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Although, superseded by Universal Serial Bus (USB) technology, as the premier data transfer interface used in various devices, it offers high data transfer speeds, compared to USB 2.0. Firewire ports are serial bus interfaces, developed by Apple, in collaboration with other companies and it has been the default data transfer interface on all Apple computers and devices like digital camcorders, for years.

Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables and connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply between computers, peripheral devices and other computers.^[3] Released in 1996, the USB standard is currently maintained by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF). There have been three generations of USB specifications: USB 1.x, USB 2.0 and USB 3.x; the fourth called USB4 is scheduled to be published in the middle of 2019.^[4]

• 1Overview
• 2History
  • 2.3USB 3.x
  • 2.5Version history
• 4Device classes
• 7Power
• 8Signaling
• 12Comparisons with other connection methods

Overview[edit]

USB was designed to standardize the connection of peripherals to personal computers, both to communicate with and to supply electric power. It has largely replaced interfaces such as serial ports and parallel ports, and has become commonplace on a wide range of devices.

USB connectors have been increasingly replacing other types for battery chargers of portable devices.

Examples of peripherals that are connected via USB include keyboards, pointing devices, digital still and video cameras, printers, portable media players, disk drives and network adapters.

Receptacle (socket) identification[edit]

This section is intended to allow fast identification of USB receptacles (sockets) on equipment. Further diagrams and discussion of plugs and receptacles can be found in the main article above.

USB 3.0 (5Gbit/s) was renamed twice. The current name being USB 3.2 Gen 1. Likewise, USB 3.1(10 Gbit/s) was renamed to USB 3.2 Gen 2 with the introduction of the 20 Gbit/s USB 3.2 which is named USB 3.2 Gen 2 x 2.

Objectives[edit]

The Universal Serial Bus was developed to simplify and improve the interface between personal computers and peripheral devices, when compared with previously existing standard or ad-hoc proprietary interfaces.^[5]

From the computer user's perspective, the USB interface improved ease of use in several ways. The USB interface is self-configuring, so the user need not adjust settings on the device and interface for speed or data format, or configure interrupts, input/output addresses, or direct memory access channels.^[6] USB connectors are standardized at the host, so any peripheral can use any available receptacle. USB takes full advantage of the additional processing power that can be economically put into peripheral devices so that they can manage themselves; USB devices often do not have user-adjustable interface settings. The USB interface is 'hot pluggable', meaning devices can be exchanged without rebooting the host computer. Small devices can be powered directly from the USB interface, displacing extra power supply cables. Because use of the USB logos is only permitted after compliance testing, the user can have confidence that a USB device will work as expected without extensive interaction with settings and configuration; the USB interface defines protocols for recovery from common errors, improving reliability over previous interfaces.^[5] Installation of a device relying on the USB standard requires minimal operator action. When a device is plugged into a port on a running personal computer system, it is either entirely automatically configured using existing device drivers, or the system prompts the user to locate a driver which is then installed and configured automatically.

For hardware manufacturers and software developers, the USB standard eliminates the requirement to develop proprietary interfaces to new peripherals. The wide range of transfer speeds available from a USB interface suits devices ranging from keyboards and mice up to streaming video interfaces. A USB interface can be designed to provide the best available latency for time-critical functions, or can be set up to do background transfers of bulk data with little impact on system resources. The USB interface is generalized with no signal lines dedicated to only one function of one device.^[5]

Limitations[edit]

USB cables are limited in length, as the standard was meant to connect to peripherals on the same table-top, not between rooms or between buildings. However, a USB port can be connected to a gateway that accesses distant devices. USB has a strict 'tree' topology and 'master-slave' protocol for addressing peripheral devices; peripheral devices cannot interact with one another except via the host, and two hosts cannot communicate over their USB ports directly. Some extension to this limitation is possible through USB On-The-Go. A host cannot 'broadcast' signals to all peripherals at once, each must be addressed individually. Some very high speed peripheral devices require sustained speeds not available in the USB standard.^[5] While converters exist between certain 'legacy' interfaces and USB, they may not provide full implementation of the legacy hardware; for example, a USB to parallel port converter may work well with a printer, but not with a scanner that requires bi-directional use of the data pins.

For a product developer, use of USB requires implementation of a complex protocol and implies an 'intelligent' controller in the peripheral device. Developers of USB devices intended for public sale generally must obtain a USB ID which requires a fee paid to the Implementers' Forum. Developers of products that use the USB specification must sign an agreement with Implementer's Forum. Use of the USB logos on the product require annual fees and membership in the organization.^[5]

History[edit]

A group of seven companies began the development of USB in 1994: Compaq, DEC, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, and Nortel.^[8] The goal was to make it fundamentally easier to connect external devices to PCs by replacing the multitude of connectors at the back of PCs, addressing the usability issues of existing interfaces, and simplifying software configuration of all devices connected to USB, as well as permitting greater data rates for external devices. Ajay Bhatt and his team worked on the standard at Intel;^[9][10] the first integrated circuits supporting USB were produced by Intel in 1995.^[11]

The original USB 1.0 specification, which was introduced in January 1996, defined data transfer rates of 1.5 Mbit/sLow Speed and 12 Mbit/s Full Speed.^[11] Draft designs had called for a single-speed 5 Mbit/s bus, but the low speed was added to support low-cost peripherals with unshielded cables,^[12] resulting in a split design with a 12 Mbit/s data rate was intended for higher-speed devices such as printers and floppy disk drives, and the lower 1.5 Mbit/s rate for low data rate devices such as keyboards, mice and joysticks.^[13] Microsoft Windows 95, OSR 2.1 provided OEM support for the devices in August 1997. The first widely used version of USB was 1.1, which was released in September 1998. Apple Inc.'s iMac was the first mainstream product with USB and the iMac's success popularized USB itself.^[14] Following Apple's design decision to remove all legacy ports from the iMac, many PC manufacturers began building legacy-free PCs, which led to the broader PC market using USB as a standard.^[15][16][17]

The USB 2.0 specification was released in April 2000 and was ratified by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) at the end of 2001. Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Lucent Technologies (now Nokia), NEC, and Philips jointly led the initiative to develop a higher data transfer rate, with the resulting specification achieving 480 Mbit/s, 40 times as fast as the original USB 1.1 specification.

