USB

Universal Serial Bus

• Most popular Serial Peripheral bus

• WWW.USB.ORG
 SERIAL
• Bit after bit after bit instead of
several bits at once

• Referenced as Mbps (why?)

Universal SERIAL Bus
• Anything to do with serial transmission was
traditionally difficult to set up

… because of start, stop and handshaking

 Hot Swappable
• USB is hot swappable or hot pluggable
------ PnP = Plug and Play

• You can connect it without opening the

machine
 How ?

• A USB Host Controller should be included in

the chipset

• The USB host controller allows for the use of

just one IRQ
 USB 1.0
• Low Speed

• Announced November 1995

• Released January 1996

• 1.5 Mbps
 USB 1.1
• Full Speed
• December 1998
• Adopted by Windows 98
• 12 Mbps
 USB 2.0
• High Speed

• 2000

• 480 Mbps
 Wireless USB
• 2005
 USB 3.0
• Superspeed
• 4.8 Gbps to 5 Gbps approx
• mid-2008 announcement, but not yet
globally available
USB Speeds
• Superspeed – 4.8Gbps to approx 5Gbps
• High Speed - 480Mbps
• Full Speed - 12Mbps
• Low Speed - 1.5Mbps
 USB Connectors

• Type A
• Type B
• Mini Type A
• Mini Type B
• Micro USB (Jan 2007)
 USB Type A

Type A sockets will typically be on hosts and

hubs
Type A or Series A
Plug & Receptacle
 USB Type B Plug and
Receptacle

Type B plugs are on devices.

Mini A and Mini B
 Micro USB

Micro USB Vs Mini USB on new RAZR2 cell phoner released May
2007
USB Hub
First computer to offer USB
as standard ?
Bondi Blue iMac
Connector problems ?
Max length of a USB
Cable ?
• 5 Meters for Hi-speed
USB ( 16 feet & 5 inches)
• 3 Meters for Full-Speed
USB (9 feet & 10 inches)
 Feet from meters ?

• Multiply by approx 3.3

 Does your system support USB ?
Which one ?
• Hi-Speed USB ?

• Open Device Manager & expand the

Universal Serial Bus section.

=> There should be an "Enhanced" USB

host controller present.
USB Driver updates ?

• Keep current with your OS

• Go to TOUCHSTONE software and use the free

scan
Windows Support for USB

• Windows 95 OSR 2.1 was the first Windows OS

to support USB

• Windows 98, 2K and XP support USB

• Windows XP supports high speed USB with a

service pack

• Windows NT never supported USB

For USB to work …

• A motherboard or expansion card that

supports USB

• An OS that supports USB

•
• A USB device
• The USB device’s drivers
 Firewire
• First introduced by Apple Computer

• Mid 1980’s Apple engineers developed a

method of transferring data between the hard
drives in a Mac – they called it firewire.
• Apple brought Firewire to the IEEE

• IEEE released it as standard IEEE 1394 in

December 1995
Some differences between Firewire
and USB?
• Firewire started off at speeds of 100 Mbps
+.
• Firewire was not intended for slower
peripherals like mice and keyboards

• Firewire can connect up to 63 devices in

daisy chain, USB can connect up to 127
devices in daisy chain
 Similarities
• Both are Serial bus standards

• Both are hot-swappable / hot-pluggable

 Firewire Standards
• 1394a : also known as Firewire 400
Supports speeds of up to 400 Mbps

• 1394b : also known as Firewire 800

Supports speeds of up to 800 Mbps

A newer FireWire standard that supports data

transmission at up to 3.2 Gbps is now being developed.
 IEEE 1394a
• Firewire (Apple name)

• i.Link (Sony name)

• Lynx
Symbol
 How do you know if
Firewire is supported by
your motherboard ?

• Open Device Manager and check for the 1394 Bus

Controller as an installed device

• None present ?
- Expansion Card
 No Firewire Ports ?
• Install an adapter
card
 Firewire Connectors ?

• 1394a : 4 pin and 6

pin

• 1394b : 9 pin

Cables and Connectors

Firewire Plug and Connectors
 Firewire Max Cable Length

• Maximum cable length device to

device for 1394a (Firewire 400) is
4.5-meters (14.85ft).

• 10 meter (32ft) cable with a

hub/repeater extends FireWire over
longer distances.
 Firewire Max Cable Length

• Maximum cable length device to

device for 1394b (Firewire 800) is
100 Meters (328 feet)
 Assignment
• Use this link : USB Vs Firewire

.. to describe the differences between USB

and Firewire
 3 Related Terms
• Asynchronous

• Synchronous

• Isochronous
 Synchronous
Happens on a clock signal

Happens after a definite time quantum

 Asynchronous
happens at irregular intervals, without the
use of a clock signal
 Examples of synchronous and
asynchronous communications
• Telephone conversation – asynchronous
• Transmission of files – could be
asynchronous or synchronous
• Transmission of a definite preset amount
of data at a time - Synchronous
 Key
• Synchronous transmission is rigid,
asynchronous transmission is flexible
 Isochronous
• Does not operate independently of time
like asynchronous communictaions, so
needs time coordination - but is not as
rigid as synchronous communications

• Data is transferred consistently and at a

steady rate, but in step with the receiving
device’s ability to accept the data.
 Example of isochronous
communications
• A picture going from a peripheral device
like a camera, to a computer

• A video stream going from a camcorder to

a computer
 What type of interface is used for
this ?

• USB

• Firewire

Both use isochronous transfer methods