3.2 WinDriver USB Benefits
This section describes the main benefits of the USB standard and the WinDriver USB
toolkit, which supports this standard:
-
External connection, maximizing ease of use
-
Self identifying peripherals supporting automatic mapping of function to
driver and configuration
-
Dynamically attachable and re-configurable peripherals
-
Suitable for device bandwidths ranging from a few Kb/s to hundreds of
Mb/s
-
Supports isochronous as well as asynchronous transfer types over the same
set of wires
-
Supports simultaneous operation of many devices (multiple connections)
-
Supports a data transfer rate of up to 480 Mb/s (high-speed) for USB
2.0 (for the operating systems that officially support this standard) and
up to 12 Mb/s (full-speed) for USB 1.1
-
Guaranteed bandwidth and low latencies; appropriate for telephony, audio,
etc. (isochronous transfer may use almost the entire bus bandwidth)
-
Flexibility: supports a wide range of packet sizes and a wide range of
data transfer rates
-
Robustness: built-in error handling mechanism and dynamic insertion and
removal of devices with no delay observed by the user
-
Synergy with PC industry; Uses commodity technologies
-
Optimized for integration in peripheral and host hardware
-
Low-cost implementation, therefore suitable for development of low-cost
peripherals
-
Low-cost cables and connectors
-
Built-in power management and distribution
-
Specific library support for custom USB HID devices