The USB 3.0 specification was published on 12 November 2008. Its main goals were to increase the data transfer rate (up to 5 Gbit/s), decrease power consumption, increase power output, and be backward compatible with USB 2.0.^[18](3–1) USB 3.0 includes a new, higher speed bus called SuperSpeed in parallel with the USB 2.0 bus.^[18](1–3) For this reason, the new version is also called SuperSpeed.^[19] The first USB 3.0 equipped devices were presented in January 2010.^[19][20]

As of 2008, approximately 6 billion USB ports and interfaces were in the global marketplace, and about 2 billion were being sold each year.^[21]

The USB 3.1 specification was published in July 2013.

In December 2014, USB-IF submitted USB 3.1, USB Power Delivery 2.0 and USB-C specifications to the IEC (TC 100 – Audio, video and multimedia systems and equipment) for inclusion in the international standard IEC 62680 (Universal Serial Bus interfaces for data and power), which is currently based on USB 2.0.^[22]

The USB 3.2 specification was published in September 2017.

USB 1.x[edit]

Released in January 1996, USB 1.0 specified data rates of 1.5 Mbit/s (Low Bandwidth or Low Speed) and 12 Mbit/s (Full Speed).^[23] It did not allow for extension cables or pass-through monitors, due to timing and power limitations. Few USB devices made it to the market until USB 1.1 was released in August 1998. USB 1.1 was the earliest revision that was widely adopted and led to what Microsoft designated the 'Legacy-free PC'.^[14][16][17]

Neither USB 1.0 nor 1.1 specified a design for any connector smaller than the standard type A or type B. Though many designs for a miniaturised type B connector appeared on many peripherals, conformity to the USB 3.x standard was hampered by treating peripherals that had miniature connectors as though they had a tethered connection (that is: no plug or receptacle at the peripheral end). There was no known miniature type A connector until USB 2.0 (revision 1.01) introduced one.

USB 2.0[edit]

USB 2.0 was released in April 2000, adding a higher maximum signaling rate of 480 Mbit/s (60 MB/s) named High Speed or High Bandwidth, in addition to the USB 1.x Full Speed signaling rate of 12 Mbit/s.

Modifications to the USB specification have been made via Engineering Change Notices (ECN). The most important of these ECNs are included into the USB 2.0 specification package available from USB.org:^[24]

• Mini-A and Mini-B Connector;
• Micro-USB Cables and Connectors Specification 1.01;
• InterChip USB Supplement;
• On-The-Go Supplement 1.3USB On-The-Go makes it possible for two USB devices to communicate with each other without requiring a separate USB host;
• Battery Charging Specification 1.1 Added support for dedicated chargers, host chargers behavior for devices with dead batteries;
• Battery Charging Specification 1.2:^[25] with increased current of 1.5 A on charging ports for unconfigured devices, allowing High Speed communication while having a current up to 1.5 A and allowing a maximum current of 5 A;
• Link Power Management Addendum ECN which adds a sleep power state.

USB 3.x[edit]

The USB 3.0 specification was released on 12 November 2008, with its management transferring from USB 3.0 Promoter Group to the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), and announced on 17 November 2008 at the SuperSpeed USB Developers Conference.^[26]

USB 3.0 adds a SuperSpeed transfer mode, with associated backward compatible plugs, receptacles, and cables. SuperSpeed plugs and receptacles are identified with a distinct logo and blue inserts in standard format receptacles.

The SuperSpeed bus provides for a transfer mode at a nominal rate of 5.0 Gbit/s, in addition to the three existing transfer modes. Its efficiency is dependent on a number of factors including physical symbol encoding and link level overhead. At a 5 Gbit/s signaling rate with 8b/10b encoding, each byte needs 10 bits to be transmitted, so the raw throughput is 500 MB/s. When flow control, packet framing and protocol overhead are considered, it is realistic for 400 MB/s (3.2 Gbit/s) or more to be delivered to an application.^[18](4–19) Communication is full-duplex in SuperSpeed transfer mode; earlier modes are half-duplex, arbitrated by the host.^[27]

Low-power and high-power devices remain operational with this standard, but devices using SuperSpeed can take advantage of increased available current of between 150 mA and 900 mA, respectively.^[18](9–9)

USB 3.1, released in July 2013 has two variants. The first one preserves USB 3.0's SuperSpeed transfer mode and is labeled USB 3.1 Gen 1,^[28][29] and the second version introduces a new SuperSpeed+ transfer mode under the label of USB 3.1 Gen 2. SuperSpeed+ doubles the maximum data signaling rate to 10 Gbit/s, while reducing line encoding overhead to just 3% by changing the encoding scheme to 128b/132b.^[28][30]

USB 3.2, released in September 2017, preserves existing USB 3.1 SuperSpeed and SuperSpeed+ data modes but introduces two new SuperSpeed+ transfer modes over the USB-C connector with data rates of 10 and 20 Gbit/s (1.25 and 2.5 GB/s). The increase in bandwidth is a result of multi-lane operation over existing wires that were intended for flip-flop capabilities of the USB-C connector.^[31]

