WO2015151109A1

WO2015151109A1 - Memory expansion device for a display card

Info

Publication number: WO2015151109A1
Application number: PCT/IL2015/050365
Authority: WO
Inventors: Or OHANA
Original assignee: AHARONI, Smadar
Priority date: 2014-04-03
Filing date: 2015-04-02
Publication date: 2015-10-08
Also published as: IL231948A0

Abstract

A memory expansion device for a display card, comprising a circuit board; a plurality of storage chips arranged on the circuit board; a first edge connector arranged on one end edge of the circuit board, to engage with a video output connector of a display card having a control chip and internal storage chips. The first edge connector comprises a plurality of power pins, a plurality of ground pins, a plurality of signal pins and a plurality of video signals and sync pins. The power pins and signal pins are connected to the storage chips for transmitting voltages and control signals to the storage chips from the display card. The control chip of the display card controls both the internal storage chips and the storage chips to store data. The memory expansion device also comprises a second edge connector arranged on another end edge of the circuit board to engage with a video input connector of a monitor for supplying video signals and syncs as received from the display card.

Description

MEMORY EXPANSION DEVICE FOR A DISPLAY CAED

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of memory cards. More particularly, the invention relates to an add-on device for increasing the video memory capabilities of a display card of a Personal Computer (PC).

Background of the invention

As central processing units become more powerful to accommodate games with high resolution texturing and virtualization of operating systems, the display cards must have sufficient video memory to support the games and virtual machines. For display cards without enough memory, users must replace the cards with larger memory which might be quite expensive. Moreover, replacing a display card requires some technical skills as an access to the interior of a PC is required. Furthermore, some in some PC's the display card is embedded within the motherboard, thus it can be replaced (unless replacing the entire motherboard).

Unfortunately, the performance disadvantage of integrated graphics arises because the graphics processor shares system resources with the CPU, while a dedicated display card has its own random access memory (RAM), its own cooling system, and dedicated power regulators, with all components designed specifically for processing video images and therefore it is quite expensive.

To address this problem and to help users to easily increase the capabilities of a display card, an improvement in the art is required.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device which is capable of increasing the performance of a display card in an easy manner that does not require access to the interior of a PC. It is another object of the present invention to provide a device capable of being added to a PC that requires no special technical skills by an average user.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention relates to a memory expansion device for a display card, comprising:

a) a circuit board;

b) a plurality of storage chips arranged on said circuit board;

c) a first edge connector arranged on one end edge of said circuit board to engage with a video output connector of a display card having a control chip and internal storage chips, wherein said first edge connector comprising a plurality of power pins, a plurality of ground pins, a plurality of signal pins and a plurality of video signals and sync pins, wherein said power pins and signal pins are connected to said storage chips for transmitting voltages and control signals to said storage chips from said display card, wherein the control chip of said displa}' card controls both the internal storage chips and the storage chips to store data; and

d) a second edge connector arranged on another end edge of said circuit board to engage with a video input connector of a monitor for supplying video signals and syncs as received from said display card.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the video output connector of the display card is adapted to carry analog video component such as Video Graphics Array (VGA) connector. According to an embodiment of the invention, the video output connector of the display card is adapted to carry digital video component such as Digital Visual Interface (DVI) connector.

Brief Description of the Drawings

In the drawings^

Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a memory expansion device for a display card, according to an embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 2 schematically illustrates a computer system provided with the device of Fig. 1.

Detailed Description of the Invention

Throughout this description the terms "display card" is used to indicate a video hardware that allows the computer to send graphical information to a video display device such as a monitor, TV, or a projector. This term does not imply any particular configuration or approach, and invention is applicable to all suitable video hardware either in form of a dedicated card or video hardware that is integrated into the motherboard or CPU (Central Processing Unit). Both approaches can be called integrated graphics. Motherboard-based implementations are sometimes called "on^¬ board video" while CPU-based implementations are called accelerated processing units or APUs. Almost all desktop computer motherboards with integrated graphics allow the disabling of the integrated graphics chip in BIOS, and have a PCI, or PCI Express (PCPE) slot for adding a higher- performance graphics card in place of the integrated graphics.

Reference will now be made to several embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying figures. Wherever practicable similar or like reference numbers may be used in the figures and may indicate similar or like functionality. The figures depict embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.

The following discussion is intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment in which the invention may be implemented. While the invention will be described in the general context of program modules that execute in conjunction with an application program that runs on an operating system on a personal computer, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention may also be implemented in combination with other program modules.

Fig. 1 shows a device that can be used in conjunction with the invention. The device illustrated in this figure is particularly convenient because it can be applied as an ad-on device to existing computer systems without the need to carry out major alterations in the structure. The device generally indicated by numeral 1 in the figure comprises a circuit board 2. A plurality of storage chips 3 is arranged on the circuit board 2. A first edge connector 4 is arranged on one end of the circuit board 2, to be connected to a video output of a video display (e.g., to a common video output such as VGA or DVI). A second edge connector 5 is arranged on another end of the circuit board 2, to be connected to a video input connector of a monitor or TV (e.g., to a VGA input of a monitor). The first edge connector 4 includes a plurality of power pins 41, a plurality of ground pins 42, a plurality of signal pins 43 and a plurality of video signals and sync pins 44. The power pins 41 and the signal pins 43 are connected to the storage chips 3. The ground pins 42 are connected to a ground layer (not shown) of the circuit board 2. The second edge connector 5 includes a plurality of video signals and sync pins (not shown). The plurality of video signals and sync pins of connector 5 are connected to the corresponding plurality of video signals and sync pins 44 of connector 4, in order to transfer the video signals from the display card to the monitor or TV (as shown in Fig. 2).

