Peripheral Component Interconnect Express Add-in Card and Its Combining Method and Device

Abstract

The present invention provides a peripheral component express add-in card board, a combination method and a device thereof. Among them, the add-in card board includes a plurality of main chip modules arranged on a high-density interconnect printed circuit board. Each main chip module includes a main chip, a dynamic random access memory and a power module that are connected to each other. The main chips in the plurality of main chip modules include multiple types, which can implement different functions and support heterogeneous systems. The technical solution provided by the present invention can improve the chip density and signal density within the limited number of PCB layers and space, reduce the dependence on the number of PCB layers and area, effectively utilize the combined main chips to achieve the performance and computing power matching that of a single 300W main chip under the same PCIe board card size specification, and achieve heterogeneous computing support, avoiding resource waste.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of computer hardware, and in particular, to a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) Add-In-Card Printed Circuit Board (PCB), a combination method thereof, and a device thereof. Background Art

[0002] As an industry-standard board form, the physical size of a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express Add-In-Card Printed Circuit Board (PCIe AIC PCB) must strictly follow the PCIe specification defined by the PCI-SIG organization (for example, the full-length card size is 312 mm × 111 mm, and the thickness of the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) is 1.57 mm ± 10%). This specification imposes significant limitations on board design, which requires the board design to utilize the limited space as much as possible to achieve the target performance and computing power.

[0003] In the prior art, a conventional PCIe board uses a single main chip form, which has the following problems:

[0004] Low efficiency of single-chip architecture: When only a single main chip is integrated, the utilization rate of the PCB area is low, and it is impossible to flexibly adapt to heterogeneous computing requirements.

[0005] Difficult multi-chip expansion: If it is desired to increase the number of main chips on the same board to four times, the difficulty of trace fan-out will increase sharply. Moreover, under the constraints of current materials and technology capabilities, the PCB board with a thickness of 1.57 mm required by the PCIe specification can be stacked up to 14 - 16 layers at most, and the number of layers available for signal traces is 4 - 5 layers, making it impossible to implement the layout of four main chips and their supporting Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and power supplies.

[0006] Heat dissipation conflict: When multiple chips are arranged side by side, compared with the upstream chips, the junction temperature of the downstream chips increases due to the preheating of the air flow. Summary of the Invention

[0007] In view of this, the present invention provides a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express Add-In-Card Printed Circuit Board, a combination method thereof, and a device thereof, so as to solve the above technical problems in the prior art, be able to integrate multiple computing node systems under the size limitation of full-height, full-length, and double-width, and can be combined as needed with chips such as Inference and Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) to support heterogeneous systems.

[0008] According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) add-in card, which includes:

[0009] A plurality of main chip modules are disposed on a high-density interconnect printed circuit board, and the length of the high-density interconnect printed circuit board does not exceed the length of the add-in card divided by the number of the plurality of main chip modules. Each main chip module includes:

[0010] A main chip;

[0011] A dynamic random access memory, which is connected to the main chip;

[0012] A power supply module, which is connected to the plurality of main chip modules and the dynamic random access memory;

[0013] Among them, the main chips in the plurality of main chip modules include multiple types, which are used to implement different functions and support heterogeneous systems.

[0014] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a combination method for a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) add-in card, which includes:

[0015] Disposing the main chip, the corresponding dynamic random access memory, and the power supply module on a high-density interconnect printed circuit board, so that the main chip, the dynamic random access memory, and the power supply module form a main chip module;

[0016] Arranging a plurality of main chip modules in sequence on the add-in card, and the length of the high-density interconnect printed circuit board does not exceed the length of the add-in card divided by the number of the plurality of main chip modules;

[0017] Among them, the main chips in the plurality of main chip modules include multiple types, which are used to implement different functions and support heterogeneous systems.

[0018] According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic device, which includes at least one of the aforementioned Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) add-in cards.

[0019] From the above technical solutions, it can be seen that the technical solutions provided by the present invention have at least the following advantages:

[0020] By using high-density high-speed board-to-board (BTB) connectors or standard OCP3.0 interfaces within the limited number of PCB layers and space, the chip density and signal density are increased.

