Abstract: A secure mechanism for remotely controlling the power-on state of a host computer: A microcontroller in the host computer is supplied with standby power even when system power to the host computer is turned off. The microcontroller senses the state of the host computer's RS-232 receive line so that commands may be sent to the microcontroller over an RS-232 connection to the host computer. An output of the microcontroller is logically ORed with the output of a power switch debounce circuit of the host computer. The output of the logical OR function is used to manipulate the power-on state of the host computer. The microcontroller may be programmed to respond to numerous commands.

Abstract: The present invention provides an apparatus comprising a stacked processor construction and a method for creating the stacked processor construction. The stacked processor construction comprises two or more printed circuit boards (PCBs), each of which has at least one processor mounted thereon, and each of which has a local PCB bus. Each processor is electrically coupled to its respective local PCB bus. The PCBs are stacked substantially parallel to each other in such a way that the processors are not placed into contact with each other. The local PCB buses are electrically coupled together to enable the processors to communicate with each other. A stacking device is connected to the PCBs. The stacking device separates the PCBs a predetermined distance apart from one another and maintains the PCBs in planes that are substantially parallel to one another. The predetermined distance is at least large enough to prevent the processors from being in contact with each other.