Current Naming Scheme[edit]

Starting with the 20 Gbit/s USB 3.2 standard, USB-IF introduced a new naming scheme.^[32] The original USB 3.0 (which was renamed to USB 3.1 Gen 1) with its 5 Gbit/s was retroactively renamed to USB 3.2 Gen 1 and the 10 Gbit/s USB 3.1 Gen 2 was retroactively renamed to USB 3.2 Gen 2. The newest 20 Gbit/s was named USB 3.2 Gen 2 x 2. To help companies with branding of the different transfer modes, USB-IF recommended branding the 5, 10, and 20 Gbit/s transfer modes as SuperSpeed USB, SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbit/s, and SuperSpeed USB 20 Gbit/s, respectively.^[33]

As of July 2019, USB-IF has the following names for USB 3.x and their respective transfer speeds.^[34]

USB4[edit]

The USB4 specification was released on 29 August 2019 by USB Promoter Group.^[35]

USB4 is based on the Thunderbolt 3 protocol specification.^[36] It supports 40 Gbit/s throughput, is compatible with Thunderbolt 3, and backwards compatible with USB 3.2 and USB 2.0.^[37][38] The architecture defines a method to share a single high-speed link with multiple end device types dynamically that best serves the transfer of data by type and application.

Version history [edit]

Release versions[edit]

Power-related specifications[edit]

System design[edit]

A USB system consists of a host with one or more downstream ports, and multiple peripherals, forming a tiered-star topology. Additional USB hubs may be included, allowing up to five tiers. A USB host may have multiple controllers, each with one or more ports. Up to 127 devices may be connected to a single host controller.^{[44][18](8–29)} USB devices are linked in series through hubs. The hub built into the host controller is called the root hub.

A USB device may consist of several logical sub-devices that are referred to as device functions. A composite device may provide several functions, for example, a webcam (video device function) with a built-in microphone (audio device function). An alternative to this is a compound device, in which the host assigns each logical device a distinct address and all logical devices connect to a built-in hub that connects to the physical USB cable.

USB device communication is based on pipes (logical channels). A pipe is a connection from the host controller to a logical entity within a device, called an endpoint. Because pipes correspond to endpoints, the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Each USB device can have up to 32 endpoints (16 in and 16 out), though it is rare to have so many. Endpoints are defined and numbered by the device during initialization (the period after physical connection called 'enumeration') and so are relatively permanent, whereas pipes may be opened and closed.

There are two types of pipe: stream and message.

• A message pipe is bi-directional and is used for control transfers. Message pipes are typically used for short, simple commands to the device, and for status responses from the device, used, for example, by the bus control pipe number 0.
• A stream pipe is a uni-directional pipe connected to a uni-directional endpoint that transfers data using an isochronous,^[45]interrupt, or bulk transfer:

  Isochronous transfers

  At some guaranteed data rate (for fixed-bandwidth streaming data) but with possible data loss (e.g., realtime audio or video)

  Interrupt transfers

  Devices that need guaranteed quick responses (bounded latency) such as pointing devices, mice, and keyboards

  Bulk transfers

  Large sporadic transfers using all remaining available bandwidth, but with no guarantees on bandwidth or latency (e.g., file transfers)

When a host starts a data transfer, it sends a TOKEN packet containing an endpoint specified with a tuple of (device_address, endpoint_number). If the transfer is from the host to the endpoint, the host sends an OUT packet (a specialization of a TOKEN packet) with the desired device address and endpoint number. If the data transfer is from the device to the host, the host sends an IN packet instead. If the destination endpoint is a uni-directional endpoint whose manufacturer's designated direction does not match the TOKEN packet (e.g. the manufacturer's designated direction is IN while the TOKEN packet is an OUT packet), the TOKEN packet is ignored. Otherwise, it is accepted and the data transaction can start. A bi-directional endpoint, on the other hand, accepts both IN and OUT packets.

Endpoints are grouped into interfaces and each interface is associated with a single device function. An exception to this is endpoint zero, which is used for device configuration and is not associated with any interface. A single device function composed of independently controlled interfaces is called a composite device. A composite device only has a single device address because the host only assigns a device address to a function.

When a USB device is first connected to a USB host, the USB device enumeration process is started. The enumeration starts by sending a reset signal to the USB device. The data rate of the USB device is determined during the reset signaling. After reset, the USB device's information is read by the host and the device is assigned a unique 7-bit address. If the device is supported by the host, the device drivers needed for communicating with the device are loaded and the device is set to a configured state. If the USB host is restarted, the enumeration process is repeated for all connected devices.

The host controller directs traffic flow to devices, so no USB device can transfer any data on the bus without an explicit request from the host controller. In USB 2.0, the host controller polls the bus for traffic, usually in a round-robin fashion. The throughput of each USB port is determined by the slower speed of either the USB port or the USB device connected to the port.

High-speed USB 2.0 hubs contain devices called transaction translators that convert between high-speed USB 2.0 buses and full and low speed buses. There may be one translator per hub or per port.

Because there are two separate controllers in each USB 3.0 host, USB 3.0 devices transmit and receive at USB 3.0 data rates regardless of USB 2.0 or earlier devices connected to that host. Operating data rates for earlier devices are set in the legacy manner.

Device classes[edit]

The functionality of a USB device is defined by a class code sent to a USB host. This allows the host to load software modules for the device and to support new devices from different manufacturers.

