Apparatus and method for testing for compatibility between circuit boards
AssigneeSun Microsystems, Inc.
InventorJames A. Mott
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and method for comparing identifications of circuit boards in a midplane. When a first circuit board and a second circuit board are inserted into opposite sides of the midplane, an incompatibility between the first circuit board and the second circuit board may damage or impair the operation of one or both of the first circuit board and the second circuit board. To solve this problem, a first identification is stored on the first circuit board and a second identification is stored on the second circuit board. If the first identification of the first circuit board and the second identification of the second circuit board indicate an incompatibility, then one or both of the first circuit board and the second circuit board is/are prevented from fully powering up.
Claims30
A method of checking compatibility between first and second circuit boards coupled to a midplane of a computer, comprising:
- receiving at a second circuit board a first identifier of a first circuit board;
- retrieving from a read-only memory in the second board a second identifier of the second circuit board;
- and
- at the second circuit board, comparing the first identifier with the second identifier of the second circuit board to check compatibility between the first circuit board and the second circuit board.
A method of checking compatibility of first and second circuit boards in a midplane of a computer, comprising:
- sending a first identifier from a first circuit board;
- and
- comparing the first identifier to a predetermined second identifier of a second circuit board to check compatibility between the first circuit board and the second circuit board in the computer;
- wherein said predetermined second identifier is stored prior to said sending.
A method of checking compatibility between first and second circuit boards inserted into a midplane, comprising:
- inserting into the midplane a first circuit board having a first memory holding a first identification;
- inserting into the midplane a second circuit board having a second memory holding a second identification;
- and
- comparing the first identification with the second identification to check compatibility between the first circuit board and the second circuit board.
A circuit board, comprising:
- a memory storing a predetermined identification of the circuit board,
- a connector configured to receive a separate identification from a separate circuit board;
- and
- circuitry coupled to the memory and the connector, wherein the circuitry compares the identification of the circuit board with the separate identification of the separate circuit board to check for compatibility between the circuit board and the separate circuit board.
A computer system, comprising:
- a midplane;
- a first circuit board coupled to the midplane, including a first memory holding a first predetermined identification;
- and
- a second circuit board coupled to the midplane, including a second memory holding a second predetermined identification;
- wherein the first identification is compared with the second identification to check compatibility of the first circuit board with the second circuit board.
A computer system, comprising:
- a midplane;
- a first circuit board configured for coupling to the midplane and comprising:
- a read-only memory containing a first identifier of the first circuit board;
- and
- a conductor for communicating the first identifier to the midplane;
- a second circuit board configured for coupling to the midplane and comprising:
- a read-only memory containing a second identifier of the second circuit board;
- a conductor for receiving the first identifier;
- logic for comparing the first identifier to the second identifier to determine whether the first circuit board and the second circuit board are compatible;
- and
- an early power line configured to power said logic before the second circuit board is fully powered;
- wherein the second circuit board is prevented from being fully powered if the first circuit board and the second circuit board are determined to be incompatible.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.