WO2012083484A1

WO2012083484A1 - Smart dock with cpu&ram hot-pluggable support for mobile devices

Info

Publication number: WO2012083484A1
Application number: PCT/CN2010/002104
Authority: WO
Inventors: Haitao Li; Yang Young CHEN
Original assignee: Intel Corporation (A Corporation Of Delaware)
Priority date: 2010-12-21
Filing date: 2010-12-21
Publication date: 2012-06-28
Also published as: CN103261993A; TW201237628A; JP2014505290A; TWI564721B

Abstract

A hot-pluggable docking station may include one or more central processing units (CPUs) and internal memory and other supporting circuitry within the dock. When a lower performance device is docked it may utilize this additional computing power as well as any of the peripherals connected to the dock thus enhancing the computing abilities of the lower performance device. In addition, the smart docking station may be networked or otherwise connected to other such smart docks each acting as a node in a distributed computing network and their computing ability may be available and shared with the network.

Description

SMART DOCK WITH CPU&RAM

HOT-PLUGGABLE SUPPORT FOR MOBILE DEVICES

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to docking stations and, more particularly, to smart docking stations for enhancing the computing abilities of mobile devices.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

A docking station, sometimes referred to as a "port replicator", provides a simplified way of plugging-in a mobile electronic computer such as a laptop computer to common peripherals. Modern laptop computer systems have incorporated many features that were once only available on desktop personal computers. Through the use of a docking station connected to a mobile computer system, a user is allowed to access various services and devices usually only available to desktop computer systems. Thus, when the laptop is connected to, or seated in, a docking station, the resulting system resembles a desktop computer.

A mobile computer system is typically connected to a docking station through the use of a socket type connection. That is, the mobile computer system is inserted into the docking station, and upon such insertion, connects through the use of a mating connector to the docking station. The docking station is, in turn, connected to various devices now available to the mobile computer.

Recently, lower performance mobile devices, such as Netbooks, Ultra-Thin Laptops, Smart phones and mobile internet devices (MID) have become popular to provide ultra mobility to end users. However, these devices may not have the computing power for some users especially in an enterprise environment. In order to execute tasks with high client computing demand, such as compiling/building software, business reporting generating, graphics rendering and games, etc. a higher performance device may be required.

In another case, high performance devices are not always fully utilized for simple tasks such as editing documents, web surfing, etc. Thus, power and compute capacity may be wasted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and a better understanding of the present invention may become apparent from the following detailed description of arrangements and example embodiments and the claims when read in connection with the

accompanying drawings, all forming a part of the disclosure of this invention. While the foregoing and following written and illustrated disclosure focuses on disclosing arrangements and example embodiments of the invention, it should be clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and the invention is not limited thereto.

Figure 1 is a diagram showing a smart docking station, according to one embodiment of the invention for enhancing the computing power of a docked device; and

Figure 2 is a block diagram detailing the internal components of the smart docking station according to one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Described is a hot-pluggable docking station which may include one or more central processing units (CPUs) and internal memory and other supporting circuitry within the dock. When a lower performance device is docked it may utilize this additional computing power as well as any of the peripherals connected to the dock thus enhancing the computing abilities of the lower performance device. In addition, the smart docking station may be networked or otherwise connected to other such smart docks each acting as a node in a distributed computing network and their computing ability may be available and shared with the network.

Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

Referring now to Figure 1 , there is shown a one embodiment of a smart docking station. The docking station 100 may include a socket 102 for mating with a socket (not shown) on the mobile electronic device 103. The docking station 100 may be, in turn, connected to a variety of device and services. As an example, the docking station may be connected to one or more displays 104, printers 106, mice 108, keyboards, a power supply 112, and network connections 114. The network connections 114 may include the internet or an office intranet and may therefore connect to other such smart docks 130 and 132, each acting as a node in a distributed computing network and their computing ability may be available and shared with the network. This list is by way of example and not meant to be exhaustive. When the mobile electronic device 103 is connected to the dock 100, all of the aforementioned devices may be available for the electronic device 103 to use. In addition, the dock 100, according to embodiments of the invention, may include one or more of its own central processing units (CPU) 120 and supporting circuitry and devices, which is also available to mobile electronic device 103.

Figure 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention. As shown, a smart docking station 200 may be provided to dock a mobile electronic device 202. The mobile electronic device may include any commonly available such device, including, but not limited to netbooks, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile internet devices (MIDs), tablets, smart phones, etc. All of these devices typically have less powerful computing capabilities, as compared to standard desktop or laptop computers, and can therefore benefit from the additional computing circuitry 204 built into the smart dock 200.

