A USB host controller driver connects USB devices to a computer’s operating system, recognizing and installing drivers for each device. It can also merge communication processes for multiple devices and control power and data rates.
A USB host controller driver controls how peripheral devices communicate with a computer’s main system. The driver establishes contact between a USB device, such as a keyboard or printer, and ensures that the computer’s operating system recognizes it. Many operating systems communicate directly with a USB host controller driver to ensure that computer users do not have to install individual drivers for each device.
All Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices communicate with a computer’s operating system using a standard programming language. Most of the time, a USB host controller driver will interact with C++ or ANSI programming. When a computer user plugs a USB device, such as a cable modem, into one of the ports, the operating system automatically recognizes the device. Depending on your system, it may install device drivers automatically, allowing it to work.
Standard USB devices, such as a mouse and keyboard, are usually automatically recognized by the computer’s USB host controller driver. Some USB control protocols will merge or merge the communication process of several standard devices. This helps create efficiency when data needs to be transferred simultaneously. For example, computer users often enter data from a keyboard and mouse simultaneously into a word processing program.
With bundling, the USB host controller driver can allow your computer to communicate with several devices through one communication port. The reality is that each of these devices appears to be plugged into different ports on the hardware interface. Within the programming language is the direction for the computer to recognize both inputs as belonging to the same port. The driver may also be responsible for redirecting power from the main system through the USB cables running to each separate device.
In most cases, the USB host will determine how each device gets its power. Some USB protocols allow you to connect and disconnect devices while the computer is turned on. Other programming interfaces require that the computer be shut down and then restarted before it will recognize a USB device. The SCSI interface is a protocol that will not allow users to simply “plug and play”.
The data rate and bandwidth are also controlled by a USB host driver. Some drivers support high speed transmissions while others only work in a low speed environment. There are some USB host controller drivers that only work with video and audio devices that need to be guaranteed a certain bandwidth.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
