Data storage system connectors with parallel array of dense memory cards and high airflow

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11102902-B2
Application number	US-202016932635-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2020
Priority date	Mar 14, 2016
Publication date	Aug 24, 2021
Grant date	Aug 24, 2021

Abstract

Data storage system connectors are described for a parallel array of dense memory cards that allow high airflow. In one example, a connector has a horizontal plane board having a plurality of memory connectors aligned in a row and a plurality of external interfaces, a plurality of memory cards, each having an edge connector at one end of the memory card to connect to a respective memory connector of the board, each memory card extending horizontally parallel to each other memory card and extending vertically and orthogonally from the board, and a plurality of interface connectors each to connect an edge connector to a respective board connector, the interface connectors extending horizontally from the one end of the memory cards and vertically to the respective plane board connector.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a printed circuit board (PCB);
a plurality of connectors aligned in a row and mounted on the PCB, each of the plurality of connectors including a slot extending orthogonally from the PCB, the slot including electrical contacts; and
a plurality of solid state drive (SSD) cards, each of the plurality of SSD cards having a connector at one end of the SSD card to be received by the slot of one of the plurality of connectors mounted on the PCB;
wherein the slot of each of the plurality of connectors is to receive the connector of one of the plurality of the SSD cards in a direction parallel to the PCB, each of the plurality of SSD cards to extend parallel to one another and to extend vertically from the PCB.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a chassis, wherein the PCB is mounted in the chassis.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , further comprising:
a plurality of fans in the chassis to pull air from a front of the chassis to a rear of the chassis.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein:
the plurality of fans are mounted between the plurality of SSD cards and a rear of the chassis.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein:
the chassis includes a bottom plate to hold the plurality of SSD cards parallel to one another.

6. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein:
the chassis includes a 1 U height rack chassis.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
one or more of the plurality of SSD cards include a printed circuit board (PCB) and memory chips mounted on the PCB of the SSD card.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein:
the memory chips include one or more of: 3D NAND flash memory, PCM (Phase Change Memory), STTM (Spin Transfer Torque Memory), magnetic memory, and polymer memory.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising:
a memory controller mounted on the PCB of the SSD card.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
each of the plurality of SSD cards includes a first edge, a second edge that is shorter than the first edge, and a thickness that is less than a length of the second edge, the first edge to extend parallel to the PCB and the second edge to extend orthogonally from the PCB.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of SSD cards includes 32 SSD cards.

12. A system comprising:
a rack-mount chassis having a 1 U height;
a printed circuit board (PCB) in the rack-mount chassis;
a plurality of connectors aligned in a row and mounted on the PCB, each of the plurality of connectors including a slot extending orthogonally from the PCB, the slot including electrical contacts; and
a plurality of solid state drives (SSDs), each of the plurality of SSDs having a connector at one end of the SSD to be received by the slot of one of the plurality of connectors mounted on the PCB;
wherein the slot of each of the plurality of connectors is to receive the connector of one of the plurality of the SSDs in a direction parallel to the PCB, each of the plurality of SSDs to extend parallel to one another and to extend vertically from the PCB.

13. The system of claim 12 , further comprising:
one or more processors.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein:
one or more of the plurality of SSDs include a printed circuit board (PCB) and memory chips mounted on the PCB of the SSD.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein:
the memory chips include one or more of: 3D NAND flash memory, PCM (Phase Change Memory), STTM (Spin Transfer Torque Memory), magnetic memory, and polymer memory.

16. The system of claim 14 , further including:
a memory controller mounted on the PCB of the SSD.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein:
each of the plurality of SSDs includes a first edge, a second edge that is shorter than the first edge, and a thickness that is less than a length of the second edge, the first edge to extend parallel to the PCB and the second edge to extend orthogonally from the PCB.

18. The system of claim 12 , further comprising:
a plurality of fans in the chassis to pull air from a front of the rack-mount chassis to a rear of the chassis.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein:
the plurality of fans are mounted between the plurality of SSDs and a rear of the rack-mount chassis.

20. The system of claim 12 , wherein:
the rack-mount chassis includes a bottom plate to hold the plurality of SSDs parallel to one another.

21. The system of claim 12 , wherein:
the plurality of SSDs includes 32 SSDs.

Assignees

• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Nelson Michael D
• Khan Jawad B
• Webb Randall K

Classifications

• H05K7/1487 Primary

  Blade assemblies, e.g. blade cases or inner arrangements within a blade · CPC title

• H05K7/1445

  with double-sided connections · CPC title

• H01R12/721

  cooperating directly with the edge of the rigid printed circuits · CPC title

• H05K7/20727

  within server blades for removing heat from heat source · CPC title

• G06F1/20

  Cooling means · CPC title