Abstract:
Disclosed is a dual inline memory module with temperature-sensing scenario modes. A plurality of volatile memory components and an EEPROM component are disposed on a module board. A plurality of LED components and a scenario-lighting controller are disposed at a radiant side of the module board. A light bar is located at the radiant side of the module board without direct installing relationship. A plurality of clamping-type heat spreaders are fastened to one another in a manner that the light bar is tightly clamped. Therein, the power of the scenario-lighting controller component is shared and linked with the power supply system of the LED components and the signals of the scenario-lighting controller component are shared and linked with the signal connection system of the EEPROM component. Accordingly, the lighting scenario performances controlled by the scenario-lighting controller accord with the sensing temperatures to adjust memory refreshing frequencies to avoid any incorrect performance caused by sensed temperature differences.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a memory module and more specifically to a dual inline memory module with temperature-sensing scenario modes. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    A conventional memory module comprises a module board and a plurality of volatile memory components surface-mounted on the module board for plugging the module into a memory socket of a computer system. As the working frequency of memory components becomes higher, memory modules have higher data transmission rates with larger power consumption. Therein, heat will accumulate in memory modules leading to system instability. When working temperatures of memory modules become higher and exceed the tolerance, the performance of memory modules significantly drops. At the same time, the Soft Error Rate (SER) of memory modules also significantly increases. Accordingly, the working temperatures of memory modules are expected to be accurately monitored and implemented. 
         [0003]    It is an existing technology that LED components are disposed on a memory module. However, the known light emitting mechanism only roughly shows the difference between high temperature and normal temperature. It is difficult to achieve accurate programmable modulation of diversified temperature-sensing scenario modes. As disclosed in Taiwan utility Patent No. TW-M448772 entitled “Dynamic Random Access Memory”, a conventional memory module comprises a module board, a plurality of LED components and a translucent light bar. The LED components are physically disposed on and electrically connected to the module board. The light bar is disposed on the module board with a direct connecting relationship to cover the LED components in a matter that light emitted from the LED components penetrates through the light bar. Therein, the disposition of the light bar is that a side of the memory module is directly clamped in a slot of the light bar. There is at least a recess formed on the sidewall of the slot of the light bar to accommodate LED components inside the slot of the light bar. Furthermore, a light-emitting controller for controlling the LED components is also disposed on the module board. Therein the light-emitting controller includes a temperature sensor to measure operating temperatures, to convert the measured temperature into a signal and to feedback to the light-emitting controller to modulate the emitting frequency of LED components according to the measured temperature. Through different light-emitting-frequency of the LED components, end users are reminded if the operation temperature of memory modules is over-heated or not. The light-emitted control system of a conventional light-emitting memory module is an independent system with an independent temperature sensing system, an independent signal system and an independent power system. Thus, the manufacture cost of memory modules is greatly increased. Moreover, the new temperature sensing system to control light emitting frequency and the built-in temperature sensing system of memory modules to control refreshing frequency are two different systems. Therein, the sensing locations and the structures of the temperature sensors are different leading to different sensing temperatures. Furthermore, the light-emitting mode only roughly shows if memory modules are overheated or not without accurately correlate the working temperature of memory modules to the sensing temperature of the light-emitting system. Therein, it is very difficult to implement accurately adjusting temperature-sensing scenario modes according to operating temperatures. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a dual inline memory module with temperature-sensing scenario modes wherein the working temperature of the dual inline memory module may be accurately measured and implemented in a matter that the memory module correctly shows the predefined temperature-sensing scenario modes. 
         [0005]    The second purpose of the present invention is to provide a dual inline memory module with temperature-sensing scenario modes wherein the signals of the scenario-lighting controller are shared and linked by a specific methodology to achieve lower manufacture cost. 
         [0006]    The third purpose of the present invention is to provide a dual inline memory module with temperature-sensing scenario modes wherein a plurality of heat spreaders are fastened to one another in a matter that the light bar is clamped on the module board without direct installing relationship to achieve easy assembly of the light bar and to avoid damages to the LED components. 
