The disclosures herein relate generally to portable computers and, more particularly, to a scalable architecture for portable computer docking stations.
USB docking device class integrated circuit (xe2x80x9cICxe2x80x9d) logic, as fully described in detail in related U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/672,132 entitled xe2x80x9cUSB DOCKING DEVICE CLASS ICxe2x80x9d, filed Sep. 27, 2000, and hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, enables the notebook and the docking solution to identify which carrier bandwidths are supported on both sides of the docking connector and settle on the greatest common denominator. Additionally, the signals combined on the single carrier can be programmed, in which case the docking solution and the notebook negotiate the features that are and are not supported in each individual case.
Docking solutions for portable computers, or xe2x80x9cnotebooksxe2x80x9d, are intended to perform several functions. Specifically, such solutions should provide cable management by replicating existing notebook functions and ports, add additional functionality, such as networking, SCSI ports, and a media bay, and enable users to add functionality, typically via PCI bus slots or PC card slots. The design generally used to accomplish these functions is to pass all necessary signals individually across a docking connector and into the docking solution.
The problem with this design methodology is that it is specific to each notebook and docking solution design pair. Each time a new notebook is designed, a decision must be made as to what features will be included in the notebook, the docking solution, and both. Hardware and software must then be developed to implement the required features. Another problem associated with this design methodology is that it requires a very large number of signals, some with different requirements, to be passed along a single docking connector. From a customer perspective, the above means that each time a new notebook is purchased, a new docking solution often must be purchased along with it.
The above-described problems have been mitigated by some manufacturers by their fixing docking solution architecture for all notebooks and docking solutions within a notebook family. For example, Dell Computer Corporation (xe2x80x9cDellxe2x80x9d) has fixed the docking solution architecture for all of its notebooks and docking stations since the introduction of the Latitude CP. In doing so, Dell has been able to leverage the development work done with the original C-Family design. This approach enables forward/backward compatibility, as well as compatibility up and down product lines; however, it has limited development to features and compromises that were in the initial docking solution design.
Further, to maintain docking commonality, notebooks targeted at different markets from performance to basic low-cost are limited by the features of the docking architecture or compromised by the cost impact of the docking architecture, respectively.
Therefore, what is needed is a scalable docking architecture for portable computers that does not necessitate the aforementioned compromises to be made in the docking solution.
One embodiment, accordingly, is a scalable docking architecture for portable computers. Customer requirements for portable computers are grouped into logical functional groupings, which are further grouped into logical bandwidth levels. On the notebook side, all required signals for a specific logical functional grouping are combined into a single carrier with the necessary bandwidth for the signals within the logical bandwidth level. This combined signal is then passed through a docking connector. The individual signals are regenerated on the docking solution side of the connector.
A principle advantage of the embodiments is that, by enabling multiple bandwidths, products targeted at more cost-sensitive markets need not be compromised with the cost associated with unnecessary functionality, while products targeted at high-end markets not limited to the xe2x80x9cmainstreamxe2x80x9d balance of features and cost. Moreover, new products can add additional features while maintaining forward and backward compatibility between notebook and docking solutions.