Understanding Hubs
Hubs, critical components in the USB architecture, are wiring concentrators that enable the attachment of multiple devices, thus converting a single attachment point into multiple attachment points. USB architecture allows a cascaded multiple hub configuration with certain power limitations (explained later in this section). See figure 1.
PC
Host
Hubport
Edgeport | Edgeport | Hubport |
|
| Edgeport | bu | scanner |
joystick mouse
Figure 1: Example of a Typical Hub Configuration
Each hub has an upstream port, connecting to the host, and multiple downstream ports, connecting to downstream devices, possibly including other hubs. A hub can detect attachment and detachment of downstream devices and enable and monitor the distribution of the power to downstream devices via their integral hardware and the operating system.
Each USB device reports its power requirements to the operating system, which then enables and disables the device as a function of its power requirements and the amount of available power. High powered devices typically need to be connected to a
Due to the limited available power for
According to the USB Specification, the maximum limit of hubs cascaded in series cannot exceed five. In other words, you may have a maximum of five hubs between any device and the host. This does NOT mean that the maximum number of hubs in a system is five. Indeed, up to seven hubs can be connected parallel at any given level. You must tally both external and embedded hubs when counting downstream hubs.
