WO2021262143A1

WO2021262143A1 - Input/output ports

Info

Publication number: WO2021262143A1
Application number: PCT/US2020/039032
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yow Wei CHENG; Chia-Wei Ting; Kuang-Chun Chen
Original assignee: Hewlett Packard Development Co LP
Current assignee: Hewlett Packard Development Co LP
Priority date: 2020-06-23
Filing date: 2020-06-23
Publication date: 2021-12-30
Anticipated expiration: 2022-12-23

Abstract

An example electronic device may include a housing, an input/output (I/O) port disposed on a side of the housing to receive a connector plug of a peripheral device, an electromagnet disposed around the I/O port, and a controller coupled to the I/O port and the electromagnet. The controller may identify a connection to the peripheral device via the I/O port. Further, the controller may detect that a communication channel with the peripheral device is established in accordance with a communication protocol. Furthermore, the controller may energize the electromagnet to produce magnetic attraction with a magnetic element of the connector plug in response to the detection.

Description

INPUT/OUTPUT PORTS

BACKGROUND

[0001] Electronic devices may be equipped with peripheral devices, such as human interface devices (e.g., a keyboard, mouse, and the like), data storage devices (e.g., flash memory, hard drives, optical drives, and the like), printers, scanners, communication devices, and the like. Such peripheral devices may be connected in accordance with a standardized interface (e.g,, Universal Serial Bus (USB)). For example, a USB interface may allow an electronic device to communicate with a peripheral device according to a USB interface protocol. Such USB interface may include a cable having connector plugs on both ends. The connector plugs may receive into connector receptacles of the electronic device and the peripheral device, thereby forming conductive paths for data and/or power transmission.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] Examples are described in the following detailed description and in reference to the drawings, in which:

[0003] FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a portion of an example electronic device, depicting an I/O port and an electromagnet;

[0004] FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the portion of the example electronic device of FIG. 1A, depicting the I/O port connected to a connector plug;

[0005] FIG. 2A depicts an example power negotiation process to establish a communication channel between the electronic device of FIG. 1A and a peripheral device;

[0006] FIG. 2B is a block diagram of the example electronic device of FIG. 1A, depicting the example I/O port including a pin to detect a connection with a peripheral device; [0007] FIG. 3A is a perspective view of a portion of an example electronic device, depicting an I/O port and an electromagnet disposed around the I/O port;

[0008] FIG. 3B is a perspective view of the portion of the example electronic device of FIG. 3A, depicting the I/O port that can be connected to an external peripheral device:

[0009] FIG. 4A is a block diagram of an example electronic device including a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, storing instructions to energize an electromagnet; and

[0010] FIG. 4B is a block diagram of the example electronic device of FIG.

4A including the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, storing additional instructions to de-energize the electromagnet.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] Electronic devices may share power and/or data using various cables. Example electronic devices may Include portable computing devices, tablets, desktops, all-in-one computers, smartphones, storage devices, portable media players, navigation systems, monitors, or the like. Such cables may have connector inserts, or connector plugs, on both ends. The connector inserts may plug Into connector receptacles/ports (e.g., input/output (I/O) ports) on the electronic devices, thereby forming conductive paths for signals and/or power.

[0012] Further, the electronic devices having the I/O ports may be connected to various external peripheral devices, for instance, via the cables, in other examples, the peripheral devices may include inbuilt connector inserts that can be directly plugged into the I/O ports. Example peripheral device may include a Universal Serial Bus (USB) drive, hard disk, docking station, camera, smartphone, or the like. [0013] In such examples, communication protocols (e.g., a USB interface protocol, lightening interface protocol, and the like) may be used to allow communication between the electronic devices and a variety of peripheral devices. The communication: protocols can define the connectors in terms of their physical dimensions, shapes, and electrical connection characteristics. The communication protocols can also define how communications are carried out between connected devices. In some examples, the communication protocols define how devices negotiate with one another for purposes such as establishing communication speeds and power delivery options. For example, a USB interface standard may be used to attach an external peripheral device to an electronic device for transmitting and receiving data to and from the external peripheral device, supply charging power to the external peripheral device, and/or the like.

