Patent Application
20090187686
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of information handling systems. More specifically, but without limitation, the present disclosure relates to keyboard video mouse (KVM) switches.
2. Background Information
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is an information handling system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for such systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
A keyboard video mouse (KVM) console may allow a plurality of input/output (I/O) devices to be coupled to one or more IHSs. A KVM console may also allow a plurality of IHSs to be controlled by a single set of I/O devices. A KVM console may require several cables for connection to I/O devices and several more cables for connection to one or more IHSs. Each cable may handle a different type of signal or may be a different type of cable. For example, a digital visual interface (DVI) cable and a video graphics array (VGA) cable both handle video data, but the cables may have different types of interfaces. Further, video data provided through a VGA cable and a DVI cable may be in different formats.
While a KVM console may eliminate the need for multiple sets of I/O devices, it may still require a substantial number of cables. Further, a KVM console may require complex circuitry because each interface may require circuitry to allow switching between selected IHSs. Both the number of cables and complex circuitry may contribute to keeping the cost of implementing KVM consoles high.
Thus a need remains for methods and apparatus for minimizing the number of cables required to couple a set of I/O devices to a plurality of IHSs.
The following presents a general summary of several aspects of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of at least some aspects of the disclosure. This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the disclosure or to delineate the scope of the claims. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the disclosure in a general form as a prelude to the more detailed description that follows.
One aspect of the disclosure provides a method for providing communication between a plurality of input/output (I/O) devices and a plurality of information handling systems (IHSs). The method includes providing a first port coupled to the plurality of I/O devices and providing a first channel for video data. The method may also include providing a second channel utilized for I/O data and providing a second port coupled to a first IHS of the plurality of IHSs, wherein the first IHS provides video data via the first channel, and the first IHS transmits and receives the I/O data via the second channel.
Another aspect of the disclosure provides an apparatus for providing communication between a plurality of input/output (I/O) devices and a plurality of information handling systems (IHSs). The apparatus includes a first port coupled to the plurality of I/O devices wherein the first port includes a first channel for outputting video data to a display and a second channel utilized for I/O data. The apparatus may further include a second port coupled to a first IHS of the plurality of IHSs, wherein the first IHS provides video data via the first channel, and the first IHS transmits and receives the I/O data via the second channel.
Yet another aspect of the disclosure provides an apparatus for providing communication between a plurality of input/output (I/O) devices and a plurality of information handling systems (IHSs). The apparatus includes a first port coupled to the plurality of I/O devices wherein the first port includes a first channel for outputting video data to a display and a second channel utilized for I/O data. The apparatus may further include a plurality of IHS ports each coupled to one of the plurality of IHSs and a selector, wherein the selector couples the first port to one or more of the plurality of IHS ports.
For detailed understanding of the present disclosure, references should be made to the following detailed description of the several aspects, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like elements have been given like numerals and wherein:
Although the invention as been described with reference to specific implementations, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Various examples of such changes have been given in the forgoing description. Accordingly, the disclosure of implementations of the disclosure is intended to be illustrative of the scope of the invention and is not intended to be limiting. It is intended that the scope of the invention shall be limited only to the extent required by the appended claims. For example, to one of ordinary skill in the art, it will be readily apparent that the information handling system discussed herein may be implemented in a variety of implementations, and that the forgoing discussion of certain of these implementations does not necessarily represent a complete description of all possible implementations.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing and/or figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the disclosure.
For purposes of this disclosure, an embodiment of an Information Handling System (IHS) may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other purposes. For example, an IHS may be a personal computer, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The IHS may include random access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the IHS may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The IHS may also include one or more buses operable to transmit data communications between the various hardware components.
The IHS 5 may be implemented with a network port 45 to permit communication over a network 70 such as a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet. As understood by those skilled in the art, IHS 5 implementations may also include an assortment of ports and interfaces for different peripherals and components, such as video display adapters 35, disk drives port 50, and input/output interfaces 40 (e.g., keyboard 60, mouse 65).
A KVM console 220 may allow a single set of I/O devices, such as speakers 240, a monitor 250, a keyboard 260, and a mouse 270, to be used for several IHSs 2101-N. In some cases, a KVM console 220 may be used with IHSs that do not require a dedicated keyboard, monitor, and mouse. By allowing a set of I/O devices to communicate with one or more IHS, multiple sets of I/O devices may no longer be needed. A KVM console 220 may couple the I/O devices to an IHS by utilizing a mechanical switch, an electrical switch, a multiplexer, or any other suitable device. In other implementations, a KVM console 220 may couple the I/O devices to more than one IHS. Additionally, a KVM console 220 may be coupled or “daisy chained” to another KVM console to allow even more IHSs to be coupled to I/O devices.
