Patent Publication Number: US-2006014409-A1

Title: Printed circuit board having an integrated slot mounted thereon

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
      This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(a) of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2004-0054807 filed on Jul. 14, 2004 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a printed circuit board. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for designing the structure of a connector or a slot mounted on a printed circuit board to provide space required for a communication board and an interface on the printed circuit board through the connector or the slot.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      In general, a main board of a personal computer (PC) such as an IBM PC has grooves, called extension slots, into which extension boards for peripheral devices are inserted, so that a central processing unit such as a microcomputer can extend peripheral devices. Most PCs have between 3 and 8 extension slots.  
      However, a small portable computer, such as a laptop or palmtop computer, or a set-top box provides a personal computer memory card international association (PCMCIA) slot as an extension slot into which a PC card is inserted.  
       FIG. 1  illustrates a schematic structure of a printed circuit board  100  on which a PCMCIA slot combined with a PCMCIA card is mounted in a conventional manner.  
      Referring to  FIG. 1 , the printed circuit board  100  includes a central processing unit  120 , and a PCMCIA slot  110  is attached to the printed circuit board  100  to allow a PC card  130  like a LAN card to be inserted horizontally with respect to the printed circuit board  100 .  
       FIG. 2  illustrates a conventional exemplary embodiment of a printed circuit board  200  on which a PCMCIA slot combined with a PCMCIA card is mounted.  
      Referring to  FIG. 2 , a PCMCIA slot  210  is attached to the printed circuit board  200 , and a LAN card  230  is inserted into the PCMCIA slot  210 . Also, a parallel communication port  240  for implementing a function such as software downloading is attached to the printed circuit board  200  while occupying a predetermined portion of the printed circuit board  200 .  
      As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , pins forming PCMCIA slots are generally arranged in a horizontal direction with respect to a main board. Thus, when a PC card is inserted into the PCMCIA slot, it is inserted horizontally with respect to the main board. In addition, to perform a function such as software downloading, a separate communication port needs to be prepared. Accordingly, in a system where a size of components is a main consideration, a space of a printed circuit board, which is occupied by a PCMCIA slot and a separate communication port, also becomes an important issue. Moreover, the bigger the product associated with a printed circuit board becomes, the more expensive the product becomes. Further, in a case where a PCMCIA slot is used, a pin may bend during insertion or detachment of a PC card, resulting in a malfunction.  
      In light of the foregoing, there is a need for a new structure that addresses the main considerations of size and space-saving features.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention provides a printed circuit board having an integrated slot mounted thereon to save space on the printed circuit board by mounting the integrated slot on the printed circuit board differently from conventional mounting methods, in which the integrated slot allows a plurality of boards to perform communication functions by being selectively combined with the boards.  
      The above stated object as well as other objects, features and advantages, of the present invention will become clear to those skilled in the art upon review of the following description.  
      According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printed circuit board comprising a central processing unit and a device controlled by the central processing unit, the printed circuit board comprising an integrated slot which allows a plurality of boards to perform communication functions by being selectively combined with the boards and is configured such that the boards are vertically combined with the printed circuit board. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:  
       FIG. 1  illustrates a schematic structure of a printed circuit board on which a personal computer memory card international association (PCMCIA) slot combined with a PCMCIA card is mounted in a conventional manner;  
       FIG. 2  illustrates a conventional exemplary embodiment of the printed circuit board on which a PCMCIA slot combined with a PCMCIA card is mounted;  
       FIG. 3  illustrates a schematic structure of a printed circuit board on which an integrated slot is mounted according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of an integrated slot according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 5A  illustrates a local area network (LAN) card according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 5B  illustrates a printed circuit board on which an integrated slot combined with the LAN card is mounted according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 5C  is a block diagram of the LAN card of  FIG. 5A ;  
       FIG. 6A  illustrates a parallel communication card according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 6B  illustrates a printed circuit board on which an integrated slot combined with the parallel communication card is mounted according to an embodiment of the present invention; and  
       FIG. 6C  is a block diagram of the parallel communication card of  FIG. 6A . 
    
