Patent ID: 7125287

Claim:
An extended Universal-Serial-Bus (USB) plug, comprising: an extended pin substrate having an extended substrate length longer than a length of a pin substrate of an industry-standard Series A USB connector, said length of said pin substrate of said industry-standard Series A USB connector being about 12 mm; a plurality of USB connector contacts arranged in a first row in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of said extended USB plug, said plurality of USB connector contacts being disposed on said pin substrate of said industry-standard Series A USB connector and configured to carry USB signals; a plurality of non-USB connector contacts arranged in a second row parallel to said first row, said plurality of non-USB connector contacts being configured to carry non-USB signals; and wherein said extended USB plug is configured to be mechanically and electrically compatible with both an industry-standard Series A USB socket and an extended USB socket, said extended USB socket including an extended cavity having an extended cavity length longer than a length of a cavity of said industry-standard Series A USB socket, said length of said cavity of said industry-standard Series A USB socket being about 9 mm, and wherein said plurality of non-USB connector contacts being disposed in a first position relative to said plurality of USB connector contacts, said first position representing a longitudinally separate position relative to said plurality of USB connector contacts, thereby preventing said non-USB connector contacts from electrically coupling with USB socket contacts configured to carry said USB signals in said industry-standard Series A USB socket when said extended USB plug is fully inserted into said industry-standard Series A USB socket, said first row being positioned on said extended pin substrate so as to enable said plurality of USB connector contacts to electrically couple with respective ones of said USB socket contacts when said extended USB plug is fully inserted into said industry-standard Series A USB socket.