Electronic – Does USB connector do any thing special like impedance matching or it’s just a way to connect two devices to each other

connectorhigh frequencypcbpcb-designusb

I'm designing a board that both USB Host and device are in the same board. The host is a microprocessor and the device is a HID device which has a stm32f107 as usb device controller. What I need to know is:

  • Is it possible to connect my host and device data lines as differential pair on the board without any extra components like USB connectors, resistor and …?

As in antenna connectors in telecommunication board that matchs impedance of the board and the antenna, does USB connectors do the same thing? I mean does omitting the USB connectors from the circuit affect the operation of USB communication?

Best Answer

USB 1 and 2 A/B connectors are just connectors, there is no special magic inside them. USB 3 A/B connectors are also just connectors but they are reaching speeds where controling parasitics in the connector, maintaining characteristic impedance etc starts to become really important.

As long as you maintain the correct impedances going directly from chip to chip should be just fine. Even if you don't a "Full speed" interface will almost certainly work.

USB C connectors can have some inteligence inside but afaict it's mostly related to the "power delivery" stuff.