Mobile Device Wired Connection Methods
Laptop Ports
- ports are usually arranged on the left and right edges
- Older laptops might have ports at the back of the chassis
- least one video port for an external display device
- HDMI or DisplayPort/Thunderbolt
- VGA or DVI on older laptops
- few USB Type A ports
- one or more USB Type C ports
- may also function as Thunderbolt ports
- microphone and speaker jacks
- RJ45 (Ethernet) for networking
- memory card reader
Smartphone and Tablet Connectors
- Android-based smartphones and tablets use the USB-C connector for wired peripherals
- Micro-B USB and Mini-B connector form factors are only found on old devices
- Apple devices use the proprietary Lightning connector
- latest ones use USB-C
Serial Interfaces
- Serial is one of the oldest and simplest computer interfaces
- not many mobile devices have hardware serial ports
- software serial port is often used for programming and connectivity with some types of peripheral devices
- The serial interface is called a universal asynchronous receiver transmitter (UART) port
- On Android, UART interface data can be transferred over a USB hardware port or over Bluetooth
- Apple devices do not allow direct connections to UART over the Lightning connector, except through enrollment in the developer program
Info
Another use for a serial interface is to connect a laptop to the serial port of a managed switch or router.
- As most laptops no longer have 9-pin RS-232 hardware ports, these connections use special adapter cables that connect to a USB or RJ45 port on the laptop