The technological process does not stand still. Modern models of various digital devices strikingly different from their older counterparts. Not only their appearance and internal equipment have changed, but also the methods of connecting to computers and chargers. If only 5-7 years ago many phones and even cameras did not have this capability. But on this moment absolutely every digital device can be connected to personal computer or laptop. Phone, player, smartphone, tablet, video camera, player or camera - they are all equipped with connectors that allow you to connect them to other devices.

But, as is easy to see, there is discord. And for some reason the cord purchased with the phone cannot be used with your favorite player. As a result, a bunch of cables accumulate, you constantly get confused in them and cannot understand why it was impossible to make one wire suitable for connecting all devices. But, as we know, this does not happen. Although now there is a more or less standard connector, at least for smartphones, phones and tablets. And its name is micro-USB. What kind of miracle this is and how it works, we will tell you below.

Micro USB connector: what is it?

The two most popular connectors lately are mini and micro-USB. Their names speak for themselves. These are smaller, more practical designs that are used on smaller digital devices to save space and perhaps create a sleeker appearance. For example, for a tablet it is almost 4 times less than standard USB 2.0, and considering that the device itself is several times smaller than a personal computer or even a laptop, this option is simply ideal. But there are also some nuances here. For example, more can never be made into less, so micro-USB connectors cannot even be replaced with mini-USB. Although in some cases the reverse process is acceptable. And the replacement is unlikely to end in anything good. This is such a piece of jewelry work. In addition, the word “micro” covers several types of connectors, and you need to remember this. Especially if you're trying to buy new wire. Your tablet's micro USB may not be compatible with the connector on the end of the cable you purchased.

Varieties

Micro-USB connectors can be absolutely two different types. They have different areas of application and, accordingly, they look different. The first type is called micro-USB 2.0. type B - it is used in devices by default and is an unspoken standard for the latest models of smartphones and tablets, because of this it is very common and almost every person at home has at least one micro-USB 2.0 cable. type B.

The second type is micro-USB 3.0 - these connectors are not installed on tablets, but can be found on smartphones and phones of some brands. Most often they are used to equip external hard drives.

Advantages

The main advantages of micro-USB connectors for tablets include increased density and reliability of the plug. But this fact does not exclude the possibility of problems with these components. Most often, the cause of breakdown is the carelessness of the owners of digital devices themselves. Sudden movements, tablets and phones falling onto the floor or even asphalt, especially on the side where the connector itself is located, attempts to correct something with your own hands without the appropriate knowledge - these are the main reasons why even the most durable parts of USB ports fail out of service. But it happens that this happens due to wear and tear of the device, improper operation or manufacturing defects.

Most often, the cause of malfunction is either the micro-USB connectors themselves, or the parts adjacent to them and connected to them in a circuit. For any experienced craftsman, replacing it is a matter of minutes, but not everyone can cope with this at home. If you are still interested in how you can fix it yourself (or, in other words, desoldering) - the process is not the longest or most difficult if you approach it wisely and first read the relevant information. Some tips will be given below.

Micro USB connector: pinout

As you know, with ordinary ports and connectors everything is simple - you just need to take an image of the front part of their connector, but in a mirror image, and solder it. With micro-species everything is a little different. Their connectors contain 5 contacts, but on connectors of type B, contact number 4 is not used, and on type A it is closed to GND, which occupies the fifth place.

Functions of the “legs” of the micro-USB connector

Since most modern tablets have micro-USB, which serves not only for charging, but also for synchronization, problems with it arise more often due to the more frequent use of the connector.

So, as mentioned above, a regular micro-USB connector has five “legs”. One is positive, at five volts, and one is negative. They are located on different sides of the connector and, accordingly, suffer less when separated from motherboard. Only one “leg” of the connector, which more often than others is pulled out of the contact pad, is subject to more wear. It is located closer to the minus “leg”. If this contact is damaged, the device cannot be charged. That is, the system can see the power supply, but the charging process will not occur.

The remaining two “legs” are responsible for synchronization, that is, for the ability to upload and download photos, music, etc. They do this at the same time, so the separation of one will entail the cessation of the work of the second.