[0021] Effectively utilize main chips with a performance of 75W for combination, and under the same PCIe board size specification, achieve the performance and computing power matching that of a single 300W main chip.

[0022] The interconnection method of the standard interface greatly reduces the dependence of a large number of I / O signals on the number of PCB layers and area, and greatly enhances the interconnection density by utilizing the vertical space.

[0023] Different functional modules (such as Inference, video encoding and decoding) can be mixed and inserted, and the bandwidth is dynamically allocated through the PCIe Switch, realizing heterogeneous computing support and avoiding resource waste caused by fixed wiring in the prior art. Description of the Drawings

[0024] The drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the technical solutions of the present invention, and constitute a part of the specification. Together with the embodiments of the present invention, they are used to explain the technical solutions of the present invention, but do not constitute a limitation to the technical solutions of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 1 Shows the structural diagram of the main chip module provided by the exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2 Shows another structural diagram of the main chip module provided by the exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 3 Shows the structural diagram of the additional card board provided by the exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 4 Shows the structural diagram of the additional card board and its device provided by the exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 5 Shows the layout diagram of the extension structure provided by the exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 6 Shows the layout diagram of the power supply module provided by the exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 7 Shows the layout diagram of the main chip module provided by the exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 8 Shows the layout diagram of the additional card board provided by the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Description of the Invention

[0033] The various exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The description of the exemplary embodiments is merely illustrative and does not serve as any limitation to the present invention and its application or use. The present invention can be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. These embodiments are provided to make the present invention thorough and complete, and to fully convey the scope of the present invention to those skilled in the art.

[0034] Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, if the number of elements is not specifically limited, the element may be one or more. As used in this specification, the term "a plurality of" means two or more, and the term "based on" shall be construed as "at least partially based on". In addition, the terms "and / or" and "at least one of..." cover any one of the listed items and all possible combinations. Obviously, the term "including" does not exclude other units or steps, and the singular does not exclude the plural. Additionally, similar expressions such as "first", "second", etc. are for descriptive purposes only and do not indicate or imply their relative importance or implicitly specify the quantity of the indicated technical features.

[0035] In the present invention, a modular combined board design is adopted. The main chip, its dynamic random access memory (DRAM) particles, and a highly integrated power supply are arranged on a high-density interconnect (HDI) PCB board with a length not exceeding one-fourth of the standard PCIe AIC PCB board, thereby forming a main chip module that can be used independently. The main chip can be an Inference chip, a GPU chip, or other functional types of chips, such as a field programmable gate array chip (Field Programmable Gate Arrays, FPGA), etc. The number of main chips is at least four, and their functional types can be arbitrarily matched according to specific requirements.

[0036] Please refer to Figures 1 to 3 , which shows the structure diagrams of the main chip module and the additional card board provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] One aspect of the present invention provides a peripheral component interconnect express additional card board (PCIe AIC PCB board). Among them, a plurality of main chip modules are included on the PCIe AIC PCB board, and these main chip modules are all arranged on the high-density interconnect PCB board. Moreover, the length of the high-density interconnect PCB board does not exceed the length of the additional card board divided by the number of main chip modules.

[0038] In each main chip module, it includes a main chip, a dynamic random access memory, and a power module that are interconnected. These main chips include various types and can be designed into different functional modules according to specific requirements to achieve different functions such as rendering, AI computing, video encoding and decoding, etc., and support heterogeneous systems.

[0039] The main chip module is connected to the PCIe AIC PCB board by a high-density high-speed board-to-board (BTB) connector or a standard OCP3.0 interface. Among them, the overall height of the main chip module and the BTB connector is limited, which can leave enough space for the radiator.

[0040] A support component is also fixed on the main chip module to improve the overall stiffness of the module, realizing reliable interconnection when the main chip module is disassembled and assembled with the PCIe AIC PCB board.

[0041] In the present invention, the length of each main chip module does not exceed one-fourth of the PCB board, which enables at least 4 main chip modules of the same size to be arranged on the full-length PCIe AIC PCB board.

