In toamna anului trecute Apple prezenta lumii intregi Lightning dock-ul si conectoarele Lightning pentru iDevice-uri, noul standard dand peste cap intreaga industrie a producatorilor de accesorii. Tehnologia gandita de catre Apple pentru iDevice-urile sale este foarte complexa, are un sistem de securitate special, iar acum este protejata prin intermediul a 3 noi brevete de inventie inregistrate de catre oficiul pentru brevete de inventie si marci din SUA. Brevetele inregistrate acum protejeaza conectoarele Lightning si capacitatea lor de a isi adapta pinii in functie de orientarea in care este cablul introdus intr-un dock Lightning, una dintre partile extrem de complexe ale intregului sistem.
The present invention generally relates to connectors for connecting two devices. Specifically, certain embodiments of the present invention relate to reversible connectors with configurable contacts. Embodiments of the present invention provide techniques for dynamically configuring contacts of a host-side connector that is associated with a host system. In one embodiment of the present invention, a contact in the host-side connector is capable of being assigned one of several functions. The function to be assigned to the contact (and other contacts in the connector) may depend on the accessory coupled to the host system and the signals provided/used by the accessory. For example, when an audio only accessory is coupled to the host system, at least one of the contacts on the host-side connector can be configured to carry audio data.
Apple are obiceiul de a proteja cu indarjire tehnologiile pe care le implementeaza in produsele sale, inregistrarea de brevete de inventie fiind un proces normal pentru o companie atat de mare.
