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Electronic switchbox for selection and sharing of internal peripheral devices among different computers, the internal peripheral devices located in slots of a chassis
| Details |
Inventors: Fleming, Scott M.;
Assignee: Compaq Computer Corporation (Houston, TX)
Primary Examiner: Lee; Thomas C.
Assistant Examiner: Perveen; Rehana
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P.
An electronic switchbox for coupling at least one internal peripheral device to any one of a plurality of computer systems. The electronic switchbox includes at least one peripheral connector for receiving and electrically coupling to an internal peripheral device, a plurality of computer connectors, each for coupling to one of the plurality of computer systems, and a selection device that selectively couples the peripheral connector to any one of the plurality of computer connectors. In this manner, at least one internal peripheral device is selectively coupled to, and thus effectively shared between, any one of the computer systems. The switchbox preferably includes a chassis with at least one slot, where the peripheral connector is mounted to the slot for receiving and electrically coupling to the internal peripheral device when plugged into the slot. More preferably, the chassis includes a plurality of slots each with a corresponding peripheral connector, so that multiple internal peripheral devices are shared by the computer systems. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION An electronic switchbox according to the present invention couples at least one internal peripheral device to any one of a plurality of computer systems.
The electronic switchbox includes at least one peripheral connector for receiving and electrically coupling to an internal peripheral device, a plurality of computer connectors, each for coupling to one of the plurality of computer systems, and a selection device that selectively couples the peripheral connector to any one of the plurality of computer connectors.
In this manner, at least one internal peripheral device is selectively coupled to, and thus effectively shared among, any one of the computer systems.
The switchbox includes a chassis with at least one slot, where the peripheral connector is mounted to the slot for receiving and electrically coupling to the internal peripheral device when plugged into the slot.
Thus, the chassis may include a plurality of slots, each with a corresponding peripheral connector, so that multiple internal peripheral devices are shared.
In one embodiment, a peripheral bus is coupled to each of the peripheral connectors, where the selection device selectively couples the peripheral bus to one of the computer systems.
The peripheral bus may be implemented according to any one of several disk drive implementations, such as the Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), the AT Attachment (ATA) or ATA-2 or ATA-3, the enhanced-IDE (EIDE), the ATA Packet Interface (ATAPI), the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) bus, the PCMCIA or PC CARD interface, etc.
The selection device may be implemented in any suitable fashion, such as a switch device and select logic coupled to the switch device and to the peripheral connectors.
The switch device may comprise several buttons or a turnable knob, and the select logic may be implemented using discrete or integrated multiplexors or the like.
In another embodiment, the switchbox operates as a common mode device where all attached computer systems access the peripheral devices in the switchbox in a first-come, first served or simultaneous manner
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I/O Systems 