         [0007]    According to the present invention, a dual inline memory module with temperature-sensing scenario modes comprises a module board, a light bar and a plurality of clamping-type heat spreaders. Disposed on one board surface of the module board are a plurality of first volatile memory components and a plurality of second volatile memory components. Moreover, disposed between the first volatile memory components and the second volatile memory components is an Electrically-Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) component. The module board has a plugging side and a radiant side. Therein, a plurality of contact fingers are formed on the plugging side. Disposed on the radiant side are a plurality of Light Emitting Diode (LED) components and a scenario-lighting controller. The light bar is located on the radiant side of the module board without direct installing relationship. The clamping-type heat spreaders are tightly fastened to one another to enclose the board surface and an opposing surface of the module board to enhance easy fastening of the clamping-type heat spreaders in a matter that the light bar is tightly clamped. Therein, the power of the scenario-lighting controller is shared and linked with the power supply system of the LED components and the signals of the scenario-lighting controller are shared and linked with the signal connecting system of the EEPROM component. 
         [0008]    Through the said technical means, the present invention provides a dual inline memory module focusing on the combination of the LED components and the EEPROM component for further in-depth implementation. The EEPROM component may have a built-in temperature sensor as same as the standard structure of a conventional non-radiant memory module. Therein, the working temperature of the memory module is monitored by the EEPROM component. The dual inline memory module further implements the signal converted from measured temperatures to a computer system through the signal bus connecting with the EEPROM component and the temperature signal transmitting fingers of the module board in a matter that an appropriate temperature-sensing scenario mode is chosen and feedback to the scenario-lighting controller. Therefore, the dual inline memory module drives the LED components to show various radiant colors, flashing frequencies, radiant intensity, etc. for appropriate scenarios. At the same time, the speed of the fan is adjusted accordingly. Thus, the end users may easily determine if the memory module is over heated or not which is very helpful to achieve a perfect balance between the system stability and the system performance of a computer system. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a three-dimensional perspective view of a dual inline memory module with temperature-sensing scenario modes according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a top view of a module board of the dual inline memory module according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a bus connection diagram of the module board according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a connection diagram illustrating the power supply system of a plurality of LED components disposed on the module board according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a connection diagram illustrating the signal connection system of an EEPROM component disposed on the module board according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a circuit diagram of a scenario-lighting controller disposed on the module board according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a pin assignment of a plurality of contact fingers of the module board according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a connection diagram of the dual inline memory module to a computer device according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0017]    With reference to the attached drawings, the present invention is described by means of the embodiment(s) below where the attached drawings are simplified for illustration purposes only to illustrate the structures or methods of the present invention by describing the relationships between the components and assembly in the present invention. Therefore, the components shown in the figures are not expressed with the actual numbers, actual shapes, actual dimensions, nor with the actual ratio. Some of the dimensions or dimension ratios have been enlarged or simplified to provide a better illustration. The actual numbers, actual shapes, or actual dimension ratios may be selectively designed and disposed and the detail component layouts may be more complicated. 
         [0018]    According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a dual inline memory module  100  with temperature-sensing scenario modes is disclosed and illustrated in  FIG. 1  for a three-dimensional perspective top view. The dual inline memory module  100  comprises a module board  110 , a light bar  120  and a plurality of clamping-type heat spreaders  130 . Therein, a top view of the module board  110  of the dual inline memory module  100  is illustrated in  FIG. 2  and a bus connection diagram of the module board  110  of the dual inline memory module  100  is illustrated in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0019]    As shown in  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3 , a plurality of first volatile memory components  111  and a plurality of second volatile memory components  112  are disposed on one board surface of the module board  110 . The first volatile memory components  111  are disposed on one area of the board surface with constant spacing and the second volatile memory components  112  are disposed on another area of the board surface with constant spacing. The spacing between the first volatile memory components  111  and the second volatile memory components  112  is greater than the spacing among the first volatile memory components  111  and greater than the spacing among the second volatile memory components  112  in a matter that a large space is formed at the center of the board surface of the module board  110 . The first volatile memory components  111  and the second volatile memory components  112  may specifically be Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) such as DDR2 SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM and DDR4 SDRAM. Moreover, an Electrically-Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) component  113  is disposed between those first volatile memory components  111  and those second volatile memory components  112 . Therein, data in the EEPROM component  113  may be read, erased, and re-written for multiple times and data may be preserved without electricity like a hard drive. In the present embodiment, the EEPROM component  113  includes a built-in temperature sensor inside. Therein, the temperature measured by the built-in temperature sensor of the EEPROM component  113  for adjusting memory refreshing frequencies is transformed into signals to be implemented by a scenario-lighting controller  160  in a matter that the scenario-lighting controller  160  does not need a built-in temperature sensor. 