Device classes include:^[46]

USB mass storage / USB drive[edit]

USB mass storage device class (MSC or UMS) standardizes connections to storage devices. At first intended for magnetic and optical drives, it has been extended to support flash drives. It has also been extended to support a wide variety of novel devices as many systems can be controlled with the familiar metaphor of file manipulation within directories. The process of making a novel device look like a familiar device is also known as extension. The ability to boot a write-locked SD card with a USB adapter is particularly advantageous for maintaining the integrity and non-corruptible, pristine state of the booting medium.

Though most personal computers since early 2005 can boot from USB mass storage devices, USB is not intended as a primary bus for a computer's internal storage. However, USB has the advantage of allowing hot-swapping, making it useful for mobile peripherals, including drives of various kinds.

Several manufacturers offer external portable USB hard disk drives, or empty enclosures for disk drives. These offer performance comparable to internal drives, limited by the current number and types of attached USB devices, and by the upper limit of the USB interface. Other competing standards for external drive connectivity include eSATA, ExpressCard, FireWire (IEEE 1394), and most recently Thunderbolt.

Another use for USB mass storage devices is the portable execution of software applications (such as web browsers and VoIP clients) with no need to install them on the host computer.^[50][51]

Media Transfer Protocol[edit]

Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) was designed by Microsoft to give higher-level access to a device's filesystem than USB mass storage, at the level of files rather than disk blocks. It also has optional DRM features. MTP was designed for use with portable media players, but it has since been adopted as the primary storage access protocol of the Android operating system from the version 4.1 Jelly Bean as well as Windows Phone 8 (Windows Phone 7 devices had used the Zune protocol—an evolution of MTP). The primary reason for this is that MTP does not require exclusive access to the storage device the way UMS does, alleviating potential problems should an Android program request the storage while it is attached to a computer. The main drawback is that MTP is not as well supported outside of Windows operating systems.

Human interface devices[edit]

Joysticks, keypads, tablets and other human-interface devices (HIDs) are also progressively^[when?] migrating from MIDI, and PC game port connectors to USB.^{[citation needed]}

USB mice and keyboards can usually be used with older computers that have PS/2 connectors with the aid of a small USB-to-PS/2 adapter. For mice and keyboards with dual-protocol support, an adaptor that contains no logic circuitry may be used: the USB hardware in the keyboard or mouse is designed to detect whether it is connected to a USB or PS/2 port, and communicate using the appropriate protocol. Converters also exist that connect PS/2 keyboards and mice (usually one of each) to a USB port.^[52] These devices present two HID endpoints to the system and use a microcontroller to perform bidirectional data translation between the two standards.

Device Firmware Upgrade[edit]

Device Firmware Upgrade (DFU) is a vendor- and device-independent mechanism for upgrading the firmware of USB devices with improved versions provided by their manufacturers, offering (for example) a way to deploy firmware bug fixes. During the firmware upgrade operation, USB devices change their operating mode effectively becoming a PROM programmer. Any class of USB device can implement this capability by following the official DFU specifications.^[49][53][54]

In addition to its intended legitimate purposes, DFU can also be exploited by uploading maliciously crafted firmware that causes USB devices to spoof various other device types; one such exploiting approach is known as BadUSB.^[55]

Audio streaming[edit]

The USB Device Working Group has laid out specifications for audio streaming, and specific standards have been developed and implemented for audio class uses, such as microphones, speakers, headsets, telephones, musical instruments, etc. The DWG has published three versions of audio device specifications:^[56][57] Audio 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0, referred to as 'UAC'^[58] or 'ADC'.^[59]

UAC 2.0 introduced support for High Speed USB (in addition to Full Speed), allowing greater bandwidth for multi-channel interfaces, higher sample rates,^[60] lower inherent latency,^[61][58] and 8× improvement in timing resolution in synchronous and adaptive modes.^[58] UAC2 also introduces the concept of clock domains, which provides information to the host about which input and output terminals derive their clocks from the same source, as well as improved support for audio encodings like DSD, audio effects, channel clustering, user controls, and device descriptions.^[58][62]

UAC 3.0 primarily introduces improvements for portable devices, such as reduced power usage by bursting the data and staying in low power mode more often, and power domains for different components of the device, allowing them to be shut down when not in use.^[63]

UAC 1.0 devices are still common, however, due to their cross-platform driverless compatibility,^[60] and also partly due to Microsoft's failure to implement UAC 2.0 for over a decade after its publication, having finally added support to Windows 10 through the Creators Update on 20 March 2017.^[64][65][62] UAC 2.0 is also supported by MacOS, iOS, and Linux,^[58] however Android also only implements a subset of UAC 1.0.^[66]

USB provides three isochronous (fixed-bandwidth) synchronization types,^[67] all of which are used by audio devices:^[68]

• Asynchronous — The ADC or DAC are not synced to the host computer's clock at all, operating off a free-running clock local to the device.
• Synchronous — The device's clock is synced to the USB start-of-frame (SOF) or Bus Interval signals. For instance, this can require syncing an 11.2896 MHz clock to a 1 kHz SOF signal, a large frequency multiplication.^[69][70]
• Adaptive — The device's clock is synced to the amount of data sent per frame by the host^[71]

While the USB spec originally described asynchronous mode being used in 'low cost speakers' and adaptive mode in 'high-end digital speakers',^[72] the opposite perception exists in the hi-fi world, where asynchronous mode is advertised as a feature, and adaptive/synchronous modes have a bad reputation.^[73][74][66] In reality, all the types can be high-quality or low-quality, depending on the quality of their engineering and the application.^[70][58][75] Asynchronous has the benefit of being untied from the computer's clock, but the disadvantage of requiring sample rate conversion when combining multiple sources.