[0014] To make the connection between the electronic device and the peripheral device, the connector plug may be inserted into the I/O port that is attached to a printed circuit board of the electronic device. Such connectors may use a mechanical or friction fit to couple the connector plug to the I/O port. However, such connectors may be sometimes inadvertently decoupled, for instance, due to an accident such as when a person trips over a cable attached to the connector. Such inadvertent decoupling can result in data loss, for instance, when the peripherai device is being accessed by the electronic device.

[0015] In some examples, a user may have to manually eject/unmount the peripheral device prior to unplugging the peripheral device from the I/O port. However, inadvertently unplugging the peripheral device without manually ejecting may result in an incomplete data transfer due to an unexpected interruption of the I/O port. The incomplete data transfer may cause data corruption while copying files, brick the peripheral device while performing firmware upgrades, or the like.

[0016] Some example connector plugs and connector ports may be magnetic. That is, a magnetic connector plug may be magnetically attracted to a magnetic connector port, and the two may be held in place by the magnetic attraction. However, such magnetic attraction may cause a cable to become disconnected from the connector plug or may lead to other mechanical failures during usage over time. For example, a shell or other housing may become detached from other parts of the connector plug. Also, such magnetic connector plugs and/or connector ports may attract metal debris (e.g., an iron staple), which may get stuck inside the connector plugs and/or I/O ports and damage the electronics associated with the electronic device.

[0017] Examples described herein may provide an electronic device having an I/O port and an electromagnet disposed around the I/O port. For example, the

I/O port may receive a connector plug of a peripheral device. Further, the electronic device may include a controller to detect an event associated with a communication channel between the electronic device and the peripheral device. Furthermore, the controller may energize the electromagnet to produce magnetic attraction with a magnetic element of the connector plug (e.g., to lock the connector plug and the I/O port) in response to the detected event

[0018] In an example, the detected event may include:

1. an establishment of the communication channel with the peripheral device in accordance with a communication protocol (e.g., based on a completion of power negotiation between the electronic device and the peripheral device),

2. a power consumption of the peripheral device via the communication channel is greater than a threshold, or

3. an initiation of data transfer between the electronic device and the peripheral device via the communication channel.

[0019] Similarly, the electromagnet in the I/O port may be de-energized to release the lock in response to detecting another event such as a request to unmount the peripheral device, the power consumption of the peripheral device Is less than or equal to the threshold , a completion of the data transfer, or powering off the electronic device. Since the electromagnet in the I/O port may be energized In response to the detection of the event, the I/O port may not be magnetic before the connector plug being plugged into the I/O port. Hence, the electromagnet may not attract any metal debris. [0020] The connector port and the connector plug: described herein may provide an electromagnetic connection to enhance the connector removal resistance of the peripheral device while the peripheral device is being accessed by the electronic device. Further, the electromagnetic connection described herein may prevent an accidental removal of the peripheral device from the I/O port while the peripheral device is being accessed, such as removal of a USB drive during data transmission, removal of a peripheral device during firmware update, and the like.

[0021] In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present techniques. However, the example apparatuses, devices, and systems, may be practiced without these specific details. Reference in the specification to “an example” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described may be included in at least that one example but may not be in other examples.

[0022] Referring now to the figures, FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a portion of an example electronic device 100, depicting an I/O port 104 and an electromagnet 106. Particularly, FIG. 1A depicts a cut-away top view of the portion of electronic device 100, depicting I/O port 104 and electromagnet 106. I/O port 104 may be used to transmit/receive power and/or data to or from electronic device 100. For example, I/O port 104 can be mated with a connector plug 110 of a peripheral device to transmit/receive data, and/or supply power to the peripheral device. Example electronic device 100 may include, but not limited to, a laptop, a convertible device, a personal digital assistance (PDA), a notebook, a tablet, a personal gaming device, a mobile phone, or any other device that may house electronic components. Example convertible device may refer to a device that can be “converted” from a laptop mode to a tablet mode.