Knowing the functions of the “legs”, you will be able to determine which contacts are causing you to have problems and which of them you will need to solder to get your tablet back into operation.

Consequences of incorrect connector replacement

Having soldered micro-USB incorrectly, owners most often encounter the following problems:

1. Short circuits of the power supply if they soldered the inverted type.
2. The tablet detects the charging cord, but the battery (battery) does not charge.
3. The tablet's battery charges perfectly, but it does not sync with a laptop or computer.
4. The tablet works fine, but sometimes it “reminds” you that you should take it to a workshop instead of soldering it yourself (for example, charging does not start immediately after turning it on, or sometimes the cord needs to be pulled out and reinserted several times before charging starts) .

The Future of Micro USB

Since these are some of the most popular ports today, if you learn how to change them once, it will help you out very often in the future. And let them not be accepted as the “gold standard” in the development of phones and other digital devices. And we still have to have a whole collection of wires specifically for Acer laptop, for a phone from Samsung, for an iPad from Apple, but the active use of micro-connectors gives hope that soon, instead of a “bouquet”, we will have one micro-USB cable on our shelf, suitable for at least 90% of the equipment in the house.

02.06.2016

In this article we will look at what types of USB connectors exist and what they are most often used for.

On the left is the connector (male), on the right is the connection connector (female)

1) USB 2.0 Type A

The most common connector for computer connections: keyboards, mice, flash drives and other similar devices.

The connector takes its roots from the 90s, then versions 1.0 or 1.1 had speeds of up to 12 Mbit/s, and USB 2.0, already released in 2000, had speeds of up to 480 Mbit/s, which is still popular today.

2) USB 2.0 Type B

A less common connector, mainly found in large peripheral devices: printers, scanners, MFPs, external sound cards and other devices requiring higher current.

3) USB 2.0 Type Mini-B 4 pin

It was widespread in the mid-2000s, used to transfer data from digital cameras and cameras, but was discontinued due to insufficient power, replaced by a full-length Mini USB

4) USB 2.0 Mini USB

One of the most popular, but already becoming a thing of the past connectors. Often found in phones, MP3 players, digital cameras, portable hard drives and other mobile equipment.

5) USB 3.0 Type A

The new USB type A standard differs in appearance only in color. IN modern computers and on laptops it is indicated in blue or red. New format 10 times faster than its predecessor, has a data transfer rate of up to 5 Gbit/s. One of the main features is its versatility, the connector can be connected to old usb 2.0, and vice versa.

6) USB 3.0 Type B

The new format is found in a few devices that only require high power, such as portable drives large format, routers, NAS storage, MFPs and other peripheral devices.

7) USB 2.0 Micro USB

The main format for connecting all portable devices: phones, tablets, e-books and other portable devices.

It was approved as a single charging format for all phones.

8) USB 3.0 Micro USB

The connector differs from its predecessor by an additional 5 contacts and has all the best quality, only with even greater speed. Currently found in portable hard drives and smartphones. The cable has an adaptation with the old connector, that is, a cable from USB 2.0 Micro USB can be connected to a new device.

9) USB Type C

The new format, also known as USB 3.1, is a continuation of the Micro USB standard. The new connector is capable of introducing throughput up to 10 Gbit/s, with the smallest dimensions. Was first used in the new Apple MacBook 12", where this port is universal for all connected devices, including charging. Now this connector is found in all new smartphones and most likely this is not the end.

In our store you can purchase an adapter for your smartphone from a USB 2.0 Micro USB connector to USB Type C so that you can always be connected at first.

In this article I want to cram in as much information as possible related to USB (types, connectors and adapters that currently exist).

USB (Universal Serial Bus - “universal serial bus") - serial data interface for peripheral devices V computer technology with built-in power lines. There are two types of connectors/slots for USB:

• Type A
• Type B

Each type is divided into three groups:

• Standard
• Micro

All USB devices have their own version.

