System and Method for Utilizing Standard Four Wire USB for Multiple Power Modes and Out of Band State Management

摘要

A cable for establishing electronic communication between a first device and a second device is described. One end of the cable comprises a standard USB device connector that has four electrical contacts; two for power (VBUS, GND) and two for differential data signals (D+ and D−). The other end of the cable comprises a proprietary device connector having at least four corresponding electrical contacts and at least one additional electrical contact. The cable also has inline circuitry configured to control the power direction between the ends of the cable based on a characteristic of a signal originating from an electrical contact of the USB device connector. The devices and methods described herein enables reverse direction power across a standard 4 wire USB device receptacle in a non standard way while autonomously providing standard USB data connectivity.