[0023] Electronic device 100 may include a housing 102 and I/O port 104 disposed on a side of housing 102 to receive connector plug 110 of the peripheral device. Example housing 102 may be a keyboard housing, display housing, or the like. For example, the keyboard housing may house a keyboard, a battery, a touchpad, and so on. The display housing may house a display (e.g,, a touchscreen display). Example display may include liquid crystal display (LCD), light emitting diode (LED), electro-luminescent (EL) display, or the like. In other examples, housing 102 may house other components such as a camera, audio/ video devices, and the like, depending on the functions of electronic device 100.

[0024] Further, electronic device 100 may include electromagnet 106 disposed around I/O port 104, in art example, electromagnet 106 may be disposed at a right side, left side, top side, bottom side, a corner, or any combination thereof of I/O port 104. Further, electronic device 100 may include a controller 108 coupled to I/O port 104 and electromagnet 106, in an example, controller 108 may be implemented as engines or modules including any combination of hardware and programming to implement the functionalities described herein. In other examples, controller 108 may be implemented using a control circuitry having a switch element to trigger or terminate power supply to electromagnet 108. Example controller 108 may be a south bridge controller, USB controller, microcontroller unit (MCU), or the like.

[0025] During operation, controller 108 may identify a connection to the peripheral device via I/O port 104. In an example, controller 108 may detect that the peripheral device is plugged into I/O port 104, for instance, based upon a detection of the voltage level change on a pin of I/O port 104. FIG. IB is a perspective view of the portion of example electronic device 100 of FIG. 1A, depicting I/O port 104 connected to connector plug 110. For example, similarly named elements of FIG. 1B may be similar in structure and/or function to elements described with respect to FIG. 1A.

[0026] Further, controller 108 may detect that a communication channel with the peripheral device is established in accordance with a communication protocol. In an example, controller 108 may detect that the communication channel with the peripheral device is established based on a voltage value of a bus voltage (VBUS) pin, a configuration channel 1 (CC1) pin, or a configuration channel 2 (CC2) pin of I/O port 104. An example I/O port 104 is explained in FIG. 2B. [0027] h another example, controller 108 may perform a power negotiation between electronic device 100 and the peripheral device. In this example, controller 108 may transmit a source capability message including power information supported by electronic device 100 to the peripheral device via I/O port 104 to initiate the power negotiation. Further, controller 108 may receive a power request message including a selected power information from the peripheral device. Furthermore, controller 108 may transmit a power supply message to the peripheral device in response to the reception of the power request message. The power supply message may indicate that power supply is prepared to the peripheral device. Then, .ontroller 108 may receive a response message responsive to the power supply message from the peripheral device to complete the power negotiation. An example power negotiation is explained in FIG. 2A. Further, controller 108 may detect that the communication channel with the peripheral device is established in response to the completion of the power negotiation.

[0028] Furthermore, controller 108 may energize electromagnet 106 to produce magnetic attraction with a magnetic element 112 of connector plug 110 in response to the detection that the communication channel is established. Example magnetic element 112 may be ferromagnetic material, such as iron, steel, or the like. In an example, electromagnet 106 and magnetic element 112 can be disposed on mating ends of I/O port 104 and connector plug 110, respectively. Further, controller 108 may receive a request to unmount (e.g., eject) the peripheral device via a user interface of electronic device 100, Then, controller 103 may de-energize electromagnet 106 in response to the reception of the request to unmount the peripheral device.

[0029] FIG. 2A depicts an example power negotiation process 200A to establish a communication channel between electronic device 100 of FIG. 1A and a peripheral device 202, The operations in power negotiation process 200A for message transmission and reception may be performed by electronic device 100 (e.g., a host device) and/or peripheral device 202. [0030] Consider that electronic device 100 operates as the host device (e.g., a notebook computer) and peripheral device 202 operates as the client device (e.g,, ^'a smartphone or a storage device) in initial connection through a connector cable. At 204, electronic device 100 may transmit power information of electronic device 100. At 206, the power information may be transmitted through a source capability message Including the power information supported by electronic device 100 to peripheral device 202 via the I/O port. Example power information: may include information on voltage and current that can be supplied by electronic device 100, In an example, the source capability message may be a power delivery (PD) message having information about power supply according to a protocol specified in a USB type-C standard, in other examples, the source capability message may also include additional information used to identify a type of electronic device 100,

[0031] Upon receiving the source capability message from electronic device 100, peripheral device 202 may transmit a response message thereto (e.g,, "GoodCRC" message), at 208, At 210, peripheral device 202 may analyze the received source capability message and select the power to be requested. In an example, peripheral device 202 may identify the type of electronic device 100 operating as the host device using the additional information included in the received source capability message. Further, peripheral device 202 may select power information to be used by peripheral device 202 among supportable power Information included in the source capability message.

