Unlike other data buses (such as Ethernet), USB connections are directed; a host device has "downstream" facing ports that connect to the "upstream" facing ports of devices. Only downstream facing ports provide power; this topology was chosen to easily prevent electrical overloads and damaged equipment. Thus, USB cables have different ends: A and B, with different physical connectors for each. Each format has a plug and receptacle defined for each of the A and B ends. A USB cable, by definition, has a plug on each end—one A (or C) and one B (or C)—and the corresponding receptacle is usually on a computer or electronic device. The mini and micro formats may connect to an AB receptacle, which accepts either an A or a B plug, that plug determining the behavior of the receptacle.
