Abstract:
The present disclosure provides an apparatus and a method for preventing an Intermediate Frequency (IF) connector from being corroded in a portable terminal. The apparatus may comprise an IF connector and a load switch that is mounted in a main board. The load switch is configured to communicate with the IF connector and to prevent a reverse voltage from being applied to the IF connector.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY 
       [0001]    The present application is related to and claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of a Korean patent application filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Aug. 18, 2011, and assigned Serial No. 10-2011-0082067, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
       TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present disclosure is directed, in general, to wireless communication devices and, more specifically, to an apparatus and method for preventing corrosion of an Intermediate Frequency (IF) connector in a portable terminal. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Portable terminals have become necessities for modern life as the electronic communication industry progresses, and they have become a major means of information transmission that change rapidly. A portable terminal may be inspected by applying a voltage with an Intermediate Frequency (IF) connector connected to a jig during the manufacturing process. Referring to  FIG. 1 , a portable terminal  5  having an IF connector  10  is illustrated. The IF connector  10  may comprise a ground pin (GND)  11 , a device identifying distinct signal pin (ID)  12 , a data transmitting pin (D+)  13 , a data receiving pin (D−)  14 , a recharging source pin (VBUS)  15 , together with a ground pin (GND)  16  for use in an inspection of RF calibration during manufacturing process of the portable terminal  5 , and an operating source pin (VBAT)  17 . The IF Connector  10  may be secured in a main board of the terminal  5  to communicate with the main board electrically. 
         [0004]    In general, the operating source pin (VBAT)  17  has some level of voltage continuously due to the battery, which may cause the IF connector  10  to become corroded on being flooded. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, it is an object to provide an apparatus for preventing an IF connector from being corroded in a portable terminal. 
         [0006]    Another purpose of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus for preventing a reverse voltage from being applied to an IF connector from a battery. 
         [0007]    In accordance with the present disclosure, an apparatus for preventing an IF connector from being corroded in a portable terminal is provided. The apparatus comprises the IF connector and a load switch mounted in a main board. The IF connector and the load switch may communicate with each other. The load switch is configured to prevent a reverse voltage from being applied to the IF connector. 
         [0008]    In accordance with the present disclosure, the load switch may comprise an input pin connected to the IF connector and an output pin connected to a battery source, and a voltage applied to the output pin may be prevented from being reverse-output to the input pin. 
         [0009]    In accordance with the present disclosure, the IF connector may comprise a source pin to which a source provided by an external source supplying device is applied through a jig. The input pin of the load switch is connected to the source pin of the IF connector, and the source applied to the load switch from the input pin is output to the output pin. 
         [0010]    Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION below, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document: the terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like; and the term “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like parts: 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  illustrates a conventional Intermediate Frequency (IF) connector of a portable terminal; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for preventing an IF connector from being corroded according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a circuit diagram illustrating an apparatus for preventing an IF connector from being corroded according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  illustrates the circuit diagram of  FIG. 3  according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]      FIGS. 2 through 4 , discussed below, and the various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged device or system. Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described herein below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the disclosure in unnecessary detail. 
         [0017]    The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for preventing an IF connector from being corroded in a portable terminal. As described in more detail below, no voltage is applied to the IF connector from a battery of the portable terminal. Voltage applied from the battery is defined as V_BAT, and voltage applied from the IF connector is defined as V_IFC in the following description. 
         [0018]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for preventing an IF connector from being corroded according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         [0019]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , an apparatus for preventing an IF connector from being corroded according to the present disclosure may comprise an IF connector  20 , a load switch  30  and a battery  50 . The IF connector  20  may be supplied with V_IFC from an external source supplying device (not shown in  FIG. 2 ), and the supplied V_IFC may be output to the load switch  30  through the V_IFC line. Furthermore, the load switch  30  may be supplied with V_BAT from the battery  50 , but the supplied V_BAT is not output to the IF connector  20  through a V_BAT line connecting the IF connector  20  and the load switch  30 . In other words, the load switch  30  may prevent a reverse voltage (or reverse current) from being applied to the IF connector  20  from the battery  50 . According to that structure, a voltage from the IF connector  20  to the V_BAT of the battery  50  is not applied, and hence corrosion of the IF connector  20  due to being flooded may be prevented. 
