Consumers appreciate ease of use and reliability in their devices. They also appreciate aesthetically pleasing designs. Businesses may, therefore, endeavor to create and provide devices directed toward one or more of these objectives.
The following detailed description references the drawings, wherein:
Interconnect assemblies may include various mechanical components or elements, such as prongs, plugs, pins, or clips, which matingly engage a corresponding socket, aperture, opening or receptacle during connection. Examples of such interconnect assemblies include various cable assemblies (e.g., Universal Serial Bus, Video Graphics Array, High Definition Multimedia Interface, IEEE 1394, etc.) for use with devices, such as computers, tablets, mobile phones, televisions, and personal digital assistants.
The mechanical parts of these interconnect assemblies can be subject to damage and/or fatigue which can compromise the integrity of a connection. Additionally, dirt, debris, moisture, and other contaminants may collect on or enter such interconnect assemblies and their corresponding sockets, apertures, openings or receptacles which can render them, and/or any devices to which they are connected, inoperable. Furthermore, such interconnect assemblies and their corresponding sockets, apertures, openings and receptacles may detract from the aesthetics of a device for at least some consumers.
In some instances, it may be desirable to connect a device with other devices that do not necessarily utilize the same communications protocol. Allowing an end user of a device to easily accomplish this task would add to the versatility of such a device. In still other instances, it may be desirable to restrict which other devices a device may connect to by limiting the types of protocols this device may utilize to transceive data with other devices.
An example of an interconnect assembly 10 that is directed to addressing these objectives is illustrated in
As used herein, the term “dongle” is defined as including, but is not necessarily limited to, an apparatus that provides additional or enhanced functionality (e.g., additional memory, wireless connectivity, etc.) or an apparatus that facilitates the interface or connection between two different types of adapters, protocols, or power sources. Examples of dongles include, but are not limited to, flash memories, secure keys, and connection adapters.
As used herein, the term “transceive” is defined as including both transmission and reception of data in the form of one or more signals. As used herein, the terms “wireless” and “wirelessly” are defined as including, but are not necessarily limited to, a connection or coupling that does not require mechanical components or elements such as prongs, plugs, pins, or clips that matingly engage a corresponding socket, aperture, opening or receptacle. Wireless connections and couplings may operate in any of a variety of different frequency ranges and wavelengths. They may also be established electrically, magnetically, or optically.
As used herein, the term “communications protocol” is defined as including, but is not necessarily limited to, a format, syntax, and signaling arrangement utilized to transceive data to and from devices. Examples of various communications protocols include, but are not limited to, hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), file transfer protocol (FTP), universal serial bus (USB) packet identifier (PID) bytes, IEEE 802.11, high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), etc.
As used herein, the term “user interface” is defined as including, but not necessarily limited to, any graphical, textual and/or auditory medium that permits communications protocols to be viewed, sorted, searched and/or selected via use of one or more input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, or microphone. As used herein, the term “device” is defined as including, but is not necessarily limited to, a computer, tablet, mobile phone, television, personal digital assistant, monitor, display, audio component, peripheral, dock, sleeve, docking station, or appliance.
As used herein, the terms “near field communication” and “NFC” are defined as including, but are not necessarily limited to, a technology for devices to establish communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into close proximity (e.g., a distance of approximately four (4) centimeters (cm) or less). This communication can be encrypted or unencrypted. This communication may also be established over radio frequencies (e.g., 13.56 megahertz (MHz) on an ISO/IEC 18000-3 air interface) and at varying data rates (e.g., 106 Kbits/sec. to 424 Kbits/sec.). Near field communication devices can engage in two-way communication with one another, as well as one-way communication with near field communication data tags. Portions of near field communication technology have been approved as standards (e.g., ISO/IEC 18092/ECMA-340 and ISO/IEC 21481/ECMA-352).
As used herein, the terms “near field communication data tag” and “NFC data tag” are defined as including, but are not necessarily limited to, a near field communication device that contains or stores one or more scripts and/or data. These scripts and/or data may be read-only or rewriteable. As used herein, the terms ‘near field communication reader” and “NFC reader” are defined as including, but are not necessarily limited to, a device that reads or decodes information on an NFC data tag.
Referring again to
An example of a group of different communications protocol formats 22 for use by interface selector 20 of interconnect assembly 10 is shown in
An example of a security module 30 for use by interconnect assembly 10 is shown in
Connector 16 may also be wireless to wirelessly transceive data to and from second device 18. In some examples, wireless connectors 12 and 16 of interconnect assembly 10 may operate in the extremely high frequency (EHF) range. In other examples, wireless connectors 12 and 16 of interconnect assembly 10 may operate substantially at sixty (60) gigahertz (GHz). In still other examples, wireless connectors 12 and 16 of interconnect assembly 10 may operate substantially in an infrared frequency range. This use of such wireless technology for connectors 12 and 16 helps to eliminate the issues, described above, associated with interconnect assemblies that utilize mechanical components.
An example of a keying mechanism 36 of interface selector 20 of interconnect assembly 10 is shown in
An example of an implementation of keying mechanism 36 is shown in
An example of an implementation of interface selector 20 of interconnect assembly 10 is shown in
Another example of an implementation of interface selector 20 of interconnect assembly 10 is shown in
An additional example of an implementation of interface selector 20 of interconnect assembly 10 is shown in
A further example of an implementation of interface selector 20 of interconnect assembly 10 is shown in
A still further example of an implementation of interface selector 20 of interconnect assembly 10 is shown in
An example of the use of a cable 78 with interconnect assembly 10 is shown in
An example of the use of a second cable 84 with interconnect assembly 10 is shown in
Use of second cable 84 and second connector 90 allows interconnect assembly 10 to be used with a third device 92. This provides a range of possibilities for end-users such as, for example, simultaneous use of first device 14 with both second device 18 and third device 92. In such cases, multiplexing technology may be required to allow first device 14 to transceive data to and from respective second and third devices 18 and 92. If present, such multiplexing technology could be included in wireless connector 12 and/or first device 14.
Although several examples have been described and illustrated in detail, it is to be clearly understood that the same are intended by way of illustration and example only. These examples are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form or to the exemplary embodiments disclosed. Modifications and variations may well be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.
Additionally, reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean one and only one, unless explicitly so stated, but rather means one or more. Moreover, no element or component is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element or component is explicitly recited in the following claims.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2013/032882 | 3/19/2013 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2014/149033 | 9/25/2014 | WO | A |
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20150380876 A1 | Dec 2015 | US |