Portable electronic device docking station

Abstract

A universal docking station for portable electronic devices is disclosed. In some embodiments, the docking station may utilize a universal interface to communicatively couple a portable electronic device to one or more inputs, displays, and/or accessory devices. In some embodiments, the universal interface may be a high-speed and/or super-speed universal data interface. In further embodiments, the universal docking station may be configured to provide electrical power to a portable electronic device. By utilizing a universal data interface, the universal docking station may be utilized with any portable electronic device having the universal data interface regardless of the manufacturer of the portable electronic devices.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A docking station for a laptop computer, the docking station comprising:
 a body without a user input or user output device;   a power receiving interface coupled to the body and configured to receive electrical power from a power adapter;   an accessory interface coupled to the body and configured to simultaneously communicatively couple the docking station with a plurality of user interchangeable accessory devices to enable data communication between the laptop computer and the user interchangeable accessory devices;   a standardized non-proprietary, universal data interface coupled to the body and configured to operate according to a universal data communication standard to communicatively couple the docking station with the laptop computer and in electrical communication with the accessory interface to enable data communication between the laptop computer and the user interchangeable accessory devices; and   a standardized power providing interface, separate from the universal data interface, in electrical communication with the power receiving interface and configured to operate according to a universal power communication standard to deliver electrical power to the laptop computer, the standardized power providing interface comprising:
 a power port; 
 a power cable coupled to the power port; 
 a proprietary tip removably coupled to the power cable, 
 wherein the power cable and removable proprietary tip are configured to enable power communication between the laptop computer and the power receiving interface; and 
 wherein the power providing interface and the power cable are configured to provide power sufficient for the laptop computer. 
   
     
     
         2 . The docking station of  claim 1 , wherein the power receiving interface is configured to receive electrical power from a power adapter. 
     
     
         3 . The docking station of  claim 2 , wherein the data communication enabled by the accessory interface is non-audio. 
     
     
         4 . The docking station of  claim 3 , wherein the data communication enabled by the universal data interface is non-audio. 
     
     
         5 . The docking station of  claim 4 , wherein the standardized non-proprietary, universal data interface comprises a data port to enable non-audio, data communication between the laptop computer and the universal data interface. 
     
     
         6 . The docking station of  claim 5 , wherein the standardized power providing interface is configured to operate according to a universal power communication standard. 
     
     
         7 . The docking station of  claim 1 , wherein the body is further configured to mechanically retain the laptop computer. 
     
     
         8 . The docking station of  claim 1 , wherein the universal data interface further comprises a high speed interface. 
     
     
         9 . The docking station of  claim 1 , wherein the universal data interface is configured to support the USB communication standard. 
     
     
         10 . The docking station of  claim 1 , wherein the universal data interface comprises an interface selected from the group comprising: a high speed USB interface, an IEEE 1394 interface, a LightPeak™ interface, a CopperPeak™ interface, an Ethernet interface, an eSata interface, an HDMI interface, a DVI interface, a VGA interface, a ThunderBolt™ interface, and a Display Port interface. 
     
     
         11 . The docking station of  claim 1 , wherein the universal data interface is configured to support a communication standard used by a plurality of manufacturers of portable electronic devices. 
     
     
         12 . The docking station of  claim 1 , wherein the docking station further includes a reset button configured to reset the universal data interface. 
     
     
         13 . The docking station of  claim 8 , wherein the reset button is further configured to reset the accessory interface. 
     
     
         14 . The docking station of  claim 1 , wherein the docking station further includes a power button configured to control the electrical power delivered to the laptop computer by the power providing interface. 
     
     
         15 . The docking station of  claim 1 , wherein the body is configured to store cables associated with the accessory interface. 
     
     
         16 . The docking station of  claim 1 , wherein the body is configured to store cables associated with the power receiving interface. 
     
     
         17 . The docking station of  claim 1 , wherein the body is configured to store accessories associated with the portable electronic device. 
     
     
         18 . The docking station of  claim 1 , wherein the accessory interface comprises one or more user interchangeable ports. 
     
     
         19 . The docking station of  claim 1 , wherein the accessory interface comprises a port configured to communicatively couple with a non-audio input/output device. 
     
     
         20 . The docking station of  claim 1 , wherein the accessory interface comprises a port configured to communicatively couple with a user input device. 
     
     
         21 . The docking station of  claim 1 , wherein the accessory interface comprises a port configured to communicatively couple with a user viewable display. 
     
     
         22 . The docking station of  claim 1 , wherein the accessory interface comprises a port configured to communicatively couple with a printer. 
     
     
         23 . The docking station of  claim 1 , wherein the accessory interface comprises a plurality of user interchangeable ports. 
     
     
         24 . A docking station for a laptop computer, the docking station comprising:
 a body without a user input or user output device;   a power receiving interface coupled to the body and configured to receive electrical power from a power source;   an accessory interface coupled to the body and configured to simultaneously communicatively couple the docking station with a plurality of user interchangeable accessory devices;   a standardized non-proprietary, universal data interface coupled to the body and configured to operate according to a universal data communication standard to communicatively couple the docking station with the laptop computer and in electrical communication with the accessory interface to enable data communication between the laptop computer and the user interchangeable accessory devices; and   a standardized power providing interface, separate from the universal data interface, in electrical communication with the power receiving interface and configured to deliver electrical power to the laptop computer, the standardized power providing interface comprising:
 a power port; 
 a power cable coupled to the power port; 
 a non-universal tip removably coupled to the power cable, 
 wherein the power cable and removable non-universal tip are configured to enable power communication between the laptop computer and the power receiving interface; and 
 wherein the power providing interface and the power cable are configured to provide power sufficient for the laptop computer.