CN111367847A - Expandable electronic computing system - Google Patents

Abstract

An extensible electronic computing system connectable to an external host, comprising: at least one graphic processing unit for generating a PCI-E signal; a conversion unit for receiving the PCI-E signal and converting the PCI-E signal into a USB signal; a main control unit for driving the conversion unit to act; a USB interface device for receiving the USB signal transmitted by the conversion unit and transmitting the USB signal to a USB connector of the external host through a USB transmission line, so that the USB signal can be transmitted to a central processing unit of the external host through the USB connector for processing, thereby improving the computing capability of the external host for executing a graphic processing task or a general computing task.

Description

Expandable electronic computing system

technical field

The present invention relates to an electronic computing system, in particular to an electronic computing system with expandability which can improve the computing capability of an external host with a USB connection port.

Background technique

With the advancement of data transmission technology, high-speed data transmission protocols have also been proposed one after another. The Thunderbolt (Thunderbolt) transmission interface is compatible with the USB Type C connector and can reach a transmission speed of 40Gpbs. Therefore, the current computing device with a Thunderbolt interface , to be compatible with the Thunderbolt transmission protocol to communicate with an external device that also has a Thunderbolt port, for example, if the external device is a Thunderbolt graphics card external box, and the user completes the Thunderbolt driver and firmware on the computing device. After the body is installed, the computing device can successfully identify the external device and determine that it is an external graphics card (External GPU), thereby improving the graphics computing capability of the computing device.

However, most of the current computing devices with Thunderbolt ports are high-end personal computers or notebook computers. In other words, users must spend higher hardware costs to replace higher-end models in order to improve their computing through the Thunderbolt interface. The computing power of the device, and once the computing device purchased by the user fails, it is necessary to purchase a new computing device.

In addition, most of the current low-end computing devices (such as personal computers or notebook computers) do not have a Thunderbolt connection port, and their performance cannot be improved through the Thunderbolt transmission interface. In m-PCIE interface), and plug in external devices (such as graphics card external box) adapted to the m-PCIE transmission interface to improve its graphics computing capability, but in this case, users will need to use additional methods to expand Ethernet (Ethernet).

Therefore, for low-end computing devices without Thunderbolt ports, how to propose an electronic computing system with low hardware construction cost and effectively improving the computing capability of the computing device remains a problem to be solved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above-mentioned problems in the background technology, the inventors have conducted research on the related technologies of the Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface and the Peripheral Interconnect Express (PCI-E) standard based on the experience in research in related fields for many years; The purpose of the invention is to provide an expandable electronic computing system which can improve the computing capability of an external host having a USB connection port.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an electronic computing system with expandability for connecting to an external host. Perform operations to generate a PCI-E signal; a conversion unit for receiving the PCI-E signal and converting it into a USB signal; a main control unit for driving the conversion unit to operate; a USB interface device for receiving the conversion unit The transmitted USB signal is transmitted to a USB connection port of the external host through a USB transmission line; and after the present invention is implemented, the USB connection port can transmit the USB signal to a central processing unit of the external host, so as to The graphics computing capability of performing a graphics processing task is improved or the general computing capability of performing a general computing task is improved.

Wherein, there are more than two graphics processing units, which are respectively electrically connected to the conversion unit, so as to transmit the PCI-E signal to the conversion unit respectively.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a USB hub can be arranged between a plurality of electronic computing systems and external devices, wherein the USB hub is provided with a connection port, which can be connected to a USB connection port of an external host, and the USB hub is provided with a connection port. The device can also be provided with other connection ports for connecting to the USB interface devices of each electronic computing system respectively.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the electronic computing system further includes a USB hub, one connection port of the USB hub is connected to the USB interface device, and the other two connection ports of the USB hub are respectively connected with the conversion unit and the main control unit. The USB hub is also provided with a plurality of expansion connection ports for connecting with a plurality of USB peripheral devices respectively.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a USB hub can be arranged between a plurality of electronic computing systems and external devices, wherein the USB hub is provided with a connection port, which can be connected to a USB connection port of an external host, and the USB hub is provided with a connection port. The device can also be provided with other connection ports for connecting to the USB interface devices of each electronic computing system respectively; and the electronic computing system can also include a USB hub, one of which is connected to the USB interface device, the USB hub The other two connection ports are respectively connected with the conversion unit and the main control unit, and the USB hub is also provided with a plurality of expansion connection ports for connecting with a plurality of USB peripheral devices respectively.