Connectors[edit]

The connectors the USB committee specifies support a number of USB's underlying goals, and reflect lessons learned from the many connectors the computer industry has used. The female connector mounted on the host or device is called the receptacle, and the male connector attached to the cable is called the plug.^{[18](2–5 – 2–6)} The official USB specification documents also periodically define the term male to represent the plug, and female to represent the receptacle.^[76]

By design, it is difficult to insert a USB plug into its receptacle incorrectly. The USB specification requires that the cable plug and receptacle be marked so the user can recognize the proper orientation.^[18] The USB-C plug is reversible. USB cables and small USB devices are held in place by the gripping force from the receptacle, with no screws, clips, or thumb-turns as some connectors use.

The different A and B plugs prevent accidentally connecting two power sources. However, some of this directed topology is lost with the advent of multi-purpose USB connections (such as USB On-The-Go in smartphones, and USB-powered Wi-Fi routers), which require A-to-A, B-to-B, and sometimes Y/splitter cables.

USB connector types multiplied as the specification progressed. The original USB specification detailed standard-A and standard-B plugs and receptacles. The connectors were different so that users could not connect one computer receptacle to another. The data pins in the standard plugs are recessed compared to the power pins, so that the device can power up before establishing a data connection. Some devices operate in different modes depending on whether the data connection is made. Charging docks supply power and do not include a host device or data pins, allowing any capable USB device to charge or operate from a standard USB cable. Charging cables provide power connections, but not data. In a charge-only cable, the data wires are shorted at the device end, otherwise the device may reject the charger as unsuitable.

Cabling[edit]

The USB 1.1 standard specifies that a standard cable can have a maximum length of 5 meters (16 ft 5 in) with devices operating at full speed (12 Mbit/s), and a maximum length of 3 meters (9 ft 10 in) with devices operating at low speed (1.5 Mbit/s).^[77][78][79]

USB 2.0 provides for a maximum cable length of 5 meters (16 ft 5 in) for devices running at high speed (480 Mbit/s).^[79]

The USB 3.0 standard does not directly specify a maximum cable length, requiring only that all cables meet an electrical specification: for copper cabling with AWG 26 wires the maximum practical length is 3 meters (9 ft 10 in).^[80]

Power[edit]

USB supplies power at 5 V ± 5% to power USB downstream devices.

Low-power and high-power devices[edit]

Is Retrieval From Memory Serial Or Parallel

Low-power devices (such as a typical USB keyboard) may draw at most 1 unit load (1 unit load is 100 mA for USB devices up to USB 2.0, while USB 3.0 defines a unit load as 150 mA), and all devices must act as Low-power devices when starting out as unconfigured.

High-power devices (such as a typical 2.5-inch USB Hard Drive) draw at least 1 unit load and at most 5 unit loads (500 mA) for devices up to USB 2.0 or 6 unit loads (900 mA) for SuperSpeed devices.

To recognize Battery Charging, a dedicated charging port places a resistance not exceeding 200 Ω across the D+ and D− terminals.^[81]

In addition to standard USB, there is a proprietary high-powered system known as PoweredUSB, developed in the 1990s, and mainly used in point-of-sale terminals such as cash registers.

Signaling[edit]

Electrical specification[edit]

USB signals are transmitted using differential signaling on a twisted-pair data cable with 90 Ω ± 15%characteristic impedance.^[82]

• Low-speed (LS) and Full-speed (FS) modes use a single data pair, labelled D+ and D−, in half-duplex. Transmitted signal levels are 0.0–0.3 V for logical low, and 2.8–3.6 V for logical high level. The signal lines are not terminated.
• High-speed (HS) mode uses the same wire pair, but with different electrical conventions. Lower signal voltages of −10 to 10 mV for low and 360 to 440 mV for logical high level, and termination of 45 Ω to ground or 90 Ω differential to match the data cable impedance.
• SuperSpeed (SS) adds two additional pairs of shielded twisted wire (and new, mostly compatible expanded connectors). These are dedicated to full-duplex SuperSpeed operation. The SuperSpeed link operates independently from USB 2.0 channel, and takes a precedence on connection. Link configuration is performed using LFPS (Low Frequency Periodic Signalling, approximately at 20 MHz frequency), and electrical features include voltage de-emphasis at transmitter side, and adaptive linear equalization on receiver side in order to combat electrical losses in transmission lines, and thus the link introduces the concept of 'link training'.
• SuperSpeed+ (SS+) uses increased data rate (Gen 2×1 mode) and/or the additional lane in the USB-C connector (Gen 1×2 and Gen 2×2 mode).

A USB connection is always between a host or hub at the A connector end, and a device or hub's 'upstream' port at the other end.

Protocol layer[edit]

During USB communication, data is transmitted as packets. Initially, all packets are sent from the host via the root hub, and possibly more hubs, to devices. Some of those packets direct a device to send some packets in reply.

Transactions[edit]

The basic transactions of USB are:

• OUT transaction
• IN transaction
• SETUP transaction
• Control transfer exchange

Related standards[edit]

The USB Implementers Forum is working on a wireless networking standard based on the USB protocol.^[when?]Wireless USB is a cable-replacement technology, and uses ultra-widebandwireless technology for data rates of up to 480 Mbit/s.

InterChip USB is a chip-to-chip variant that eliminates the conventional transceivers found in normal USB. The HSIC physical layer uses about 50% less power and 75% less board area compared to USB 2.0.^[83]

Comparisons with other connection methods[edit]

FireWire[edit]

At first, USB was considered a complement to IEEE 1394 (FireWire) technology, which was designed as a high-bandwidth serial bus that efficiently interconnects peripherals such as disk drives, audio interfaces, and video equipment. In the initial design, USB operated at a far lower data rate and used less sophisticated hardware. It was suitable for small peripherals such as keyboards and pointing devices.

