200, the first communication interface 110 and the second communication interface 120 remain inactive.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the removable I/O baffle 330 of FIG. 3B. The I/O baffle 330 comprises the front fascia 610, including a through hole 620 to receive a male end of a USB Type-C cable connector, and finger recesses 615 along top and bottom edges of the front fascia 610 to help the user remove the I/O baffle 330 from the combination connector 200. In some examples, the front fascia 610 can further include a lip 630 around the through hole 620 having a thickness greater than the rest of the front fascia 610. The lip 630 increases a contact area of the front fascia 610 with the USB Type-C cable connector for a more secure connection. Additionally, the thickness of the lip 630 can be selected to provide appropriate spacing of the USB Type-C cable connector, such that the male end of the connector extends an appropriate depth into the forward opening of the combination connector 200.

The removable I/O baffle 330 further includes a conductive housing 640 which has a complementary profile to that of the connector housing 210. The conductive housing 640 is similar to the outer walls 510 of a DisplayPort cable connector 500, and can be inserted into the combination connector 200 to trigger the pair of detection pins as discussed above. Unlike a true DisplayPort cable connector 500, the conductive housing 640 includes a notch cutout 650 in a top portion of the housing where the first detection pin 230a would contact the I/O baffle 330. Accordingly, control logic of the combination connector 200 can distinguish between a DisplayPort cable connector 500 and the removable I/O baffle 330 by a connection state of each of the pair of detection pins. When both the first detection pin 230a and the second detection pin 230b are triggered (indicated by a short to ground), the combination connector 200 is set for DisplayPort operating mode. However, if only the second detection pin 230b is triggered, the control logic can interpret that the I/O baffle 330 is inserted and set a USB operating mode. The I/O baffle 330 blocks non-USB cable connectors from being inserted, allowing the combination connector 200 to remain in the USB operating mode even when no cable is connected to the second communication interface 120. From the perspective of the user, the combination connector 200 behaves nominally as a USB Type-C connector while the removable I/O baffle 330 is installed.

FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view of an example of the combination connector 200 in accordance with aspects of the present application and illustrating the removable I/O baffle 330 and a Universal Serial Bus (USB) Type-C cable connector 700 inserted. Side walls 710 of a male end of the USB Type-C cable connector 700 extend through the through hole 620 and into the opening of the combination connector 200. A plurality of pins of the cable connector 700 contact the second communication interface 102 on the narrow projection 130. A depth D4 of the narrow projection 130 can accommodate the USB Type-C cable connector 700. In some examples, the depth D4 is about 2.30 millimeters.

FIG. 7B is a perspective view of an example in accordance with aspects of the present application and illustrating the removable I/O baffle 330 and USB Type-C cable connector 700 inserted into an electronic device. The combination connector 200 (not shown) is resided inside a device housing 750 of the electronic device, such as the side of a notebook computer housing. The device housing 750 can have a recessed portion to accommodate the front fascia 610 such that the I/O baffle 330 lies flush within the housing. To remove the I/O baffle 330 from the combination connector 200, the user can disconnect the USB Type-C cable connector 700 and then pull at the finger recesses 615 along top and bottom edges of the front fascia 610.

FIG. 8 is a schematic representation of one example in accordance with aspects of the present application and illustrating a control circuit 800 for operating the combination connector 200. The control circuit 800 comprises a controller 805 such as an embedded controller (EC), a super input/output (SIO) controller, or another integrated circuit for monitoring activity on the pair of detection pins. The control circuit 800 further includes a USB host device 810 and a DisplayPort source device 820 communicatively connected to a multiplexer (MUX) 830.

The multiplexer 830 is connected to the USB host device 810 by a plurality of serial data lines, such as Super Speed Transmit (SSTX) and Super Speed Receive (SSRX) lines, although additional serial data lines can be connected as needed to support various USB protocols implemented by the USB host device 810. The multiplexer 830 is also connected to the DisplayPort source device 820 by a plurality of data lanes (ML0, ML1, ML2, and ML3) and an auxiliary channel (AUX), although additional connections are possible. The serial data lanes and DisplayPort data lanes may be collectively referred to as data channels.

The multiplexer 830 and a power delivery (PD) controller 840 are each connected to the interface PCB 100 to selectively enable power delivery to the combination connector 200 and connect the data lines to the combination connector 200 according to the selected operating mode. In some examples, the DisplayPort source device 820 provides power directly to the combination connector 200 via a switch 821 (i.e., a transistor, relay, etc.) enabled by the controller 805 in the DisplayPort operating mode. The power delivery controller 840 can be selectively enabled by the controller 805 in the USB operating mode to provide power to USB peripheral devices via the second communication interface 120.

As discussed herein, the controller 805 can identify, via the first detection pin 230a and the second detection pin 230b, whether a first type of cable connector (DisplayPort) or a second type of cable connector (Type-C) is electrically connected to the combination connector 200. The controller 805 can identify the cable type by sensing, by the first detection pin 230a and the second detection pin 230b, a closed circuit formed by the first type of connector, indicating a DisplayPort operating mode, or sensing, by the first detection pin 230a, a closed circuit formed by the second type of connector, and sensing, by the second detection pin 230b, an open circuit indicating a USB operating mode. In other examples, the controller 805 can identify the cable type by sensing, by the first detection pin 230a, an open circuit, and sensing, by the second detection pin 230b, a closed circuit, indicating an error operating mode, or sensing, by the first detection pin 230a and the second detection pin 230b, an open circuit indicating a disabled operating mode when no cable is detected.