USB and How They Work

The use of USB (Universal Serial Buses) is so common in everyday life that most people never realize how important they are, or know how they work.

USB are a simplistic way of connecting multiple devices while maintaining a fast connection. In addition, since most devices now come with built in USB ports, there is no need to carry around multiple cords for multiple devices.

The host the USB is connected to begins a process called enumeration, which creates a list of connected devices and assigns an address to each one. The host also finds out from each address the type of data transfer that they need.

These can be an interrupt transfer, a bulk transfer, or an isochronous transfer, depending on the device connected. According to Geoff Knagge’s article on USB data transfer, data is transmitted in a serial form, meaning that one byte of data is sent through at a time.

Another important change in technology was the jump from USB 2.0 to 3.0. The USB 3.0 made several improvements to existing model. The USB 2.0 has a maximum signal rate of 480 megabits per second, whereas the 3.0 has a maximum rate of 5 gigabits. However, this is only true if they are at their most effective, which is rare. The USB 3.0 also has four more wires for data transmission, and can also send information upstream or downstream at the same time, whereas the 2.0 could only do one at a time. The USB represents a significant advancement in computer technology. Not only does it offer the consumer a faster, more efficient means of transferring data, but it is also a simplistic means of connecting multiple devices simultaneously.