Abstract:
A motherboard assembly includes a motherboard and an expansion apparatus. The motherboard includes a first expansion slot. An edge connector is set on a bottom side of the expansion apparatus to be detachably engaged in the first expansion slot. A number of SATA interfaces and a number of second expansion slots are arranged on the expansion apparatus, and are connected to signal pins and power pins of the edge connector.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to an expansion apparatus for a serial advanced technology attachment dual in-line memory module (SATA DIMM) and a motherboard for supporting the expansion apparatus. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Solid state drives (SSD) store data on chips instead of on magnetic or optical discs, to be used for adding storage capacity. One type of SSD has the form factor of a DIMM module and it is called a SATA DIMM module. The SATA DIMM module can be inserted into a memory slot of a motherboard, to receive voltages from the motherboard through the memory slot and receive hard disk drive (HDD) signals through SATA connectors arranged on the SATA DIMM module and connected to a SATA connector of the motherboard. However, the number of memory slots is limited, thus the memory slots of the motherboard can only receive a limited quantity of SATA DIMMs. Therefore, there is room for improvement in the art. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of the embodiments can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present embodiments. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an expansion apparatus for a serial advanced technology attachment dual in-line memory module (SATA DIMM) in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of the expansion apparatus of  FIG. 1  connected to a motherboard in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is similar to  FIG. 2 , but shows a SATA DIMM module connected to the expansion apparatus. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The disclosure, including the drawings, is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation. References to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , an expansion apparatus  100  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment includes a substantially rectangular circuit board  10 . A plurality of expansion slots  11 , such as double data rate three (DDR3) memory slots, and a plurality of serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) interfaces  12  are arranged on the circuit board  10 . The number of the SATA interfaces  12  is the same as the number of the expansion slots  11 . The expansion slots  11  receive a plurality of serial advanced technology attachment dual in-line memory modules (SATA DIMMs) (in  FIG. 3 , only a SATA DIMM  40  is shown). The SATA interfaces  12  are respectively connected to SATA connectors of the SATA DIMM modules, which is connected to the expansion slots  11 . An edge connector  18  is set on a long side  16  of the circuit board  10 . The edge connector  18  includes a plurality of signal pins  111 , a plurality of power pins  121 , and a plurality of ground pins  131 . The signal pins  111  include a pair of signal input pins and a pair of signal output pins. The power pins  121  are connected to the expansion slots  11 . The signal pins  111  are connected to the SATA interfaces  12 . The ground pins  131  are connected to a ground layer (not shown) of the circuit board  10 . In one embodiment, the number of the expansion slots  11  and the SATA interfaces  12  are both three. In other embodiments, the number of the expansion slots  11  and the SATA interfaces  12  can be changed according to need. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a motherboard  20  of an embodiment includes a circuit board  30 , a hard disk drive (HDD) controller  22 , a power connector  23 , and an expansion slot  21 , such as a peripheral component interconnection express (PCIe) slot. The HDD controller  22 , the power connector  23 , and the expansion slot  21  are all arranged on the circuit board  30 . The expansion slot  21  includes a plurality of power pins  212  corresponding to the power pins  121  of the circuit board  10 , a plurality of ground pins  213  corresponding to the ground pins  131  of the circuit board  10 , and a plurality of idle pins. In one embodiment, the idle pins include four idle pins  211 . The idle pins  211  are connected to the HDD controller  22 . The power pins  212  are connected to the power connector  23 . The ground pins  213  are connected to a ground layer (not shown) of the circuit board  30 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , in use, the expansion apparatus  100  can be inserted into the expansion slot  21  of the motherboard  20  through the edge connector  18 . The power pins  121 , the ground pins  131 , and the signal pins  111  of the circuit board  10  are respectively connected to the power pins  212 , the ground pins  213 , and the idle pins  211  of the expansion slot  21 . A SATA DIMM module  40  is connected to one of the expansion slots  11  of the circuit board  10 . A SATA connector  41  of the SATA DIMM module  40  is connected to a corresponding SATA interface  12  of the circuit board  10 . When the motherboard  20  receives power, the motherboard  20  outputs a voltage to the expansion slots  11  of the circuit board  10  through the power pins  212  and  121 , to provide the voltage to the SATA DIMM modules, which are connected to the expansion slots  11 . At the same time, the HDD controller  22  of the motherboard  20  outputs a control signal, such as a SATA signal to the SATA DIMM module  40 , which are connected to the expansion slot  11 , through the idle pins  211 , the signal pins  111 , the SATA interfaces  12 , and the SATA connector  41 . Therefore, the motherboard  20  can communicate with the SATA DIMM module  40 , which is connected to the expansion slot  11 . The number of the SATA DIMM modules  40 , which are connected to the expansion slots  11  can be selected according to need. 
     The motherboard  20  can expand storage capacity conveniently through connecting a plurality of SATA DIMM modules  40  to the expansion slots  11  of the expansion apparatus  100 . 
     Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the disclosure have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the disclosure, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and the arrangement of parts within the principles of the disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.