Adapter card and server

Abstract

The application discloses a switching card and a server, and is applied to the technical field of servers. The switching card comprises a power connector, a signal transmission device and a signal processing device. The signal transmission device comprises a card slot for inserting an external card and a cable fixed on a circuit board, the cable is connected with the card slot, and signals of the external card are connected to a data interface of a mainboard through the cable. One end of the signal processing device is connected to the data interface through a cable, and the other end is connected to the card slot through a cable. The signal processing device is an electronic device integrating a plurality of electronic elements and connection lines between the electronic elements; the signal processing device can identify the external card, collect external card signals, process the external card signals, monitor the temperature of the switching card, store card information, and interact with the mainboard. The application can solve the problems of heavy load of a related technology baseboard management controller and long development cycle, effectively reducing the development workload and work load of the baseboard management controller.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of server technology, and in particular to an adapter card and a server. Background Technology

[0002] Riser cards (adapter cards) are used to expand the high-speed connection interfaces of server motherboards, ensuring compatibility with various component configurations while maintaining the same motherboard. To meet the performance expansion needs of servers in areas such as storage, networking, and memory, the types of external cards supported by riser cards are becoming increasingly diverse.

[0003] In related technologies, all external card information for the Riser card needs to be polled and collected by the motherboard's BMC (baseboard management controller), resulting in a heavy load on the BMC. Furthermore, different external cards require different processing and acquisition procedures, necessitating separate adaptation development processes for each type of external card during BMC development. This leads to different BMC development codes, resulting in long development cycles and high costs, making it difficult to achieve flexible and efficient component expansion.

[0004] Therefore, reducing the workload and development effort of BMC, and enabling flexible and efficient component introduction and expansion of the server, are technical problems that need to be solved by those skilled in the art.

[0005] It should be noted that the information disclosed in the background section above is only used to enhance the understanding of the background of this application, and therefore may include information that does not constitute prior art known to those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This invention provides an adapter card and server that can effectively reduce the workload and development effort of BMC, and enable flexible and efficient component introduction and expansion of the server.

[0007] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present invention provides the following technical solution:

[0008] In one aspect, the present invention provides an adapter card, including a power connector, a signal transmission device, and a signal processing device;

[0009] The signal transmission device includes a card slot and a cable fixed on the circuit board. The card slot is used to insert an external card, and the cable is connected to the card slot. The signal of the external card is connected to the data interface of the motherboard through the cable.

[0010] One end of the signal processing device is connected to the data interface via the cable, and the other end is connected to the card slot via the cable.

[0011] The signal processing device is an electronic device that integrates multiple electronic components and the interconnections between them; it is used to identify the external card and collect the external card signal, and to process the external card signal accordingly; it is also used to monitor the adapter card temperature, store board information, and interact with the motherboard.

[0012] In a first exemplary embodiment, the signal processing device includes an external card identification module and a power switching module;

[0013] The external card identification module is used to identify the card type of the external card, which includes a first type of card and a second type of card; the second type of card is a card that is powered in the server standby state.

[0014] The power switching module includes a first power supply branch and a second power supply branch. The first power supply branch is connected to the motherboard through the power connector to control the power supply of the first type card through the motherboard's baseboard management controller. The second power supply branch is connected to the controller of the signal processing device to control the power supply of the second type card accordingly through the controller.

[0015] In a second exemplary embodiment, the signal processing device includes a controller;

[0016] The controller is used to acquire signals from the external card, process the signals accordingly, and interact with the motherboard.

[0017] In a third exemplary embodiment, the controller includes a program counter, an instruction register, an instruction decoder, an address decoder, a timing generator, a micro-operation generation component, and an interrupt mechanism.

[0018] The program counter is used to store the address of the current instruction to ensure the sequential execution of instructions;

[0019] The instruction register is used to store the instruction being executed; the instruction includes an opcode and an address code, the opcode is used to indicate the nature of the operation, and the address code is used to determine the operand address;

[0020] The instruction decoder is used to decode the opcode of the current instruction and generate the corresponding control level;

[0021] The address decoder is used to decode the address code of the current instruction and select the storage unit corresponding to the address code;

[0022] The timing generator is used to generate time stamp signals and control the generation of micro-operation commands;

[0023] The micro-operation generation component is used to generate micro-operation commands to complete the operations specified by the instruction based on the time stamp signal and the nature of the instruction.