         [0020]    The module board  110  has a plugging side  114  and a radiant side  115 . The module board  110  further has a plurality of contact fingers  116  formed at the plugging side  114 . A plurality of Light Emitting Diode (LED) components  150  and a scenario-lighting controller  160  are disposed at the radiant side  115 . Therein, the scenario-lighting controller  160  is configured to control on-off, emitting colors, and flashing frequency of the LED components  150 . A specific package type of the scenario-lighting controller  160  is a 20-pin Quad Flat No-Lead package(QFN 20). Referring to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3  again, preferably, the module board  110  further has a plurality of extruded portions  117  formed on the radiant side  150  with an irregular shape. Therein, the LED components  150  are mounted on the extruded portions  117  with a plurality of obliquely shining directions corresponding to the plugging side  114 , wherein the obliquely shining directions are staggeringly arranged without shining in the same direction vertical to the plugging side  114 . The light bar  120  has an irregular sidewall profile  121  matching to the radiant side  115  of the module board  110  in a matter that the light bar  120  shines uniformly. 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , the light bar  120  is located on the radiant side  115  of the module board  110  without direct installing relationship. The material of the light bar  120  may be translucent plastic in a matter that the light emitting from the LED components  150  is guided into the light bar  120  to make light bar shine uniformly. Moreover, the clamping-type heat spreaders  130  are tightly fastened to one another to enclose one board surface and the opposing surface of the module board  110  in a matter that the light bar  120  is tightly clamped. In the present embodiment, each clamping-type heat spreader  130  has a fastening part  131  and the other fastening part  132  disposed at two opposing sides. The fastening parts  131 ,  132  of the clamping-type heat spreaders  130  fasten to one another become one body to tightly clamp the light bar  120 . In a more specific embodiment, the dual inline memory module  100  further comprises a top cover  140  disposed on the light bar  120  without direct installing relationship. Therein, the top cover  140  is also tightly clamped by tightly fastening between the clamping-type heat spreaders  130 . Accordingly, the top cover  140  may provide and enhance the consistency of metal appearance to ensure tightly clamping of the light bar  120 . To be more specific, the top cover  140  has a plurality of hollow slots  141  in a matter that light emitting from the light bar  120  penetrates through the hollow slots  141 . 
         [0022]    Referring to  FIG. 1  again, in a preferred and more specific embodiment, a heat dissipation layer  133  and a light reflection layer  134  are formed on each internal surface of the clamping-type heat spreaders  130 . Therein, the heat dissipation layer  133  is attached to the first volatile memory components  111  and the second volatile memory components  112  for better heat dissipation. The light reflection layer  134  covers the LED components  150 . Therefore, the light bar  120  does not need to cover the LED components  150  in a matter that the light emitting from the LED components  150  is efficiently guiding to the light bar  120 . 
         [0023]    Furthermore, the power of the scenario-lighting controller  160  is shared and linked with the power supply system  190  of the LED components  150 . The signals of the scenario-lighting controller  160  are shared and linked with the signal connection system of the EEPROM component  113 . A connection diagram of the power supply system of the LED components  150  disposed on the module board  110  is illustrated in  FIG. 4 . A connection diagram of the signal connection system of the EEPROM component  113  disposed on the module board  110  is illustrated in  FIG. 5 . A circuit diagram of the scenario-lighting controller  160  disposed on the module board  110  is illustrated in  FIG. 6 . A pin assignment of the contact fingers  116  of the module board  110  is illustrated in  FIG. 7 . A connection diagram of the dual inline memory module  100  to a computer device is illustrated in  FIG. 8 . 
