USB Explained [Paperback]

Steven McDowell (Author), Martin D. Seyer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 013081153X | ISBN-13: 978-0130811530 | Publication Date: October 4, 1998 | Edition: 1

The Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a low-to-high-speed technology that provides a shared-access, highly available, robust, self-configuring, extensible, and easy-to-use serial bus that is host-computer independent and consistent across computer architectures. The advent of multimedia and the proliferation of relatively inexpensive processing power has left the venerable RS-232 a relic of times past. The USB was invented and standardized by a group of computer manufacturers and peripheral vendors in early 1995 under the auspices of an organization called the Universal Serial Bus Implementers Forum. It's goal was to define a high-speed serial bus technology to replace, or phase out, the existing RS-232 serial port technology. Today's serial bus technology must cover a full range of technology that can deliver everything from digital joysticks for high-precision game playing, to digital audio peripherals to high-resolution "live" video inupt and output devices to data networks and telephony equipment. The USB can do all of this at speeds faster than the RS-232 serial port was designed to handle. The biggest difference between a single-ended serial port (like RS-232) and a serial bus like the USB is that the traditional serial port is a point-to-point connection between a computer and a device, whereas on a "serial bus" many devices can communicate and share the connection to the computer. In the USB, up to 128 bus devices can simultaneously communicate with the host computer.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Preface

What Is This Book?
This is a book about the Universal Serial Bus, or USB. The USB was designed by the computer industry to replace the ailing and ancient RS-232 serial-port technology. The USB is bigger, faster, and better. It's built to handle the demands of audio and video. It's built to be hot pluggable. It's built to be plug-n-play. It's built to host a hundred or more devices at the same time, though it works wonderfully well with just a single device or two. Finally, it's built to be inexpensive enough to seamlessly become a part of the personal computer without burdening the PC owners.
This book explains exactly what the USB is and how it works. It does not explain how to write software for the USB. We'll leave it up to Sun, Apple, and Microsoft to tell us how to write code for their platforms. This is a "concepts" book. If you want to know how it works under the hood, then you picked up the right book. You will get a lot of detail about how the bus and its devices all communicate and keep things straight, but you won't see any state or timing diagrams that require an engineering degree to understand.

Who Is This Book For?
The book was written first and foremost with the curious end user in mind— someone who wants to understand how the USB works under the hood. It is technical enough, however, and explores the standard well enough that it will make an ideal companion to the USB specification for practicing engineers and software developers. In short, this book is for anyone who wants a complete treatment of the Universal Serial Bus in easy-to-understand terms.

Organization
The book takes a top-down approach to the Universal Serial Bus. The first two chapters provide an overview of the USB in general and the USB within a host computer in particular. Chapter 3 talks about setting up USB hardware and all the issues associated with that. Chapter 4 takes us inside a USB Hub. Chapter 5 takes us inside a USB Device. Chapter 6 is dedicated to explaining what actually happens "on the wire"— the USB protocols that keep everything communicating. The main part of the book is rounded out with chapters describing USB on the most popular computer operating systems (Chapter 7) and answering frequently asked questions (Chapter 8). Appendix A provides a comprehensive list of where to go for USB devices and software. Appendices C through F cover some of the more technical aspects of the USB protocols. Readers are encouraged to read and understand the material in Chapter 2, "USB Concepts," and then go to the part of the book that describes what is of particular interest to them. A complete treatment of the subject, though, should include review of each chapter.

Universal Serial Bus Standards and Terminology
This book describes the Universal Serial Bus as described in version 1.0 of the Universal Serial Bus Specification from the USB Implementers Forum. Even though the book does not mirror the organization of the specification, every attempt is made to be consistent with the terminology and concepts used in the specification. Inconsistent terminology is used in a few instances when it makes a concept or technique easier to understand; terminology from the standard is included also. The terms "Universal Serial Bus" and "USB" are interchangeable within this work.

From the Back Cover

8115C-5.TXT

• The complete guide to the revolutionary new USB standard.
• Written for everyone-from users to engineers.
• Operating system support and troubleshooting techniques.
• USB hubs, bus interconnects, devices, hosts, protocols, and more.

The new Universal Serial Bus standard handles everything from joysticks to live video, all at breathtaking speeds. USB devices are coming fast, and built-in USB support is a key feature of Windows 98. Now there's a complete guide to making the most of this hot new connectivity standard: Universal Serial Bus Explained.

Co-authored by the best-selling author of RS-232 Made Easy, this book is written in layman's terms for every interested computer user-and it's comprehensive enough to serve the needs of hardware and software developers. You'll find thorough coverage of:

• Setting up USB hardware and interfacing peripherals.
• USB protocols and data flow: what actually happens “on the wire.”
• A close look inside USB hubs, bus interconnects, devices, and hosts.
• Troubleshooting USB: Analyzing bus traffic and device configuration.
• USB support in Windows and other operating systems.

Universal Serial Bus Explained shows how the USB standard delivers easy peripheral expansion, fast data transfer, guaranteed bandwidth for multimedia, low cost, true “plug-and-play” support, and a whole lot more. It answers today's most frequently asked questions about USB and the new generation of devices that utilize it. Detailed appendices provide more information about the USB specification; Internet-based resources, periodicals and technical conferences; and an extensive source list for USB devices and software. Whether you want to use USB devices or invent them, this is the only USB book you'll ever need.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 1 edition (October 4, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 013081153X
• ISBN-13: 978-0130811530
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,613,740 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 50% of this book is NOT USB information, September 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: USB Explained (Paperback)

This book provides a good overview of USB but I was disappointed to find that the appendices began when I was half way through the book. The entire 2nd half of the book is tables of information which has no connection to USB. Tables like Sony's CD ROM header pinout and the NuBus 90. I think the authors ran out of time or material and the publisher made the book look bigger by including all this extra doo-dah. There is nothing in the book's description on-line or on its covers that would let you know that it is 50% USB and 50% filler. I felt a bit ripped off.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Good pinouts on lots of connectors. None on USB., March 29, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (FLA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: USB Explained (Paperback)

You buy a book on USB. Why pinouts on phone jacks,

RS-232, printer connectors, ect. BUT NONE ON

MALE OR FEMALE "A" or "B" CONNECTORS. GOOD PICTURES. BUT NO "USB" PINOUTS.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not explained, just "overviewed", October 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: USB Explained (Paperback)

This book gives you 130 pages of USB overview (which you probably already know) and 200 pages of useless tables of for instance the Pinout for the VGA-cable. As the "Editorial Revies" notes this book is "written in laymans terms" which I interpret as containing-to-little-specific-info and is much to general to be used for anything but a brief overview.