Mouse Connectors

MOUSE CONNECTORS

What is a mouse? A mouse is a device that controls the movement of the cursor (pointer) on a computers display screen. The plural of the mouse is mice. Some mice have got two buttons right and left button while others will have a third scroll button. It was invented by Douglas Engelbart of Stanford Research Center in 1963 and then pioneered by Xerox in the 1970's. This invention came as a major break through in computer ergonomics.

A mouse connector is a dedicated socket or interface in the computer for connecting a mouse. Since the invention of the first personal computer by IBM back in 1981, different types of mouse connectors have been developed. Let us have a look at them.

A. Bus Mouse

The first type of mouse was connected to the PC by the use of a bus, so it was actually being referred to as the bus mouse. It was used in the early days of the IBM-compatible personal computers. It connected to the PC through a specialized bus interface implemented via an ISA add-in card. It was superseded by the serial mouse.

B. Serial Mouse

The serial mouse was connected to the computer via the serial port. A serial port is a physical communication interface through which information is transferred in and out of the computer bit by bit. The serial port is a D-type 9 pin male port (DB9M) at the back of the motherboard. Its corresponding connector must then be a female connector for them to mate correctly. The serial mouse is obsolete.

C. PS/2 Mouse Connector

The PS/2 mouse connector is a 6-pin mini-din connector designed in 1987. It superseded the serial connectors. Its name is derived from the IBM's personal systems/2 series of personal computers, which were introduced in 1987. This PS/2 mouse port first featured in these PS/2 systems and continued being used in newer designs even after the PS/2 systems were no longer in production.The colour code for the PS/2 port for most computers is usually green.

D. USB port

The universal serial bus has to come to replace the PS/2 ports, though most of the computers still have the PS/2 ports. This industry standard was developed in mid 1990s. It defines the cables, connectors and communication protocols for connection and communication between computers and attached peripheral devices.

The USB port also provides power to the attached device hence eliminating the need for power connectors. It was purely designed to standardize the connection of computer peripherals like mice, keyboards, digital cameras, smart phones, PDAs, Video game consoles, removable disk drives etc.

The USB ports supports hot plugging where you connect or remove a device without turning off your computer. It also supports daisy chaining where you can connect 127 USB devices in a single port through the use of a USB hub.