3.1 Cable types Flashcards
What two values can a bit store?
1 or 0
How many bits is a ‘nibble’?
4 bits
How many bits is a ‘byte’?
8 bits
What is the name and abbreviation for 1000bits?
Kilobit (Kb)
What do lowercase b and capital B stand for, respectively?
b = bits
B = bytes
What is the name and abbreviation for 1 million bits?
Megabit, Mb
How many Kilobytes are in 1 Megabit?
125KB
What is the name and abbreviation for 1 trillion bytes?
Gigabyte, GB
What are USB type B cables most commonly used for?
Printers
Which USB connectors conform to USB standard 2.0?
Type A, Type B, Mini A and B, Micro A and B
How many pins are along one side of a Type A USB connector?
4 pins
When would you use a mini and micro USB connector, respectively?
Mini - Cameras
Micro - Smartphones, health monitors, GPS devices
What is the pin configuration of a USB Type B connector?
1 and 2 on top, 3 and 4 on bottom
Describe the pin configuration of a USB Type C
12 pins along both top and bottom; only one set is used; it doesn’t matter which way you put it in; if using with USB 3.2 compatible devices, there will be a Type C on both ends
When used with USB 3.1, what data transfer rates can a Type C connector support?
Superspeed - 5Gb/s
Superspeed+ - 10Gb/s
If a USB 2 device uses a USB 3 cable, what will happen?
It wll work, but only at USB 2 specifications
What is the highest USB version that a Type A connector can support?
USB 3.1
Why might a Lightning cable, even though it is type C, not conform to USB 3.2 specifications?
Because it is proprietary of Apple
List the Gb/s speed of USB 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.1 Gen 1, 3.1 Gen 2, 3.1 Gen 2x2, and USB 4
1.1 - 12Mb/s, full speed
2.0 - 480Mb/s, high speed
3.0 - 5Gb/s
3.1 Gen One - 10 Gb/s
3.1 Gen Two - 10 Gb/s
3.1 Gen 2x2 - 20Gb/s (must have shorter cable)
4 - 40Gb/s (must have shorter cable)
What USB connectors support version 4?
Type A, B, C, B mini and B micro
What were some uses of serial cables, and what might they still be used for?
Used to connect external modem to computer
May still be used for keyboard/mouse, or specific equipment in industrial environments
Why were serial cables called such?
Because they only transfer data one bit at a time
Name one advantage and one disadvantage of serial cables
- They were better suited for transmitting data of longer distances as there were no timing issues (as there would be with 8 bits)
- A lot slower!
The RS-232 cable could support how many bps over how many metres?
9600bps over 15m
The RS-422 cable could support how many Megabytes per second over how many metres?
10MBps over 12m, could go upto 1km but decreased speed significantly
How was the RS-458 cable different to the other serial cables?
Didn’t increase speed, but could support many devices in a daisy chain or bus topology
Who developed the Thunderbolt cable?
Apple and Intel
What are some features of the Thunderbolt cable?
- Bidirectional (transmit and receive data at the same time)
- Up to 40Gbps data transfer rates
- Supporting devices in bus topology
What can the Thunderbolt cable be used for?
- Supporting devices in bus topology
- Charging
- Data transfer
- Audio
What are SuperSpeed USB connectors used for?
Connecting peripherals such as mice, keyboard, webcam, printer or other devices to a computer
What is a HDMI connector used for?
Connecting a monitor, TV, or other device for a video output display
Why would you use a RJ-45 connecter?
What does the RJ stand for?
To access local area networks over a wired connection
Registered Jack
What configuration of wires does the RJ-45 connector most often come with?
8 internal wires in twisted pairs, 8 pin 8 connector (8P8C)
Which connector would you use for older mice, keyboards and external modems?
DB9 Connector
Describe a DB-25 connector.
D-shaped sub miniature pin, two thumb screws on the side, goes into the back of a computer
List the 3 sizes of connectors that support HDMI.
- Full-size (Type A)
- Mini (Type C)
- Micro (Type D)
Difference between Category 1 and Category 2 HDMI?
Cat 1 is standard, used for video content; Cat 2 is high-speed and uses higher resolutions (can go up to 4K)
Between what data transfer speeds can Display Port support?
2.7Gb/s to 20Gb/s
What is Display Port used for?
Digital displays; made as a replacement for VGA and DVI
What is the difference between DVI-A, DVI-D, and DVI-I?
Only supports analog, only digital, and does both (integrated)
Describe the VGA connector and what it was used for.
15-pin, analog video interface port, computer chipset standard for displaying colour graphics, superseded by DVI and DP due to not being able to keep up with larger displays
Will all USB-C support Thunderbolt 3?
No. But all Thunderbolt 3 will support USB-C
List some storage cables
- Thunderbolt
- Lightning
- SATA
- External SATA
- PATA
- Molex Power Connector
- SCSI
What is the main purpose of a SATA cable?
To connect a storage device to a motherboard inside a desktop computer
What is the difference between the 7-pin and 15-pin SATA cables?
7-pin is a data cable, and the 15-pin is a power connector to provide power to the device
What speeds can SATA versions 1, 2 and 3 support?
1 - 1.5Gb/s
2 - 3Gb/s
3 - 6Gb/s
What is PATA?
Old IDE connectors, cables and standards but renamed for branding
What cable was referred to as ribbon cable and what did it do?
IDE, connected storage devices to ports on motherboard (superseded by SATA)
What is a Molex Power Connector?
List some use cases
A 4-pin connector that could attach directly from the power supply to a device.
Hard drives, floppy disks, motherboards, optical drives, CPU, graphics card
Describe the configuration and voltage of the wires in a Molex connector
Yellow, black, black, red
12v, grounding, grounding, 5v
What would a 20-pin Molex connector be used for?
Supplying power for all integrated components on the motherboard (Molex connectors are only ever used for power)
Define a SCSI
A legacy parallel bus connector that allows multiple devices to be daisy chained together (8, then 16 later on)
Give two characteristic features of Cat 5 cabling.
- Twisted pair copper cabling
- RJ45 connector
