Abstract:
A connector includes a connector interface. A cable housing covers the connector interface and a cable connects with the connector interface. A passive component is positioned within the cable housing, the passive component being connected with the connector interface and the cable.

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/748,178, filed Jan. 2, 2013 and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/770,864, filed Feb. 28, 2013, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    This disclosure relates to connectors, cabling and signaling for communication protocols, and more particularly communication protocols for consumer electronics. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Communication protocols are widely used in local area networks (LAN). For example, Ethernet as specified in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3 standard is one such technology. The Ethernet includes a physical and data link layer technology for the LAN. An Ethernet LAN can use coaxial cable or special grades of twisted pair wires, and is also used in wireless LANs. Ethernet systems include 10BASE-T which provides transmission speeds up to 10 megabits per second (Mbps). 
         [0004]    Devices are connected to the cable and can access the Ethernet using a Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) protocol. Fast Ethernet or 100BASE-T can provide transmission speeds up to 100 Mbps and can be used for LAN backbone systems, supporting workstations with 10BASE-T cards. Gigabit Ethernet provides an even higher level of backbone support at 1000 megabits per second (1 gigabit or 1 billion bits per second). 10-Gigabit Ethernet can provide up to 10 billion bits per second. An RJ45 connector can be used with Ethernet cables and networks. RJ45 connectors feature eight pins to which the wire strands of a cable interface electrically. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]    The innovation may be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. In the figures, like reference numerals can designate corresponding parts throughout the different views. 
           [0006]      FIG. 1  shows an example of user equipment connected with the Ethernet via an exemplary connector. 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is a front view of a plug end of an exemplary connector. 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the plug end of the exemplary connector. 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  is perspective view of an exemplary receptacle end of the connector. 
           [0010]      FIG. 5  is a side view of the receptacle end of the connector. 
           [0011]      FIG. 6  is a circuit diagram of the connector using exemplary AC coupling. 
           [0012]      FIG. 7  is a circuit diagram of the connector using exemplary transformer coupling. 
           [0013]      FIG. 8  is a circuit diagram of an exemplary PHY for a new 10 G protocol. 
           [0014]      FIG. 9  is a circuit diagram of an exemplary PHY for a display interface. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0015]    The discussion below makes reference to a connector for connecting user equipment, e.g., consumer electronics, via a communication protocol that can include Ethernet. An advantage of the connector can include the ability to provide Ethernet or other protocol type networking in markets that do not currently include such interconnects. For example, a size of the RJ45 type connector may not fit a low profile user equipment, e.g., tablets, ultra-notebooks and mobile phones, e.g., smartphones. In one example, the connector can enable the use of Ethernet in small form factor devices by allowing placement of coupling elements outside the user equipment and by enabling the use of small, low cost capacitive coupling outside the user equipment. In another example, a signaling can operate over the connector that can support legacy BASE-T. The signaling can provide a next generation 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GE) option in consumer electronics without cabling constraints and include a low power/low latency 10 GE option in enterprise/data centers where it may stand alone or exist in conjunction with 10GBASE-T. 
         [0016]      FIG. 1  shows an example of user equipment  100  connected with a communication protocol via an exemplary connector  102 . An electrical and physical interface board end  104 , e.g., receptacle end, can mate with a first cable end  106 , e.g., plug end. Similarly, a cable  107  can connect the first cable end  106  to a second cable end  108 . The second cable end  108  can connect to a network device, e.g., a modem, a router, a video monitor, an audio device, a set-top-box, a storage device, etc.  110 . The network device  110  can receive packet based communication signals from a network, e.g. the Internet  128 . 
         [0017]    The user equipment  100  includes a communication interface  112 , system logic  114 , and a user interface  118 . The system logic  114  may include a combination of hardware, software, firmware, or other logic. The system logic  114  may be implemented, for example, in a system on a chip (SoC), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or other circuitry. The system logic  114  is part of the implementation of a desired functionality in the user equipment  100 . In that regard, the system logic  114  may include logic that facilitates, as examples, running applications, accepting user inputs, saving and retrieving application data, establishing, maintaining, and terminating cellular phone calls, wireless network connections, Bluetooth connections, or other connections, and displaying relevant information on the user interface  118 . The user interface  118  may include a graphical user interface, touch sensitive display, voice or facial recognition inputs, buttons, switches, and other user interface elements. 