         [0024]    The signal connection system of the EEPROM component  113  includes a plurality of signal buses  118  connecting a plurality of first signal terminals of the EEPROM component  113  (the first signal terminals marked as SCL, SDA, SAO, SA 1 , SA 2  as shown in  FIG. 6 ) to a plurality of temperature signal transmitting fingers  116 A of the contact fingers  116 . Those signal buses  118  are specifically System Management Buses (SMBUS) of the memory module. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the module board  110  further has a plurality of sharing signal lines  170  and a plurality of sharing power lines  180 . Therein, the sharing signal lines  170  connect the second signal terminals  161  of the scenario-lighting controller  160  (as shown in  FIG. 6 ) to the signal buses  118 . The sharing power lines  180  connect a plurality of power terminals  162  of the scenario-lighting controller  160  to the power supply system  190 . 
         [0025]    As shown in  FIG. 3  to  FIG. 8 , the power supply system  190  provides power for the LED components  150  and includes a power bus  192  and a transformer  191  to convert a first working voltage to a second working voltage. Therein, the power bus  192  transmits the first working voltage from a plurality of power transmitting fingers  116 B of the contact fingers  116  to the transformer  191 . The sharing power lines  180  transmit the second working voltage from the transformer  191  to the scenario-lighting controller  160 . Therein, the second working voltage is greater than the first working voltage. In the present embodiment, the first working voltage is 2.5 Volts and the second working voltage is 4 Volts. 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , the power of the scenario-lighting controller  160  is shared and linked with the power supply system of the LED components  150  through the sharing power lines  180 . Referring to  FIG. 5 , the signals of the scenario-lighting controller  160  are shared and linked with the signal connection system of the EEPROM component  113  through the sharing signal lines  170 . 
         [0027]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , the scenario-lighting controller  160  may not have a built-in temperature sensor with the corresponding circuitry. Referring to  FIG. 7 , the pin assignment of the contact fingers  116  of the module board  110  includes the corresponding temperature signal transmitting fingers  116 A for the EEPROM component  113  and the corresponding power transmitting fingers  116 B for the LED components  150 . The terminals of the temperature signal transmitting fingers  116 A are specifically marked as SCL, SDA, SAO, SA 1 , SA 2  which are also connecting to the signal terminals of the scenario-lighting controller  160  as shown in  FIG. 6 . The terminals of the power transmitting fingers  116 B are specifically marked as VPP which are connecting to the power supply system  190  of the LED components  150  as shown in  FIG. 7 . 
         [0028]    Referring to  FIG. 8 , the dual inline memory module  100  is plugged into a computer device and connected to the computer processing device  10  such as Central Processing Unit (CPU) or Platform Controller Hub (PCH). The working temperature of the dual inline memory module  100  is accurately measured through the EEPROM component  113  and the temperature signals are transmitted to the computer processing device  10  through the signal connection system of the EEPROM component  113  for adjusting memory refreshing frequencies of the dual inline memory module  100 . Therein, the pre-defined temperature-sensing scenario mode is matched and chosen through software programming. With correct address communication, the computer processing device  10  feedbacks the corresponding control signal to the scenario-lighting controller  160  through the signal connection system of the EEPROM component  113  (including the signal buses  118 ) and the sharing signal lines  170  in a matter that the LED components  150  may show the exact pre-defined temperature-sensing scenario modes. 
         [0029]    The above description of embodiments of this invention is intended to be illustrative but not limited. Other embodiments of this invention may be obvious to those skilled in the art in view of the above disclosure which still may be covered by and within the scope of the present invention even with any modifications, equivalent variations and adaptations.