[0032] At 212, peripheral device 202 may transmit a power request message including selected power to electronic device 100, At 214, peripheral device 202 may receive a response message (e.g., a “GoodCRC” message) corresponding to the power request message. For example, the power request message according to the USB PD standard may be a data message type of the PD message.

[0033] At 216, electronic device 100 may analyze the power request message and determine whether to accept the provision of the selected power. Accordingly, at 218, electronic device 100 may transmit an acceptance message to peripheral device 202. At 220, electronic device 100 may receive a response message (e.g., a “GoodCRC” message) corresponding to the acceptance message. For example, the acceptance message may be a control message type of the PD message according to the USB PD standard.

[0034] Subsequently, at 222, electronic device 100 may switch power to requested power. At 224, electronic device 100 may transmit a power supply message (e.g., a "PS_Ready” message) indicating that power supply is prepared to peripheral device 202 to inform peripheral device 202 of the power switching. At 226, electronic device 100 may receive a response message ^'(e.g,, a "GoodCRC” message), which completes the power negotiation between electronic device 100 and peripheral device 202. For example, the “PS_Ready” message may be a control message type of the PD message according to the USB PD standard.

[0035] As described above, when the power negotiation is completed, peripheral device 202 may enter a specific operation mode. Accordingly, controller 108 (e.g., as shown in FIGs. 1A and 1B) may energize electromagnet 106 (e.g., as shown in FIGs. 1A and 1 B) to produce magnetic attraction with a magnetic element of a connector plug in response to the detection of the completion of the power negotiation.

[0036] FIG. 2B is a block diagram of example electronic device 100 of FIG. 1A, depleting example I/O port 104 including a pin to detect a connection with a peripheral device. For example, similarly named elements of FIG. 2B may be similar In structure and/or function to elements described with respect to FIG. 1A. Referring to FIG. 2B, electronic device 100 may include I/O port 104, electromagnet 106, and controller 108, Example I/O port 104 shown in FIG. 2B is a USB type-C receptacle structure. In other examples, I/O port 104 may include a USB Type-B configuration, USB Type-A configuration, micro-USB port, mini- USB port, Lightening port, Thunderbolt port, or the like.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 2B, I/O port 104 having the USB type-C receptacle structure may include pins in two columns. As an example, I/O port 104 may include pins At to A12 in a first column and pins B1 to B12 in a second column, A signal name and description of pins A1 to A12 and B1 to B12 may be according to the USB specification. I/O port 104 may support data communication with a variety of speeds. In an example, I/O port 104 may include pins A2, A3, A10, A11, B2, B3, B10, and B11 supporting high speed data communication according to a first standard (e.g., USB 3.1), and pins A6, A7, B6, and B7 supporting low speed data communication according to a second standard (e.g,, USB 2.0). Further, VBUS pins A4, A9, B4, and B9 may correspond to power supply pins, GND pins A1, A12, B1, and B12 may correspond to pins transferring a ground voltage, and sideband use (SBU) pins A8 and B8 may be used to support an alternate (ALT) mode.

[0038] Further, pins CC1 A5 and CC2 B5 (e.g., as shown in dotted lines

252) may be used to detect connections and configure an interface between a USB type-C cable and l/O port 104. In an example, when the peripheral device is connected to I/O port 104 in a first direction, CC1 pin may be used to detect the connection to the peripheral device. When the external cable is connected to I/O port 104 in a second direction (i.e., opposite to the first direction), CC2 pin may be used to detect the peripheral device. Thus, controller 108 may perform the peripheral device detecting operation using CC1 pin or CC2 pin before performing the communication operation. In such examples, controller 108 may determine the connection between electronic device 100 and the peripheral device based on a voltage value of the VBUS pins A4, A9, 84, and B9 and/or CC pins A5 and B5. Further, controller 108 may energize electromagnet 106 associated with I/O port 104 in response to the detection.

