card 10 corresponding to the third connector 19. The PCI-X slot 13 is defined on a B-side of the riser card 10 adjacent the first connector 15. A notch 14 is defined between the first connector 15 and the second connector 17. A notch 16 is defined between the second connector 17 and the third connector 19.

[0015] Referring to FIG. 1, the A-side of the riser card 10 is shown. A series of PCI-X signal pads 151 are set on an A-side of the first connector 15. The PCI-X signal pads 151 connect to the PCI-X slot 13 defined in the riser card 10. A series of PCI-E signal pads 191 are set on an A-side of the third connector 19. The PCI-E signal pads 191 connect to the PCI-E slot 11 defined in the riser card 10.

[0016] Referring to FIG. 2, the B-side of the riser card 10 is shown. B-sides of the first connector 15 and third connector 19 are blank. For an alteration, some power and ground pads can be set on the B-sides of the first connector 15 and third connector 19.

[0017] Referring to FIG. 3, the slot 20 is defined in a circuit board for the riser card 10 inserted therein. The slot 20 includes a first portion 21, a second portion 23 and a key 25 formed between the first portion 21 and second portion 23. A series of PCI-X signal pins 211 corresponding to the PCI-X signal pads 151 are set along one side of the first portion 21. A series of PCI-E signal pins 213 corresponding to the PCI-E signal pads 191 are set along the other side of the first portion 21. The second portion 23 is adapted to provide power and ground signals corresponding to the second connector 17.

[0018] Referring to FIG. 4, the riser card 10 is pre-inserted into the slot 20 with the first connector 15 and the second connector 17 inserted into the first portion 21 and the second portion 23 respectively. The key 25 of the slot 20 is received in the notch 14 of the riser card 10. The PCI-X signal pads 151 of the first connector 15 is coupled with the PCI-X signal pins 211 of the first portion 21. So the PCI-X slot 13 of the riser card 10 can be used to insert a PCI-X card therein.

[0019] Then, the riser card 10 is reversed to be inserted into the slot 20 with the third connector 19 and the second connector 17 inserted into the first portion 21 and the second portion 23 respectively. The key 25 of the slot 20 is received in the notch 16 of the riser card 10. The PCI-E signal pads 191 of the first connector 19 is coupled with the PCI-E signal pins 213 of the first portion 21. So the PCI-E slot 11 of the riser card 10 can be used to insert a PCI-E card therein.

[0020] It is believed that the present invention and its advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary embodiments of the invention.