Smart Cables

• US 20090061678A1
• Filed: 02/13/2008
• Published: 03/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Laefer, Jay, Krueger, Scott, Dorogusker, Jesse L., Minoo, Jahan
• Granted Patent: US 8,095,713 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 439/502
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/44 Program or device authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6691 with built-in signalling means H01R13/717 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 29/00 Coupling parts for selective co-operation with a counterpart in different ways to establish different circuits, e.g. for voltage selection, for series-parallel selection, programmable connectors
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 9/2475 Means facilitating correct wiring, e.g. marking plates, identification tags

Abstract

A smart cable apparatus includes resources that provide for additional functionality such as cable authentication and cable identification. The cable apparatus can be configured for coupling an electronic device such as a media player to other electronic devices such as media player accessories. The cable apparatus includes one or more processing components that can be integrated as part of the cable apparatus. The one or more processing components can be configured to identify the type of signal the cable apparatus is intended to carry, and to communicate that information to the electronic device to which it is connected. The one or more processing components can also be configured to process authentication inquires to indicate whether the cable apparatus is an authorized accessory for the electronic device.

Claims

1. A cable apparatus comprising:

a first connector including a housing, a plurality of contacts, and one or more processing components, the plurality of contacts being configured to couple to a first electronic device;

a cable coupled to the first connector;

one or more second connectors coupled to the cable and configured to couple to one or more second electronic devices;

wherein;

the one or more processing components are configured to receive an authentication inquiry from the first electronic device through the plurality of contacts, generate an authentication response, and send the authentication response to the first electronic device through the plurality of contacts.

2. The cable apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one or more processing components include a micro-controller that is coupled to an authentication coprocessor.

3. The cable apparatus of claim 2 wherein the micro-controller is coupled to the first connector and is configured to receive the authentication inquiry from the first electronic device, to communicate with the authentication coprocessor, and to send the authentication response to the first electronic device.

4. The cable apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one or more processing components include a micro-controller that is configured to receive the authentication inquiry from the first electronic device and to generate and send the authentication response to the first electronic device.

5. The cable apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one or more processing components are housed inside a boot of the first connector and electrically couple to one or more of the plurality of contacts.

6. A cable apparatus comprising:

a first connector including a housing, a plurality of contacts, and one or more processing components, the plurality of contacts being configured to couple to a first electronic device;

a cable coupled to the first connector;

one or more second connectors coupled to the cable and configured to couple to one or more second electronic devices;

wherein;

the one or more processing components are configured to identify a type of the cable apparatus, generate an identification signal, and send the identification signal to the first electronic device through the plurality of contacts.

7. The cable apparatus of claim 6 wherein the one or more processing components include a micro-controller coupled to an identification circuit.

8. The cable apparatus of claim 7 wherein the micro-controller is further configured to detect a signal level supplied by the identification circuit and to determine the type of the cable apparatus based at least on the detected signal level.

9. The cable apparatus of claim 8 wherein the signal level supplied by the identification circuit is predetermined.

10. The cable apparatus of claim 6 wherein the one or more processing components include a micro-controller that is configured to determine the type of the cable apparatus based on detecting which of the one or more second connectors are connected to respective one or more second electronic devices.

11. The cable apparatus of claim 6 wherein the type of the cable apparatus can be one or more from among a plurality of cable types including composite video, component video, S-video, HDMI or other digital video formats.

12. The cable apparatus of claim 6 wherein the one or more processing components are further configured to receive an authentication inquiry from a the first electronic device through the plurality of contacts, to generate an authentication response, and to send the authentication response to the first electronic device through the plurality of contacts.

13. A method of operating a cable apparatus, the method comprising an authentication method comprising:

the cable apparatus receiving an authentication inquiry from an electronic device;

the cable apparatus processing the authentication inquiry by an authentication circuitry;

the authentication circuitry generating an authentication response that is associated with whether the cable apparatus is an authorized accessory for the electronic device; and

the cable apparatus sending the authentication response from the cable apparatus to the electronic device.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising a cable identification method, the cable identification method comprising:

the cable apparatus detecting a signal level on an identification wire inside the cable apparatus;

the cable apparatus identifying a cable type based on the detected signal level on the identification wire; and

the cable apparatus sending to an electronic device, a cable identification signal based at least in part on information associated with the identified cable type,

wherein, the identification signal is associated with one or more types of signals related to the cable apparatus.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the cable identification method further comprises the cable apparatus receiving an identification request from the electronic device.

17. The method of claim 14 further comprising the cable apparatus receiving an identification request from the electronic device.

16. A method for identifying a cable apparatus, the method comprising:

the cable apparatus detecting a signal level on an identification wire inside the cable apparatus;

the cable apparatus identifying a cable type based on the detected signal level on the identification wire; and

the cable apparatus sending to an electronic device, a cable identification signal based at least in part on information associated with the identified cable type,

wherein, the identification signal is associated with one or more types of signals related to the cable apparatus.

18. A method for identifying a cable apparatus, the method comprising:

the cable apparatus detecting a type of first electronic device to which it is connected;

the cable apparatus identifying a cable type based on signal types expected from the first electronic device; and

the cable apparatus sending to a second electronic device, a cable identification signal based at least in part on information associated with the identified cable type.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising the cable apparatus receiving an identification request from the second electronic device.

20. A method of operating a cable apparatus, the method comprising:

an authentication method comprising;

the cable apparatus receiving an authentication inquiry from an electronic device;

the cable apparatus processing the authentication inquiry by an authentication circuitry;

the authentication circuitry generating an authentication response that is associated with whether the cable apparatus is an authorized accessory for the electronic device; and

the cable apparatus sending the authentication response from the cable apparatus to the electronic device; and

an identification method comprising;

the cable apparatus detecting a signal level on an identification wire inside the cable apparatus;

the cable apparatus identifying a cable type based on the detected signal level on the identification wire; and

the cable apparatus sending to an electronic device, a cable identification signal based at least in part on information associated with the identified cable type;

wherein, the identification signal is associated with one or more types of signals related to the cable apparatus.