The most significant technical differences between FireWire and USB include:

Parallel Bus Definition

• USB networks use a tiered-star topology, while IEEE 1394 networks use a tree topology.
• USB 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0 use a 'speak-when-spoken-to' protocol, meaning that each peripheral communicates with the host when the host specifically requests it to communicate. USB 3.0 allows for device-initiated communications towards the host. A FireWire device can communicate with any other node at any time, subject to network conditions.
• A USB network relies on a single host at the top of the tree to control the network. All communications are between the host and one peripheral. In a FireWire network, any capable node can control the network.
• USB runs with a 5 V power line, while FireWire in current implementations supplies 12 V and theoretically can supply up to 30 V.
• Standard USB hub ports can provide from the typical 500 mA/2.5 W of current, only 100 mA from non-hub ports. USB 3.0 and USB On-The-Go supply 1.8 A/9.0 W (for dedicated battery charging, 1.5 A/7.5 W full bandwidth or 900 mA/4.5 W high bandwidth), while FireWire can in theory supply up to 60 watts of power, although 10 to 20 watts is more typical.

These and other differences reflect the differing design goals of the two buses: USB was designed for simplicity and low cost, while FireWire was designed for high performance, particularly in time-sensitive applications such as audio and video. Although similar in theoretical maximum transfer rate, FireWire 400 is faster than USB 2.0 high-bandwidth in real-use,^[84] especially in high-bandwidth use such as external hard drives.^{[85][86][87][88]} The newer FireWire 800 standard is twice as fast as FireWire 400 and faster than USB 2.0 high-bandwidth both theoretically and practically.^[89] However, FireWire's speed advantages rely on low-level techniques such as direct memory access (DMA), which in turn have created opportunities for security exploits such as the DMA attack.

The chipset and drivers used to implement USB and FireWire have a crucial impact on how much of the bandwidth prescribed by the specification is achieved in the real world, along with compatibility with peripherals.^[90]

Ethernet[edit]

The IEEE 802.3af, at, and btPower over Ethernet (PoE) standards specifiy more elaborate power negotiation schemes than powered USB. They operate at 48 V DC and can supply more power (up to 12.95 W for af, 25.5 W for at aka PoE+, 71 W for bt aka 4PPoE) over a cable up to 100 meters compared to USB 2.0, which provides 2.5 W with a maximum cable length of 5 meters. This has made PoE popular for VoIP telephones, security cameras, wireless access points, and other networked devices within buildings. However, USB is cheaper than PoE provided that the distance is short and power demand is low.

Ethernet standards require electrical isolation between the networked device (computer, phone, etc.) and the network cable up to 1500 V AC or 2250 V DC for 60 seconds.^[91] USB has no such requirement as it was designed for peripherals closely associated with a host computer, and in fact it connects the peripheral and host grounds. This gives Ethernet a significant safety advantage over USB with peripherals such as cable and DSL modems connected to external wiring that can assume hazardous voltages under certain fault conditions.^[92]

MIDI[edit]

The USB Device Class Definition for MIDI Devices allows Music Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) music data to be sent over USB.^[93] The MIDI capability is extended to allow up to sixteen simultaneous virtual MIDI cables, each of which can carry the usual MIDI sixteen channels and clocks.

USB is competitive for low-cost and physically adjacent devices. However, Power over Ethernet and the MIDI plug standard have an advantage in high-end devices that may have long cables. USB can cause ground loop problems between equipment, because it connects ground references on both transceivers. By contrast, the MIDI plug standard and Ethernet have built-in isolation to 500V or more.

eSATA/eSATAp[edit]

The eSATA connector is a more robust SATA connector, intended for connection to external hard drives and SSDs. eSATA's transfer rate (up to 6 Gbit/s) is similar to that of USB 3.0 (up to 5 Gbit/s on current devices; 10 Gbit/s speeds via USB 3.1, announced on 31 July 2013). A device connected by eSATA appears as an ordinary SATA device, giving both full performance and full compatibility associated with internal drives.

eSATA does not supply power to external devices. This is an increasing disadvantage compared to USB. Even though USB 3.0's 4.5 W is sometimes insufficient to power external hard drives, technology is advancing and external drives gradually need less power, diminishing the eSATA advantage. eSATAp (power over eSATA; aka ESATA/USB) is a connector introduced in 2009 that supplies power to attached devices using a new, backward compatible, connector. On a notebook eSATAp usually supplies only 5 V to power a 2.5-inch HDD/SSD; on a desktop workstation it can additionally supply 12 V to power larger devices including 3.5-inch HDD/SSD and 5.25-inch optical drives.

eSATAp support can be added to a desktop machine in the form of a bracket connecting the motherboard SATA, power, and USB resources.

eSATA, like USB, supports hot plugging, although this might be limited by OS drivers and device firmware.

Thunderbolt[edit]

Thunderbolt combines PCI Express and Mini DisplayPort into a new serial data interface. Original Thunderbolt implementations have two channels, each with a transfer speed of 10 Gbit/s, resulting in an aggregate unidirectional bandwidth of 20 Gbit/s.^[94]

Thunderbolt 2 uses link aggregation to combine the two 10 Gbit/s channels into one bidirectional 20 Gbit/s channel.