[0042] Please refer to Figure 4 together with Figure 5 , which shows the structure diagram of the additional card board and its device provided in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, as well as the layout diagram of the extension structure.

[0043] When 4 main chip modules of the same size are arranged, the length of the PCIe AIC PCB board is close to the full length of 312 mm. After the main chip modules are arranged, when looking at the whole device from the front from top to bottom, it is composed of an upper cover, a radiator, a front support steel part, a main chip module, a middle support steel part, a PCIe AIC PCB board, a back support steel part, and a lower cover. Among them, the front support steel part, the middle support steel part, and the back support steel part are all metal parts, which penetrate through the whole device and are fixedly connected to the device by means such as screws. This design can enable each support steel part to bear greater stress, thus ensuring the stability of the device itself.

[0044] However, since the overall weight of the device is relatively large after assembly, if the force is all concentrated at the gold fingers, it will lead to defects of low reliability and great potential safety hazards. Therefore, it is also necessary to design force application points on the outside of the device.

[0045] Since after the main chip modules are arranged, the air inlet on the right side of the PCIe AIC PCB board can already contact the guide rail groove of the server support frame. Therefore, the guide rail groove can also be effectively used to support the cut at the air inlet of the PCIe AIC PCB board and the bending and extension structure of the device. At this time, the extension structure of the device extends beyond the upper and lower surfaces of the PCIe AIC PCB board in terms of thickness, so as to avoid the PCIe AIC PCB board bearing the weights of various structural parts in the device. Figure 4 shows the situation where the extension structure of the back support steel part is embedded in the guide rail groove, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Specifically, Figure 5 the extension structure in can be formed by bending and extending the side surface of the upper cover of the device, or can be formed by bending and extending the middle support steel part or the back support steel part.

[0046] In addition, after the main chip module is arranged, compared with the first main chip closest to the air inlet on the right side of the PCIe AIC PCB board, the fourth main chip closest to the air outlet of the PCIe AIC PCB board has relatively poor heat dissipation conditions because it is preheated by all the upstream heat sources. Therefore, the heat sink adopts a progressive heat transfer design. Among them, the fin spacing of the heat sink installed on the first main chip is large and there is no need to arrange heat pipes or vapor chambers.

[0047] Multiple plating through holes (PTH) are provided on the main chip, and these plating through holes are used for structural support and fixing the heat sink on the PCIe AIC PCB board. Preferably, the number of plating through holes can be set to 8.

[0048] The thermal interface material between the main chip module and the heat sink is thermal gel, which can absorb the gap error, thus avoiding the problem of ineffective chip bonding caused by the height difference of different types of main chip modules and the flatness of the large-area heat sink.

[0049] Please refer to Figure 6 , which shows the layout diagram of the power module provided in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0050] The power module generally occupies a large layout area. Whether it is integrated into the computing module or horizontally arranged on the PCIe AIC PCB board, the available space of the main chip module will be compressed. For electronic devices with an attached heat sink structure, they all have a certain thickness (vertical space), so the heat dissipation pressure of the power module is relatively small. In one embodiment, to expand the layout and wiring space of the main chip module as much as possible, the power module can be separated and designed. The power module can be designed as a power board, which is plugged into the edge of the PCIe AIC PCB board in the form of a vertical card, and the heat-generating components (such as voltage regulator cards and inductors) are close to the heat sink. Then the actual occupied area of the power module will be equivalent to the projected area in the vertical direction, thus greatly reducing the space occupied by the power module.

[0051] Please refer to Figure 7 , which shows the layout diagram of the main chip module provided in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0052] The thickness of a standard PCIe AIC device is constrained by the slot width. Among them, the single-slot width is 14.47 mm, the double-slot width is 34.8 mm, and the triple-slot width is 55.12 mm, that is, it increases by 20.32 mm in sequence. For devices with a triple-slot thickness or more, the thickness (i.e., the vertical height relative to the PCIe AIC PCB) increases significantly. At this time, the design space for the radiator can also increase synchronously. Therefore, in one embodiment, a certain vertical height can be sacrificed to stack or stagger multiple main chip modules in a stepped manner, thereby further increasing the layout area of the main chip modules. The stacked projection area is generally unit circuits with less heat generation or no heat dissipation requirements, such as power supply or dynamic random access memory or peripheral circuits, so it will not affect the structural design of the radiator.