[0024] The interrupt mechanism is used to handle interrupt requests and coordinate the operation of the computer system on which the motherboard is located.

[0025] Each instruction constitutes a program that acquires signals from an external card, processes those signals accordingly, and interacts with the motherboard.

[0026] In a fourth exemplary embodiment, the signal processing device includes a temperature monitoring module;

[0027] The temperature monitoring module includes a temperature sensor, a heat dissipation component, a control circuit, and a drive circuit;

[0028] The temperature sensor is used to monitor the temperature of the external card and send the collected temperature signal to the control circuit.

[0029] The heat dissipation component is used to dissipate heat from external cards and adapter cards;

[0030] The control circuit is used to generate a control signal to control the working state of the heat dissipation component based on the temperature signal and the preset working temperature conditions.

[0031] The drive circuit is used to provide a matching current to the heat dissipation component according to the control signal.

[0032] In a fifth exemplary embodiment, the control circuit is further configured to generate an indicator light illuminating signal when the temperature signal exceeds an alarm temperature threshold, and send the indicator light illuminating signal to the indicator light of the adapter card.

[0033] In a sixth exemplary embodiment, the signal transmission device includes solder pads;

[0034] The pads are soldered and connected to the pins of the card slot, the pins of the data interface, and the pins of the signal processing device via cables.

[0035] In a seventh exemplary embodiment, the signal processing device includes a data storage device;

[0036] The data storage device is used to store computer programs that enable the signal processing device to identify the external card and collect the external card signal, process the external card signal accordingly, monitor the adapter card temperature and interact with the motherboard, and also to store board information;

[0037] The data storage device includes a storage cell array, a row and column address decoder, a sensitive amplifier, and a read / write circuit. The storage cell array includes multiple storage cells, each storing one bit of data. The row and column address decoder converts the address signal received by the data storage device into a physical address corresponding to a read operation or a physical address corresponding to a write operation. The sensitive amplifier amplifies the signal read from the storage cell. The read / write circuit writes the board information or the computer program to the corresponding storage cell based on the row and column address decoder, and reads the required data from the corresponding storage cell.

[0038] In the eighth exemplary embodiment, the storage unit includes a first field-effect transistor, a second field-effect transistor, a third field-effect transistor, a fourth field-effect transistor, a fifth field-effect transistor, and a sixth field-effect transistor;

[0039] The first field-effect transistor, the second field-effect transistor, the third field-effect transistor, and the fourth field-effect transistor constitute a cross-coupled first inverter and a second inverter. The first inverter and the second inverter are used to store computer programs and board information. The fifth field-effect transistor and the sixth field-effect transistor are control switches for the read and write bit lines of the memory cell array and the read and write circuit.

[0040] Another aspect of the present invention provides a server, including a motherboard and at least one adapter card as described in any of the preceding claims; the motherboard includes at least one data interface, and the adapter card is connected to the data interface via a cable.

[0041] The advantages of the technical solution provided by this invention are that by connecting the uplink and downlink signals of the Riser card via cables, the board structure of the Riser card is effectively simplified, which helps to reduce the board size and power consumption. The signal processing device collects and processes all data from the external card, handles information exchange with the motherboard, monitors temperature information, and manages the Riser card itself. This not only further simplifies the Riser card's board structure, reduces its size and power consumption by replacing the original Riser card's field-replaceable units, temperature sensors, switches, and I / O expansions, making it easier to maintain, but also eliminates the need for BMC management, effectively reducing the BMC workload, simplifying BMC development, shortening the BMC development cycle, and lowering development costs. The signal processing device enables independent development of the Riser card, avoiding problems caused by BMC link management, enhancing the overall server flexibility, and enabling flexible and efficient component introduction and expansion.

[0042] Furthermore, the present invention also provides a server for the application of the adapter card, which further enhances the practicality of the adapter card, and the server has corresponding advantages.

