USB Type B: Why male vs. female differentiation is not enough?

2

This manufacturer website is very definite:

The two types of plugs have the same number of pins, and are electrically identical. They are only different mechanically. This was an intentional feature designed by the USB Implementers Forum to prevent connecting a host to another host, which could cause a short circuit.

Why male vs. female differentiation is not enough?

Val

Posted 2014-11-05T09:35:07.023

Reputation: 1

Answers

0

Probably because

  1. sockets for female plugs are bulky compared to male, requiring your phone etc to be twice as thick as it currently is.

  2. there would be nothing preventing you from chaining USB cables, which isn't supported without a repeater.

Tetsujin

Posted 2014-11-05T09:35:07.023

Reputation: 22 456

But the cables as they are designed (males at both ends) imply female phone sockets! Do you mean the USB design favours bulky phones? I do not also understand how bulkness is related to the need to introduce a new type. – Val – 2014-11-05T14:01:06.283

the plugs are male, the sockets are 'for male plugs' - perhaps I didn't explain clearly enough. Sockets for female plugs are larger. I've edited. – Tetsujin – 2014-11-05T14:51:55.767

2to try explain it without it turning into some bizarre 'birds & bees' lesson... The small male plug fits nicely in the larger female socket. to encompass that female socket as a plug, you would then have to 'box' it & the space needed for the male plug inside a still larger enclosure. – Tetsujin – 2014-11-05T14:56:07.720

Asked: 2014-11-05T09:35:07.023

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Active: 2014-11-05T14:52:37.377