US-12628307-B2 - Pluggable LED bezel system

Abstract

A pluggable Light Emitting Device (LED) bezel device includes a bezel device chassis that defines a plurality of port apertures and that is configured to connect to a computing device such that each of the plurality of port apertures is located immediately adjacent a respective port included on the computing device. A plurality of LEDs are included on the bezel device chassis. At least one bezel device connector extends from the bezel device chassis and is configured to couple to an LED control system in the computing device when the bezel device chassis is connected to the computing device, and transmit LED control information received from the LED control system to cause at least one of the plurality of LEDs to illuminate.

Inventors

• PADMANABHAN NARAYANAN
• Shree Rathinasamy
• Senthil Kumar Ganesan

Assignees

• DELL PRODUCTS L.P.

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20240509

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A pluggable Light Emitting Device (LED) bezel device, comprising: a bezel device chassis that defines a plurality of port apertures and that is configured to connect to a computing device such that each of the plurality of port apertures is located immediately adjacent a respective port included on the computing device; a plurality of Light Emitting Devices (LEDs) that are included on the bezel device chassis; and at least one bezel device connector that extends from the bezel device chassis and that is configured to: couple to an LED control system in the computing device when the bezel device chassis is connected to the computing device; and transmit LED control information received from the LED control system to cause at least one of the plurality of LEDs to illuminate.
2. 2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of LEDs include at least one port LED located on the bezel device chassis in association with each of the plurality of port apertures in order to indicate information about the respective port located immediately adjacent that port aperture when the bezel device chassis is connected to the computing device and that at least one port LED is illuminated.
3. 3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of port apertures includes a plurality of the ports LEDs positioned about a perimeter of that port aperture.
4. 4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the LED control information received from the LED control system is configured to cause at least one of the plurality of LEDs to illuminate to provide beacon/locator functionality.
5. 5 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising: a bezel device guide subsystem that extends from the bezel device chassis and that is configured to engage a computing device guide system on the computing device to guide the at least one bezel device connector into engagement with a respective computing device connector on the computing device in order to couple the at least one bezel device connector to the LED control system when the bezel device chassis is connected to the computing device.
6. 6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one bezel device connector is included on the bezel device guide subsystem.
7. 7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the bezel device chassis defines a plurality of bezel device chassis airflow apertures that are configured to be located immediately adjacent corresponding computing device airflow apertures defined by the computing device when the bezel device chassis is connected to the computing device.
8. 8 . An Information Handling System (IHS), comprising: an Information Handling System (IHS) chassis; a communication system in the IHS chassis that includes a plurality of ports that are accessible on a surface of the IHS chassis; a processing system in the IHS chassis that is coupled to the communication system; a memory system in the IHS chassis that is coupled to the processing system and that includes instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to provide a Light Emitting Device (LED) control engine; a bezel device chassis that is connected to the IHS chassis and that defines a plurality of port apertures that are each located immediately adjacent a respective one of the plurality of ports, wherein the bezel device chassis is configured to be disconnected from the IHS chassis; a plurality of LEDs that are included on the bezel device chassis; and at least one bezel device connector that extends from the bezel device chassis, that is coupled to the processing system, and that is configured to transmit LED control information received from the LED control engine to cause at least one of the plurality of LEDs to illuminate, wherein the at least one bezel device connector is configured to be decoupled from the processing system when the bezel device chassis is disconnected from the IHS chassis.
9. 9 . The IHS of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of LEDs include at least one port LED located on the bezel device chassis in association with each of the plurality of port apertures in order to indicate information about the respective port located immediately adjacent that port aperture when that at least one port LED is illuminated.
10. 10 . The IHS of claim 8 , wherein the LED control information received from the LED control engine is configured to cause at least one of the plurality of LEDs to illuminate to provide beacon/locator functionality.
11. 11 . The IHS of claim 8 , further comprising: an IHS guide subsystem that is included on the IHS chassis; and a bezel device guide subsystem that extends from the bezel device chassis and that engages the IHS guide subsystem, wherein the engagement of the bezel device guide subsystem and the IHS guide subsystem is configured to guide the at least one bezel device connector into engagement with a respective IHS connector on the IHS chassis in order to couple the at least one bezel device connector to the processing system when the bezel device chassis is connected to the IHS chassis.
12. 12 . The IHS of claim 11 , wherein the at least one bezel device connector is included on the bezel device guide subsystem.
13. 13 . The IHS of claim 8 , wherein the bezel device chassis defines a plurality of bezel device chassis airflow apertures that are located immediately adjacent corresponding IHS chassis airflow apertures defined by the IHS chassis when the bezel device chassis is connected to the IHS chassis.
14. 14 . A method for providing device information using a pluggable Light Emitting Device (LED) bezel device, comprising: connecting, by a bezel device chassis that defines a plurality of port apertures, to a computing device such that each of the plurality of port apertures is located immediately adjacent a respective port included on the computing device; coupling, by at least one bezel device connector that extends from the bezel device chassis in response to the bezel device chassis being connected to the computing device, to an LED control system in the computing device; transmitting, by the at least one bezel device connector, LED control information received from the LED control system; and illuminating, by at least one of a plurality of Light Emitting Devices (LEDs) that are included on the bezel device chassis, based on the LED control information transmitted by the at least one bezel device connector.
15. 15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of LEDs include at least one port LED located on the bezel device chassis in association with each of the plurality of port apertures in order to indicate information about the respective port located immediately adjacent that port aperture when that at least one port LED is illuminated.
16. 16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein each of the plurality of port apertures includes a plurality of the ports LEDs positioned about a perimeter of that port aperture.
17. 17 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the LED control information received from the LED control system is configured to cause at least one of the plurality of LEDs to illuminate to provide beacon/locator functionality.
18. 18 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising: engaging, by a bezel device guide subsystem that extends from the bezel device chassis, a computing device guide system on the computing device to guide the at least one bezel device connector into engagement with a respective computing device connector on the computing device in order to couple the at least one bezel device connector to the LED control system in response to the bezel device chassis being connected to the computing device.
19. 19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the at least one bezel device connector is included on the bezel device guide subsystem.
20. 20 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the bezel device chassis defines a plurality of bezel device chassis airflow apertures that are located immediately adjacent corresponding computing device airflow apertures defined by the computing device in response to the bezel device chassis being connected to the computing device.