[0043] The technical features mentioned above, those to be mentioned below, and those shown individually in the accompanying drawings can be arbitrarily combined with each other, provided that the combined technical features are not contradictory. All feasible combinations of features are the technical content explicitly described herein. Any one of the multiple sub-features contained in the same statement can be applied independently, without necessarily being applied together with other sub-features. It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are merely exemplary and do not limit the invention. Attached Figure Description

[0044] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention or related technologies, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments or related technologies will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0045] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structural framework of an adapter card in related technologies;

[0046] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structural framework of the adapter card provided by the present invention in an exemplary embodiment;

[0047] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structural framework of the adapter card provided by the present invention in another exemplary embodiment;

[0048] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structural framework of the signal processing device provided by the present invention in an exemplary embodiment;

[0049] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the server provided by the present invention in an exemplary application scenario. Detailed Implementation

[0050] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions of the present invention, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. In this specification and the aforementioned drawings, the terms "first," "second," etc., are used to distinguish different objects, not to describe a specific order. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. The term "exemplary" means "serving as an example, embodiment, or illustration." Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as superior to or better than other embodiments.

[0051] With the continuous development of computer technology, the application scenarios, computing types, user needs, and software workloads of servers are becoming increasingly diverse. To meet these varied real-world demands, servers utilize various types of external cards to expand performance in areas such as storage, networking, and memory. However, this increase in the number and types of external cards presents several challenges. First, the need to adapt to different components inevitably leads to incompatibility between some parts, resulting in higher server development costs. Second, due to market competition and supply chain requirements, the same components often need to be compatible with products from multiple manufacturers, significantly increasing subsequent maintenance costs.

[0052] Riser cards are used to expand the motherboard's high-speed connectivity interfaces. They are inserted into the corresponding connectors on the motherboard via gold fingers, or connected to the motherboard via a cable. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the related technology's Riser card consists of gold fingers, a power connector, an IO Expander, an FRU (Field Replacement Unit), a temperature sensor, and an I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) Switch. The gold fingers are responsible for connecting to the motherboard and communicating with it, such as transmitting PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) signals, clock signals, and presence signals to the motherboard. The temperature sensor monitors the temperature of the external card. The FRU stores board information. The IO Expander receives and sends relevant signals and processes them. The I2C Switch expands multiple I2C buses and enables the BMC to open corresponding channels, such as I2C0, I2C1, I2C2, and I2C3, for device access. As can be seen, the uplink signal connection of the Riser card in the relevant technology is achieved by connecting the gold finger to the MCIO (Modular Connector Input Output) interface. This not only makes the Riser card structure complex and consumes more power, but also requires the server to manage these different external cards through the BMC during the development and maintenance process after the Riser card is inserted. This requires the BMC to have a separate adaptation development process for different types of external cards, resulting in different BMC development code and consuming a lot of manpower and resources.

[0053] In view of this, the present invention provides a server single-slot riser card that is easier to maintain. The riser card's signal is directly connected to the motherboard via a cable fixed to the circuit board. A signal processing device is used to interact with the motherboard, monitor the temperature information of the external card, and manage the riser card itself. This solves the problems of poor flexibility, difficult BMC control, difficult maintenance, and long development cycle of related riser cards. After introducing the technical solution of the present invention, various non-limiting embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below. To better illustrate the present invention, numerous specific details are given in the following detailed embodiments. Those skilled in the art should understand that the present invention can be implemented without these specific details. In other examples, methods, means, components, and circuits well known to those skilled in the art are not described in detail in order to highlight the main points of the present invention.

[0054] Please see first. Figure 2 , Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structural framework of an adapter card in an exemplary embodiment provided in this embodiment. This embodiment may include the following:

[0055] The adapter card may include a power connector 21, a signal transmission device 22, and a signal processing device 23. The power connector 21 connects to the power connector of the server motherboard and receives P3V3 and P12V power from the motherboard. The signal transmission device 22 includes a slot 221 and a cable 222 fixed to a circuit board. The number of slots 221 can be set according to actual needs. When there is one slot, the adapter card is a single-slot adapter card. The external card is inserted into the adapter card through the slot 221. The cable is fixed to the circuit board of the adapter card, such as a PCB (Printed Circuit Board). Connections between internal components of the adapter card, upstream connections, and downstream connections are all made through the cable, i.e., the cable 221 is connected to the slot 221. Thus, the signal from the inserted external card is connected to the data interface of the server motherboard, such as the MCIO interface, through the cable 222. One end of the signal processing device 23 is connected to the data interface via the cable 222, and the other end is connected to the card slot 221 via the cable 222, thereby realizing data interaction with the server motherboard and data acquisition with the inserted external card.

