This Printout’s in the Mail

Ever wondered why it takes a while for your printer to respond once the print

command is given? Or you plug your scanner while your machine is running, and it

crashes? The reason is that your PC peripherals depend on the serial ports—the

ubiquitous sockets that link the peripheral devices with the PC. However, the

growing popularity of USB based devices across the world is set to redefine the

scheme of things. For starters, Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a controller

conceived by Compaq, Digital, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, NEC and Northern Telecom in

1995. The main aim of the move was to evolve a universal set of connectors to

simplify PC peripheral connectivity.

While today’s PC’s boast of two USB ports, they remain unused due to a

dearth of USB based peripherals. The current version of USB 1.1 offers a data

transfer speed of 12Mbps, whereas the latest version 2.0 is 40 times faster and

offer speeds of up to 480 Mbps. The latest version is a team effort from

industry majors like HP, Intel Microsoft, NEC and Philips. The agenda before the

team of developers was to scale up the current USB 1.1 version so that the PC

and the peripheral devices get connected with minimum downtime. The other aim

was to end Apple’s Firewire domination -a high-speed connectivity port. For

instance, Apple developed the IEEE 1394 or Firewire port that held the PC

industry hostage by collecting a licensing fee for the usage of its port. The

port had an edge over digital video applications, and the first consumer

application of firewire came into being in the form of iLink port in Sony

Digital Camcorders. Using this port, a video cam can be effortlessly plugged to

the PC’s firewire port and data can be transferred to the HDD. By launching

USB 2.0, the team has delivered a connectivity port that will redefine

peripheral usage and at the same time, put an end to Apple’s domination in

this space.

What is significant about USB 2.0? The significance lies in the data transfer

speeds and the impact it will have on PC peripheral devices. Sources at USB

Implementers Forum (USB —IF), a non profit body that promotes USB Technology

say that by the end of 2002, there will be 400 m USB based peripherals sold

worldwide and USB 2.0 will become a dominant peripheral connectivity standard.

Now what kind of peripheral devices will benefit from this technology? Scanners,

printers, hi end video conferencing cameras or any device that pumps in a lot of

data can cash in on USB 2.0’s blazing speed. Yet another aspect that gives USB’s

an edge over serial ports is its plug and play feature. A user can even plug in

a PC peripheral while the PC is running.

Bottlenecks cleared



Despite the potential, USBs have not taken off in a big way. It is mainly

due to the lack of hardware and software support from majors like Intel and

Microsoft. Due to this lack of support, peripheral vendors deferred from USB

based products. But not anymore. At the recently concluded Intel Developer

Forum, Intel confirmed its commitment to USB 2.0. Jason Ziller, technology

initiatives manager and chairman, USB-IF says, "We will be launching the

USB 2.0 integrated chipset shortly. It will hit the market by the first half of

2002." Ziller adds that the higher bandwidth connections available through

USB 2.0 will capitalize on the faster processing power of Pentium 4 processors.

Meanwhile Microsoft has made USB 2.0 support available to OEMs and systems

builders by allowing PC manufacturers to ship Windows XP based systems with USB

2.0 drivers.

In the Indian context, like every technology adoption, users will leapfrog to

USB 2.0. The current trends clearly indicate that by early next year, peripheral

vendors will roll out USB based offerings. While domestic peripheral vendors say

that it is too early to comment, the increasing usage of data intensive PC

peripheral applications will drive this technology for early adoption.

G Shrikanth in Chennai