         [0020]      FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4  are circuit diagrams illustrating an apparatus for preventing an IF connector from being corroded according to embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         [0021]    An apparatus for preventing an IF connector being corroding may comprise an IF connector  20  and a load switch  30  for preventing a reverse voltage. The IF connector  20  may comprise a ground pin (GND), a device identifying distinct pin (ID), a data transmitting pin (D+), a data receiving pin (D−) and a recharging source pin (V_BUS), together with a ground pin (GND) for use in inspection of RF calibration, etc., during a manufacturing process, and an operating source pin (V_IFC). Those pins may be coupled to lines wired previously in a main board. For some embodiments, the load switch  30  may have a relatively small size and may comprise a MOSFET switch having low loss because it has low Resistance between Drain and Source (RDS) (on). For some embodiments, the value of RDS (on) of the load switch  30  may be about 130 to 135 mΩ. Furthermore, the load switch  30  may operate normally at a maximum current value above 2 A. 
         [0022]    The load switch  30  may comprise a pin  FLT  related to fault flag operation, a pin ON/  ON  related to enable input, a pin SET related to current limit set, a pin IN related to load switch power supply input, a pin OUT related to current limiting output and at least one pin GND related to grounding. 
         [0023]    In particular, ON/  ON  may be coupled to the V_IFC (pin number S 1 ) of the IF connector  20 , but a pull down resistor R 2  may be included in order to prevent ON/  ON  from being floated. SET may be coupled to ground and a resistor (not shown in  FIG. 3  or  FIG. 4 ) may be included between SET and ground for some embodiments. Furthermore, IN may be coupled to the V_IFC of the IF connector  20 , but may be bypassed using a capacitor C 1  between IN and ground. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the capacitance of the capacitor C 1  may be about 1 μF. 
         [0024]    Furthermore, if a pin (for example, ID) of the IF connector  20  exists to which the battery source (V_BAT) is applied, that pin may cause an error input related to ON/  ON  from that pin to the V_IFC pin on being flooded due to the application of the V_BAT. As shown in  FIG. 3 , another resistor R 1  for branching an enable input value (input signal) to the ON/  ON  pin may be added. As result, the enable input value may be divided as R 1 /(R 1 +R 2 ) to resolve the above-mentioned problem. For some embodiments, the resistance value of R 1  may be about 100 kΩ and that of R 2  may be about 200 kΩ. 
         [0025]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , if the IF connector  20  is coupled to a jig, V_IFC may be supplied to the IF connector  20  from an external source supplying device  40  through the jig, and the supplied V_IFC may be supplied from the IF connector  20  to the input pin IN of the load switch  30 . The load switch  30  may output V_IFC supplied from the IF connector  20  to the output pin OUT. V_IFC output from the output pin OUT may be output to a V_BAT line for operating a portable terminal. The embodiment shown in  FIG. 3  illustrates a configuration to operate the terminal by connecting the jig without using a battery when the terminal is inspected. 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , when the load switch  30  is coupled to the battery  50 , V_BAT of the battery  50  may be applied to the output pin OUT of the load switch  30  through the V_BAT line. For this embodiment, the load switch  30  does not reverse-output the V_BAT of the battery  50  being applied to the output pin OUT to the input pin IN, and corrosion of the IF connector  20  due to being flooded may be prevented since the V_BAT of the battery  50  is not applied to the V_IFC pin (pin number S 1 ) of the IF connector  20 . 
         [0027]    In conclusion, corrosion of the IF connector  20  due to being flooded may be prevented since a reverse voltage is not applied to the IF connector  20  according to the present disclosure. 
         [0028]    While the present disclosure has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.