INTELLIGENT IDENTIFIABLE CONNECTORS

摘要

A connector that is particularly suitable for use in high speed data transmission is provided in the form of a plug connector (104) that may be terminated to the end of a high speed cable (105). The connector has a plurality of terminals (140, 141, 150, 253, 254) for terminating to respective signal wires, ground wires and power wires of the cable, and also has an additional terminal (252) that serves to detect and identify status information about the cable to circuits on a circuit board to which the cable is connected through the plug connector and a mating receptacle connector (110). This detection terminal is shorted to another terminal of the connector, preferably a power ground, or return, terminal (254). The shorting is done with an electronic component that modifies the voltage passing from the shorted terminal through the detection terminal. The modified voltage may be easily read on the circuit board to determine the status of the cable (such as the speed of the cable), or an electronic device attached thereto.