USB 1.x and 2.0

Specification 1.0 regulated two types of connectors:

• A – on the controller or USB hub side
• B – on the peripheral device side

Subsequently, miniature connectors were developed for USB applications in portable and mobile devices, called Mini-USB. A new version of miniature connectors called Micro-USB, was presented USB Implementers Forum January 4, 2007. Appearance shown in the table (Table 1).

Table 1. Appearance of USB 1.x and 2.0 devices of different types

	Standard	Mini	Micro
Type A
Type B

For USB 1.x, two operating modes are regulated:

• low bandwidth mode ( Low-Speed) - 1.5 Mbit/s
• high throughput mode ( Full-Speed) - 12 Mbit/s

For USB 2.x, three operating modes are regulated:

• Low-speed, 10-1500 Kbps (keyboards, mice, joysticks)
• Full-speed, 0.5-12 Mbit/s (audio, video devices)
• High-speed, 25-480 Mbit/s (video devices, storage devices)

USB 3.x

In the USB 3.0 specification, connectors and cables of the updated standard are physically and functionally compatible with USB 2.0, and for unambiguous identification, USB 3.0 connectors are usually made of blue plastic . USB 3.0 specification improves maximum speed transferring information up to 5 Gbit/s - which is an order of magnitude greater than the 480 Mbit/s that USB 2.0 can provide. Thus, the transfer speed increases from 60 MB/s to 600 MB/s and allows you to transfer 1 TB not in 8-10 hours, but in 40-60 minutes.

On July 31, 2013, the USB 3.0 Promoter Group announced the adoption of the next interface specification, USB 3.1, whose transfer speed can reach 10 Gbps. The appearance is shown in the table (Table 2).

Table 2. Appearance of USB 3.x devices of different types

	Standard	Mini	Micro
Type A
Type B

Examples of adapters and ports (Figure 1-3).

Figure 1 – Types of adapters.

USB(USB, English) Universal Serial Bus- “universal serial bus”) - a serial interface for connecting peripheral devices to computers. It has become very widespread and has actually become the main interface for connecting peripherals to household digital equipment.

The interface allows not only to exchange data, but also to provide power to the peripheral device. The network architecture allows you to connect a large number of peripherals even to a device with one USB connector.

The development of USB specifications is carried out within the framework of the international non-profit organization USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), which unites developers and manufacturers of equipment with USB bus. During the development process, several versions of the specifications were developed. Nevertheless, the developers managed to keep high degree compatibility of equipment of different generations.

There are two types of connectors/slots for USB:

• Type A
• Type B

Each type is divided into three groups:

• Standard
• Micro

Some types of connectors

All USB devices have their own version.

First USB version connectors (1.1). Its characteristic feature is a very low speed, at which all information is transmitted with a long delay.
The transfer speed is 12 Mbit/s. Its main purpose is to be used for interconnecting devices.

Second version of USB connectors (2.0).

Characterized by a data transfer rate of 480 Mbit/s. This corresponds to a speed of 48 MB/s.

The bulk of all modern technical instruments and devices are adapted to use this particular version. It is the most popular and well-known, and therefore is still in demand in the electrical goods market.
True, due to many factors, the real speed of this standard does not exceed 30 - 33 MB/s.

Third version of USB (3.0).

This version is characterized by the speed of information transfer – 5 Gbit/s – which is considered a fairly high figure.
This speed corresponds 500 MB/s This is much higher than the speed of the latest generation hard drives (150 - 170 MB/s).

USB 3.0 connectors are (sometimes) specially marked blue for recognition.

USB power supply

The power for which connected devices with USB connectors are designed is 2,5 W and also 4,5 W (for the third version). Based on this, USB connectors of all versions require voltage 5 V. Current up to 0,5 Oh, and for the third version - 0.9 A.

Micro USB 3.0.

Modern external drives, which have high speed, as well as SSD-type drives, basically all are equipped with such a connector, which is characterized by a high speed of information exchange.

