Project PDA

Wireless USB is a short-range, high-bandwidth wireless extension to USB that combines the speed and ease-of-use of USB 2.0 with the convenience of wireless technology. Wireless USB is sometimes abbreviated as "WUSB".

WUSB will be used in devices that are now connected via regular USB cables, such as game controllers, printers, scanners, digital cameras, MP3 players, hard disks and flash drives, but it is also suitable for transferring parallel video streams.

The Wireless USB Promoter Group was formed in February 2004 to define the Wireless USB specification. The group consists of Agere Systems, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Microsoft, NEC Corporation, Philips and Samsung.

Certified Wireless USB vs WirelessUSB™

Cypress's "WirelessUSB" is a protocol that uses the 2.4 GHz ISM band with a range from 10 meters (at max 1 Mbit/s) to 50 meters (at max 62.5 kbit/s) and is designed for Human Interface Devices (HIDs), with current offerings from companies such as Belkin, Logitech, and Virtual Ink.

Other forms of Wireless USB such as those to be offered on the competing UWB technology based on Freescale pulse method are also not approved by the USB SIG or the IEEE. The same is also true for other RF based Wire replacement systems which can carry USB. The result is that the name 'Certified Wireless USB' had to be adopted to allow consumers to identify which products would be adherent to the standard and would support the correct protocol and data rates.

WUSB will be used in devices that are now connected via regular USB cables, such as game controllers, printers, scanners, digital cameras, MP3 players, hard disks and flash drives, but it is also suitable for transferring parallel video streams.

Wireless USB support

Wireless USB specification does not support the use of hubs. Although a WUSB host supports the architectural limit of 127 devices, a new Wire Adapter device class has been defined. Also known as a Host Wire Adapter; it acts as a host for a Wireless USB system and provides a way to upgrade an existing PC to have wireless USB. In addition a Device Wire Adapter acts as a host for a wired USB system which allows wired USB devices to be connected wirelessly to a host PC.

WUSB also supports so-called dual-role devices, which in addition to being a WUSB client device, can function as a host with limited capabilities. For example, a digital camera could act as a client when connected to a computer, and as a host when transferring pictures directly to a printer.