USB: The Universal Serial Bus
Have you ever wondered how to use the USB hardware to send and receive data from an attached device? Wondered how to detect and initialize the controller, retrieve the device's descriptors, configure the device, and then communicate with it to send or retrieve its data? This book explains the ins and outs of the four major controllers, starting with the UHCI, OHCI, EHCI, and then the new Super Speed xHCI Controller. It explains in detail how to communicate with the various devices such as HID mice and keyboards, mass storage devices, including UASP devices, printers, and other USB devices. If you are interested in working with bare hardware to communicate with the USB, with no operating system to get in the way, you don't need to look any further. This book does not need to be on the shelf every USB enthusiast, it needs to be right on the desk. Third Edition -- 20180420
Why Read This Book
You will get a hands‑on, controller‑level tour of USB that teaches you how to detect, initialize, and drive real UHCI/OHCI/EHCI/xHCI controllers and the devices attached to them. The book's strength is its low‑level, bare‑metal focus — you learn how enumeration, descriptors, endpoints, transfers, and class protocols actually map to registers and bus transactions so you can implement or debug firmware with no OS in the way.
Who Will Benefit
Embedded firmware engineers and systems programmers with some hardware and C experience who need to implement or debug USB host/device support on bare metal or tight RTOS environments.
Level: Advanced — Prerequisites: Solid C programming skills, basic digital electronics, familiarity with microcontroller/SoC bus concepts (PCI/AMBA), and comfort reading hardware datasheets and register maps.
Key Takeaways
- Initialize and program UHCI, OHCI, EHCI, and xHCI host controllers at the register level to enumerate and manage USB devices.
- Parse and use USB descriptors to configure devices and set up control, bulk, interrupt, and isochronous transfers.
- Implement class‑level communication for HID, mass storage (including UASP), printers, and other common USB device types on bare metal.
- Design endpoint handling, transfer scheduling, and error/recovery strategies for reliable USB communication without an OS.
- Use hardware and software tools (logic analyzers, USB protocol analyzers, linux usbmon/libusb) to trace, debug, and validate USB transactions.
Topics Covered
- 1. USB Overview and History
- 2. Physical Layer, Signaling, and Electrical Considerations
- 3. USB Protocol Basics: Packets, Frames, and Transfer Types
- 4. Descriptors, Enumeration, and Configuration
- 5. UHCI and OHCI Host Controller Architectures
- 6. EHCI: High Speed USB 2.0 Host Controller
- 7. xHCI: SuperSpeed and Unified Controller Model
- 8. USB Device Classes: HID, Mass Storage (UASP), Printers, CDC, etc.
- 9. Endpoint, Transfer Scheduling, and Bandwidth Management
- 10. Power, Suspend/Resume, and Hot‑Plug Considerations
- 11. Bare‑Metal Implementation Strategies and Examples
- 12. Debugging, Test Tools, and Compliance Tips
- Appendices: Register Maps, Timing Diagrams, Sample Descriptor Dumps
Languages, Platforms & Tools
How It Compares
Compared to Jan Axelson's "USB Complete," this title goes deeper into host controller internals (UHCI/OHCI/EHCI/xHCI) and bare‑metal register programming rather than high‑level device examples.
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