[0039] FIG. 3A is a perspective view of a portion of an example electronic device 300, depicting an I/O port 304 and an electromagnet 306 disposed around I/O port 304. For example, similarly named elements of FIG. 3A may be similar in structure and/or function to elements described below with respect to FIG. 3B. An example operation of FIG. 3A is explained with respect to FIG. 3B,

[0040] FIG. 3B is a perspective view of the portion of example electronic device 300 of FIG. 3A, depicting I/O port 304 that can be connected to an external peripheral device 352. Example electronic device 300 may include a housing 302 (e.g., a keyboard housing). For example, electronic device 300 may be a laptop with a display housing 358 pivotally, detachably, or twistably connected to the keyboard housing. Further, electronic device 300 may include an electronic component, such as a processor, circuit board, memory, battery, and the like, disposed in housing 302. Further, electronic device 300 may include I/O port 304 disposed on a side of housing 302 to receive a connector plug 354 of peripheral device 352. Example I/O port 304 may Include a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, a micro-USB port, a mini-USB port, a Lightening port, a HDMI port, a Firewire port, a Thunderbolt port, or the like. In other examples, I/O port 304 may include any other shape and/or structure to receive a corresponding connector plug.

[0041] Further, electronic device 300 may include electromagnet 306 disposed around I/O port 304, For example, electromagnet 306 may be disposed within housing 302 and exposed through an opening defined in the side of housing 302, Furthermore, electronic device 300 may include a switch 308 coupled to electromagnet 306, Also, electronic device 300 may include a controller 310 coupled to switch 308 and I/O port 304, In an example, controller 310 may be implemented as engines or modules including any combination of hardware and programming to implement the functionalities described herein. Example controller 310 may be a USB controller, a Thunderbolt controller, a Firewire controller, a Lightening controller, or the like.

[0042] During operation, controller 310 may establish a communication channel with peripheral device 352 via I/O port 304, In the example shown in FIG. 3B, peripheral device 352 may be connected to I/O port 304 using a cable 360. For example, cable 360 may have first connector plug 354 connected to I/O port 304 and a second connector plug 362 connected to an I/O port of peripheral device 352. The communication channel with peripheral device 352 may be established in accordance with a communication protocol to transfer power and/or data. In an example, I/O port 304 may include various pins to enable power transfer, data transfer, or a combination thereof. In this example, the power may be transferred from electronic device 300 to peripheral device 352 or the data may be shared between electronic device 300 and peripheral device 352. Example communication protocol may be a USB interface protocol, a Lightning interface protocol, a Thunderbolt interface protocol, an HDMI interface protocol, a Firewire interface protocol, or the like. [0043] Further, controller 310 may monitor a power consumption of peripheral device 352 via the communication channel. Furthermore, controller 310 may control switch 308 (e.g., to turn-on switch 308) to energize electromagnet 306 to produce magnetic attraction with a magnetic element 356 of connector plug 354 in response to a determination that the power consumption of peripheral device 352 is greater than a threshold. In an example, controller 310 may determine that peripheral device 352 may be in an active state when the power consumption is greater than the threshold. In some examples, controller 310 may control switch 308 via Inter-integrated Circuit (I2C) bus interface, General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) bus interface, or the like.

[0044] Furthermore, controller 310 may control switch 308 (e.g., to turn-off switch 308) to de-energize electromagnet 306 in response to a determination that the power consumption of peripheral device 352 is less than or equal to the threshold, in an example, controller 310 may determine that peripheral device 352 may be in an inactive state when the power consumption is less than the threshold. In an example, the threshold to activate/de-activate the electromagnet may be determined based on USB product number/vendor number (PlD/VID) associated with the peripheral device 352. Thus, switch 308 described in FIGs, 3A and 3B may be controlled based on the power consumption measured on a path between electronic device 300 and peripheral device 352.

[0045] In other examples, controller 310 may cause electromagnet 306 to de-energize when electronic device 300 is powered-off. The term “powered-off’ may refer to a setting of electronic device 300 in a non-operative state. For example, power-off may include complete power-off (S5), standby/sleep/suspend (S3), and/or hibernation (S4).