As shown, the smart dock 200 may have computing circuitry 204, such as one or more CPUs 206 and 208, each with an accompanying RAM memory 210 and 212. In addition, the docking station 200 may include its own mass storage device 214, such as a hard drive (HD) or a newer solid state drive (SSD). A chip set 216 may be included to interface the CPUs 206 and 208 and the mass storage device 214 with various interfaces such as a dock interface 218 (to interface with the mobile device 202) and interfaces 220 such as universal serial bus (USB) ports, Firewire ports, video graphics adapter (VGA), high definition media interface (HDMI), Ethernet connections, etc. The smart dock 200 may of course also include its own power supply 222 and power adapter interface 224. This

computing circuitry may be embodied on a traditional motherboard arrangement or may be embodied on a system on a chip (SoC) within the smart dock 200. As shown, there are two CPUs 206 and 208, but there may be more or less

depending on the additional computing power desired. By way of example, in one usage, the dock 200 may support up to four processors and 8GB RAM. OEMs/ODMs/End users can add/remove processors in the dock 200 based on actual demand. When a lower performance device 202 is hooked up onto the dock 200, the operating system (OS) of the device 202 may detect the additional processors, graphic card, RAMs and other peripherals integrated in the dock 200 and take control of them automatically. The detection and control are transparent to those running applications above the OS.

In a second usage scenario, when the dock 200 is disconnected from lower performance devices 202, its computing capability can be shared via office network. Thus, the dock 200 may be a node in a distributing computing network infrastructure of IT. The SoC in the dock can provide the computing services. Thousands of docks can provide extreme powerful computing resources to partially meet business requirements and large improve the return on investment (ROI) of information technology (IT).

Embodiments of the smart dock increases the compute capabilities of netbooks, MIDs, ultra-thin laptops, Smartphones, etc. When plugged into the dock makes enterprise usage of these devices more feasible. Docks are already very popular devices, with their support of embedded multi-processors RAM and other useful hardware, they may become even more popular. Embodiments comprise a hot-pluggable dock with multi-processors and RAM inside, will provide extreme computing performance to lower performance mobile devices when they are hooked into the dock in office or at home, but will not impact the mobility and long battery life of those devices when they are disconnected from dock and used in travel.

The above description of illustrated embodiments of the invention, including what is described in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described herein for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize.

These modifications can be made to the invention in light of the above detailed description. The terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be determined entirely by the following claims, which are to be construed in accordance with established doctrines of claim interpretation.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a docking station to dock with a mobile electronic computing device;

computing circuitry within the docking station,

wherein when the mobile electronic device is docked with the docking station, the mobile electronic device to use the computing circuitry to enhance its own computing abilities.

2. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the computing circuitry within the docking station comprises at least one central processing unit.

3. The apparatus as recited in claim 2 wherein the computing circuitry within the docking station further comprises random access memory associated with the at least one central processing unit.

4. The apparatus as recited in claim 2 wherein the computing circuitry further comprises a mass storage device.

5. The apparatus as recited in claim 4 wherein the mass storage device comprises a hard disk drive.

6. The apparatus as recited in claim 4 wherein the mass storage device comprises a solid state drive.

7. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the docking station is networked to other such docking stations through a network and the computing circuitry is available to other devices on the network.

8. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the computing circuitry is provided on a system on chip (SoC).

9. A method, comprising:

providing a docking station;

providing computing circuitry within the docking station;

providing an interface to allow a mobile electronic device to dock to the docking station,

10. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising: providing at least one central processing as part of the computing circuitry within the docking station.

11. The method as recited in claim 10 further comprises providing a random access memory associated with the at least one central processing unit.

12. The method as recited in claim 10 further comprising providing a mass storage device within the docking station.

13. The method as recited in claim 9 wherein the computing circuitry is provided on a system on chip (SoC).

14. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising:

networking to other such docking stations through a network and the computing circuitry is available to other devices on the network.

15. A system, comprising:

a docking station to dock with a mobile electronic computing device;

computing circuitry within the docking station,

wherein when the mobile electronic device is docked with the docking station, the mobile electronic device to use the computing circuitry to enhance its own computing abilities;

a network connection to connect the docking station to like docking stations, each docking station acting as a node on the network and the computing circuitry within the docking station being available to other devices on the network.

16. The system as recited in claim 15 wherein the computing circuitry within the docking station comprises at least one central processing unit.

17. The system as recited in claim 15 wherein the computing circuitry within the docking station further comprises random access memory associated with the at least one central processing unit.

18. The system as recited in claim 16 wherein the computing circuitry further comprises a mass storage device.

19. The system as recited in claim 18 wherein the mass storage device comprises a hard disk drive.

20. The system as recited in claim 18 wherein the mass storage device comprises a solid state drive.