         [0018]    The communication interface  112  may include one or more transceivers. The transceivers may include modulation/demodulation circuitry, amplifiers, phase locked loops (PLLs), clock generators, analog to digital and digital to analog converters and/or other logic for transmitting and receiving through one or more antennas, or through a physical (e.g., wireline) medium. The transmitted and received signals may adhere to any of a diverse array of formats, protocols, modulations, frequency channels, bit rates, and encodings. The user equipment  100  can also include one or more processors  116  and a memory  120 . The memory  120  can store instructions executable by the processors  116 , e.g., for processing signals received via the cable  107 . The communication interface  112  may also include encoder/decoder, e.g. to process packetized audio and video streams. 
         [0019]      FIG. 2  is a front view of a plug end of the exemplary connector  102 . The connector  102  includes a plug  200  and protective overmold  202 . The plug  200  can be sized to fit various types of low profile user equipment  100  including tablets, ultra-notebooks and mobile phones, e.g., smartphones. In one example, the plug  200  is about 2.5 mm in the A direction and about 5.5 mm in the B direction, with an opening  204  of about 3.5 mm in the C direction. In  FIG. 3 , for example, the overmold  202  does not extend to the front end of the plug  200 . To make an electrical connection with the user equipment  100 , the plug  200  includes pins  206 . The connector  102  can include 14 pins  206 , for example, four pairs of pins to carry, e.g., packet based communication signals, and six pins for power and ground. The pins  206  can be arranged symmetrically so that the connector  102  can be plugged in either with a ‘top side’ facing either up or down. The pins  206  can be spaced in rows about 0.4 mm apart, and the rows of pins can offset from each other, for example by about 0.2 mm. Other amounts of pins and arrangements of the pins can also be used. 
         [0020]      FIG. 3  is a side view of a plug end of the exemplary connector  102 . The side view illustrates an exemplary relationship of the overmold  202  to the plug  200 , e.g., the plug extends beyond the overmold  202 , and the overmold  202  covers a portion of a sheathing of a cable, e.g., the cable  107 . A way to lower the cost and complexity of the user equipment  100  is to provide for AC coupling instead of transformer coupling, but transformer coupling can be used in some implementations, e.g., described below. In some examples, to save space in the user equipment  100  no passive components are included. The AC coupling can include a transformer, e.g., autotransformer  302 , in addition to AC coupling capacitors in the cable end  106 . 
         [0021]    The cable  107  can include symmetrical or asymmetrical connections. In symmetrical cabling, the connector  102  can be included on both ends of the cable  107  to utilize AC coupling and signaling over a simplified cable assemble, such as discussed in the  FIG. 6  example. The cabling can include passive components at one or both ends of the cable  107 , e.g. capacitors and common modes chokes. A bandwidth, diameter and cost of the cable can be varied depending on an implementation. A low cost Gigabit Ethernet (GE) using full standards-based 1000BASE-T twisted pair signaling variant could be assembled with higher cost variants for the higher speed signaling available. 
         [0022]    To connect to legacy equipment, such as home gateways, or to connect to enterprise infrastructure, such as an RJ45 jack in the wall, the cabling can include asymmetrical connections, e.g., the connector  102  positioned on one end and RJ45 on the other. When connected to existing equipment the board end  104  typically does not include a transformer. Therefore, when connecting to an RJ45 connector the cable end  106  can include the transformer, e.g., as shown in  FIG. 7 . The channel characteristics of the asymmetrical cable can include the characteristics of the corresponding BASE-T standard, or as close as possible, e.g., Cat5e for 1000BASE-T, Cat6a for 10GBASE-T. Having the option to use the asymmetrical cabling can provide backward compatibility to existing infrastructures. 
         [0023]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view and  FIG. 5  is a side view of an exemplary receptacle end  400  of the connector  102 . The receptacle end  400  can be installed with the user equipment  100 . The receptacle end  400  includes terminals  402  to mate with the pins  206  of the plug  200 . For impedance control, termination  404  of the terminals  402  can be mounted to a surface  406  or a through hole in the surface  406  of the user equipment  100  to provide. A shield  500 , e.g., metal, can cover the terminals  402 . The shield  500  includes an opening  408  to receive the plug  200 . 