Thunderbolt 3 uses the USB-C connector.^[95][96][97] Thunderbolt 3 has two physical 20 Gb/s bi-directional channels, aggregated to appear as a single logical 40 Gb/s bi-directional channel. Thunderbolt 3 controllers a incorporate USB 3.1 Gen 2 controller to provide compatibility with USB devices. They are also capable of providing DisplayPort alternate mode over the USB-C connector, making a Thunderbolt 3 port a superset of a USB 3.1 Gen 2 port with DisplayPort alternate mode.

The Thunderbolt 3 protocol has been adopted into the USB4 standard after being released by Intel Corporation. If implemented correctly, USB4 ports should function identically to Thunderbolt 3 ports in most circumstances. However, USB4 will provide backwards compatibility with USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 devices. No Thunderbolt 3 controller has been built to provide USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 support, as of the Titan Ridge (2019) Thunderbolt controllers. No information pertaining to VirtualLink alternate mode compatibility with USB4 (and so Thunderbolt 3 alternate mode) has been published, as of April 2019.

Interoperability[edit]

Various protocol converters are available that convert USB data signals to and from other communications standards.

See also[edit]

• Extensible Host Controller Interface (XHCI)

References[edit]

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Further reading[edit]

• Axelson, Jan (1 September 2006). USB Mass Storage: Designing and Programming Devices and Embedded Hosts (1st ed.). Lakeview Research. ISBN978-1-931-44804-8.
• ——— (1 December 2007). Serial Port Complete: COM Ports, USB Virtual COM Ports, and Ports for Embedded Systems (2nd ed.). Lakeview Research. ISBN978-1-931-44806-2.
• ——— (2015). USB Complete: The Developer's Guide (5th ed.). Lakeview Research. ISBN978-1-931448-28-4.
• Hyde, John (February 2001). USB Design by Example: A Practical Guide to Building I/O Devices (2nd ed.). Intel Press. ISBN978-0-970-28465-5.
• 'Debugging USB 2.0 for Compliance: It's Not Just a Digital World'(PDF). Keysight Technologies. Technologies Application Note. Keysight (1382–3).

External links[edit]

• 'USB Implementers Forum'.
• 'Universal Host Controller Interface (UHCI)'(PDF). Intel.
• 'USB 3.0 Standard-A, Standard-B, Powered-B connectors'. Pinouts guide.
• 'Characterization and compliance test'. Agilent.
• Muller, Henk. 'How To Create And Program USB Devices,'Electronic Design, July 2012
• An Analysis of Throughput Characteristics of Universal Serial Bus, June 1996, by John Garney
• The unlikely origins of USB, the port that changed everything - Oral history
• USB 2.0 Protocol Engine, October 2010, by Razi Hershenhoren and Omer Reznik
• IEC 62680 (Universal Serial Bus interfaces for data and power):

Firewire is faster than USB data transfer. FireWire 800 isfaster than FireWire 400. USB 3 is faster than USB 2. SATA [&eSATA] is faster than FireWire and USB 3. This is in reference tothe data transfer cables between a device and a computer.

Order the following ports according to speed Firewire eSATA USB?

eSATA is faster than FireWire and firewire is faster than USB.

What is the difference between FireWire and USB?

There are two main differences between Firewire and USB. Firewire data transfer speeds are faster than USB. Also, Firewire uses a different connector than USB.

Are the traditional serial ports faster than USB and FireWire ports?

No. If they were, we wouldn't have replaced them. USB and FireWire are over 3000 times faster with the latest revisions.

What are some advantages of using firewire?

Firewire is faster and more reliable than USB and equivalent in price to USB. However, USB is more widely used in PC's.

What is faster USB 3.0 or eSATA 600?

eSATA is up to six times faster than USB or FireWire

Which is faster eSATA or fire wire 800?

Firewire 800 USB 1.1 - 15 Mbps FireWire (1394a) - 400 Mbps USB 2.0 - 480 Mbps FireWire 800 (1394b) - 800 Mpbs SATA 1.5 - 1.5 Gbps SATA 3.0 - 3.0 Gbps esata is much faster than firewire 800

What is the purpose of a firewire card?

FireWire offers a medium for data transfers from the computer (card) to an external device, such as hard drive. FireWire offers faster speeds than USB 2.0.

What has a faster interface to the system an external serial ata or an external firewire hard drive?

External serial ATA known as eSATA is up to six times faster than USB or Firewire.

Can you convert a usb port on a laptop to firewire?

they do have an adapter, but remember 'only as good as your weakest link' the new standards for USB have met and even exceed the best firewire standard, i bought all the gear thinking it was faster, when i got my new machine last week it had the enhanced USB/SATA which smokes the firewire. i tested both.

What is the purpose of a firewire port in a computer system?

Firewire is meant to be faster than USB 2.0, so devices that need a faster transfer rate etc external hard drives and video cameras use firewire to transfer and it can make a huge difference in performance time.

How do you install a portable hard drive on your computer?

Firewire-to-Firewire: There are Firewire ports on both the computer and portable hard drive, plug the Firewire cord into the Firewire port on the computer and the Firewire port on the portable hard drive. Firewire-to-USB: There is either a USB port on the computer or the portable hard drive and a Firewire port on either the computer or the portable hard drive, in which case plug Firewire head into Firewire port and USB head into USB…

Which has a faster interface to the system an external serial ATA hard drive or an external FireWire hard drive?

External serial ATA (eSATA) hard drives is up to six times faster than USB or FireWire.

What is the faster USB connection?

Universal serial bus (USB) originally had 2 speeds: 12 Mps and 1.5 Mpgs. ( more info @ www.usb.org.) FireWire is similar to the USB but at a rate of 1.2 gigabits per second which is much faster.

