Patent ID: 7685329

Claim:
A resistor divider circuit for indicating whether a mass storage device has been mated to a storage backplane and whether the mass storage device is active, the circuit comprising: a first resistor divider, connected to a first pin of a mass storage device receptacle connector reserved for connection to a ground signal, provides a first voltage within a first voltage range when the mass storage device is not mated to the storage backplane and a second voltage within a second voltage range when the mass storage device is mated to the storage backplane and is inactive; a second resistor divider, connected to a second pin of the mass storage device receptacle connector reserved for providing a drive ready signal, provides a third voltage within a third voltage range when the mass storage device is mated to the storage backplane and the mass storage device is active, and wherein the second resistor divider shares a resistor with the first resistor divider; and wherein the resistor divider circuit is connected to an integrated circuit configured to read the first, second and third voltages using an analog-to-digital converter and, based upon the first, second, or third voltages, to determine whether the mass storage device has been mated to the storage backplane and whether the mass storage device is active or inactive.