| 摘要 |
In order to reduce the number of ports/sockets required on electronic equipment, particularly notebook computers and similar portable devices, a multi-purpose port/socket (30) is proposed. The invention is specifically directed to allowing video ports (eg CRT, DVI) on notebook computers to be utilised for general communications (eg USB, RS-232) when the computer's internal screen is being utilised. The system comprises a switching circuit (20) in the computer which detects the protocol used by a device connected to the port from the signal levels and then connects an appropriate driver/control loop (11,12) to the port to communicate with the external device. An adapter (50) may be provided which provides a variety of standard sockets and allows the external device to utilise its standard connector. |