What is firewire known by on a PC computer?

It is also knows as Firewire but it's not very common on a PC. It's not part of of the default plugs found at the back of a PC, though you can add a card with Firewire ports on it. In general though, USB is by far more common. In terms of performance, Firewire is faster than USB and USB2 ports, but slower than USB3 ports. Almost all PC peripherals use USB connections.

Is an infrared port faster then a serial usb or firewire port?

Depending on what speed your infrared port is. It is normally faster to use a fire-wire port.

What is fire wire?

'Firewire' is the term used for a certain type of serial port on computers. Similar uses are USB. The Name is 1394 for 'FireWire'. The term firewire was meant to express that it was a faster connection than standard serial or parallel ports.

External is up to six times faster than USB or FireWire?

Esata is up to six times faster pg. 317 a+ guide to managing and maintaining

Is USB 2.0 or Firewire faster?

The maximum speed of USB2 at 480M/Sec is a little quicker than Firewire 400 (IEEE.1394a) which runs at 400 M/Sec (hence the '400' bit of the name). In tests, however, FireWire 400 delivers a higher sustained transfer speed. Benchmarks suggest that hard drives connected with FireWire will copy information considerably faster than they would using USB 2.0. To achieve higher performance, FireWire requires additional circuitry in supported devices. This often makes FireWire more expensive than…

Which is faster an eSATA port or a FireWire 800 port?

Firewire 800 (IEEE 1394b) has a maximum speed of 800Mbps (Megabits per second). eSATA has a maximum speed of 3.0 Gbps (gigabit per second). So eSATA is faster. In very few scenarios [like transfering a bunch of small files], FireWire will come close, but in most scenarios eSATA will spank it hard. eSATA runs at the same speed as an internal hard drive connection, because it's the exact same thing. It just doesn't have the…

What is a firewire?

Firewire is Apple's name for an electronic interface (like USB), properly called IEEE 1394. It works a lot like USB, but has a different connector.

Serial Bus

Can you connect USB to a Firewire Port?

At first no as they are separate technologies (USB- Universal Serial Bus, Firewire- IEEE 1394a/Firewire 400), so you cannot connect a usb to a firewall or visa versa. There are ways however. These include purchasing two expansion cards (PCI, ISA or SCSI depending on the type and space left on your motherboard). OR purchasing a Hub/adapter that connects in either a USB or Firewire port, and accommodates at least one USB and one Firewire port…

What is a 1394 connector?

The official term is IEEE 1394, it is called Firewire and is competing against USB for ports on the computer. Firewire transmits 400Mbps while USB transmits 480Mbps. Most people use Firewire for downloading photos on their cameras while they use USB to downland data.

What provides greater power to the Bus Firewire or USB?

FireWire generally supplies more voltage, at a maximum of 30 volts. USB provides a maximum of 5 volts.

Will a Ipod charger that is firewire work with iPod Nano 4G if you use the syncing USB cable between the iPod and the charger?

The FireWire will be disabled until the USB cord is disconnected. Once disconnected, you can only charge your iPod with the FireWire. 1394 (FireWire) does not support data transfer to the iPod...

Is Usb Using Serial Or Parallel Bus What About Firewire Cable

Which is a faster interface to a system an external serial ATA hard drive or an external FireWire hard drive?

External SATA (eSATA) is up to six times faster than USB or Fire Wire

What is the difference between USB and FireWire?

FireWire has a higher transfer rate than USB, making it more suitable for video transfer and connecting external storage. USB is host-based, meaningit must have a host computer to transfer data to / from (with a few exceptions). FireWire devices can transfer data between themselves directly without the need for a computer host. FireWire supports fewer devices connected together (63, vs. 127 for USB).

How can one identify a firewire port?

If someone is looking to identify a firewire port, they must look and notice the difference between it and a usb port. Firewire and usb ports are generally meant for the same things: to hook up printers and to transfer information.

What does triple interface mean?

Triple interface just means that it can connect via USB, FireWire 400, and FireWire 800.

Serial Or Parallel Communication

What does a firewire card do?

A FireWire card adds a FireWire socket to your computer. FireWire is a type of cable and plug (like the more widespread USB) that is used to connect some video cameras, hard discs and audio equipment to a computer.

What is a FireWire 800 port?

FireWire (technically known as an IEEE 1394 interface), introduced by Apple in 1995, allows a fast connection for peripherals such as video cameras. It is similar to a USB connector. The original version is now known as FireWire 400. FireWire 800 was introduced to give faster transfer speeds and supporting longer cable lengths without loss of signal. The connectors for the 400 and 800 versions are not interchangeable but converters are available which will allow…

Electric Fan Is Serial Or Parallel Connection

What does IEEE 1394 stand for?

The IEEE 1394 standard defines the FireWire bus, developed by Apple, that was a mainstay for a few professional industries until it was overshadowed by USB's ubiquity, continual improvement which debunked rumors that FireWire was still faster than USB. However some still choose to continue use FireWire for compatibility or for other legacy hardware support reasons.

Which is faster firewire or eSATA?

An eSATA port is faster than a FireWire 800 port even though a FireWire 800 port has been designed to run at up to 3.2 Gbps, but products using this speed are not yet manufactured.

Which is faster serial interface or parallel interface?

It depends on the serial bit rate versus the parallel strobe cycle time but, in general, a parallel interface is faster than a serial interface. However, modern USB, Firewire, and SATA interfaces are very fast, and might be considered faster.

Why is fire wire superior to USB bus?

Because the FireWire port offers more bandwidth than USB (however the USB 3 standard has changed that)