In order to couple I/O devices to several IHSs 210 with a KVM console 220, several cables may be needed. For example, in the implementation shown in
Number of cables=X*N+(M+Y)
In the formula, N may represent the number of IHSs to be coupled to a KVM console, M may represent the number of I/O devices, and X and Y may represent constants. Constant X may represent the number of cables needed between a KVM console 220 and an IHS 210. Constant Y may represent the number of additional or extra cables needed between I/O devices and a KVM console 220 (in the case where more than one cable is needed). For example, in the particular implementation shown in
An IHS A 210 may be coupled to a DVI port A 335 that provides a signal to a DVI switch 330, and an IHS B 210 may be coupled to a DVI port B 340 that also provides a signal to a DVI switch 330. A DVI switch 330 may select a signal from a particular IHS coupled to one of the DVI ports to be displayed on a DVI monitor 250. For example, when the DVI monitor 250 is coupled to the IHS A 210, the DVI monitor 250 may display a signal from the IHS A 210. However, when the DVI switch 330 couples the DVI monitor 250 to the IHS B 210, the DVI monitor 250 may display a signal from the IHS B 210.
An IHS A 210 may be coupled to an audio A port 350, and an IHS B 210 may be coupled to an audio port B 355. Audio port A 350 and audio port B 355 may be coupled to an audio switch 345. An audio switch 345 may provide an audio signal from IHS A 210 or IHS B 210 to speakers 240. Additionally, a microphone 240 may provide an audio signal to audio port A 350 or audio port B 355. An audio switch 345 may allow one to select between coupling audio inputs and outputs to a first IHS or a second IHS. In one implementation, the USB switch 315, DVI switch 330, and audio switch 345 operate uniformly to couple all of the I/O devices to one of the IHSs 210. For example, when a USB keyboard 260 and a USB mouse are couple to IHS A 210, a DVI monitor 250, speakers 240, and microphone 240 may also be coupled to IHS A 210. In the illustrative implementation shown in
The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) has proposed the use of a new DisplayPort standard. DisplayPort is a digital display interface standard that reduces device complexity and provides performance scalability.
While DisplayPort version 1.1 defines an auxiliary channel speed of 1 MHz, it is anticipated that subsequent versions of DisplayPort may increase the auxiliary channel to speeds of more than 500 MHz. This increase in the speed of a DisplayPort auxiliary channel could allow input/output (I/O) data from a plurality of I/O devices to be sent via a DisplayPort link. For example, USB 1.1 may support a data rate of 12 Mbps and USB 2.0 may support a data rate of 480 Mbps. Increasing a DisplayPort auxiliary channel speed to 500 MHz or more may allow both USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 to be supported via a DisplayPort auxiliary channel.
By utilizing an auxiliary channel of a DisplayPort link, the number of cables required to couple several I/O devices to several IHSs can be significantly reduced. For the implementation shown in
Number of cables=N+(M+Y)
In the formula above, as in the previous formula, N represents the number of IHSs that will be coupled to a DisplayPort KVM, M represents the number of I/O devices to be coupled to the DisplayPort KVM, and Y is a constant representing the number of additional or extra cables I/O devices require to couple to a monitor 540. In the implementation shown N=3, M=4, and Y=1. The number of cables required may be reduced from seventeen cables in the implementation shown in
As discussed previously, a DisplayPort KVM 520 may allow I/O devices to transmit and/or receive data to/from one or more IHSs (depending on the device). In addition to reducing the number of cables and simplifying KVM circuitry, KVM architecture may be simplified as well. Because DisplayPort may provide a packet data layered structure, switching of different types of data (e.g., video, USB, and audio) may be simplified. In another implementation of a DisplayPort KVM, a monitor may not offer USB and audio support. In such an implementation, audio switching and decoding as well as USB switching may then be provided in a DisplayPort KVM. For example, a DisplayPort KVM may provided I/O ports for audio devices and USB devices instead of receiving and transmitting audio and USB data from a DisplayPort link.
The present disclosure is to be taken as illustrative rather than as limiting the scope or nature of the claims below. Numerous modifications and variations will become apparent to those skilled in the art after studying the disclosure, including use of equivalent functional and/or structural substitutes for elements described herein, and/or use of equivalent functional junctions for couplings/links described herein.
