Removable direct attached storage for vehicle entertainment systems

A direct attached storage device connectable to a network controller of a vehicle entertainment system, the device comprising:

• an optical transceiver with a transceiver input and a transceiver output connectable to respective optical transmission lines of a fiber optic pair, the optical transmission lines being connected to a network controller interconnecting a content server of an in-flight entertainment and communications system (IFEC) of an aircraft to a local area network of the aircraft;
• an expansion bus switch connected to the optical transceiver and including a first expansion bus interface;
• and
• a removable storage host including a second expansion bus interface, the removable storage host being connected to the expansion bus switch over an expansion bus link between the first expansion bus interface and the second expansion bus interface, with the removable storage host communicating with the expansion bus switch over an expansion bus protocol,
• wherein the network controller includes an ethernet switch that facilitates a first connection between the IFEC system and the content server and a second connection between the IFEC system and the directly attachable storage host, wherein the second connection is not routed through the content server, and
• wherein the removable storage host is hot-pluggable into the network controller to deliver media content from the removable storage host to the content server via the network controller while the network controller is active and operational in communicatively interconnecting the content server to the local area network of the aircraft.

A network controller for connecting to a directly addressable storage device for a vehicle entertainment system, the network controller comprising:

• a network switch interconnecting a content server of an in-flight entertainment and communications (IFEC) system of an aircraft to a local area network of the aircraft;
• a central processor with an expansion bus interface;
• an expansion bus switch connected to the central processor over the expansion bus interface thereof;
• a retimer connected to the expansion bus switch;
• and
• a local optical transceiver with a transceiver input and a transceiver output connectable to respective optical transmission lines of a fiber optic pair, the optical transceiver being connected to the retimer and the local optical transceiver being receptive to expansion bus protocol data carried on the optical transmission lines originating from a remote removable storage host selectively connectible to a storage device,
• wherein the network controller includes an ethernet switch that facilitates a first connection between the IFEC system and the content server and a second connection between the IFEC system and the remote removable storage host, wherein the second connection is not routed through the content server, and
• wherein the remote removable storage host is hot-pluggable into the network controller to deliver media content from the remote removable storage host to the content server via the network controller while the network controller is active and operational in communicatively interconnecting the content server to the local area network of the aircraft.