electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

, a pinout (sometimes written "pin-out") is a cross-reference between the contacts, or ''pins'', of an

electrical connector Components of an electrical circuit are electrically connected if an electric current can run between them through an electrical conductor. An electrical connector is an electromechanical device used to create an electrical connection between ...

electronic component An electronic component is any basic discrete device or physical entity in an electronic system used to affect electrons or their associated fields. Electronic components are mostly industrial products, available in a singular form and are not ...

, and their functions. "Pinout" now supersedes the term "basing diagram" that was the standard terminology used by the manufacturers of vacuum tubes and the RMA. The RMA started its standardization in 1934, collecting and correlating tube data for registration at what was to become the

EIA Eia or EIA may refer to: Medicine * Enzyme immunoassay * Equine infectious anemia * Exercise-induced anaphylaxis * Exercise-induced asthma * External iliac artery Transport * Edmonton International Airport, in Alberta, Canada * Erbil Internation ...

. The EIA (Electronic Industries Alliance) now has many sectors reporting to it, and sets what are known as

EIA standards Here is a list of American Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) Standards. The EIA ceased operations on February 11, 2011, but the former sectors continue to serve the constituencies of EIA. EIA designated ECA to continue to develop standards f ...

where all registered pinouts and registered jacks can be found.

Purpose

The functions of contacts in electrical connectors, be they power- or signaling-related, must be specified in order for connectors to be interchangeable. When connected, each contact of a connector must mate with the contact on the other connector that has the same function. If contacts of disparate functions are allowed to make contact, the connection may fail and damage may result. Therefore, pinouts are a vital reference when building and testing connectors, cables, and adapters. If one has specified wires within a cable (for instance, the colored Ethernet cable wires in ANSI/TIA-568 T568A), then the order in which different color wires are attached to pins of an

defines the wiring scheme. In any multi-pin connector, there are multiple ways to map wires to pins, so different configurations may be created which superficially look identical but function differently. These configurations are defined by pinouts. Many connectors have multiple standard pinouts in use for different manufacturers or applications.

Terminology

While one usage of the word ''pin'' is to refer to electrical contacts of, specifically, the male

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...

, its usage in ''pinout'' does not imply gender: the contact-to-function cross-reference for a connector that has only female socket contacts is still called a ''pinout''.

Representation

The pinout can typically be shown as a table or diagram, though it is necessary to clarify how to view the diagram, stating if it shows the backside of the connector (where wires are attached) or the "mating face" of the connector. Published pinouts, which are particularly important when different manufacturers want to interconnect their products using

open standards An open standard is a standard that is openly accessible and usable by anyone. It is also a prerequisite to use open license, non-discrimination and extensibility. Typically, anybody can participate in the development. There is no single definition ...

, are typically provided by the connector or equipment manufacturer. Some pinouts are provided by 3rd parties since some connectors are not well documented by the manufacturer. While repairing electronic devices, an electronics technician uses

electronic test equipment Electronic test equipment is used to create signals and capture responses from electronic devices under test (DUTs). In this way, the proper operation of the DUT can be proven or faults in the device can be traced. Use of electronic test equipmen ...

to "pin out" each component on a

PCB PCB may refer to: Science and technology * Polychlorinated biphenyl, an organic chlorine compound, now recognized as an environmental toxin and classified as a persistent organic pollutant * Printed circuit board, a board used in electronics * ...

. The technician probes each pin of the component in turn, comparing the expected signal on each pin to the actual signal on that pin.

Example pinouts

USB pinout

Viewed from the front (outside) of Female Type A USB receptacle: # +5V (Red) # −Data (White) # +Data (Green) # GND (Black)

PS/2 pinout

4017 decade counter

LM741 operational amplifier

References

External links

{{commons category, Electronic diagrams
The Hardware Book
- Pinout collection
Crossover search of pinouts at pinout.net

Pinouts of hardware connectors with description of common interfaces at pinouts.ru

Pinouts (pin-out)
- Historical Pinouts collection
74xxx and 40xx (pin-outs)
- Pinouts collection
Pin Configuration of ICs and semiconductors (pin-outs)
- Pinouts collection Electrical connectors fr:Boîtier de circuit intégré#Brochage