usbusb-c
This is my first time using USB-C. I am implementing a reference schematic for a school project, however it uses a male Type-C connector. I would like to use a female Type-C socket instead and use a cable to connect my device to a host.
Is a female socket a drop-in replacement in my case? My main concern is that some Type-C cables are said to be active and I might mess up.
The USB schematic is below:
And for reference, this is what the device (LAN7800 EV board) looks like:
There is actually quite an interesting design question hiding in here. You won't find a single connector part that will do what you want as it isn't a standard use case that would warrant mass production (i.e. nobody would make it because they wouldn't sell many).
The simplest way would be to build a PCB containing two USB A male connectors mounted in such a way that they will be in the right place. I can think of three ways this might be possible.
The first thought would be to get some SMD male connectors and mount one on each side of a PCB so that you get two connectors out the same side. However this would require to find just the right connectors - you would need two different connectors, which are basically the mirror image of each other (as one would be mounted on the reverse of the PCB. It would also require the PCB to be close enough to the right thickness to space the connectors.
An easier option would be to design a small PCB with one SMD USB connector on it, and have the second USB connector on your main PCB. The smaller board would plug in as a daughter board using some other connector such that the two USB male connectors are mounted above each other.
A third option would be to make a PCB which has two SMD USB connectors like these ones mounted vertically as if they were through-hole parts. This should be possible as they have pins that stick out the middle, and metal edge tabs that could be soldered to pads on the PCB for support. You would need to design the board with the connectors at the right spacing to mate with the Pi, and then route the connections down through the PCB to a different connector which would allow the board to be connected to your main PCB vertically.
This is not possible for micro B or type C. Lightning is not as well documented but likely similar. USB-C to C cables will enable this sort of thing by design and include a dedicated CC wire in the cable partly for this reason but existing USB-A terminated cables cannot do what you want and electrically identify themselves as connecting to an upstream port.
For USB micro B The connector has a fifth pin (sense) that electrically identifies what role the connected device should assume. Normal cables leave this floating and various resistances to ground mean different things (shorted==USB upstream,100K=USB upstream w/ external 5V). Obviously this isn't accessible at the USB A end of the cable.
USB C does something similar with the CC pins which are again handled by the USB-C connector on the end of the cable for A to C cables. These identify themselves electrically as connecting to an upstream device and this cannot be overridden at the USB A end.
Lightning is Apple's special proprietary snowflake and I have no idea but here too it almost certainly won't work.
Best Answer
Changing a plug to a socket is never a drop-in replacement. And it's not even about having an active or passive cable, it won't be compatible due to how all USB cables are wired.
USB plug to plug cables are not wired straight thru, and devices with a socket are responsible for detecting cable orientation and connecting to the right pins depending on which way the cable is plugged in.
Thus just replacing a plug with a socket will not work unless the pins are routed to match how an USB cable is wired, and even then, without cable orientation detection and muxing to correct pins, it will only work when cable is plugged in to your device in one orientation. Which is not how a real Type C device should work.