[0046] FIG. 4A is a block diagram of an example electronic device 400 including a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium 404, storing instructions to energize an electromagnet. For example, similarly named elements of FIG. 4A may be similar in structure and/or function to elements described below with respect to FIG. 4B. An example operation of FiG. 4A is explained with respect to FIG. 4B. [0047] FIG. 4B is a block diagram of example electronic device 400 of FIG. 4A including non-transitory machine-readable storage medium 404, storing additional instructions to de-energize the electromagnet. Electronic device 400 may include a processor 402 and machine-readable storage medium 404 communicatively coupled through a system bus. Processor 402 may be any type of central processing unit (CPU), microprocessor, or processing logic that interprets and executes machine-readable instructions stored in machine-readable storage medium 404. Machine-readable storage medium 404 may be a random- access memory (RAM) or another type of dynamic storage device that may store information and machine-readable instructions that may be executed by processor 402. For example, machine-readable storage medium: 404 may be synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate (DDR), rambus DRAM (RDRAM), rambus RAM, etc., or storage memory media such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD, a pen drive, and the like. In an example, machine-readable storage medium 404 may be a non-transitory machine-readable medium. In an example, machine- readable storage medium 404 may be remote but accessible to electronic device 400.

[0048] As shown in FIG. 4A, machine-readable storage medium 404 may store instructions 408-410. In an example, instructions 406-410 may be executed by processor 402 to energize the electromagnet upon detecting an initiation of data transfer. As shown in FIG. 4B, machine-readable storage medium 404 may further store instructions 412 and 414. In an example, instructions 412 and 414 may be executed by processor 402 to de-energize the electromagnet upon detecting a completion of the data transfer.

[0049] Instructions 406 may be executed by processor 402 to establish a communication channel with a peripheral device via an I/O port of electronic device 400. The I/O port may receive a connector plug of the peripheral device. In an example, instructions to establish the communication channel with the peripheral device may include instructions to establish the communication channel with the peripheral device in accordance with a communication protocol. The I/O port may be defined by a sidewall of a housing of electronic device 400 and may have a size and shape corresponding to a specification of the communication protocol

[0050] Instructions 408 may be executed by processor 402 to detect an initiation of data transfer between the electronic device and the peripheral device via the communication channel Instructions to detect the initiation of the data transfer may include instructions to monitor the communication channel to detect the initiation of the data transfer between the electronic device and the peripheral device. For example, initiation of data transfer may include initiation of a firmware upgrade of the peripheral device, storing data on to the peripheral device, retrieving data from the peripheral device, or the like.

[0051] Instructions 410 may be executed by processor 402 to energize the electromagnet to produce magnetic attraction with a magnetic element of the connector plug in response to the detection. In an example, instructions to energize the electromagnet may include instructions to issue a control signal to a switch coupled to the electromagnet in response to the detection of initiation of data transfer. In this example, the switch may energize the electromagnet based on the control signal.

[0052] Instructions 412 may be executed by processor 402 to detect a completion of the data transfer between the electronic device and the peripheral device, instructions 414 may be executed by processor 402 to de-energize the electromagnet in response to the detection of the completion of the data transfer. Thus, examples described herein may provide an elecfremagnet-based locking mechanism for I/O ports that provides an automatic activation or deactivation of the electromagnet.

[0053] The electromagnet-based locking mechanism described herein may ensure data integrity for storage drives (e.g., USB thumb drives) by preventing unexpected removal of the storage drives. Further, the electromagnet-based locking mechanism may provide a secured connection for system extension accessories, such as a docking station, when other peripheral devices are connected to the docking station. Furthermore, the electromagnet-based locking mechanism may protect the peripheral device from plugging out when performing critical operations, such as a firmware upgrade. Also, the locking mechanism described herein may de-energize the electromagnet when the system turns off or suffers from unexpected power less, thereby preventing the peripheral device from being locked out to the I/O port.

[0054] The above-described examples are for the purpose of illustration.