Wherein, each of the USB peripheral devices is one of an image sensing device, a communication device and a HID device or a combination thereof.

Wherein, the main control unit is electrically connected to the image sensing device for receiving an image signal from the image sensing device to be transmitted to the graphics processing unit through the main control unit, and then in The graphics processing unit performs the graphics processing tasks.

The graphics processing unit is disposed in a PCI-E interface slot, and the PCI-E interface slot is adapted to a PCI-Ex1 interface, a PCI-E x2 interface, a PCI-E x4 interface, a PCI-E interface One of x8 interface and PCI-E x16 interface.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a system architecture diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a signal flow of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a system architecture diagram of another embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a system architecture diagram of another embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a signal flow according to another embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a system architecture diagram of another embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Description of reference numerals

10 Electronic computing system

101 Graphics Processing Unit

1011 graphics memory

102 Conversion unit

103 Main control unit

104 USB interface device

10’ Electronic Computing System

10’’ electronic computing system

20 External host

201 USB port

202 Central Processing Unit

30 USB hub

301 Main control unit

302 USB peripherals

303 Conversion unit

40 USB hubs

L USB cable.

Detailed ways

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , which are a system architecture diagram and a schematic diagram of a signal flow of the present invention, respectively. The electronic computing system 10 with expandability is for connecting to an external host 20 , and the electronic computing system 10 includes: at least one graphics processing unit 101 , a conversion unit 102 , a main control unit 103 and a USB interface device 104 .

The graphics processing unit 101 can be more than one (for example, two), and each has a graphics memory 1011, and the graphics processing unit 101 is used for performing operations based on a request command transmitted by the external host 20 to generate a PCI-E (PCIExpress) signal, the graphics memory 1011 is configured to temporarily store data such as graphics commands, request commands and images, wherein the request command is to perform a graphics processing task or a general computing task.

The converting unit 102 is electrically connected to the graphics processing unit 101 for receiving the PCI-E signal transmitted by the graphics processing unit 101 and performing signal processing to convert it into a USB signal respectively.

The main control unit 103 is electrically connected to the conversion unit 102, and mainly transmits a control signal to the conversion unit 102 to drive the conversion unit 102 to act. The main control unit 103 can be a microprocessor or a microcontroller. Unit, MCU), a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or other similar devices.

The USB interface device 104 is electrically connected to the main control unit 103 and the conversion unit 102 respectively, for receiving the USB signal transmitted by the conversion unit 102 and transmitting the USB signal to a USB connection port of the external host 20 through a USB transmission line L 201, and the conversion unit 102 is also used to receive the request command (USB signal) transmitted by the external host 20 from the USB interface device 104, and perform signal conversion, so that the external host 20 requests to read the operation resource of the graphics processing unit 101. The instruction is transmitted to the graphics processing unit 101 for operation.

The USB connection port 201 of the external host 20 is used for transmitting USB signals to a central processing unit 202 of the external host 20 for processing, so as to continue a graphics processing task or a general computing task.

The graphics processing tasks to be performed by the external host 20 may be video processing or image acceleration tasks for 2D or 3D graphics rendering, especially, but not limited to, the requirements of 3D drawing or 3D game software.

The general computing task to be performed by the external host 20 can instruct the graphics processing unit 101 to run in the “GPGPU (General-Purpose Computing on GPU, general-purpose graphics processing unit, also known as graphics processor general-purpose computing)” mode. Therefore, the instructions and data required to perform general arithmetic processing (for example, executing single-instruction-multiple-data (SIMD) floating-point operation instructions) can be transferred from the central processing unit 202 of the external host 20 to the graphics processing unit 101, and the graphics The arithmetic result performed by the processing unit 101 is sent back to the central processing unit 202 .

Continuing from the above, if the external host 20 is used as a node of a blockchain network and is used to continuously perform a hashing operation, the external host 20 can make the graphics processing unit 101 run in the GPGPU mode, and can Improve its computing power in the blockchain network.

