US-12620731-B2 - Cable carrier adapter for connectivity to circuit board and connector

US12620731B2US 12620731 B2US12620731 B2US 12620731B2US-12620731-B2

Abstract

A cable assembly may include a cable terminated with a cable termination configured to electrically couple the cable to a first circuit board and a cable carrier adapter comprising mechanical features configured to mechanically couple the cable and the cable termination in a fixed position relative to the cable carrier adapter and physical dimensions substantially similar to that of a second circuit board configured to electrically and mechanically couple to the first circuit board such that the cable carrier adapter is configured to mechanically engage with guiding features of a housing of the first circuit board for mechanically guiding the second circuit board relative to the first circuit board in order to guide the cable carrier adapter relative to the first circuit board to electrically couple the cable to the first circuit board via the cable termination.

Inventors

Eduardo Escamilla
Robert G. Bassman
Walter R. Carver
William A. Smith

Assignees

DELL PRODUCTS L.P.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20230831

Claims (15)

1 . A cable assembly comprising: a cable terminated with a cable termination configured to electrically couple the cable to a first circuit board; and a cable carrier adapter comprising: mechanical features configured to mechanically couple the cable and the cable termination in a fixed position relative to the cable carrier adapter; and physical dimensions substantially similar to that of a second circuit board configured to electrically and mechanically couple to the first circuit board such that the cable carrier adapter is configured to mechanically engage with guiding features of a housing of the first circuit board for mechanically guiding the second circuit board relative to the first circuit board in order to guide the cable carrier adapter relative to the first circuit board to electrically couple the cable to the first circuit board via the cable termination.
2 . The cable assembly of claim 1 , the physical dimensions such that the cable carrier adapter is configured to be mechanically retained relative to the first circuit board by a mechanical latch of the housing of the first circuit board configured to retain the second circuit board relative to the first circuit board.
3 . The cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first circuit board comprises an industry standard form factor card.
4 . The cable assembly of claim 3 , wherein the first circuit board comprises an Open Compute Platform network interface card.
5 . The cable assembly of claim 3 , wherein the second circuit board comprises a card compliant with the industry standard form factor card that provides alternative function to an intent of an industry standard associated with the industry standard form factor card.
6 . A cable carrier adapter comprising: mechanical features configured to mechanically couple a cable and a cable termination terminating the cable in a fixed position relative to the cable carrier adapter; and physical dimensions substantially similar to that of a second circuit board configured to electrically and mechanically couple to the first circuit board such that the cable carrier adapter is configured to mechanically engage with guiding features of a housing of the first circuit board for mechanically guiding the second circuit board relative to the first circuit board in order to guide the cable carrier adapter relative to the first circuit board to electrically couple the cable to the first circuit board via the cable termination.
7 . The cable carrier adapter of claim 6 , the physical dimensions such that the cable carrier adapter is configured to be mechanically retained relative to the first circuit board by a mechanical latch of the housing of the first circuit board configured to retain the second circuit board relative to the first circuit board.
8 . The cable carrier adapter of claim 6 , wherein the first circuit board comprises an industry standard form factor card.
9 . The cable carrier adapter of claim 8 , wherein the first circuit board comprises an Open Compute Platform network interface card.
10 . The cable carrier adapter of claim 8 , wherein the second circuit board comprises a card compliant with the industry standard form factor card that provides alternative function to an intent of an industry standard associated with the industry standard form factor card.
11 . A method comprising: forming mechanical features in a cable carrier adapter such that the mechanical features are configured to mechanically couple a cable and a cable termination terminating the cable in a fixed position relative to the cable carrier adapter; and forming physical dimensions of the cable carrier adapter substantially similar to that of a second circuit board configured to electrically and mechanically couple to the first circuit board such that the cable carrier adapter is configured to mechanically engage with guiding features of a housing of the first circuit board for mechanically guiding the second circuit board relative to the first circuit board in order to guide the cable carrier adapter relative to the first circuit board to electrically couple the cable to the first circuit board via the cable termination.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the physical dimensions are such that the cable carrier adapter is configured to be mechanically retained relative to the first circuit board by a mechanical latch of the housing of the first circuit board configured to retain the second circuit board relative to the first circuit board.
13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the first circuit board comprises an industry standard form factor card.
14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the first circuit board comprises an Open Compute Platform network interface card.
15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the second circuit board comprises a card compliant with the industry standard form factor card that provides alternative function to an intent of an industry standard associated with the industry standard form factor card.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates in general to information handling systems, and more particularly to a cable carrier adapter for adapting a cabled connection to a circuit board connector which is configured to receive a corresponding connector of a second circuit board. BACKGROUND 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 information handling systems. 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 information handling 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. Information handling systems may often use one or more industry-standard form factors and connector interface circuit cards. For example, a connector interface paddle board may include a slot configured to receive a corresponding circuit board that comprises electrical components and may assemble into the slot via rails and a latch. In some instances, it may be desirable to adapt the physical slot to enable a form factor-compliant physical board that requires a subset of features and/or a subset of the full connector width as compared to the industry standard circuit board connector interface. In such instances, it may be optimal (e.g., due to solution cost, excessive features and/or capabilities including signal integrity and/or bus width of signals passing through the connector) to use a simplified connector interface circuit card in place of full capabilities of the industry standard connector interface circuit board in order to couple the cable to a compliant industry standard interface. SUMMARY In accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure, the disadvantages and problems associated with coupling a cable to a connector configured to receive a circuit board may be substantially reduced or eliminated. In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a cable assembly may include a cable terminated with a cable termination configured to electrically couple the cable to a first circuit board, and a cable carrier adapter comprising mechanical features configured to mechanically couple the cable and the cable termination in a fixed position relative to the cable carrier adapter and physical dimensions substantially similar to that of a second circuit board configured to electrically and mechanically couple to the first circuit board such that the cable carrier adapter is configured to mechanically engage with guiding features of a housing of the first circuit board for mechanically guiding the second circuit board relative to the first circuit board in order to guide the cable carrier adapter relative to the first circuit board to electrically couple the cable to the first circuit board via the cable termination. In accordance with these and other embodiments of the present disclosure, a cable carrier adapter may include mechanical features configured to mechanically couple a cable and a cable termination terminating the cable in a fixed position relative to the cable carrier adapter, and physical dimensions substantially similar to that of a second circuit board configured to electrically and mechanically couple to the first circuit board such that the cable carrier adapter is configured to mechanically engage with guiding features of a housing of the first circuit board for mechanically guiding the second circuit board relative to the first circuit board in order to guide the cable carrier adapter relative to the first circuit board to electrically couple the cable to the first circuit board via the cable termination. In accordance with these and other embodiments of the present disclosure, a method may include forming mechanical features in a cable carrier adapter such that the mechanical features are configured to mechanically couple a cable and a cable termination terminating the cable in a fixed position relative to the cable carrier adapter, and forming physical dimensions of the c