[0053] Please refer to Figure 8 , which shows the layout diagram of the additional card board provided in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0054] The rigid-flexible board can also be called a rigid-flex board, which is a special printed circuit board structure. The layer stacking resources of the flexible board are relatively limited, but it can be bent and folded, and the shape is relatively free. In one embodiment, the PCIe AIC PCB can be selected as a rigid-flex board. At this time, complex unit circuits such as main chip modules are arranged on the rigid board, and the connection channels of each unit circuit are arranged on the flexible board, which can be folded at 90° or 180° to increase the density and is more conducive to assembly.

[0055] Another aspect of the present invention provides a combination method for a peripheral component interconnect express additional card board. Specifically, the combination method includes:

[0056] Setting the main chip and its corresponding dynamic random access memory and power module on a high-density interconnect printed circuit board, so that the main chip, dynamic random access memory, and power module form a main chip module;

[0057] Arranging multiple main chip modules in sequence on the PCIe AIC PCB. Among them, the main chip includes multiple types, can implement different functions and support heterogeneous systems, and the length of the high-density interconnect printed circuit board does not exceed the length of the PCIe AIC PCB divided by the number of main chip modules.

[0058] In one embodiment, the combination method further includes connecting multiple main chip modules and the PCIe AIC PCB using a high-density high-speed board-to-board connector or a standard OCP3.0 interface.

[0059] In one embodiment, the combination method further includes fixing a support component on multiple main chip modules to improve the overall stiffness of the module, and the support component is also provided with an extension structure for providing support.

[0060] In one embodiment, the combined method further includes providing a plurality of plating holes on the main chip, and the plating holes are used for structural support and fixing the heat sink on the PCIe AIC PCB board.

[0061] In one embodiment, the combined method further includes providing a thermal interface material between the main chip module and the heat sink, and the thermal interface material is a thermal gel that can absorb gap errors.

[0062] The present invention also provides an electronic device. Specifically, the electronic device provided by the present invention includes: at least one peripheral component interconnect express add-in card board as described above.

[0063] It should be understood that the combined method and the electronic device provided by the present invention can correspond to the PCIe AIC PCB board described in the foregoing of this specification. Accordingly, the operations, features and advantages described above for the PCIe AIC PCB board are equally applicable to the combined method and the electronic device provided by the present invention, and the operations, features and advantages described above for the combined method and the electronic device are equally applicable to the PCIe AIC PCB board provided by the present invention. For the sake of brevity, certain operations, features and advantages will not be described again.

[0064] Although specific functions have been discussed above with reference to specific modules, it should be noted that the functions of each module in the technical solution of the present invention can also be implemented by dividing them into multiple modules, and / or at least some functions of multiple modules can be combined into a single module for implementation. The manner in which a specific module in the technical solution of the present invention performs an action includes that the specific module itself performs the action, or the specific module calls or otherwise accesses an action (or performs the action in combination with the specific module). Therefore, the specific module that performs the action can include the specific module itself that performs the action and / or another module that performs the action called or otherwise accessed by the specific module.

[0065] The descriptions and explanations made to the present invention in the foregoing and the accompanying drawings are not restrictive. For those skilled in the art, it is obvious that the present invention is not limited to the details of the above exemplary embodiments, and the present invention can also be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or basic characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection required by the present invention is defined by the claims rather than the above descriptions, and all changes falling within the meaning and scope of the equivalent elements of the claims are covered by the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) add-in card, characterized in that, Including: A plurality of main chip modules, the plurality of main chip modules are arranged on a high-density interconnect printed circuit board, the length of the high-density interconnect printed circuit board does not exceed the length of the additional card divided by the number of the plurality of main chip modules, and each main chip module includes: A main chip; A dynamic random access memory, the dynamic random access memory is connected to the main chip; A power supply module, the power supply module is connected to the plurality of main chip modules and the dynamic random access memory, the power supply module is separately designed as a power supply board and is plugged into the edge of the additional card in the manner of a vertical card; Wherein, the main chips in the plurality of main chip modules include multiple types, which are used to implement different functions and support heterogeneous systems, the plurality of main chip modules are connected to the additional card by a high-density high-speed board-to-board connector or a standard OCP3.0 interface, and the plurality of main chip modules are stacked stepwise or staggered on the additional card.

