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In one or more embodiments, an intelligent communications device is disclosed. In one embodiment, an apparatus is disclosed for controlling the operations of temperature-sensitive electronic devices in an enclosure, based on a requisite temperature range. The apparatus includes a main circuit board

In one or more embodiments, an intelligent communications device is disclosed. In one embodiment, an apparatus is disclosed for controlling the operations of temperature-sensitive electronic devices in an enclosure, based on a requisite temperature range. The apparatus includes a main circuit board with a plurality of secondary circuit board connectors that are operative to connect secondary circuit boards to the main circuit board. The apparatus also includes one or more temperature sensors that are operative to sense temperature within the enclosure, and one or more selectively actuatable heating elements that are mounted to the main circuit board in proximity to the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors. Each heating element is operative to emit heat when actuated. The apparatus further includes a programmable processor that is programmed to cause the temperature sensors to sense the temperature within the enclosure and, if the sensed temperature is above or below the requisite temperature range, selectively actuate or shut down at least one of the heating elements.

대표청구항 ▼

1. An apparatus for controlling the operations of temperature-sensitive electronic devices in an enclosure based on a requisite temperature range, the apparatus comprising: a main circuit board having plurality of secondary circuit board connectors operative to connect secondary circuit boards to th

1. An apparatus for controlling the operations of temperature-sensitive electronic devices in an enclosure based on a requisite temperature range, the apparatus comprising: a main circuit board having plurality of secondary circuit board connectors operative to connect secondary circuit boards to the main circuit board;one or more temperature sensors operative to sense temperature within the enclosure;one or more selectively actuatable heating elements mounted to the main circuit board in proximity to the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors, each heating element operative to emit heat when actuated; anda programmable processor, wherein the one or more temperature sensors and the one or more heating elements are operatively connected to the processor, and wherein the processor is programmed to,cause the one or more temperature sensors to sense the temperature within the enclosure and,if the sensed temperature within the enclosure is below the requisite temperature range, actuate at least one of the heating. elements, and set an incremental counter operative to count each iteration of sensing the temperature, and actuate at least one more of the heating elements, up to a predetermined count limit and,if the sensed temperature within the enclosure is below the requisite temperature range when the incremental counter reaches the count limit, selectively disable corresponding connected secondary circuit boards; andif the sensed temperature is above the requisite temperature range, selectively disable at least one of the heating elements. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the programmable processor is further programmed to, after the at least one of the heating elements is actuated, sense the temperature within the enclosure again and, if the sensed temperature is within the requisite temperature range, keep the at least one of the actuated heating elements actuated to emit heat. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the programmable processor: is further programmed to, after the at least one of the heating elements is disabled, sense the temperature within the enclosure again and, if the sensed temperature is within the requisite temperature range, keep the disabled at least one of the heating elements disabled. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each one of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors has at least one corresponding temperature sensor and at least one corresponding heating element disposed in proximity thereto. 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to, if the temperature sensed at a particular one of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors is below the requisite temperature range actuate at least one heating element proximate to that secondary circuit board, andif the temperature sensed at a particular one of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors is above the requisite temperature range, selectively shut down at least one heating element proximate to that secondary circuit board. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors has a requisite temperature range that corresponds to a predetermined safe operating temperature range of a secondary circuit board operatively coupled to that particular connector, and wherein the requisite temperature range for the particular connector is modifiable by the programmable processor. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the requisite temperature range corresponds to a safe operating temperature range of at least one circuit board operatively coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors. 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each one of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors has a corresponding requisite temperature range that is dynamically modifiable by the programmable processor according to a predetermined safe operating temperature corresponding to the type and function of the particular secondary circuit board operatively connected to the connector. 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of secondary circuit hoard connectors are configured to operatively couple secondary circuit boards thereto such that the secondary circuit boards are disposed in a substantially parallel arrangement along the main circuit board. 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors comprises a secondary circuit board connection slot operative to receivably mount and operatively couple a secondary circuit board to the main circuit board. 11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more temperature sensors comprises a PN junction diode. 12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one heating element comprises a low-ohmage surface mount resistor. 