Fig. 2 schematically illustrates an exemplary computer system 10 to which device 1 is connected, according to an embodiment of the invention. The computer system 10 comprises a monitor 30, a PC 40 and the device 1. The PC 40 includes common peripherals such as a hard drive (not shown), a display card 11, a CPU (not shown), a memory (not shown), a power supply (not shown) a mother board (not shown) to which all these peripheral are connected and. In order to simplify the understanding of the invention, only the display card 11 is shown within the PC 40.

The display card 11 includes a circuit board 12. A control chip 13 and a plurality of storage chips 14 are all arranged on the circuit board 12. The control chip 13 is connected to the storage chips 14, to control the storage chips 14 to store data according to a received control signal. An edge connector 15 is arranged on the bottom edge of the circuit board 12, to be connected into an expansion slot, such as a peripheral component interconnection (PCI) slot of the motherboard. The edge connector 15 commonly includes a pluralit}^ of power pins, a plurality of ground pins, and a plurality of signal pins. The power pins (not shown) are connected to the control chip 13 and the storage chips 14. The ground pins are connected to a ground layer (not shown) of the circuit board 12. The signal pins are connected to the control chip 13.

A video output connector 20 is arranged on an end edge of the circuit board 11 adjoining the bottom edge 15, to be electrically connected to pins of the video output connector 20. The video output connector 20 includes a plurality of power pins 21, a plurality of ground pins 22, a plurality of signal pins 23 and a plurality of video signals and sync pins 24. The pins of video output connector are connected to the corresponding pins of connector 4 of device 1, such that the power pins 21 are connected to the power pins 41 of connector 4 of device 1, the ground pins 22 are connected to ground pins 42, the signal pins 23 are connected to signals pins 43, and the video signals and sync pins 24 are connected the video signals and sync pins 44. In addition, the ground pins 22 are connected to the ground layer of the circuit board 12. The signal pins 23 are connected to the control chip 13.

In assembly, the bottom edge connector 15 is inserted into the PCI slot of the motherboard. When the motherboard needs to add storage capacity of the display card 11, the device 1 is connected via connector 4 to the connector 20. The power pins 41, the ground pins 42, the signal pins 43 and the video signals and sync pins 44 are respectively connected to the power pins 21, the ground pins 22, the signal pins 23 and the video signals and sync pins 44 through connector 20.

When the motherboard receives power, the motherboard outputs a voltage to the control chip 13 and the storage chips 14 through the PCI slot and the power pins of the bottom edge connector 15. At the same time, the voltage output from the motherboard is provided to the storage chips 3 (of device l) through the power pins of connector 20 and connector 4. The motherboard outputs a control signal, such as a PCI signal, to the control chip 13 through the signal pins of the PCI slot. The control chip 13 controls the storage chips 14 to store data, and also controls the storage chips 3 to store data through the signal pins 23, the connector 20, and the signal pins 43 of connector 4 (of device l).

The display card assembly 1 can add the storage capacity of the display card 11 through the device 1, and the connector 20, to save cost.

While certain examples may refer to a Personal Computer (PC) system, other computer or electronic systems that is provided with a video output port such as VGA or DVI can be used as well, such as, without limitation, a game console, a notebook, and so on.

As will be appreciated by the skilled person the arrangement described in the figures results in an add-on device that the main advantages of the device of the present invention include cost, compactness, simplicity and low energy consumption.

Additional advantages provided by the invention include cost, compactness, simplicity and low energy consumption.

The terms, "for example", "e.g.", "optionally", as used herein, are intended to be used to introduce non-limiting examples. While certain references are made to certain example system components or services, other components and services can be used as well and/or the example components can be combined into fewer components and/or divided into further components.

All the above description and examples have been given for the purpose of illustration and are not intended to limit the invention in any way. Many different video output mechanisms, electronic and logical elements can be employed, all without exceeding the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A memory expansion device for a display card, comprising:

a) a circuit board;

b) a plurality of storage chips arranged on said circuit board;

c) a first edge connector arranged on one end edge of said circuit board to engage with a video output connector of a display card having a control chip and internal storage chips, wherein said first edge connector comprising a plurality of power pins, a plurality of ground pins, a plurality of signal pins and a plurality of video signals and sync pins, wherein said power pins and signal pins are connected to said storage chips for transmitting voltages and control signals to said storage chips from said display card, wherein the control chip of said display card controls both the internal storage chips and the storage chips to store data; and

2. A device according to claim 1, in which the video output connector of the display card is adapted to carry analog video component in particular Video Graphics Array (VGA) connector.

3. A device according to claim 1, in which the video output connector of the display card is adapted to carry digital video component in particular Digital Visual Interface (DVI) connector.