[0056] In this embodiment, the signal processing device 23 is an electronic device that integrates multiple electronic components and the interconnections between them. It is used to identify the external card and collect its signals, and to process these signals accordingly. It is also used to monitor the adapter card temperature, store board information, and interact with the motherboard. In other words, the signal processing device 23 integrates multiple functions. These functions at least identify the inserted external card, collect relevant signals from the inserted external card, and process these signals accordingly. Furthermore, it can monitor the internal temperature of the adapter card, store board information (including but not limited to board serial number, project name, chassis silkscreen markings, etc.), and interact with the motherboard. For example, the BMC and BIOS (Basic Input Output System) on the motherboard can read the board information. It can also transmit high-speed signals, clock signals, and presence signals from the inserted external card to the motherboard via a data interface. In other words, when an external card is inserted into the adapter card, all information that originally needed to be processed by the BMC, such as presence information, firmware information, and temperature information, is processed by the signal processing device 23. The adapter card only needs one signal processing device 23 to replace the temperature sensor, I2C switch, IOExpander, and FRU in related technologies, thereby simplifying the internal structure of the adapter card, reducing its size, lowering power consumption, and making it easier to maintain. Furthermore, when users have special needs, targeted secondary design can be performed through the signal processing device 23, shortening the overall Riser card development time and also helping to shorten subsequent maintenance time.

[0057] In the technical solution provided in this embodiment, the uplink and downlink signals of the Riser card are connected via cables, effectively simplifying the Riser card's board structure, reducing board size, and lowering power consumption. The signal processing device collects and processes all data from the external card, handles information exchange with the motherboard, monitors temperature information, and manages the Riser card itself. This not only simplifies the Riser card's board structure, reduces its size and power consumption by replacing the original Riser card's field-replaceable units, temperature sensors, switches, and I / O expansions, making it easier to maintain, but also eliminates the need for BMC management, effectively reducing BMC workload, development effort, and development cycle, and lowering development costs. The signal processing device enables independent development of the Riser card, avoiding problems caused by BMC link management, enhancing the overall server flexibility, and enabling flexible and efficient component introduction and expansion.

[0058] To further reduce signal latency between the motherboard and the adapter card, minimize the possibility of structural interference, and improve the overall chassis structure design, based on the above embodiments, such as Figure 3 As shown, the signal transmission device 22 of the present invention may include solder pads, which are soldered and connected to the pins of the card slot, the pins of the data interface, and the pins of the signal processing device via cables. In other words, the relevant signals on the adapter card are no longer transmitted to the motherboard through gold fingers; the signal transmission lines for relevant high-speed and low-speed signals are all fixed to the adapter card through solder pads, and all signals are transmitted to the MCIO on the motherboard via cables.

[0059] Considering that some external cards require the server to supply power while in standby mode, for example, when the external card is a smart network card, after it is inserted, the server is required to provide 12V power to it while in standby mode. However, current single-slot riser cards in related technologies require the BMC to identify the card's presence and then instruct the motherboard CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) or other controllers on the motherboard to control the corresponding voltage for power-on, thus completing the power supply operation. The entire process is complex and has high latency, which cannot meet the requirements of high-efficiency server startup. Therefore, this invention also provides the following implementation method, which may include the following:

[0060] The signal processing device 23 may further include an external card identification module and a power switching module; wherein, the external card identification module is used to identify the card type of the external card, and the power switching module includes a first power supply branch and a second power supply branch, the first power supply branch is connected to the motherboard through the power connector to control the power supply of the first type of card through the baseboard management controller of the motherboard; the second power supply branch is connected to the controller of the signal processing device to control the power supply of the second type of card through the controller.

[0061] In this embodiment, the card types include a first type card and a second type card. The second type card is a card that receives power in the server's standby state, such as a smart network card. The first type card is any card other than the second type card, i.e., a regular card. The external card identification module identifies the type of component inserted into the adapter card. If it is a second type card, the power supply is controlled accordingly by the controller of the signal processing device, and the power supply is no longer transmitted to the BMC.

[0062] As can be seen from the above, this embodiment provides different power supply methods for different types of external cards. For cards that require power supply in the server standby state, the signal processing device of the adapter card is used to control the power supply, which can meet the requirements of high-efficiency server startup.