USB 3.1 Type-C

• Data transfer rate up to 10 GBps
• Possibility of powering devices with power consumption from the port up to 100W
• Connector dimensions comparable to micro-USB
• The symmetry of the connector - it does not have a top or bottom, which means there is no key, which often leads to damage to both the connectors themselves and the gadgets connected through them
• Using this interface, you can power devices with voltage up to 20 volts
• There are no longer different types of connectors - A and B. Both ends of the cable have exactly the same connectors. Both data and power supply can be transmitted through the same connector in both directions. Depending on the situation, each connector can act as a master or slave
• We are promised that the connector design can withstand up to 10,000 connections
• It is possible to use this interface for direct connection instead of some other widely used interfaces for fast data exchange.
• The standard is compatible from top to bottom with both the regular USB 3 interface and its younger brothers. Of course not directly, but with the help of an adapter it is possible to connect, say, a USB 2.0 drive through it

This article provides general information about the USB standard, as well as pinoutUSB connector by colors of all types (USB, mini-USB, micro-USB, USB-3.0).

USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector is a universal-purpose serial bus, modern way connections external devices to a personal computer. Replaces previously used connection methods (serial and parallel port, PS/2, Gameport, etc.) for common types of peripheral devices - printers, mice, keyboards, joysticks, cameras, modems, etc. This connector also allows you to organize data exchange between a computer and a video camera, card reader, MP3 player, or external hard drive.

The advantage of the USB connector over other connectors is the ability to connect Plug&Play devices without the need to restart the computer or manual installation drivers. Plug&Play devices can be connected while the computer is running and be up and running within seconds.

When connecting a new device, first the hub (cable hub) receives high level via a data line, which reports that new equipment has arrived. Then the following steps follow:

1. The Hub informs the Host computer that a new device has been connected.
2. The host computer asks the hub which port the device was connected to.
3. After receiving a response, the computer issues an activation command of this port and performs a bus reset.
4. The hub generates a reset signal (RESET) with a duration of 10 ms. The output power current of the device is 100 mA. The device is now ready for use and has a default address.

The creation of USB is the result of collaboration between companies such as Compaq, NEC, Hewlett-Packard, Philips, Intel, Lucent and Microsoft. The USB standard was intended to replace the widely used RS-232 serial port. USB generally makes the job easier for the user and has greater bandwidth than the RS-232 serial port. The first USB specification was developed in 1995 as a low-cost, universal interface for connecting external devices that did not require much data bandwidth.

Three USB versions

USB 1.1

Version USB 1.1 was designed to serve slow peripheral devices (Low-Speed) with a data transfer rate of 1.5 Mbit/s and fast devices (Full-Speed) with a data transfer rate of 12 Mbit/s. USB 1.1, however, was unable to compete with the high-speed interface, for example. FireWire (IEEE 1394) from Apple with data transfer rates up to 400 Mbps.

USB 2.0

In 1999, they began to think about the second generation of USB, which would be applicable to more complex devices (for example, digital video cameras). This a new version, designated as USB 2.0, was released in 2000 and provided a maximum speed of up to 480 Mbps in Hi-Speed ​​mode and remained backward compatible with USB 1.1 (data transfer type: Full-Speed, Low-Speed).

USB 3.0

The third version (also referred to as Super-speed USB) was designed in November 2008, but was probably delayed until 2010 due to the financial crisis. USB 3.0 has more than 10 times the speed of USB 2.0 (up to 5 Gbit/s). The new design has 9 wires instead of the original 4 (the data bus already consists of 4 wires), however, this standard still supports USB 2.0 and provides lower power consumption. This allows you to use any combination of USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 devices and ports.

The USB connector has 4 pins. Connects to DATA+ and DATA- contacts twisted pair(two wires twisted together), and regular wires are connected to the VCC (+5 V) and GND pins. Then the entire cable (all 4 wires) is shielded with aluminum foil.

Below is the pinout (wiring) of all types of USB connectors.

Types and pinout of USB connectors

USB cable pinout by color:

1. +5 volts
2. -Data
3. +Data
4. General

USB connector pinout diagram - type A:

USB connector pinout diagram - type B:

Cable wiring according to connector colors:mini (mini) and micro (micro) USB:

1. +5 volts
2. -Data
3. +Data
4. Not used / Shared
5. General

Mini-USB connector pinout - type A: