How does the USB Work?

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What is a USB?

A universal serial bus shortly known as be USB is a serial interface that is used as a means of communication between the different devices and a controller. Peripheral devices like mice, printers, digital cameras, drives, etc. are connected using it. It is the common type of computer or portable device port used today and is faster than the ports used earlier. It can support up to 127 peripherals. Furthermore, it may also be used for power transmission to rechargeable devices like a handy tablet or cell phone.

Symbol:

Types of USB:

The most common types of USB ports are USB-A, USB-B, Micro USB, and USB-C.

USB-A (Type A): It is rectangular. This type of USB connector is commonly used for keyboards and wired mice.

USB-B (Type B): These are square and are less commonly used than the USB-A connectors. This type of USB is generally used in computer ports, routers, printers, and game consoles.

Micro USB: Micro USB is a smaller version of both USB-A and USB-B mostly used in devices like cell phones.

USB-C (Type C): This is the latest standard design to replace both two types of USB, having smaller ports more useful for mobile devices having a thinner form factor.

USB cables are designed in a way to support all the male/female options and different combinations. Therefore, choose an accurate type of USB cable while connecting a device that has one type of port per device to another type.

USB Pinout:

The USB cable has four shielded wires two for power (VCC & GND) and the other two for data signals (DATA- & DATA+). Most operating systems have their own USB system software and drivers that detect the peripherals attached to the USB ports automatically.

The given figure shows the pinout of the USB.