Active Cable with External Power

Abstract

This invention is an active cable or cables with a female micro USB or other connector recessed at the rear end of the HDMI plug for connecting external power when needed. The recessed connector is connected to an internal circuitry that combines this external power with the power from the source or sink device via a straight or “OR” circuits. This design is clean when no external power is needed because there're no dangling pigtails with USB plugs. When external power is needed because the source or sink devices can't provide enough current, the user can use for example widely available male micro USB to male USB cable (the standard charging cable for most Android phones and many other computer or phone accessories) or other cable to get external power, and the cable length can be selected to fit the application.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An active cable comprising:
 at least one connector and a cable;   at least one connector further comprising a body and internal circuitry on a printed circuit board (PCB) to process the signals, wherein the internal   processing circuits can get power from a connected source or sink device; and   a female connector integrated into the body for getting power from an external power supply other than the source or sink device when needed.   
     
     
         2 . The active cable  claim 1 , wherein the signal standard is chosen from a group consists HDMI, USB, DisplayPort, Lighting, Thunderbolt, and Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) cables. 
     
     
         3 . The active cable of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one male connector, the male connector further comprising a probe projecting from the front of the male connector; and
 at least one locking spring on at least one surface on the probe.   
     
     
         4 . The active cable of  claim 1 , wherein the female cable connector standard is chosen from the group consisting of a micro USB,  3 . 5  mm mini jack, a micro HDMI, Lightning, Thunderbolt, mini DisplayPort, MHL, and a USB Type C. 
     
     
         5 . The active cable of  claim 1 , wherein the bulk wires can be copper or optical fiber or a mix of copper or optical fiber. 
     
     
         6 . The active cable of  claim 1 , wherein the circuitry, further comprises an “OR” circuit on the PCB; wherein the “OR” circuit is configured to join the power from the source or sink device and the power from the female connector together to feed the internal processing circuits of the active cable, and wherein the “OR” circuit is configured to only allow current from the power source with higher voltage to go through while cutting off the power source with lower voltage. 
     
     
         7 . The active cable of  claim 1 , further comprising a power status indicator Light Emitting Diode (LED) on the internal PCB that indicates if the signal processing circuits get enough power to process signals over the active cable. 
     
     
         8 . The internal PCB of the active cable of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one wide and straight copper trace configured for bypassing power surge and Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) current; and
 at least one narrow and angled connected copper trace for connecting the signals to the processing circuits while isolating the components from power surge and ESD current.   
     
     
         9 . The probe of the at least one connector of the active cable of  claim 3 , further comprising at least one long clamp extended into the connector body from the front of the probe;
 at least one solder for each of the long clamps joining the long clamp to the PCB, wherein the solder of the clamp onto the PCB increases mechanical integrity.   
     
     
         10 . The active cable of  claim 1 , further comprising a strain relief, wherein the female connector is positioned on the same surface of the connector body, wherein the active cable strain relief is positioned off center of the connector body to leave room for the female connector; and wherein the female connector is also positioned so the body of the external male power cable connector plugged into the female connector will be in parallel to and close in distance to the cable wire and strain relief, providing added protection to the connector.