Apple has filed a patent (number 20120331194) with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for an interface extender for portable electronic devices. It’s designed to facilitate the efficient use of space with such gadgets.
The invention provides a system that facilitates communication between components in a portable electronic device. The system includes a first hub that couples a first set of interfaces to a high-speed link and a second hub that couples a second set of interfaces to the high-speed link.
The first hub may receive a communication from a first component through a first interface in the first set of interfaces and transmit the communication through the high-speed link. The second hub may receive the communication from the high-speed link and transmit the communication to a second component through a second interface in the second set of interfaces. The first and second hubs may thus reduce the number of wires required to transmit communications between the first and second sets of interfaces.
Alex J. Crumlin is the inventor.