         [0024]      FIG. 6  is a circuit diagram of the connector  102  using exemplary AC coupling. The connector components  600  include a PHY  602 , a connector interface  604 , passive circuitry  605  and cabling  608 , e.g., shielded cable. The PHY  602  can be implemented with a conventional BASE-T PHY, like 1000BASE-T, also known as GE, or 10GBASE-T. The passive circuitry  605  can include AC coupling capacitors  606  and autotransformers  607 . The passive circuitry  605  can be contained in the overmold  202  of cable end  106  of the connector  102 . Therefore, passive circuitry need not be located in the user equipment  100  to save space in the user equipment  100 . The cabling  608  can include twisted pair type cabling or other cabling, such as twinax, co-axial and optical. A power source  610  including direct current (DC) power supply and a capacitor connected to ground can power the passive components  606 . A first cable  612 , a second cable  614 , a third cable  616  and a fourth cable  618  can connect between the PHY  602  and the passive circuitry  605 . The signals can be sent simultaneously and bi-directionally. 
         [0025]      FIG. 7  is a circuit diagram of the connector  102  using exemplary transformer coupling. The transformer can be used, for example, in accordance with IEEE 802.3, when one end of the cable includes an RJ45 connector. The connector components  700  include a PHY  702 , e.g., a conventional BASE-T PHY, like 1000BASE-T, also known as GE, or 10GBASE-T, a connector interface  704 , passive components  706  and cabling  708 . The passive components  706  can include a transformer  710  and a common mode choke  712 . The passive components  706  can be contained in the overmold  202  of the connector  102 , and do not have to be located in the user equipment  100 . The cabling can include twisted pair type cabling or other cabling, such as twinax, co-axial or optical. 
         [0026]    A power source  714  including direct current (DC) power supply and a capacitor connected to ground can power the passive components  706 , e.g., via connector interface  704 . A first cable  716 , a second cable  718 , a third cable  720  and a fourth cable  722  can connect between the PHY  702  and the passive components  706 . 
         [0027]      FIG. 8  is a circuit diagram of an exemplary PHY  802  for a new 100 protocol. New 100 protocols can be developed to minimize implementation complexity and cost, while minimizing the bandwidth of a connection of the connector  102 . The new 100 protocol can utilize cabling of individually shielded pairs of cables, and other types of cables may also be used. A PHY  802  of the new 10 G protocol can connect to, e.g., four pairs of twisted pair wires, a first pair  804 , a second pair  806 , a third pair  808  and a fourth pair  810 , for conducting the signaling. Other numbers of cabling can also be used. In one example, the next generation 100 protocol can be enabled for short, point to point links. This can remove constraints of the BASE-T standards that work up to 100 m based twisted pair structured cabling. The new 10 G protocol can include the MAC interface as well as 10GBASE-T. 
         [0028]    The signaling of the new 100 protocol can separate transmit and receive signaling over the four twisted pairs of wires  804 ,  806 ,  808  and  810 . For example, the new 100 protocol can transmit data over two pair mediums  804 ,  806 , e.g., at 5 Gb/s per pair, to spread the work over the available mediums. The new 10 G data can also be received over two twisted pair mediums  808 ,  810 , e.g., 5 Gb/s per pair. An exemplary 10 G protocol is described for purposes of explanation. A data rate per pair, however, need not be 100. Higher or lower data rates can also be accommodated. Additionally, the new 100 or other rate protocol can use two pair transmit/two pair receive, or the protocol can implement one pair each direction, for lower data rate. Also, the rate in each direction can vary and need not be equal. 
         [0029]    The PHY  802  can include integrated circuitry, e.g., a transmit multiplexer  812  and a receive multiplexer  814 , and a transmit signaler/driver  816  and a receive signaler/receiver  818  including logic. The multiplexers  812 ,  814 , transmit/receive drivers  816 ,  818 , and logic can control the transmission and receiving of 10 G signaling, for example, over two pairs of transmit cabling and two pairs of receiving cabling, so that only about 5 Gb/s of data bandwidth is needed per pair of wires, allowing for a less expensive and more flexible and durable cabling to be used. Other numbers of twisted pairs can be used as well as other speeds. Therefore, the signaling bandwidth can be spread over numbers of twisted pair accordingly. 
