Devices and methods for multiple data streams over USB 2.0
Provided are devices and methods for transmitting two or more data streams through the same cable. An exemplary cable includes at least two sets of conductive points, each set capable of independently transmitting a separate data stream. The cable may be a USB 2.0 type cable, with two contacts assigned for transmitting one data stream, and two other contacts assigned for transmitting another data stream. In some embodiments, one data stream is an audio-video signal transmitted to an audio-video receiver.
1. A method for providing two data streams between a mobile device and a docking station, the method comprising:
detecting a coupling between the first mobile device and the docking station, the coupling being implemented via a micro-USB 2.0 connector, the micro-USB 2.0 connector having a plurality of no more than five conductive points;
providing a USB 2.0 data stream between the mobile device and the docking station over a first subset of two of the no more than five conductive points of the micro-USB 2.0 connector; and
providing a high-definition audio-video data stream between the mobile device and the docking station over a second subset of two other of the no more than five conductive points of the micro-USB 2.0 connector,
the first subset of the conductive points and the second subset of the conductive points being part of the same micro-USB 2.0 connector.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a third data stream over the first subset of the conductive points and the second subset of the conductive points.
3. The method of claim 1 , the first subset of the conductive points corresponds to contact numbers 2 and 3 of the micro-USB 2.0 connector.
4. The method of claim 1 , the second subset of the conductive points corresponds to contact numbers 4 and 5 of the micro-USB 2.0 connector.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device assigns the USB 2.0 data stream to the first subset of the conductive points and the high-definition audio-video data stream to the second subset of the conductive points.
6. The method of claim 1 , the docking station comprising one of a USB 2.0 transceiver, a DisplayPort transmitter, or a Mobile High Definition Link (MHL) transmitter.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least the high-definition audio-video data stream is transmitted through the second subset of the conductive points at speeds of up to 10 Gbps.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting sideband communication streams.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the sideband communication streams are transmitted at the same time with the USB 2.0 data stream through the first subset of the conductive points.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the docking station is a dock device receiving the USB 2.0 data stream and an Audio-Video stream receiver receiving the high-definition audio-video data stream.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the USB 2.0 first data stream and the high-definition audio-video data stream are provided through one cable.
12. A method for providing two data streams between a mobile device and a docking station over a cable:
providing a cable comprising two micro-USB 2.0 connectors, one on each end of the cable, each micro-USB 2.0 connector comprising a first subset of two conductive points and a second subset of two conductive points;
connecting one of the two micro-USB 2.0 connectors to a first mobile device and another one of the two micro-USB 2.0 connectors to a docking station; and
transmitting two separate data streams between the mobile device and the docking station at the same time, wherein one of the two separate data streams is transmitted over the first subset of two conductive points while another one of the two separate data streams is a high-definition audio-video data stream transmitted over the second subset of two conductive points.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second subset of the conductive points comprises at least one of an HDMI connector, a VGA connector, and a Digital Visual Interface (DVI) connector.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the micro-USB 2.0 connector comprises an integrated circuit adapted to reconfigure the first subset of the conductive points and the second subset of the conductive points.