Instructor: In this lesson, we're going to talk
about mobile device wire connectivity.
Now there's lots of different
wired connections on a mobile device.
And if you're dealing with a laptop,
you have lots of different ports.
Whereas if you're dealing with a smartphone or a tablet,
you generally will only have one
external port on that device.
When you're dealing with a laptop,
this can include lots of different ports,
including things like HDMI, display port,
or Thunderbolt for video output,
as well as 1/18 inch
or 3.5 millimeter audio jacks
for speakers and microphones.
Or you might be using an RJ45 connection
for wired networking.
In addition to all of that,
you'll probably have a few USB type A
or USB type C ports on your laptop
in order to connect other accessories to your system.
Now, now what I really want to focus on
in this lesson though,
is the different types of wired connectivity
that you may come across
in terms of power and data cables
when it comes to a smartphone, a tablet,
and even some laptops.
When it comes to smartphones and tablets,
there's really one major division between them.
And this is the operating system that's going to be used.
Is this an iOS or an Android device?
If it's an iOS device, it was created by Apple.
And if it wasn't, it's probably going to be an Android device
and it can be created by a wide number of manufacturers,
but the Android operating system itself
is created by Google.
Now, if you're dealing with an iOS device,
like an iPhone or an older iPad,
you're going to be using a lightning cable
as your data and charging cable on that device.
A lightning cable is a proprietary cable
only used by Apple devices.
And specifically iPhones, older iPads,
and the AirPod cases for your headphones.
All of these will use this lightning cable,
which is a dual-sided 8-pin connector
that can be inserted in either direction.
And on the other side of that cable will either
be a USB type A or USB-C connection
to plug into a wall adapter
or directly into the side of a laptop or desktop.
Now on modern iPads though,
the lightning cable is no longer used.
And instead, they're using USB-C connections.
A USB-C connection is a modern version of USB
that operates at USB 3.0 speeds
and can provide data and power
to a device using a very small form factor
in comparison to the older USB type A connections.
When you're using USB-C,
you're going to find this being used
on Android smartphones, Android tablets,
iPads, and even some laptops.
The next type of power and data cable
we have for smartphones and tablets
is a USB 2.0 with a Micro B connector.
This connector used to be very popular
with older smartphones and tablets
that use the Android operating system,
but most of them have switched over
to using a USB-C connector on modern devices.
Another version of USB that we need to be aware
of is known as USB 2.0 Mini B.
This Mini B style connector was also used
in older smartphones and tablets
that ran the Android operating system.
But again, these days it's not commonly used
because most things have switched over
to using a USB-C connector.
The final one we want to talk about is known
as a serial cable.
Now a serial cable is an older type
of cable known as a DB9 cable.
This DB9 means it is a D-shaped connector with 9 pins.
This is an older type of cable
that used to be used to connect external serial devices,
like modems, into a computer or laptop.
Now, why are we covering it here in mobile devices?
Well, you'll often see a serial cable
or a DB9 cable still being used
on some laptops for connecting to a router or switch
when you're using what's known as a rollover cable.
Now, most laptops, these days don't come
with a DB9 port built into them,
but if you still need this capability
because you need to connect
to a router or switch as a network technician,
you can use a USB to serial adapter.
This will be an adapter that plugs
into a USB port on your laptop and provides you
with a DB9 style serial connection port
on the other side of the adapter
that you can plug your rollover cable
into and then plug the other end of the rollover cable
into the switch or router
that you're trying to connect to.
Another use for serial cables
is actually as a virtualized serial connection.
Now, modern smartphone and tablets,
especially those that use Android have an interface
on it known as the UART, U-A-R-T,
which stands for the universal
asynchronous receiver transmitter.
Now this particular device allows programmers
to connect to the device and get diagnostic
and other information from it.
And this is a serial connection.
Now, instead of being a physical serial port,
instead this is a software interface
that's emulating the UR port on that device.
If you're developer and you need to connect
to this UART port on an Android tablet or smartphone,
you can do that using a USB cable
or over Bluetooth if your system supports it.
So keep in mind when it comes to wired connectivity
there are lots of different options out there,
including lightning cables, USB-C cables,
older USB Micro B cables and USB Mini B cables
and the really old legacy serial cables
that you might come across
for a specific use case in the field.