In addition, the above-mentioned external host 20 can be a personal computer (PC), a notebook computer (NB), a display device with a USB port, a point of sale (POS), a virtual reality head One or a combination of a wearable device (HMD) or a mixed reality head-mounted device, but not limited thereto.

In addition, the graphics processing unit 101 can be disposed in a PCI-E interface slot, and the PCI-E interface slot can be adapted to a PCI-Ex1 interface, a PCI-E x2 interface, a PCI-E x4 interface, a PCI-E x8 interface One of the interface and PCI-E x16 interface.

In addition, the USB interface device 104 can be adapted to the transmission specifications of universal serial bus standards such as USB 2.0, USB 3.0, or USB 3.1, but is not limited thereto; wherein, if the USB interface device 104 conforms to the transmission specifications of USB 3.0, Then the USB interface device 104 can have a power supply conductor pair (VBUS, GND), an SSTX signal conductor pair (SSTX+, SSTX-), a second USB signal conductor pair is an SSRX signal conductor pair (SSRX+, SSRX-), and A pair of D signal conductors (D+, D-).

Please refer to FIG. 3 , which is a system architecture diagram of another embodiment 1 of the present invention. The technology of this embodiment is similar to that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 . The main difference is that the electronic computing system 10 further includes a USB hub 30 . And the USB hub 30 may include a plurality of connection ports (USB connectors), one of the connection ports of the USB hub 30 may be connected to the USB interface device 104, and the other two connection ports of the USB hub 30 may be respectively It is connected with a main control unit 301 and a conversion unit 303, so the connection relationship between the main control unit 301 and the USB interface device 104 in this embodiment is different from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and the USB The hub 30 can also be provided with a plurality of expansion ports (not shown in the figure) for connecting a plurality of USB peripheral devices 302 respectively.

Wherein, each USB peripheral device 302 can be one of a communication device, an image sensing device, a HID device (Human Interface Device, human-machine interface device), etc. that supports a USB transmission interface, or a combination thereof.

The communication device can establish communication with an external device (not shown in the figure), and the communication method can be achieved through transmission protocols such as Ethernet, 3G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, and Bluetooth. , but not limited to this.

The image sensing device is electrically connected to the main control unit 301. After the image sensing device receives an image signal, it can be transmitted by the main control unit 301 to the graphics processing unit 101 for the graphics processing unit 101 to perform graphics processing. Task.

Please refer to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 , which are a system architecture diagram and a signal flow diagram of another embodiment 2 of the present invention, respectively. In the implementation architecture of this embodiment, a USB hub 40 can be installed in the external host 20 and multiple Between electronic computing systems 10 , 10 ′, 10 ″ . . . and the system architecture and technology of the electronic computing systems 10 ′, 10 ″ . Meanwhile, the USB hub 40 may include a plurality of connection ports (not shown in the figure), and one of the connection ports of the USB hub 40 can be connected to the USB connection port of the external host 20, and the USB hub 40 has one of the connection ports. In addition to being connected to the USB interface device 104 of the electronic computing system 10, the other connecting ports of the device 40 can also be respectively connected to the USB interface devices (not shown in the figure) of the electronic computing system 10', 10''... , accordingly, the USB interface devices of each electronic computing system 10, 10', 10'' . . . can respectively transmit the request command transmitted by the external host 20 to the conversion unit for processing, and complete the operation in the respective graphics processing unit. Afterwards, the USB signals are respectively transmitted to the external host 20 to improve the computing capability of the external host 20 to perform graphics processing tasks or general computing tasks.

Please refer to FIG. 6 , which is a system architecture diagram of another embodiment 3 of the present invention. This embodiment is similar in technology to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 , and the main difference is that the electronic computing system of the embodiment provided in FIG. 4 10 may also include a USB hub 30, and the USB hub 30 may include a plurality of connection ports (USB connectors), then one of the connection ports of the USB hub 30 can be connected to the USB interface device 104, and the USB hub 30 has The other two connection ports are connected to a main control unit 301 and a conversion unit 303 respectively, and the USB hub 30 can also be provided with a plurality of expansion connection ports (not shown in the figure) for connecting a plurality of USB peripheral device 302 ; in addition, the electronic computing systems 10 ′, 10 ″ may also include a USB hub 30 , which will not be repeated here.

