My USB port (closest to the screen) is not working? And what is an IR Receiver in my USB port?

Question

Hi everyone,
     I recently found out that my USB port, closest to my screen, is not working. Before I called Apple Care for help, I performed a PRAM and a SMC RESET, which unfortunately did not work. I called Apple Care and they help me troubleshoot simple resets such as, shutdowns and restarts. The representative I spoke with conluded that the physical hardware has an issue and must be brought to the Apple Store for a diagnosis. I called the Apple Store to at least budget the fee for getting a USB port fixed and it's about $300.00. I never dropped my macbook or had any sort tactile encounterment with hard surfaces by dropping or hitting. I don't understand how my macbook pro would be physically damaged. I then thought maybe my software was out of date (right now I am running 10.9 Mavericks) or I forgot to do the minor software updates, but I was at a lost again because my macbook is up-to-date. I searched for further help and found a way to monitor what's plugged into my usb ports. (I read in the apple forums that a girl had nothing in her usb ports, but upon looking at the System Information> Hardware> USB, that the macbook recognizes that there are drives in the ports) I looked at my ports; one is being used by wirless mouse (the port that works) and the other (the port that doesnt work) is being used by an "IR RECEIVER". Now, is the IR Receiver actually using that port and that's why my macbook cannot recognize other devices inserted into that port? Or is the IR RECEIVER suppose to be in that port and that the hardware for that port is simply damaged (which would mean I need $300.00 to get that fixed)? I know this is a lot, but someone help me?
(PORT THAT WORKS)
USB Hi-Speed Bus:
  Host Controller Location:          Built-in USB
  Host Controller Driver:          AppleUSBEHCI
  PCI Device ID:          0x1c2d
  PCI Revision ID:          0x0005
  PCI Vendor ID:          0x8086
  Bus Number:          0xfa
FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in):
  Product ID:          0x8509
  Vendor ID:          0x05ac  (Apple Inc.)
  Version:           5.16
  Serial Number:          DJHBAJ06VRDH7FL0
  Speed:          Up to 480 Mb/sec
  Manufacturer:          Apple Inc.
  Location ID:          0xfa200000 / 3
  Current Available (mA):          500
  Current Required (mA):          500
Hub:
  Product ID:          0x2513
  Vendor ID:          0x0424  (SMSC)
  Version:           b.b3
  Speed:          Up to 480 Mb/sec
  Location ID:          0xfa100000 / 2
  Current Available (mA):          500
  Current Required (mA):          2
Microsoft® Nano Transceiver v2.0:
  Product ID:          0x0745
  Vendor ID:          0x045e  (Microsoft Corporation)
  Version:           6.34
  Speed:          Up to 12 Mb/sec
  Manufacturer:          Microsoft
  Location ID:          0xfa130000 / 6
  Current Available (mA):          500
  Current Required (mA):          100
Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad:
  Product ID:          0x0252
  Vendor ID:          0x05ac  (Apple Inc.)
  Version:           1.18
  Speed:          Up to 12 Mb/sec
  Manufacturer:          Apple Inc.
  Location ID:          0xfa120000 / 5
  Current Available (mA):          500
  Current Required (mA):          40
BRCM2070 Hub:
  Product ID:          0x4500
  Vendor ID:          0x0a5c  (Broadcom Corp.)
  Version:           1.00
  Speed:          Up to 12 Mb/sec
  Manufacturer:          Apple Inc.
  Location ID:          0xfa110000 / 4
  Current Available (mA):          500
  Current Required (mA):          94
Bluetooth USB Host Controller:
  Product ID:          0x821a
  Vendor ID:          0x05ac  (Apple Inc.)
  Version:           0.42
  Speed:          Up to 12 Mb/sec
  Manufacturer:          Apple Inc.
  Location ID:          0xfa113000 / 8
  Current Available (mA):          500
  Current Required (mA):          0
(PORT THAT DOESN'T WORK)
USB Hi-Speed Bus:
  Host Controller Location:          Built-in USB
  Host Controller Driver:          AppleUSBEHCI
  PCI Device ID:          0x1c26
  PCI Revision ID:          0x0005
  PCI Vendor ID:          0x8086
  Bus Number:          0xfd
Hub:
  Product ID:          0x2513
  Vendor ID:          0x0424  (SMSC)
  Version:           b.b3
  Speed:          Up to 480 Mb/sec
  Location ID:          0xfd100000 / 2
  Current Available (mA):          500
  Current Required (mA):          2
IR Receiver:
  Product ID:          0x8242
  Vendor ID:          0x05ac  (Apple Inc.)
  Version:           0.16
  Speed:          Up to 1.5 Mb/sec
  Manufacturer:          Apple Computer, Inc.
  Location ID:          0xfd110000 / 3
  Current Available (mA):          500
  Current Required (mA):          100

Answer 1

I can help with the "IR Receiver" part of your question. That's the piece of hardware inside older MacBook Pros (MBPs) that lets them work with the Apple Remote. "IR" is the standard abbreviation for "infrared," the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum used by remotes for many common devices (stereos, cable boxes, Apple TVs, etc.). The remote sends a coded stream of IR pulses; a corresponding receiver in the target device "sees" the infrared light and decodes it. The MBP's internal IR Receiver sends the received signals to the processor via USB through an internal hub.
The most recent MacBook Pros have dropped the IR receiver and no longer work with the Apple Remote.