    
      Throughout the drawings, the same or similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals.  
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS  
      Advantages and features of the present invention and methods of accomplishing the same may be understood more readily by reference to the following detailed description of embodiments and the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so as examples.  
       FIG. 3  illustrates a schematic structure of a printed circuit board on which an integrated slot is mounted according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
      A printed circuit board  300  comprises a central processing unit  320 . An integrated slot  310  is attached to the printed circuit board  300  to allow a PC card  330  such as a local area network (LAN) card to be inserted vertically or perpendicularly or at an angle with respect to the printed circuit board  300 .  
      The integrated slot  310  has a plurality of information transmission lines mounted therein. The PC card  330  can be combined with the integrated slot  310  using information transmission lines whose number is less than or equal to the number of the information transmission lines included in the integrated slot  310 . Preferably, the number of information transmission lines used is 69.  
      According to an embodiment of the present invention, a separate slot for implementing a function like software downloading is not required, but instead the function of the separate slot may be implemented through the integrated slot  310 . For example, for software downloading, a board comprising a parallel communication port may be inserted into the integrated slot  310 .  
      As such, the integrated slot  310  is attached to the printed circuit board  300  such that various boards are vertically combined with the printed circuit board  300 , and the integrated slot  310  supports boards that implement various communication functions. Thus, it is possible to reduce a space occupied by the integrated slot  310  on the printed circuit board  300  and the cost required for manufacturing the printed circuit board  300 .  
       FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of an integrated slot  410  according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
      Referring to  FIG. 4 , the integrated slot  410  is vertically combined with a printed circuit board  400 .  
       FIG. 5A  illustrates a LAN card according to an embodiment of the present invention, and  FIG. 5B  illustrates a printed circuit board on which an integrated slot combined with the LAN card is mounted according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
      An integrated slot  510  is attached to a printed circuit board  500 , and a LAN card  530  is combined with the printed circuit board  500  in a vertical direction.  
       FIG. 5C  is a block diagram of the LAN card  530  of  FIG. 5A . The LAN card  530  according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a control unit  550 , an integrated slot connection unit  560 , a storage unit  570 , and a network connection unit  580 . The integrated slot connection unit  560  is combined with the integrated circuit  510  according to an embodiment of the present invention. The network connection unit  580  is connected to a network transmission medium or interface. For example, in the case of Ethernet, an RJ-45 jack may be used as the network connection unit  580  and connected to a coaxial cable that is a network transmission medium. The network transmission medium is not necessarily a wired medium, but instead may be a wireless medium. If the network transmission medium is a wireless medium, the LAN card  530  comprises a wireless transceiving module. The storage unit  570  stores a medium access control address (MAC) address and may be preferably an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) integrated circuit. The control unit  550  controls communication between a system on which the integrated slot  510  combined with the integrated slot connection unit  560  is mounted and a network  590  connected to the LAN card  530  by the network connection unit  580  and transmits data.  
      A parallel communication card for implementing a function such as software downloading can also perform its function through an integrated slot, as shown in  FIGS. 6A and 6B .  
       FIG. 6A  illustrates a parallel communication card according to an embodiment of the present invention, and  FIG. 6B  illustrates a printed circuit board on which an integrated slot combined with the parallel communication card is mounted according to an embodiment of the present invention. An integrated slot  610  is attached to a printed circuit board  600 , and a parallel communication card  630  is combined with the printed circuit board  600  in the integrated slot  610  in a vertical direction.  
       FIG. 6C  is a block diagram of the parallel communication card  630  of  FIG. 6A . The parallel communication card  630  according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises an integrated slot connection unit  660 , a first temporary data storage unit  670 , a second temporary data storage unit  650 , and a parallel communication connection unit  680 .  
      The integrated slot connection unit  660  is combined with the integrated slot  610  according to an embodiment of the present invention. The parallel communication connection unit  680  is connected to a parallel communication device  690  that can perform parallel communication and may be, for example, a 25-pin parallel female connector. The first temporary data storage unit  670  temporarily stores data transmitted from the parallel communication connection unit  680  and transmits the data, called first data, to the integrated slot connection unit  660 . Here, the first data refers to parallel data comprising predetermined bits, and the first temporary data storage unit  670  may comprise at least one data buffer integrated circuit device. In order for the first data stored in the first temporary data storage unit  670  to be correctly transmitted to the integrated slot connection unit  660 , a flow of the first data should be controlled. Herein, data required for such a control is second data and the second data is stored in the second temporary data storage unit  650 .  
      In other words, the parallel communication connection unit  680  transmits the first data and the second data required for controlling the flow of the first data to the first temporary data storage unit  670  and the second temporary data storage unit  650 , respectively. The operations of the integrated slot connection unit  660  and the first temporary data storage unit  670  are controlled by the second data stored in the second temporary data storage unit  650 , thereby correctly transmitting the first data from the parallel communication device  690  to the integrated slot  610 .  
      As described above, according to this embodiment of the present invention, by configuring a printed circuit board having an integrated slot mounted thereon, it is possible to efficiently use space on the printed circuit board and reduce the size of a system comprising the printed circuit board and the cost required for manufacturing the printed circuit board.  
      While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.