Granted Patent B2

US 12,579,091 · App. 18/626,364 · Granted Mar 17, 2026

Inventors: Kevin Wayne Brew (Niskayuna, NY); Clint Jason Oteri (East Greenbush, NY); Joseph James Jimenez (Albany, NY)

Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation

G06F13/382G06F12/0802G06F13/4282G06F2213/0042

Abstract

Claims (72)

1 . A system for managing digital communication between a primary device and a secondary device, the system comprising:

a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable comprising a wire and a connection end with one or more pins;

a plurality of USB chips disposed on the primary and secondary device, respectively, wherein the plurality of USB chips comprises of circuitry that manages power and data communication of the USB cable;

a manual switch communicatively coupled to the pins in the connection end, wherein the manual switch activates and deactivates the one or more pins in the connection end based on a position of the manual switch; and

a microcontroller disposed between the wire and the connection end, wherein the microcontroller instructs a switching circuit to activate and deactivate the one or more pins in the connection end based on analyzing data transmitted through the USB cable, wherein the microcontroller comprises a cache NVM (non-volatile memory), wherein the cache NVM is encoded with an algorithm, wherein the algorithm is configured to cause the microcontroller to instruct the switching circuit to activate and deactivate the one or more pins in the connection end based on analyzing data transmitted through the USB cable.

2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a switching circuit disposed between the wire and the connection end.

3 . The system of claim 1 ,

wherein the algorithm comprises the steps of:

determining an initial device mode;

selecting a subsequent mode for the device;

if the subsequent mode is open then activating all power pins and data pins of the one or more pins;

if the subsequent mode is closed then deactivating all power pins and data pins of the one or more pins;

if the subsequent mode is power-only then activating all the power pins of the one or more pins;

if the subsequent mode is secure then checking on-board memory associated with the microcontroller and initiating handshake;

in response to a failure with checking on-board memory then selecting power- only mode for the device;

in response to a failure with handshaking then selecting power-only mode for the device;

in response to a success with checking on-board memory and handshake then initializing sniffer and on-chip analysis module, wherein the sniffer and on-chip analysis is checking for directional communication;

determining that the directional communication is not correct or there are malicious data then selecting power-only mode for the device; and

continuously analyzing the data from the USB cable.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the switching circuit is capable of electromechanically activating and deactivating the one or more pins of the wire.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the microcontroller further comprises an AI (artificial intelligence) module configured to continuously learn and predict future malicious data threats.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry of the plurality of USB chip further comprises self-check memory module and sniffer and analyzer module, wherein the sniffer and analyzer module are capable of analyzing data stream from the USB cable in real time.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the self-check memory module is capable of checking and confirmation of functionality of the circuitry of the plurality of USB chips.

8 . A system for managing digital communication between primary devices and a secondary device, the system comprising:

the primary devices are one or more hard drives;

one or more cabling between the one or more hard drives to a secondary device, wherein the one or more cabling comprises one or more wires and a connection end with one or more pins;

a manual switch communicatively coupled to the pins in the connection end, wherein the manual switch activates and deactivates the one or more pins in the connection end based on a position of the manual switch;

a microcontroller comprising a cache NVM (non-volatile memory), wherein the cache NVM is encoded with an algorithm; and

the microcontroller is disposed between the one or more cabling, wherein the algorithm is configured to cause the microcontroller to electromechanically activate and deactivate respective pins in the connection end of the one or more cabling based on analyzing data transmitted through the one or more cabling.

9 . The system of claim 8 , further comprising:

the one or more cabling is a USB (universal serial bus) cable;

a plurality of USB chips disposed on the primary and secondary device, respectively, wherein the plurality of USB chips comprises of circuitry that manages power and data communication of the USB cable;

a switching circuit disposed between the one or more cabling and the connection end; and

a microcontroller disposed between the one or more cabling and the connection end, wherein the microcontroller instructs the switching circuit to activate and deactivate the one or more pins in the connection end based on analyzing data transmitted through the one or more cabling.

10 . The system of claim 9 ,

the algorithm comprises the steps of:

determining an initial device mode;

selecting a subsequent mode for the microcontroller;

if the subsequent mode is open then activating all power pins and data pins of the one or more pins;

if the subsequent mode is closed then deactivating all power pins and data pins of the one or more pins;

if the subsequent mode is power-only then activating all the power pins of the one or more pins;

if the subsequent mode is data-only then activating all the data pins of the one or more pins;

if the subsequent mode is secure then checking on-board memory and initiating handshake;

in response to a failure with checking on-board memory then selecting power- only mode for the device;

in response to a failure with handshaking then selecting power-only mode for the device;

in response to a success with checking on-board memory and handshake then initializing sniffer and on-chip analysis module, wherein the sniffer and on-chip analysis is checking for directional communication;

determining that the directional communication is not correct or there are malicious data then selecting power-only mode for the device; and

continuously analyzing the data from the one or more cabling.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the switching circuit is capable of electromechanically activating and deactivating the one or more pins of the wire.

12 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the microcontroller further comprises an AI (artificial intelligence) module configured to continuously learn and predict future malicious data threats.

13 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the circuitry of the plurality of USB chips further comprises self-check memory module and sniffer and analyzer module, wherein the sniffer and analyzer module are capable of analyzing data stream from the USB cable in real time.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the self-check memory module is capable of checking and confirmation of functionality of the circuitry of the plurality of USB chips.

15 . A method for managing digital communication between a primary device and a secondary device wherein the digital communication traverses one or more cabling, the method comprising:

the one or more cabling comprising a wire and a connection end with one or more pins;

a switching circuit disposed between the wire and the connection end; and

a microcontroller comprising a cache NVM (non-volatile memory), wherein the cache NVM is encoded with an algorithm and the algorithm comprises the steps of:

determining an initial device mode of the secondary device;

selecting a subsequent mode for the secondary device;

continuously analyzing data from the one or more cabling;

if the subsequent mode is open then activating all power pins and data pins of the one or more pins;

if the subsequent mode is closed then deactivating all power pins and data pins of the one or more pins;

if the subsequent mode is power-only then activating all the power pins of the one or more pins;

if the subsequent mode is secure then checking on-board memory associated with the microcontroller and initiating handshake;

in response to a failure with checking on-board memory then selecting power-only mode for the device;

in response to a failure with handshaking then selecting power-only mode for the device;

in response to a success with checking on-board memory and handshake then initializing sniffer and on-chip analysis module, wherein the sniffer and on-chip analysis is checking for directional communication; and

determining that the directional communication is not correct or there are malicious data then selecting power-only mode for the device.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the microcontroller further comprises an AI (artificial intelligence) module configured to continuously learn and predict future malicious data threats.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the one or more cabling is a USB cable.

18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the primary device or the secondary device contains USB chips, and the USB chip further comprises self-check memory module and sniffer and analyzer module, wherein the sniffer and analyzer module is capable of analyzing data stream from a USB cable in real time.

19 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the switching circuit is capable of electromechanically activating and deactivating the one or more pins of the wire.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (29)