TERM PAPER

Wireless USB
Submitted for the fulfillment of the requirements as per the
Term Paper assessment
External Term Paper Submission
Submitted by
Name: Lenin Vaibhav Prathipati
Roll No.: 13501A0582

Department of Computer Science & Engineering

PRASAD V. POTLURI SIDDHARTHA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
(Affiliated to JNTU- Kakinada, approved by AICTE)
[Autonomous, NBA accredited institution]
Kanuru, Vijayawada-07
Marks awarded:

Internal Examiner
Signature

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Signature

Abstract:
Wireless USB is a short-range, high-bandwidth wireless radio
communication protocol created by the Wireless USB Promoter
Group. Wireless USB is sometimes abbreviated as "WUSB",
although the USB Implementers Forum discourages this
practice and instead prefers to call the technology "Certified
Wireless USB" to differentiate it from competitors. Wireless
USB is based on the WiMedia Alliance's Ultra-Wideband
(UWB) common radio platform, which is capable of sending
480 Mbit/s at distances up to 3 meters and 110 Mbit/s at up to
10 meters. It was designed to operate in the 3.1 to 10.6 GHz
frequency range, although local regulatory policies may restrict
the legal operating range for any given country

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The original motivation for USB came from several considerations,

two of the most important being:

Ease of use and Port expansion.

The lack of flexibility in reconfiguring PC had been acknowledged

as the Achilles heel to its further deployment. The combination of user
friendly graphical interfaces and the hardware and software
mechanisms associated with new-generation bus architectures have
made computers less confrontational and easier to reconfigure.
However from end users point of view, the PCs I/O interfaces, such as
serial parallel ports, keyboard mouse interfaces etc. did not have the
attributes of plug and play.

The addition of external peripherals continued to be constrained by

port availability. The lack of a bidirectional, low cost, low-to mid
speed peripheral bus held back the creative proliferation of peripherals
such as storage devices, answering machines, scanners, PDAs,
keyboards, mice etc. Existing interconnects were optimized for two
point products. As each new function or capability was added to the
PC, a new interface has been defined to address this need.

Initially USB provided two speeds (12Mbps and 1.5Mbps) that

peripherals could use. But as PCs became increasingly powerful and

able to process vast amounts of data, users need to et more and more
data into and out of the PCs. USB 2.0 was defined in 2000 to provide a
third transfer rate of 480Mbps while retaining backward compatibility.

Now as technology innovation marches forward, wireless

technologies are more capable and cost effective. Ultra Wide Band
(UWB) radio technology, in particular, has characteristics that match
traditional USB usage models very well. UWB supports high
bandwidth (480 Mbps) but only at limited range (~3m). Applying this
wireless technology to USB frees the user from worrying about the
cables; where to find them, where to plug them in, how to string them
so they dont get tripped over, how to arrange them so they dont look
like a mess. It makes USB easier to use. Because no physical ports are
required, port expansion or even finding a USB port, is no longer a
problem.

Of course, losing the cable also means losing the power for
peripherals. For self powered devices, this isnt an issue. But for
portable, bus-powered devices, Wireless USB presents some
challenges where creative minds will provide innovative solutions that
meet their customers needs. USB (wired or wireless) continues to be
the answer to connectivity for the PC architecture. It is a fast, bidirectional, isochronous, low-cost, dynamically attachable interface
that is consistent with the requirements of the PC platform of today and
tomorrow. Wireless USB is used in game controllers, printers,

scanners, digital cameras, MP3 players, hard disks and flash drives. It
is also suitable for transferring parallel video streams.

2.0 WIRED USB

A USB system has an asymmetric design, consisting of a host, a

multitude of downstream USB ports, and multiple peripheral devices
connected in a tiered-star topology. Additional USB hubs may be
included in the tiers, allowing branching into a tree structure, subject to
a limit of 5 levels of tiers. A USB host may have multiple host
controllers and each host controller may provide one or more USB
ports. Up to 127 devices, including the hub devices may be connected
to a single host controller. The USB Specification provides a selection
of attributes that can achieve multiple price/performance integration
points and can enable functions that allow differentiation at the system
and component level.

3.0 REASONS FOR WIRELESS USB

The wired USB is there to help with the PC connectivity problems. We

already have many wireless solutions also, like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth etc. In
such a scenario why are we going for a new technology called Wireless
USB. Two things account for this, one is lack of easiness of use in
wired USB the other one is inefficiency of current wireless solutions.
3.1 Issues of wired USB

Wires are restrictive. Once plugged into a socket we cannot move the
device around like what we can do with wireless or mobile devices.
This restriction to free movement is a hindrance to the modern ideas of
mobile offices.

Multiple wires can be a hassle. No one likes t o see the multitude of

wires behind the PC, some times making knots with each other and
causing all sorts of trouble when we try to remove or reconfigure any
component. To remove all these problems with no loss at all is a good
idea, and Wireless USB does that.

In many situations wireless solutions can easily deliver same speeds

that wired solutions are delivering. So there is a good reason for a shift
to wireless solutions.