Description

BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to a pluggable Light Emitting Device (LED) bezel for information handling systems. 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. Many Information handling systems such as, for example, conventional networking devices, include Light Emitting Device (LED) systems for use in displaying information associated with networking ports and/or other networking subsystems included on the networking device. For example, conventional networking devices often include a front panel or other outer surface having “system” LEDs (e.g., a power supply LED, a “master” LED, a fan LED, a “system” LED, a stack identifier LEDs, and/or other system LEDs known in the art) that are configured to display “system” information about the networking device using Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) registers, Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD) registers, and/or other processing subsystems in the switch device. Furthermore, the front panel or other outer surface on conventional networking devices will also include “switchport” LEDs that are configured to display “port” information (e.g., port link “up”/“down” information, port speed information, port activity information, etc.) about the ports on the networking device that may be received from, for example, a Network Processing Unit (NPU) Media Access Controller (MAC)/Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) via a CPLD that decodes and latches that port information for use in driving the switchport LEDs. The use of such conventional LED systems on networking devices raises a number of issues. For example, the amount of time and effort dedicated to designing the LED system in the networking device (e.g., from both a hardware/CPLD perspective as well as a software/microcontroller code development and testing perspective) can be relatively significant, while the LEDs included on the networking devices discussed above are typically utilized during initial cabling of the networking device and following any subsequent port outage and/or cable maintenance, which when compared to the “up” time of the networking device is relatively insignificant. Furthermore, the LED configuration on the front panel or other outer surface of the networking device is finalized during initial product design such that it cannot be changed, thus constraining modifications to networking device design following that initial product design. Further still, as networking devices are enabled with higher and higher speeds (e.g., currently available 400G port speeds, upcoming 800G port speeds, etc.), their ports will be capable of increasing “breakout” port densities (e.g., with a single 400G port capable of supporting 8 breakout connections, future 800G ports capable of supporting 16 breakout connections, etc.), but conventional LED systems only support 4 LEDs per port and thus are limited to displaying information associated with 4 breakout connections. Finally, LED systems compete for the available space on the front panel of (and within) the networking device, and thus can prevent heat dissipation features and/or other networking device features from being provided on the networking device, which can provide a constraint on the amount of power that may be consumed by the networking device in situations in which heat dissipation is limited. One of the inventors of the present disclosure has developed systems and methods to address the issues discussed above. U.S. Pat. No. 11,818,233 issued Nov. 14, 2023, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, describes a portable LED receiver developed by one of the invent