[0063] To further improve the accuracy of external card type identification, this embodiment also provides an exemplary implementation and structure of an external card identification module, which may include the following:

[0064] The external card identification module may include an identity recognition unit, a protocol unification unit, a device identification unit, and an identity verification unit. The identity recognition unit connects to the standardized external card via an I2C link and identifies the external card's identity information through the I2C link. The device identification unit unifies the communication specifications of all external cards to the I2C protocol. The device identification unit identifies the connected I2C device and reads its identity information from the identity address of the I2C device's storage device. The identity verification unit verifies whether the I2C device is indeed an external card based on whether the identity information conforms to the external card identification code format.

[0065] Furthermore, when there are multiple card slots for external cards, meaning multiple external cards can be inserted simultaneously, the external card identification module may also include an identity aggregation unit, an identity management unit, a data reading unit, and a traversal reading unit. The identity aggregation unit aggregates the identity information of all identified external cards. The identity management unit generates a management resource tree based on the identified external card identity information and deduplicates the external card identity information within the management resource tree. The data reading unit traverses the external card storage devices based on the aggregated external card identity information to read the monitoring data of each external card. The traversal reading unit reads voltage and temperature data one by one from the voltage and temperature storage addresses of the external card storage devices based on the external card identity information in the resource management tree.

[0066] As can be seen from the above, this embodiment uses these structures to form an external card identification module, enabling it to efficiently identify and manage external cards.

[0067] Furthermore, in order to improve the data processing accuracy and efficiency of the signal processing device, based on the above embodiments, the signal processing device of this embodiment includes a controller; the controller can be used to acquire external card signals, process the external card signals accordingly, and interact with the motherboard.

[0068] The controller may include one or more processing cores, such as a quad-core processor or an octa-core processor. It may also be a microcontroller, microprocessor, or other data processing chip. The controller can be implemented using at least one hardware form of DSP (Digital Signal Processing), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or PLA (Programmable Logic Array). The controller may also include a main processor and a coprocessor. The main processor, also known as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), is used to process data in the wake-up state; the coprocessor is a low-power processor used to process data in the standby state. In some embodiments, the controller may integrate a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), which is responsible for rendering and drawing the content to be displayed on the screen. In some embodiments, the controller may also include an AI (Artificial Intelligence) processor, which handles computational operations related to machine learning.

[0069] The controller is a computer program used to acquire signals from external cards, process those signals, and interact with the motherboard. It may include or be divided into one or more program modules. Each program module is a series of computer program instruction segments capable of performing a specific function. These modules are stored in a data memory and executed by the controller. In other words, the computer program that acquires, processes, and interacts with the motherboard from external cards consists of a series of instructions arranged in a specific order. Instructions are commands that a computer can directly recognize and execute, typically consisting of an opcode and an address code. The opcode indicates what operation the computer should perform, and the address code indicates the address of the data involved in the operation in the data memory. Each instruction tells the controller to perform a specific operation. The controller automatically completes the required tasks by executing the instructions in the program. Accordingly, the controller may include a program counter, an instruction register, an instruction decoder, an address decoder, a timing generator, a micro-operation generation component, and an interrupt mechanism.

[0070] The program counter stores the address of the current instruction to ensure sequential execution. The instruction register stores the currently executing instruction. Each instruction includes an opcode and an address code; the opcode indicates the nature of the operation, and the address code determines the operand address. The instruction decoder decodes the opcode of the current instruction, generating corresponding control levels to analyze the instruction. The address decoder decodes the address code of the current instruction and selects the corresponding storage unit. The timing generator generates a timing flag signal and controls the generation of micro-operation commands. The timing flag signal includes, but is not limited to, the instruction cycle, bus cycle, and clock cycle. The micro-operation generation component generates micro-operation commands based on the timing flag signal and the instruction nature to complete the specified operation. The interrupt mechanism handles interrupt requests and coordinates the operation of the computer system on which the motherboard resides.

[0071] As can be seen from the above, the controller in this embodiment works together through a program counter, instruction register, instruction decoder, address decoder, timing generator, micro-operation generation component, and interrupt mechanism, enabling the controller to execute read instructions, analyze instructions, execute instructions, and process interrupt requests, thereby efficiently and accurately completing the tasks of acquiring external card signals, processing external card signals accordingly, and interacting with the motherboard.