2. The additional card board according to claim 1, characterized in that, The different functions of the plurality of main chip modules include rendering, AI computing, and video encoding and decoding.

3. The additional card board according to claim 1, wherein Support components are also fixed on the plurality of main chip modules to improve the overall stiffness of the module, and extension structures for providing support are also provided on the support components.

4. The additional card board according to claim 3, wherein The support components include a front support steel piece, a middle support steel piece, and a back support steel piece.

5. The additional card board according to claim 1, wherein, The number of the main chip modules is four, and the length of the high-density interconnect printed circuit board does not exceed one-fourth of the additional card.

6. The additional card board according to claim 1, characterized in that A plurality of plated holes are provided on the main chip, and the plated holes are used for structural support and fixing of a radiator on the additional card.

7. The additional card board according to claim 6, characterized in that, The thermal interface material between the main chip module and the radiator is a thermal conductive gel, and the thermal conductive gel can absorb gap errors.

8. The additional card board according to claim 6, wherein The radiator adopts a progressive heat transfer capacity design.

9. The additional card board according to claim 1, characterized in that, The high-density interconnect printed circuit board is a rigid-flexible combination board and is bent and stacked at 90° or 180°.

10. A method for combining a peripheral component interconnect express add-in card, characterized in that, Including: Arranging a main chip and its corresponding dynamic random access memory and power supply module on a high-density interconnect printed circuit board, so that the main chip, the dynamic random access memory, and the power supply module form a main chip module; Arranging a plurality of main chip modules in sequence on the additional card, and the length of the high-density interconnect printed circuit board does not exceed the length of the additional card divided by the number of the plurality of main chip modules; Wherein, the main chips in the plurality of main chip modules include multiple types, which are used to implement different functions and support heterogeneous systems, the plurality of main chip modules are connected to the additional card by a high-density high-speed board-to-board connector or a standard OCP3.0 interface, and the plurality of main chip modules are stacked stepwise or staggered on the additional card; Wherein, the power supply module is separately designed as a power supply board and is plugged into the edge of the additional card in the manner of a vertical card.

11. The combined method according to claim 10, characterized in that, Further including: Fixing support components on the plurality of main chip modules to improve the overall stiffness of the module, and extension structures for providing support are also provided on the support components.

12. The combination method according to claim 11, wherein The support components include a front support steel piece, a middle support steel piece, and a back support steel piece.

13. The combined method according to claim 10, characterized in that, Further including: A plurality of plating holes are provided on the main chip, and the plating holes are used for structural support and fixing of the heat sink on the additional card board.

14. The combination method according to claim 13, wherein, Further included are: A thermal interface material is provided between the main chip module and the heat sink, and the thermal interface material is a thermal gel capable of absorbing gap errors.

15. The combination method according to claim 13, wherein The heat sink adopts a progressive heat transfer capacity design.

16. The combined method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The number of the main chip modules is four, and the length of the high-density interconnect printed circuit board does not exceed one-fourth of the additional card board.

17. The combination method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The different functions of the plurality of main chip modules include rendering, AI computing, and video encoding and decoding.

18. The combination method according to claim 10, wherein The high-density interconnect printed circuit board is a rigid-flexible board and is bent and stacked at 90° or 180°.

19. An electronic device, characterized in that, Including: At least one peripheral component rapid interconnect additional card board according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

20. The electronic device according to claim 19, wherein The electronic device further includes an upper cover, a heat sink, a front support steel member, an intermediate support steel member, a rear support steel member, and a lower cover.

21. The electronic device according to claim 20, wherein, The electronic device further includes an extension structure, and the extension structure can be accommodated in the guide rail groove of the server support frame.

22. The electronic device according to claim 21, characterized in that, The extension structure is a part of the upper cover, the intermediate support steel member, or the rear support steel member.

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