Although the above examples have been described in conjunction with example implementations thereof, numerous modifications may be possible without materially departing from the teachings of the subject matter described herein. Other substitutions, modifications, and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the subject matter. Also, the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract, and drawings), and/or any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where some of such features are mutually exclusive.

[0055] The terms “include,” “have,” and variations thereof, as used herein, have the same meaning as the term “comprise" or appropriate variation thereof.

Furthermore, the term “based on”, as used herein, means “based at least in part on." Thus, a feature that is described as based on some stimulus can be based on the stimulus or a combination of stimuli including the stimulus. In addition, the terms "first” and: “second” are used to identify individual elements and may not meant to designate an order or number of those elements.

[0056] The present description has been shown and described with reference to the foregoing examples, it is understood, however, that other forms, details, and examples can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present subject matter that is defined in the following claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

An electronic device comprising: a housing; an input/output (I/O) port disposed on a side of the housing to receive a connector plug of a peripheral device; an electromagnet disposed around the I/O port; and a controller coupled to the I/O port and the electromagnet, wherein the controller is to: identify a connection to the peripheral device via the I/O port; detect that a communication channel with the peripheral device is established in accordance with a communication protocol; and energize the electromagnet to produce magnetic attraction with a magnetic element of the connector plug in response to the detection.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is to: perform a power negotiation between the electronic device and the peripheral device; and detect that the communication channel with the peripheral device is established in response to a completion of the power negotiation.

3. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the controller is to: transmit a source capability message including power information supported by the electronic device to the peripheral device via the I/O port; receive a power request message including a selected power information from the peripheral device; transmit a power supply message to the peripheral device in response to the reception of the power request message, wherein the power supply message is to indicate that power supply is prepared to the peripheral device; and receive a response message responsive to the power supply message from the peripheral device to complete the power negotiation.

4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is to detect that the communication channel with the peripheral device is established based on a voltage value of a bus voltage (VBUS) pin, a configuration channel 1 (CC1) pin, or a configuration channel 2 (CC2) pin of the I/O port.

5, The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is to: receive a request to unmount the peripheral device via a user interface of the electronic device; and de-energize the electromagnet in response to the reception of the request to unmount the peripheral device.

6. An electronic device comprising: a housing; an input/output (I/O) port disposed on a side of the housing to receive a connector plug of a peripheral device; an electromagnet disposed around the I/O port; a switch coupled to the electromagnet; and a controller coupled to the switch and the I/O port to: establish a communication channel with the peripheral device via the

I/O port; monitor a power consumption of the peripheral device via the communication channel; and control the switch to energize the electromagnet to produce magnetic attraction with a magnetic element of the connector plug in response to a determination that the power consumption of the peripheral device is greater than a threshold.

7. The electronic device of claim: 6, wherein the controller is to control the switch to de-energize the electromagnet in response to a determination that the power consumption of the peripheral device is less than or equal to the threshold.

8. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the I/O port is a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, a micro-USB port, a mlni-USB port, a lightening port, a Firewire port, or a Thunderbolt port.

9. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the controller is a USB controller, a Thunderbolt controller, a Firewire controller, or a Lightening controlier.

10. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the controller is to cause the electromagnet to de-energize when the electronic device is powered -off.

11. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor of an electronic device, cause the processor to: establish a communication channel with a peripheral device via an input/output (I/O) port of the electronic device, wherein the I/O port is to receive a connector plug of the peripheral device; detect an initiation of data transfer between the electronic device and the peripheral device via the communication channel; and energize an electromagnet to produce magnetic attraction with a magnetic element of the connector plug In response to the detection.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 11, further comprising Instructions to: detect a completion of the data transfer between the electronic device and the peripheral device;: and de-energize the electromagnet in response to the detection of the completion of the data transfer.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein instructions to energize the electromagnet comprise instructions to: issue a control signal to a switch coupled to the electromagnet in response to the detection, and wherein the switch is to energize the electromagnet based on the control signal .

14. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein instructions to detect the initiation of the data transfer comprise instructions to: monitor the communication channel to detect the initiation of the data transfer between the electronic device and the peripheral device.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein instructions to establish the communication channel with the peripheral device comprise instructions to: establish the communication channel with the peripheral device in accordance with a communication protocol .