[0072] Furthermore, the signal processing device 23 may also include a temperature monitoring module; the temperature monitoring module includes a temperature sensor, a heat dissipation component, a control circuit, and a drive circuit. The temperature sensor monitors the temperature of the external card, converts temperature changes into electrical signals, and sends the collected temperature signals to the control circuit. It may employ a thermistor, thermocouple, or similar device. The heat dissipation component dissipates heat from the external card and adapter card. The heat dissipation component may be a heat sink or a combination of a heat sink and a fan. The heat sink may be made of metal such as aluminum or copper, effectively conducting heat away. The fan accelerates the airflow around the heat sink, improving heat dissipation efficiency. The control circuit generates a control signal to control the operating state of the heat dissipation component based on the temperature signal and a preset operating temperature condition. The preset operating temperature condition may be a preset temperature value or a temperature range. Based on this preset operating temperature condition and a preset control algorithm such as PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative control), the circuit outputs a control signal to adjust the operating state of other components, thereby achieving precise temperature monitoring and regulation. The drive circuit provides a matching current to the heat dissipation component based on the control signal. Furthermore, to protect the signal processing device from damage in abnormal conditions, a transient protection module can be included in the temperature monitoring module. The control circuit also generates an indicator light signal when the temperature signal exceeds an alarm temperature threshold and sends this signal to the indicator light on the adapter card, allowing maintenance personnel to address the issue quickly, improving maintenance efficiency, and ensuring the server's safety and stability. Through the coordinated operation of these devices, the temperature monitoring module can monitor and control the temperature of the signal processing device in real time, ensuring it operates within a safe range.

[0073] Furthermore, the signal processing device may also include a data memory; the data memory is used to store a computer program that enables the signal processing device to identify the external card and acquire its signals, process the signals accordingly, monitor the adapter card temperature, and interact with the motherboard, and also stores board information; the data memory includes a storage cell array, a row and column address decoder, a sensitive amplifier, and a read / write circuit; the storage cell array includes multiple storage cells, each storing one bit of data. The row and column address decoder is used to convert the address signal received by the data memory into a physical address corresponding to a read operation or a write operation; the sensitive amplifier is used to amplify the signal read from the storage cell; the read / write circuit is used to write the board information or the computer program to the corresponding storage cell and read the required data from the corresponding storage cell based on the row and column address decoder.

[0074] The data storage device in this embodiment may include one or more computer-readable storage media, which may be non-transitory. The data storage device may also include high-speed random access memory and non-volatile memory, such as one or more disk storage devices or flash memory devices. In some embodiments, the data storage device may be an internal storage unit of an electronic device, such as a server hard drive. In other embodiments, the data storage device may be an external storage device of an electronic device, such as a plug-in hard drive on a server, a Smart Media Card (SMC), a Secure Digital (SD) card, or a Flash Card. Furthermore, the data storage device may include both internal and external storage units of the electronic device. The data storage device can be used not only to store application software and various types of data installed on the electronic device, such as code executing a signal processing device in the process of processing related data, but also to temporarily store data that has been output or will be output. In this embodiment, the data storage device is at least used to store computer programs that enable the signal processing device to identify the external card and acquire its signals, process the signals accordingly, monitor the adapter card temperature, and interact with the motherboard, and also to store board information.

[0075] In this memory cell array, each memory cell shares electrical connections with other cells in rows and columns. Horizontal connections are called word lines, and vertical connections for data inflow and outflow are called bit lines. Specific word lines and bit lines can be selected by inputting an address; the intersection of a word line and a bit line is the selected memory cell. Each memory cell is uniquely selected in this way before read and write operations are performed. The read / write circuit includes read and write circuits. The memory cell includes a first field-effect transistor (FET), a second FET, a third FET, a fourth FET, a fifth FET, and a sixth FET. The first, second, third, and fourth FETs form a cross-coupled first and second inverter, used to store computer programs and board information. The fifth and sixth FETs act as control switches for the read / write bit lines between the memory cell array and the read / write circuit. During read and write operations, the memory cell has three states: standby, reading, and writing. In the standby state, the word line (WL) is set to 0, the fifth and sixth field-effect transistors are off, and the latch maintains its original state. During a read operation, the word line is set to 1, the fifth and sixth field-effect transistors are on, and the latch discharges to the outside through the fifth and sixth field-effect transistors, which is then amplified by a sensitive amplifier. Taking writing 1 as an example, the corresponding address value is first input into the row and column address decoder to select the specific memory cell. Then, the write enable signal is enabled, and the data "1" to be written is transformed into "1" and "0" through the write circuit and applied to the two bit lines BL and BLB of the selected cell, respectively. At this time, the WL (word line) of the selected cell = 1, the transistor of the corresponding memory cell is turned on, and the signals on BL and BLB are sent to the inverters, respectively. The process of writing data "0" is similar. Taking reading "1" as an example, the SRAM read process begins by selecting a column bit line through the row and column address decoder to precharge BL and BLB to the power supply voltage VDD. After precharging, the row decoder selects a row, and the corresponding memory cell is selected. Since it stores "1", WL=1, one inverter=1, and the other inverter=0. The corresponding transistors turn on, and current flows through these two transistors to ground, causing the BLB potential to drop. A voltage difference is generated between BL and BLB. When the voltage difference reaches a certain value, the sensitivity amplifier is activated to amplify the voltage before sending it to the output circuit to read the data.

