The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) is a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

created to promote and support USB (Universal Serial Bus). Its main activities are the promotion and marketing of USB, Wireless USB, USB On-The-Go, and the maintenance of the specifications, as well as a compliance program. The USB-IF was founded in 1995 by the group of companies that was developing USB, which was released in 1996. The founding companies of USB-IF were

Compaq Compaq Computer Corporation (sometimes abbreviated to CQ prior to a 2007 rebranding) was an American information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced ...

, Digital, IBM,

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

, NEC and

Nortel Nortel Networks Corporation (Nortel), formerly Northern Telecom Limited, was a Canadian multinational telecommunications and data networking equipment manufacturer headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in Montreal, Quebec, ...

. Notable current members include HP, NEC,

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

, and Agere Systems. The working committees within USB-IF are: * Device Working Group * Compliance Committee * Marketing Committee The USB-IF web caters to developers who may sign up freely to the developer web-forums and access documentation. To join a working group, however, one has to work for a member company or register as a member. The developer forums oversee the development of the USB connector, of other USB hardware, and of USB software; they are not

end-user In product development, an end user (sometimes end-user) is a person who ultimately uses or is intended to ultimately use a product. The end user stands in contrast to users who support or maintain the product, such as sysops, system administrato ...

forums. In 2014, the USB-IF announced USB-C. USB-C connectors can transfer data with rates up to 10 Gbit/s and provides up to 100

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s of

power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

. In 2015, the seven-person board of directors, led by USB-IF President and

Chief Operating Officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if ...

Jeff Ravencraft, consisted of representatives of

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HP Inc. HP Inc. is an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, that develops personal computers (PCs), printers and related supplies, as well as 3D printing solutions. It was formed on Novembe ...

, Intel Corporation,

Microsoft Corporation Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washingt ...

, Renesas Electronics, STMicroelectronics, and

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globa ...

. In 2020, USB-IF announced updated USB Device Class Definition for MIDI Devices, Version 2.0 in support of MIDI 2.0 devices. According to

Valdosta Daily Times ''The Valdosta Daily Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Valdosta, Georgia, United States. It is the highest-circulation property operated by South Georgia Media Group, a division of Community Newspaper Holdings CNHI, LLC (formerly Commun ...

, ''"The standard represents an industry-wide effort by the USB-IF, MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA), and Association of Musical Electronics Industry (AMEI) to provide MIDI users with an expanded MIDI environment connected by USB."'' USB-IF President and COO, Jeff Ravencraft said, "USB-IF is proud to support the MMA and AMEI by publishing an updated USB Device Class Specification for next-generation MIDI devices. USB has been an integral part of the MIDI environment over the past 20 years, and we look forward to seeing innovative new devices that are enabled by this updated specification."

Obtaining a vendor ID

A vendor ID is necessary for obtaining a certification of compliance from the USB-IF. The USB-IF is responsible for issuing USB vendor IDs to product manufacturers. The cost for issuing this number is US$5,000 per year. Additionally, the use of a trademarked USB logo to identify certified devices requires license fee of US$3,500 for a 2-year term. Some microcontroller manufacturers offer a free or low cost sublicense of their vendor ID for development/testing and limited production (generally under 10,000 units). Vendors offering this free service include: * Dream S.A.S. * Energy Micro * FTDI * Luminary Micro * Microchip * NXP *

Silicon Labs Silicon Laboratories, Inc. (Silicon Labs) is a fabless global technology company that designs and manufactures semiconductors, other silicon devices and software, which it sells to electronics design engineers and manufacturers in Internet of Th ...

* STMicroelectronics *

Alternatively, many members of the open source community promote the use of USB VID 0xF055 (visually similar to

FOSS Fos or FOSS may refer to: Companies * Foss A/S, a Danish analytical instrument company *Foss Brewery, a former brewery in Oslo, Norway * Foss Maritime, a tugboat and shipping company Historic houses * Foss House (New Brighton, Minnesota), Unite ...

) for open-source hardware projects. Although this VID is not registered to any company (as of October 2015), the USB-IF have not released any confirmation about reserving it for this particular purpose.USB IMPLEMENTERS FORUM SAYS NO TO OPEN SOURCE
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Usb Implementers Forum Implementers Forum Organizations established in 1995 501(c)(6) nonprofit organizations

Obtaining a vendor ID

See also

References

External links