         [0030]    Coding of the logic can range from non-return-to-zero (NRZ), similar to that used with 10GBASE-R which is the coding used with SFP+ at 10.3125Gb/s, to a complex multilevel code as complex as used in 10GBASE-T, e.g., at 5 Gb/s per pair. The more complex the code the more cabling bandwidth requirements can be reduced by increasing the bits per symbol. The choice of coding can depend on trading off coding implementation complexity and cost versus cabling complexity and cost. In some implementations the cost and durability of the cabling can be controlled by limiting a length of the cable to about 2 meters or less. The connector  102  can provide magnetic coupling and/or AC coupling so that the user equipment  100  need not contain it. 
         [0031]    Referring to  FIGS. 1-8 , the connector  102  can be used with various types of signaling depending on an implementation. Additionally or alternatively, the system, e.g., as in  FIG. 1 , using the connector  102 , e.g., with passive components in the cable end  106 , can use auto-negotiation to discover and configure the connection, e.g., by choosing common transmission parameters, such as speed, duplex mode, and flow control to connect devices. The connected devices can share their capabilities regarding these parameters and then choose the highest performance transmission mode that they both support. In the open systems interconnection (OSI) model, auto-negotiation can reside in the PHY layer, e.g.,  602 ,  702 ,  802 . For Ethernet over twisted pair the auto-negotiation can occur according to clause  28  of IEEE 802.3. 
         [0032]    The 1000BASE-T standard can be a deployed wired connection for gigabit speeds using existing signaling, while taking advantage of the AC coupling and/or transformer coupling, and small form factor of the connector  102 . Similarly, current protocols based on 10GBASE-T can utilize the small form factor and AC coupling and/or transformer coupling, of the connector  102 . The connector  102  can also be used with the new 10 G protocols. 
         [0033]    The connector  102  can be coupled to connectors  108  of a variety of standards and protocols, e.g., in addition to IEEE 802.3. For example, the connector  102  can connect via cable  107  to other connector types  108  including a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI or equivalent), a docking station interface, e.g., having no cabling but back-to-back connectors, storage, USB and display interface. For example, packetized HDMI and native HDMI can be sent over cable  107  to the communication interface  112  of the user equipment  100 . Additionally or alternatively, USB signaling can be sent over cable  107  to communication interface  112 . 
         [0034]    The system logic  114  and/or communication interface  112  can detect a type of connection being made by the link partner, e.g., USB, HDMI, display interface, and configure a protocol of the user equipment  100  accordingly. For example, if the user equipment is connected to a USB at the link partner, the user interface  112 /electrical and physical interface board end  104  can become a USB port. The same can apply for HDMI, display interface and other variants. The connector  102  can provide for at least two of HDMI, USB, Ethernet and display interface protocols. 
         [0035]      FIG. 9  is a circuit diagram of an exemplary PHY  900  for a display interface, e.g., DisplayPort. DisplayPort utilizes a net data rate of 4.32 Gb/s×4=17.28 Gb/s. HDMI data is also transferred on multiple lanes of medium. For packetized data transfer, the PHY  900  can include multiple lanes  902  at 5 Gb/s. Since video includes two types, source and sink, the PHY  900  can include four drivers  904  for Tx and four drivers  906  for Rx. Each twisted pair  910  can include one for Tx and one Rx, connected together. The 5 Gb/s links  902  can remain simplex, with the connection being either as source or sink, but not the same at the same time. The links  902  connect with a source/sink multiplexer  920  to provide a total bandwidth of 4×5 Gb/s or 20 Gb/s. 
         [0036]    A balance of the bandwidth can be available for packetized data, which can be available as Ethernet. Therefore, an ‘out of band’ data path can be available for data transfer on the video link. The Ethernet data can be bi-directional. The link can be simplex with no echo cancellation. However, time division multiplexing can be used. A 5 Gb/s pair is determined as transmitting in one direction from link partner A, with the Rx on link partner B. The Tx from A to B can be gated off, and the link can transmit in the opposite direction, from B to A. Therefore, the 5 Gb/s link can be determined as simplex but the bandwidth can be dynamically allocated as occurring in either direction, A to B, or B to A. 
         [0037]    While various embodiments of the have been described, many more embodiments and implementations are possible. Accordingly, the embodiments are not to be restricted.