USB Explained: An Introduction to USB and Its Future

7/11/2010 5:57 AM EDT

This paper by Mentor Graphics is a short and simple overview of USB. Came USB and all those engineers who struggled with those 9 pin and 25 pin RS-232 interfaces and using serial multiplexers to attach multiple serial peripherals , heaved a sigh of relief. The best visibility of USB was seen when those sleek Pen drives appeared in the market and the marketing executives no more required to carry their heavy laptops and bunch of CDs to give presentations to their customers. Just carry a Pen drive like a key chain , hook it to your customers Lap-top and there you go. This standard has definitely a much longer life. No wonder tomorrows home appliances may have a USB port and you could download Micowave recipes , washing machine programs using a pen-drive.

7/13/2010 10:55 AM EDT

Really disappointed. Expected a much deeper coverage, especially since it came from mentor Graphics

7/15/2010 8:51 PM EDT

I used to work in a USB IC architecture team. My review of the paper is such that it is the right amount of coverage as it is an introduction / overview more for marketing purposes rather than in-depth technical paper (IEEE, for example). Mentor Graphics did an excellent job briefing about USB technology.

7/31/2010 4:33 PM EDT

I even did not notice that there is Wireless USB. I am going to dig up, if any company developed wireless USB3 and how it should work. As author said I am already using all of wireless needs with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

For the backward compatibility, it is worth to mention that USB3.0 is also a backward compatible, continued from USB2.0as author mentioned. 5Gbit/s is the ideal and theoretical condition. In practical Lab and simulation environment, it barely made about 3Gb/s (depending on how fast it can lock a symbol and it can recover from a powerdown). Please note that there is no EIDL in USB3 so it has to continue transmit a junk until the RxReceiver is shutdown from powerdown or told to shut down. I hope it would be something better way to handle RxReceiver in the future USB architectural design.

8/9/2010 11:23 PM EDT

This is a good executive summary of the history of USB, but if you actually need to design USB, better to visit USB.org for detailed information.

8/13/2010 4:11 PM EDT

Does anyone have am idea where I can lay my hands on how the USB technology works? The software and hardware interface as well as how it operates. What are the technical details of how the Universal Serial Bus function? How is it that the USB controller is able to emulate the multiple controllers for Video, Keyboard, Mouse, HDD I/O, etc?

8/19/2010 3:45 AM EDT

really disappointed...
even wikipedia is better !!

8/29/2010 3:03 AM EDT

Agree, information in this paper is quite less.

9/6/2010 6:13 AM EDT

Too less of information

9/8/2010 11:01 AM EDT

very very poor ... introduction?...child homework

9/15/2010 2:14 PM EDT

well, it gives a quick overview on the future.

9/24/2010 3:09 AM EDT

For Baby's it will be usefull

11/4/2010 9:20 PM EDT

"USB explained" implies some technical details. But as it was noted "it is an introduction ... for marketing purpose". So, actually it is trap dug by Mentor Graphics. Sad story.

11/29/2010 4:09 PM EST

This is mostly an overview of USB with little technical content. If you are new to wireless and looking for an overview of what USB is, its benefits, etc., this is definitely a good source. However, if you desire a technical understanding of USB, look elsewhere.

12/16/2010 8:01 PM EST

Some unncessary piling on. The point was made and usb.org recommended. Why say more?

1/20/2011 12:31 PM EST

Guys,

Thank you for your feedback!

As the name of this paper suggests, this was just an into.

We will followup with a deep technical paper on this topic.

Warmest regards,
Shay (Director of Marketing for Mentor Embedded)

1/25/2011 1:34 PM EST

I recommend
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus

2/2/2011 8:08 AM EST

Dear Mr Shay
Thanks for the info on USB

We are interested to Hook upa USB PEN DRIVE to my
STEREO PLAYER which does not have a USB PORT

Pls inform i f therare any suitable Kits/ Cables etc for the job
Thanks
K.GOTLA
ZEDENTERPRISE@GMAIL.COM

2/17/2011 9:54 AM EST

This paper might be nice if it existed.

But nothing comes up when I login and click on it.

Nada.

Zilch.

Hello, EE Times? Where the heck did you go? Why do you feel the need to screw around with your readers?

2/22/2011 1:54 PM EST

I got the same message...error report and could pull up the paper.

2/22/2011 8:09 PM EST

me too...I think it has been removed :-(

3/3/2011 5:59 AM EST

Perfect at user- or marketing level readers (can I use the same connector for USB 3.0?), not sufficient for engineering community.