Abstract:
A portable electronic device includes an audio port, a universal serial bus (USB) circuit, an audio circuit, a detecting unit, a switch, and a microcontroller. The detecting unit is connected to the audio port. The detecting unit generates a detecting signal in response to detection of either the earphone/microphone or the USB apparatus being connected to the audio port. The microcontroller is connected to the detecting unit and the switch. The microcontroller selects the audio circuit or the USB circuit to the audio port by the switch according to the detecting signal.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The disclosure generally relates to portable electronic devices, and particularly to a portable electronic device having a multifunctional audio port which can connect to both an earphone/microphone and a universal serial bus (USB) apparatus. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    Portable electronic devices, such as personal computers, commonly include a plurality of connection ports such as an earphone/microphone jack, and USB ports for connecting to other peripheral components. However, many portable electronic devices do not provide a sufficient number of connection ports in order to use multiple peripheral components. In addition, each connection port present may be designed only for a certain kind of peripheral component. For example, the earphone jack can only connect to an earphone and cannot connect to a USB mouse. Therefore, there is a lack of flexibility in the portable electronic device. 
         [0005]    Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure. 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a portable electronic device with a converter, according to an exemplary embodiment. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the portable electronic device of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a partial circuit diagram of the portable electronic device of  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0010]    FIG. is a schematic view of a portable electronic device  100  with a converter  80 , according to an exemplary embodiment. Also referring to  FIG. 2 , the portable electronic device  100  includes an audio port  10 , a control and switch circuit  30 , a USB circuit  50  and an audio circuit  70 . 
         [0011]    Also referring to  FIG. 3 , the audio port  10  is a standard earphone/microphone jack used for directly connecting to an earphone/microphone or connecting to a USB peripheral such as a USB mouse, or a USB keyboard by the converter  80  (shown in  FIG. 1 ). The audio port  10  includes a first contact  11 , a second contact  12 , a third contact  13 , and a fourth contact  14 . The fourth contact  14  is grounded. 
         [0012]    A typical earphone/microphone plug includes a left channel contact, a right channel contact, and a ground contact. When the earphone plug is inserted into the audio port  10 , the first contact  11  and the second contact  12  are respectively electrically connected to the left channel contact and the right channel contact. The third contact  13  and the fourth contact  14  are connected to the ground contact and grounded. 
         [0013]    The converter  80  includes a converter plug  81  and a USB connector  83  connected to the plug  81 . The converter plug  81  includes a first data contact, a second data contact, a ground contact, and a power supply contact. When the converter plug  81  is inserted into the audio port  10 , the first contact  11 , the second contact  12 , the third contact  13  and the fourth contact  14  are respectively connected to the first data contact, the second data contact, the power supply contact and the ground contact. Thus, the USB connector  83  is electrically connected to the audio port  10  through the converter plug  81 . 
         [0014]    The control and switch circuit  30  includes a detecting unit  31 , a microcontroller  33 , a switch  35 , and a power management unit  37 . 
         [0015]    The detecting unit  31  includes a diode D 1  and a resistor R 1 . A cathode of the diode D 1  is connected to the third contact  13 . A node of the diode D 1  is connected to a 5V power supply by the resistor R 1  and also connected to the microcontroller  33 . When the earphone/microphone plug is inserted in the audio port  10 , the third contact  13  is grounded, thus the diode D 1  is turned on, and a low voltage detecting signal (such as 0V) is sent to the microcontroller  33 . When the converter plug  81  is inserted in the audio port  10 , the diode D 1  is turned off and a high voltage detecting signal (such as 5V) is sent to the microcontroller  33 . Therefore, the microcontroller  33  can determine whether it is the earphone/microphone or the USB apparatus which is connected to the audio port  10 , according to the detecting signal available from the detecting unit  31 . 
         [0016]    The microcontroller  33  is also connected to the switch  35 . One end of the switch  35  is connected to the first contact  11  and the second contact  12 . Another end of the switch  35  is selectably and exclusively connected either to the USB circuit  50  or to the audio circuit  70 . The microcontroller  33  connects either the USB circuit  50  or the audio circuit  70  to the audio port  10  according to the detecting signal. When the high voltage detecting signal is received from the detecting unit  31 , the microcontroller  33  connects the USB circuit  50  to the audio port  10 . When the low voltage detecting signal is received from the detecting signal, the microcontroller  33  connects the audio circuit  70  to the audio port  10 . 
         [0017]    The power management unit  37  is connected to the microcontroller  33  and the audio port  10 . The power management unit  37  includes a transistor M, a sampling resistor R 2 , and a hot swap controller  371 . In this embodiment, the transistor M is a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET). A source of the transistor M is connected to the third contact  13  and also grounded by a capacitor C. A drain of the transistor M is connected to the power supply 5V by the sampling resistor R 2 . A gate of the transistor M is connected to the hot swap controller  371 . 
         [0018]    The hot swap controller  371  includes two sampling contacts, Samp 1 , Samp 2 , a status contact, Status, and a control contact, On/Off. The two sampling contacts Samp 1 , Samp 2  are connected to two ends of the sampling resistor R 2 . The status contact Status and the control contact On/Off are connected to the microcontroller  33 . The hot swap controller  371  detects a voltage of the sampling resistor R 2  and compares the detected voltage with a reference voltage. When the detected voltage is lower than the reference voltage, the hot swap controller  341  controls the transistor M to turn on and the power supply 5V provides a voltage to the third contact  13 . When the detected voltage is higher than the reference voltage, that is to say that the current flowing through the sampling resistor R 2  is too high, the hot swap controller  341  controls the transistor M to turn off and also sends a warning signal to the microcontroller  33  to turn off the hot swap controller  371 . Thus, the audio port  10  and the power management unit  37  can be protected against high current damage. 
         [0019]    The USB circuit  50  and the audio circuit  70  are conventional circuits in the portable electronic device  100 , for permitting a USB data exchange function and for an audio input/output function respectively. 
         [0020]    The dual nature of the audio port  10  with the converter  80  allows much more flexibility, any USB apparatus can be connected to the portable electronic device  100  through a single audio port  10 , and so the total number of the connecting ports of the portable electronic device  100  can be reduced. 
         [0021]    It is believed that the exemplary embodiments and their advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary embodiments of the disclosure.