3.2 Inadequacy of current wireless solutions

Bluetooth - Bandwidth of 3 Mbps is not enough for most of the

applications which needs very high bandwidth. The applications like
video, HDTV, monitor etc. are good examples.

Wi-Fi- One of the main disadvantage of Wi-Fi is its high expense to

set up a network and make it working. It is not always feasible to
install Wi-Fi for home or personal networks. Another draw back of WiFi is the higher power consumption. Power consumption is one of the
important hurdles of wireless designers. As the wireless devices work

on their own power, almost always battery power, the high power
consumption becomes a big drawback.

4.0 FEATURES OF WIRELESS USB TECHNOLOGY

Wireless USB will build on the success of Wired USB. An important

goal of the WUSB Promoter Group is to ensure that wireless USB
offers users the experience they have come to expect from wired USB.
Toward that end, the Wireless USB standard is being designed to
support the following features.

Backward compatibility - Wireless USB will be fully backward

compatible with the one billion wired USB connections already in
operation. Moreover, Wireless USB will be compatible with current
USB drivers and firmware and provide bridging from wired USB
devices and hosts.

High performance - At launch, Wireless USB will provide speeds up to

480 Mbps, a performance comparable to the wired USB 2.0 standard
and high enough to provide wireless transfer of rich digital multimedia
formats. As UWB technology and process technologies evolve,
bandwidth may exceed 1 Gbps.

Simple, low-cost implementation -Implementation will follow the

wired USB connectivity models as closely as possible to reduce

development time and preserve the low-cost, ease-of-use model that

has made wired USB the interconnect of choice.

An easy migration path - To enable an easy migration path from wired

USB, Wireless USB will maintain the same usage models and
architecture as wired USB

5.0 WIRELESS USB TOPOLOGY

The fundamental relationship in WUSB is a hub and spoke

topology, as shown in Figure. In this topology, the host initiates all the
data traffic among the devices connected to it, allotting time slots and
data bandwidth to each device connected. These relationships are
referred to as clusters. The connections are point-to-point and directed
between the WUSB host and WUSB device.

The WUSB host can logically connect to a maximum of 127

WUSB devices, considered an informal WUSB cluster. WUSB clusters
coexist within an overlapping spatial environment with minimum
interference, thus allowing a number of other WUSB clusters to be
present within the same radio cell.

Topology will support a dual role model where a device can also
support limited host capabilities. This model allows mobile devices to

access services with a central host supporting the services (i.e., printers
and viewers). This model also allows a device to access data outside an
existing cluster it may currently be connected to by creating a second
cluster as a limited host.

Additionally, high spatial capacity in small areas is needed to

enable multiple device access to high bandwidth concurrently. Multiple
channel activities may take place within a given area. The topology
will support multiple clusters in the same area. The number of clusters
to be supported is still being determined.

Fig 1.Wireless USB Topology

6.0 PERFORMANCE

WUSB performance at launch will provide adequate bandwidth to

meet the requirements of a typical user experience with wired
connections. The 480 Mbps

initial target bandwidth of WUSB is

comparable to the current wired USB 2.0 standard. With 480 Mbps
being the initial target, WUSB specifications will allow for generation
steps of data throughput as the ultra wideband radio evolves and with
future process technologies, exceeding limits of 1 Gbps.
The specification is intended for WUSB to operate as a wire
replacement with targeted usage models for cluster connectivity to the
host and device-to-device connectivity at less than 10 meters. The
interface will support quality delivery of rich digital multimedia
formats, including audio and video, and will be capable of high rate
streaming (isochronous transfers).

7.0 SECURITY AND ASSOCIATION

WUSB security will ensure the same level of security as wired USB.
Connection level security between devices will ensure that the
appropriate device is associated and authenticated before operation of
the device is permitted. Higher levels of security involving encryption
should be implemented at the application level. Processing overhead

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supporting security should not impose noticeable performance impacts

or add device costs.
One of the primary objectives when implementing a wireless
interconnect is that it is easy to install and use. Wired connections
provide the user with implied expectations, that is that the device is
connected as specified by the user when they install the wire. When the
wire is installed, the user has basic expectations and when these
expectations do not take place (plug does not fit), there is a known
recourse.
Wireless connections, on the other hand, due to environmental
characteristics, may establish connection paths that are not obvious. In
fact, it may not be obvious when a device is connected. So WUSB
devices installed for the first time should automatically install drivers,
security features, and so on and associate with systems that they can
interact with. The concepts of 'turn on and use it' with an easy setup
procedure will be employed.

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8.0 CONCLUSION

The first Wireless USB implementations will likely be in the form

of discrete silicon that will be introduced in a number of form factors.
These may include add-in cards and dongles along with embedded
solutions to support the technology's introduction and subsequent rapid
ramp up. But the wireless future will arrive once WUSB, along with
the common ultra-wide band platform, becomes a standard part of
every processor and chipset and is integrated in CMOS silicon. As the
latest iteration of USB technology, wireless USB (WUSB) will offer
the same functionality as standard wired USB devices but without the
cabling. As the new Wireless USB Promoter Group prepares to
develop the specifications that will help standardize the technology, the
industry is planning products that can take advantage of the
convenience and mobility that this new device interconnect will offer

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