[0076] As can be seen from the above, this embodiment uses a data storage device instead of the FRU in the related technology to store component information and computer program code, which makes device reading more convenient and effectively improves data processing efficiency and data reading efficiency.

[0077] The present invention also provides an exemplary structure of a signal processing apparatus, such as Figure 4 As shown, the signal processing device may include SRAM (Static Random-Access Memory) as a data storage, a temperature monitoring module, a controller, and an external card identification module. The signal processing device's workflow includes: First, the external card identification module identifies the type of external card inserted into the adapter card. If it is a Type II card, it instructs the controller to perform corresponding power supply control, instead of transmitting power to the BMC. The temperature monitoring module monitors the external card's temperature and heat dissipation data in real time. If the external card temperature exceeds the alarm temperature threshold, an alarm can be displayed via an external LED (light-emitting diode). SRAM replaces the FRU for storing component information and computer program code, making device retrieval more convenient; the controller controls the overall working process of the adapter card and is also responsible for information exchange with the motherboard.

[0078] As can be seen from the above, the signal processing device in this embodiment has a relatively simple structure, can be quickly initialized and loaded after power-on, can quickly identify the type of external card, can immediately supply power to the second type of card, provide more efficient management services, and greatly reduce the difficulty of maintenance.

[0079] Finally, the present invention also provides a server, please refer to [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 5 The server may include a motherboard and at least one adapter card as described in any of the preceding embodiments; the motherboard includes at least one data interface, such as a MICO interface, to which the adapter card is connected via a cable. Alternatively, the server may also include a chassis, management board, storage system, central processing unit, security module, power supply unit, and network interface card providing network connectivity.

[0080] The various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner, with each embodiment focusing on its differences from other embodiments. Similar or identical parts between embodiments can be referred to interchangeably. For the server disclosed in the embodiments, since it corresponds to the adapter card disclosed in the embodiments, the description is relatively simple; relevant parts can be found in the adapter card embodiment section.

[0081] Those skilled in the art will further recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate the interchangeability of hardware and software, the components and steps of the various examples have been generally described in terms of functionality in the foregoing description. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this invention.

[0082] The above provides a detailed description of the adapter card and server provided by this invention. Specific examples have been used to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of this invention. The descriptions of the embodiments are merely for the purpose of helping to understand the method and core ideas of this invention. It should be noted that, based on the embodiments of this invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this invention. Several improvements and modifications can be made to this invention without departing from its principles, and these improvements and modifications also fall within the scope of protection of this invention.