To sum up, the electronic computing system proposed by the present invention allows an external host with a USB connection port to only need to connect a USB transmission line, and after completing the installation of the driver corresponding to the graphics processing unit, the external host can succeed. Identify the graphics processing unit of the electronic computing system, and read its computing resources, which can enhance the external host to perform graphics processing tasks or enhance its computing power to perform general computing tasks, especially to enhance the external host in virtual/expansion/mixed Reality, Hashing calculus (especially as a node in the block training network), training machine learning models and other application-level computing performance; In short, the present invention allows users to build with lower hardware Cost, effectively improve the computing power of external hosts, especially more suitable for the upgrade of old computers.

Moreover, since the existing external host (such as a notebook computer) has to make trade-offs in many designs in order to meet the requirements of thinness and lightness, the power of the built-in graphics card of the existing external host will be relatively low. Therefore, the existing external host only needs to connect an external The electronic computing system proposed by the present invention can effectively improve the computing capability of the external host without losing the convenience of movement.

In addition, the external host can be connected to a plurality of electronic computing systems by connecting a USB hub, so that the external host can obtain the computing resources of the graphics processing unit of each electronic computing system, and the electronic computing system of the present invention can also be provided with a The USB hub is used to support the connection requirements of multiple USB peripheral devices, thereby making the electronic computing system expandable.

Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, but not all, embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (9)

1. An expandable electronic computing system, characterized in that, for connecting an external host, and the external host has a USB connection port, the electronic computing system comprises: At least one graphics processing unit has a graphics memory, the graphics processing unit performs an operation based on a request command from the external host to generate a PCI-E signal, and the request command is to execute a graphics processing task or a general computing tasks; a conversion unit electrically connected with the graphics processing unit for receiving the PCI-E signal transmitted by the graphics processing unit and converting it into a USB signal; a main control unit electrically connected with the conversion unit for driving the conversion unit to act; A USB interface device is electrically connected to the main control unit and the conversion unit, respectively, for receiving the USB signal transmitted by the conversion unit, and transmitting the USB signal to the conversion unit through a USB transmission line. the USB port of the external host; and The USB connection port is used to transmit the USB signal to a central processing unit of the external host for processing, so as to improve the computing capability of the external host to perform the graphics processing task or the general computing task. 2 . The electronic computing system with expandability as claimed in claim 1 , wherein there are more than two graphics processing units, which are respectively electrically connected with the conversion unit to transmit the PCI- E signal to the conversion unit. 3. The expandable electronic computing system of claim 1, wherein a USB hub is disposed between the external host, the electronic computing system and another electronic computing system, wherein the The USB hub is provided with a connection port for connecting to the USB connection port of the external host, and the USB hub is also provided with other connection ports for connecting to the electronic computing system and the other The USB interface device of an electronic computing system. 4. The expandable electronic computing system according to claim 1, wherein the expandable electronic computing system further comprises a USB hub, and a connection port of the USB hub is connected to the USB hub. The interface device is connected, and the other two connection ports of the USB hub are respectively connected to the main control unit and the conversion unit. 5 . The expandable electronic computing system of claim 4 , wherein the USB hub is further provided with a plurality of expansion ports for connecting to a plurality of USB peripheral devices respectively. 6 . 6. The expandable electronic computing system according to claim 4 or 5, wherein a USB hub is arranged between the external host, the electronic computing system and another electronic computing system, wherein, The USB hub is provided with a connection port for connecting to the USB connection port of the external host, and the USB hub is also provided with other connection ports for connecting to the electronic computing system and another connection port respectively. the USB interface device of the electronic computing system. 7 . The expandable electronic computing system of claim 5 , wherein each of the USB peripheral devices is one of an image sensing device, a communication device and a HID device or a combination thereof. 8 . 8 . The expandable electronic computing system of claim 7 , wherein the main control unit is electrically connected to the image sensing device for receiving an image from the image sensing device. 9 . After the signal is transmitted to the graphics processing unit through the main control unit, the graphics processing unit executes the graphics processing task. 9. The electronic computing system of claim 1, wherein the graphics processing unit is disposed in a PCI-E interface slot, and the PCI-E interface slot is adapted to a PCI-E x1 interface, one of a PCI-E x2 interface, a PCI-Ex4 interface, a PCI-E x8 interface and a PCI-E x16 interface.

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