USB Complete: The Developer's Guide (Complete Guides series) [Paperback]

Jan Axelson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Complete Guides series | Publication Date: June 1, 2009

This updated edition of the best-selling developer's guide to the Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface covers all aspects of project development, including hardware design, device firmware, and host application software.

Topics include how to choose a device controller chip, how to write device firmware for USB communications, how to cut development time by using USB device classes, and how to write software to access devices that perform vendor-specific functions. Also discussed are hardware interfacing, using bus power, wireless technologies, and USB On-The-Go.

The book presents example code for accessing USB devices using Visual Basic .NET and Visual C# .NET. The example code shows how to detect device arrival and removal and how to transfer vendor-defined data using the human interface device class and Microsoft’s WinUSB driver. Also covered is how to write device firmware to communicate with the USB host.

The Fourth Edition covers USB 3.0 and SuperSpeed and has new information on controller chips, USB classes, power use, and Microsoft’s WinUSB driver.

The author’s website has program code, articles, and other information of interest to USB developers. (www.Lvr.com)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"EEs . . . interested in a clearer, more concise presentation might do better to obtain a copy of USB Complete, Second Edition." -- EDN magazine

"If you want to add the Universal Serial Bus to your repertoire, then this is the book for you." -- Nuts & Volts

An excellent and highly recommended "how to" guide and reference. -- Midwest Book Review

Covers all aspects of building and coding USB devices. Jan's description of building a HID-class peripheral is the best around. -- Embedded Systems Programming, March 2000

I tell all my students that they really need this book in their library. -- Paul E. Berg, instructor, Annabooks USB Developers Workshop

Many books are full of things that are easy to find out. Jan has obviously slogged at the difficult stuff. -- Dave Wright, Cypress Semiconductor

The author has a flair for making complicated information readable, interesting, and informative. The best book on the topic. -- Test & Measurement World, June 2000 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Author

A few words about USB developing...

USB is very different from earlier PC interfaces such as the serial (COM) and parallel ports. On attaching to a PC, a device must respond to a series of requests that enable the PC to learn about the device. So every USB device must contain an intelligent controller that knows how to respond to the requests. You can't just connect generic I/O pins to the cable as you can with a parallel port. In the host PC, every device must have a device driver to manage communications between applications and the system’s USB drivers. Applications must communicate with the driver. They can't access a generic port as they can with serial and parallel ports.

For many devices, complying with the standard for the human interface device (HID) class can simplify development. All Windows editions from Windows 98 on support HID communications. This means that you don't have to provide (and ask users to install) a device driver for the PC. The HID class includes standard peripherals such as keyboards and mice, but HIDs are suitable for other uses as well, including instrumentation, robotics, motor control, and data acquisition.

The example HID device firmware in USB Complete is for the Cypress enCoRe series of USB controllers. If you prefer a different controller, my web site has additional examples that are compatible with the host software in the book.

I hope you find the book useful. I welcome any comments you may have.

Jan Axelson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 506 pages
• Publisher: Lakeview Research; Fourth edition edition (June 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931448086
• ISBN-13: 978-1931448086
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jan Axelson is the author of books about computers and electronic technology, including USB Complete, USB Embedded Hosts, Serial Port Complete, USB Mass Storage, and Embedded Ethernet and Internet Complete. Jan's articles have appeared in Embedded Systems Programming, EDN, Circuit Cellar, Nuts & Volts, and other publications. Bill Machrone of PC Magazine has described Jan's writing as 'a model of clarity and conciseness.'

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rare combination: easy to read, complete, and accurate, June 30, 2000

By 

Lane Hauck (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Usb Complete: Everything You Need to Develop Custom Usb Peripherals (Paperback)

I teach a USB class, so I've had occasion to review every book on the subject. I've chosen Jan's book for my class text because it is, by a wide margin, the best single book on the Universal Serial Bus I've seen. Jan has the unique talent of talking directly to the user in a very friendly, clear, and easy to read style, while losing absolutely nothing in scope or detail. The chapter on how to coerce Visual Basic into making the Windows API calls necessary to support the USB HID class got me over major hurdles while preparing lecture materials. Instead of the usual kitchen sink approach, Jan zeros in on exactly what you need to know to do the job and covers it completely. And her examples actually work!

If you're looking for a book that spans basic USB principles to advanced topics, all clearly explained, you can't go wrong with this book.

113 of 129 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Indirect & Realiant on 3rd party products., February 4, 2001

By 

David Hunter (Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Usb Complete: Everything You Need to Develop Custom Usb Peripherals (Paperback)

I purchased this book with the intention of learning how to communicate with USB peripherals from the PC perspective. What I later found after reading this book is that the author is heavily reliant upon 3rd party products to do the work, which simply means you'll need to pay more money for evaluation modules, and more software rather than being able to make the end product yourself. For someone who is at the hobbiest level, this book would be great perhapse, but the ultimate problem is it lets others do the work which IMO defeats the purpose of a book. If I am going to use 3rd party tools, I'll read their documentation-- not pay for a book to tell me what else I need to use.

On another note, this book is an EXCELLENT reference book when you need a little refresher about other things, but you can also find this info online

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for hardware, firmware, and software developers, June 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Usb Complete: Everything You Need to Develop Custom Usb Peripherals (Paperback)

With the help of this book, I went from knowing virtually nothing about USB to having a device programmed and communicating with a PC. The book covers everything from what's important to know in the USB specification, to selecting a controller chip for a device, to writing the device firmware and application programs to communicate with the device. About the only area not covered is how to write a Windows device driver (this is probably a book-length topic in itself), but Jan explains why this is often not necessary and describes tools that make the job easier when needed. Highly recommended