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the requisite temperature range has a predetermined hysteresis amount corresponding to at least one of the upper and lower boundaries of the requisite temperature range, wherein the processor is further programmed to selectively actuate or disable at least one of the heating elements when the sensed temperature surpasses the predetermined hysteresis amount. 14. An apparatus for controlling the operations of temperature-sensitive electronic devices in an enclosure based on a requisite temperature range, the apparatus comprising: a main circuit board having plurality of secondary circuit board connectors operative to connect secondary circuit boards to the main circuit hoard;one or more temperature sensors operative to sense temperature within the enclosure;one or more selectively actuatable heating elements mounted to the main circuit board in proximity to the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors, each heating element operative to emit heat when actuated; anda programmable processor, wherein the one or more temperature sensors and the one or more heating elements are operatively connected to the processor, and wherein the processor is programmed to,cause the one or more temperature sensors to sense the temperature within the enclosure and,if the sensed temperature within the enclosure is above the requisite temperature range, disable at least one of the heating elements, and set an incremental counter operative to count each iteration of sensing the temperature, and disable at least one more of the heating elements, up to a predetermined count limit and,if the sensed temperature within the enclosure is above the requisite temperature range when the incremental counter reaches the count limit, selectively disable the plurality of corresponding connected secondary circuit boards; andif the sensed temperature within the enclosure is below the requisite temperature range, selectively actuate at least one of the heating elements. 15. A method of maintaining a safe operating temperature range of temperature sensitive electronic devices in an enclosure based on temperature within the enclosure, the method comprising: operatively connecting a main circuit board having plurality of secondary circuit board connectors operative to connect secondary circuit boards, to the main circuit board;configuring one or more temperature sensors to be operative to sense temperature within the enclosure;operatively connecting one or more selectively actuatable heating elements to the main circuit board in proximity to the of secondary circuit board connectors, and configuring each heating element to be operative to emit heat when actuated; andoperatively connecting the one or more temperature sensors and the one or more heating elements to a programmable processor, and programming the programmable processor to,cause the one or more temperature sensors to sense the temperature within the enclosure and,if the sensed temperature within the enclosure is below the requisite temperature range, actuate at least one of the heating elements, and set an incremental counter operative to count each iteration of sensing the temperature, and actuate at least one more of the heating elements, up to a predetermined count limit and,if the sensed temperature within the enclosure is below the requisite temperature range when the incremental counter reaches the count limit, selectively disable corresponding connected secondary circuit boards; andif the sensed temperature is above the requisite temperature range, selectively disable at least one of the heating elements. 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising programming the programmable processor to, after the at least one of the heating elements is actuated, sense the temperature within the enclosure again and, if the sensed temperature is within the requisite temperature range, keep the at least one of the actuated heating elements actuated to emit heat. 17. The method of claim 15, further comprising programming the programmable processor to, after the at least one of the heating elements is disabled, sense the temperature within the enclosure again and, if the sensed temperature is within the requisite temperature range, keep the disabled at least one of the heating elements disabled. 18. The method of claim 15, further comprising disposing at least one temperature sensor and at least one heating element in proximity to each one of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors. 19. The method of claim 15, further comprising programming the programmable processor to, if the temperature sensed at a particular one of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors is below the requisite temperature range actuate at least one heating element proximate to that secondary circuit board, and if the temperature sensed at a particular one of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors is above the requisite temperature range, selectively shut down at least one heating element proximate to that secondary circuit board. 20. The method of claim 15, wherein each of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors has a requisite temperature range that corresponds to a predetermined safe operating temperature range of a secondary circuit board operatively coupled to that particular connector, and wherein the requisite temperature range for the particular connector is modifiable by the programmable processor. 21. The method of claim 20,wherein the requisite temperature range corresponds to a safe operating temperature range of at least one circuit board operatively coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors, 22. The method of claim 15, wherein each one of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors has a corresponding requisite temperature range that is dynamically modifiable by the programmable processor according to a predetermined safe operating temperature corresponding to the type and function of the particular secondary circuit board operatively connected to the connector. 23. The method of claim 15, further comprising operatively coupling the plurality of secondary circuit boards to corresponding secondary circuit board connectors and disposing the secondary circuit boards in a substantially parallel arrangement along the main circuit board. 24. The method of claim 15, configuring a secondary connection slot corresponding to at least one of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors to be operative to receivably mount and operatively couple a corresponding at eas one of the plurality of secondary circuit boards. 25. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more temperature sensors comprises a PN junction diode. 26. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one heating element comprises a low-ohmage surface mount resistor. 27. The method of claim 15, further comprising programming the programmable able processor to selectively actuate or disable at least one of the heating elements when the sensed temperature surpasses the predetermined hysteresis amount. 28. A method of maintaining a safe operating temperature range of temperature sensitive electronic devices in an enclosure based on temperature within the enclosure, the method comprising: operatively connecting a main circuit board having plurality of secondary circuit board connectors operative to connect secondary circuit boards, to the main circuit board;configuring one or more temperature sensors to be operative to sense temperature within the enclosure;operatively connecting one or more selectively actuatable heat elements to the main circuit board in proximity to the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors, and configuring each heating element to be operative to emit heat when actuated; andoperatively connecting the one or more temperature sensors and the one or more heating elements to a programmable processor, and programming the programmable processor to,cause the one or more temperature sensors to sense the temperature within the enclosure and,if the sensed temperature within the enclosure is above the requisite temperature range, disable at least one of the heating elements and set an incremental counter operative to count each iteration of sensing the temperature, and disable at least one more of the heating elements, up to a predetermined count limit and,if the sensed temperature within the enclosure is above the requisite temperature range when the incremental counter reaches the count limit, selectively disable the plurality of corresponding connected secondary circuit boards; andif the sensed temperature within the enclosure is below the requisite temperature range, selectively actuate at least one of the heating elements. 29. An apparatus for controlling the operations of temperature-sensitive electronic devices in a utility-grade enclosure based on a requisite temperature range, the apparatus comprising: a main circuit board having plurality of secondary circuit board connectors configured to operatively connect secondary circuit boards to the main circuit board;a plurality of temperature sensors operative to sense temperature within the enclosure;a plurality of selectively actuatable resistive heating elements operative to emit heat when actuated and mounted to the main circuit board in proximity to corresponding secondary circuit board connectors; anda programmable processor, wherein the plurality of temperature sensors and the plurality of heating elements are operatively coupled to the processor and the processor is programmed to,if the temperature sensed from the plurality of temperature sensors is not within a safe operating temperature range corresponding to one or more secondary circuit boards operatively coupled to corresponding secondary circuit board connectors, actuate or shut down at least one of the heating elements, set an incremental counter operative to count each iteration of sensing the temperature, and selectively actuate or shut down at least one more heating element, up to a predetermined count limit, andif the temperature sensed from the plurality of temperature sensors is not within the safe operating temperature range corresponding to one or more secondary circuit boards operatively coupled to corresponding secondary circuit board connectors when the incremental counter reaches the count limit, selectively disable one or more secondary circuit boards. 30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein each one of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors has one or more corresponding temperature sensors disposed in proximity thereto. 31. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein each of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors has a requisite temperature range that corresponds to a predetermined safe operating temperature range of a secondary circuit board operatively coupled to that particular connector, and wherein the requisite temperature range for the particular connector is modifiable by the programmable processor according to the type and function of the particular secondary circuit board. 32. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the requisite temperature range corresponds to a safe operating temperature range of at least one circuit board operatively coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors. 33. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein each one of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors has a corresponding requisite temperature range that is dynamically modifiable by the programmable processor according to a predetermined safe operating temperature corresponding to the type and function of a secondary circuit board operatively coupled to the connector. 34. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors are configured to operatively couple secondary circuit boards thereto such that the secondary circuit boards are disposed in a substantially parallel arrangement along the main circuit board. 35. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein at least one of the plurality of temperature sensors comprises a PN junction diode. 36. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein at least one of the plurality of secondary circuit board connectors comprises a secondary circuit board connector slot operative to receivably mount and operatively couple a secondary circuit board to the main circuit board. 37. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein at least one of the plurality of heating elements comprises a low-power surface mount resistor. 38. The rates of claim 29, wherein the requisite temperature range has a predetermined hysteresis amount corresponding to at least one of the upper and lower boundaries of the requisite temperature range, wherein the processor is further programmed to selectively actuate or shut down at least one of the heating elements when the sensed temperature surpasses the predetermined hysteresis amount.