USB Implementers Forum

USB Implementers Forum
Abbreviation USB-IF
Founded 1995[1]
93-1296452[2]
Legal status 501(c)(6) professional association[2]
Headquarters Beaverton, Oregon, U.S.[2]
Coordinates 45°29′31″N 122°49′58″W / 45.492060°N 122.832878°W / 45.492060; -122.832878Coordinates: 45°29′31″N 122°49′58″W / 45.492060°N 122.832878°W / 45.492060; -122.832878
Jeff Ravencraft[3]
Revenue (2015)
$4,789,113[2]
Expenses (2015) $4,579,090[2]
Employees (2015)
0[2]
Volunteers (2015)
57[2]
Website www.usb.org

The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) is a not for profit organization created to promote and support the 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.

It was formed in 1995[1] by the group of companies that developed USB. Notable members include Hewlett-Packard, NEC, Microsoft, Apple Inc., Intel, and Agere Systems.

The working committees within USB-IF are:

  • Device Working Group
  • Compliance Committee
  • Marketing Committee
  • On-The-Go Working Group

The USB-IF web caters for developers who can freely sign up to the developer web-forums and access documentation, however to join a working group one has to work for a member company or register as a member. The developer forums cover USB hardware and software development and is not an end-user forum.

In 2014, they announced a USB connection called "USB Type-C". It transfers data with rates up to 10 Gbit/s and charges devices with up to 100 Watts.[4]

The board of directors consists of Apple, HP Inc., Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Renesas Electronics, STMicroelectronics, and Texas Instruments.[2]

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. Additionally, the use of a trademarked USB logo to identify certified devices requires license fee of US$3,500 for a 2-year term.[5] 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:

Alternatively, many members of the open source community promote the use of USB VID 0xF055 (visually similar to FOSS) 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.[15]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Members". USB.org. USB Implementers Forum, Inc. Retrieved 13 Jul 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Form 990: Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax". USB Implementers Forum. Guidestar. December 31, 2015.
  3. ↑ "About". USB Implementers Forum. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  4. ↑ "USB 3.0 Promoter Group Announces USB Type-C Connector Ready for Production" (PDF).
  5. ↑ How to get a vendor ID from the USB-IF
  6. ↑ Dream S.A.S. USB Vendor ID Application
  7. ↑ Energy Micro Application for USB PID Sublicense Archived 16 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ FTDI USB Vendor ID Application
  9. ↑ Luminary Micro (now part of Texas Instruments) USB Vendor ID Application
  10. ↑ Application for Sub-License to Microchip Universal Serial Bus Vendor ID
  11. ↑ NXP to offer global USB Vendor ID program
  12. ↑ Silicon Labs USB Vendor ID Application
  13. ↑ STMicroelectronics USB Vendor ID Application
  14. ↑ Texas Instruments USB Vendor ID Application
  15. ↑ USB IMPLEMENTERS FORUM SAYS NO TO OPEN SOURCE
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