A compact inductively coupled connector for mobile devices

A nested inductive connector, consisting of a single power channel and one or more data channels, is proposed as replacement for legacy conductive connectors in mobile devices. Advantages include minimized space in the mobile device, waterproofing, orientation independence, and resistance to stress through a breakaway mechanism. A simulation and analysis of relevant parameters, such as the transfer coefficients for both the power and data channels as well as crosstalk, of the connector design for a simple 2-layer PCB is presented. As an example, the proposed connector is utilized as a replacement for a standard TRS headphone jack found on many mobile devices. The connect or features an AC to DC rectifier, data transmitting circuits, as well as a Class-D power amplifier to drive a pair of headphones.