Claims

1. An adapter card, comprising a power connector, characterized in that, It also includes signal transmission devices and signal processing devices; The signal transmission device includes pads, a slot, and a cable fixed on the circuit board. The slot is used to insert an external card, and the cable is connected to the slot. The signal from the external card is connected to the data interface of the motherboard through the cable. The pads are soldered and connected to the pins of the slot, the pins of the data interface, and the pins of the signal processing device through the cable. One end of the signal processing device is connected to the data interface via the cable, and the other end is connected to the card slot via the cable. The signal processing device is a single electronic component that integrates multiple electronic components and the interconnections between them on the circuit board of the adapter card, replacing the field-replaceable unit, temperature sensor, switch, and input / output expander on the adapter card. It is used to identify the card type of the external card, collect the external card signal, and process the external card signal accordingly. The card type includes a first type card and a second type card; the first type card is a standard card, and the second type card is a card that receives power in the server's standby state. It is also used to monitor the adapter card temperature, store board information, and interact with the motherboard. The signal processing device further includes a power switching module with a first power supply branch and a second power supply branch. When the first type of card is detected, the first type of card is controlled and powered by the baseboard management controller connected to the motherboard through the first power supply branch. When the second type of card is detected, the power supply is not transmitted to the baseboard management controller of the motherboard. Instead, the second power supply branch is connected to the controller of the signal processing device, and the second type of card is autonomously powered by the controller. The signal processing device further includes a data storage device for storing computer programs that enable the signal processing device to identify external cards and acquire external card signals, process external card signals accordingly, monitor adapter card temperature, and interact with the motherboard. The data storage device includes a storage cell array, a row and column address decoder, a sensitive amplifier, and a read / write circuit. The storage cell array includes multiple storage cells, each storing one bit of data. The row and column address decoder is used to convert the address signals received by the data storage device into the physical address corresponding to a read operation or a write operation. The sensitive amplifier is used to amplify the signals read from the storage cells. The read / write circuit is used to write board information or computer programs to the corresponding storage cells based on the row and column address decoder, and to read the required data from the corresponding storage cells.

2. The adapter card according to claim 1, characterized in that, The signal processing device includes an external card recognition module; The external card identification module is used to identify the card type of the external card, which includes a first type of card and a second type of card; the second type of card is a card that is powered in the standby state of the server.

3. The adapter card according to claim 1, characterized in that, The controller is used to acquire signals from external cards, process the signals accordingly, and interact with the motherboard.

4. The adapter card according to claim 3, characterized in that, The controller includes a program counter, an instruction register, an instruction decoder, an address decoder, a timing generator, a micro-operation generation component, and an interrupt mechanism. The program counter is used to store the address of the current instruction to ensure the sequential execution of instructions; The instruction register is used to store the instruction being executed; the instruction includes an opcode and an address code, the opcode is used to indicate the nature of the operation, and the address code is used to determine the operand address; The instruction decoder is used to decode the opcode of the current instruction and generate the corresponding control level; The address decoder is used to decode the address code of the current instruction and select the storage unit corresponding to the address code; The timing generator is used to generate time stamp signals and control the generation of micro-operation commands; The micro-operation generation component is used to generate micro-operation commands to complete the operations specified by the instruction based on the time stamp signal and the nature of the instruction. The interrupt mechanism is used to handle interrupt requests and coordinate the operation of the computer system on which the motherboard is located. Each instruction constitutes a program that acquires signals from an external card, processes those signals accordingly, and interacts with the motherboard.

5. The adapter card according to claim 1, characterized in that, The signal processing device includes a temperature monitoring module; The temperature monitoring module includes a temperature sensor, a heat dissipation component, a control circuit, and a drive circuit; The temperature sensor is used to monitor the temperature of the external card and send the collected temperature signal to the control circuit. The heat dissipation component is used to dissipate heat from external cards and adapter cards; The control circuit is used to generate a control signal to control the working state of the heat dissipation component based on the temperature signal and the preset working temperature conditions. The drive circuit is used to provide a matching current to the heat dissipation component according to the control signal.

6. The adapter card according to claim 5, characterized in that, The control circuit is also used to generate an indicator light ignition signal when the temperature signal exceeds the alarm temperature threshold, and send the indicator light ignition signal to the indicator light of the adapter card.

7. The adapter card according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The data storage device is also used to store board information.

8. The adapter card according to claim 7, characterized in that, The memory cell includes a first field-effect transistor, a second field-effect transistor, a third field-effect transistor, a fourth field-effect transistor, a fifth field-effect transistor, and a sixth field-effect transistor; The first field-effect transistor, the second field-effect transistor, the third field-effect transistor, and the fourth field-effect transistor constitute a cross-coupled first inverter and a second inverter. The first inverter and the second inverter are used to store computer programs and board information. The fifth field-effect transistor and the sixth field-effect transistor are control switches for the read and write bit lines of the memory cell array and the read and write circuit.

9. A server, characterized in that, It includes a motherboard and at least one adapter card as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8; the motherboard includes at least one data interface, and the adapter card is connected to the data interface via a cable.

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