About The Universal Serial Bus; Advantages Of Usb Connections; Advantages Of The Ncr Usb Solution - NCR 7167 Owner's Manual

7167 Owner's Manual

About the Universal Serial Bus

The Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a peripheral bus for personal computers that was
first released in January 1996. Since that time, virtually all Intel Architecture personal
computers have the hardware to support USB, and a large number of computers exist
that have both the hardware and software support required to interface with USB
peripherals.

Advantages of USB connections

USB has a number of advantages over legacy connection schemes (e.g., serial RS-232).
These advantages include:
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These advantages have become attractive to the POS industry for a couple of reasons.
Additional POS devices. Some POS systems are required to host more peripherals
than can be supported by two RS-232 ports typical in a platform. With the addition of
one (or two) USB connectors, the platform can now support the additional devices
that had previously required a serial port expander card.
Higher bandwidths. New devices coming into use have bandwidth requirements
that are higher than the bandwidth that can be supported on legacy interfaces. These
devices include image scanners and printers. As the speed and capability of POS
printers increases, the performance of the printer in an application can become limited
by the speed of the communications interface. USB provides ample bandwidth to
support current and future POS printer requirements.

Advantages of the NCR USB Solution

NCR has eliminated any cost associated with porting applications to USB by
implementing a USB solution that simulates standard serial communications in
Windows 98 (SR2), Windows 98 USB Hot Patch, ID: Q236934, NT 4.0 (Service Pack 3
or higher) and Windows 2000. Application developers need only redirect their
software to the virtual serial ports created by the NCR USB solution to use the printer.
High Speed: up to 12 MB/second for high-speed devices.
Plug and Play: Devices are automatically recognized and configured at
installation.
Hot plug: Bus supports installation and removal of devices with the power
applied.
Up to 127 devices: One host can support up to 127 devices with the use of hubs.
"Free ports": Most PC architecture machines contain two USB ports in the base
hardware.
Chapter 2: Setting Up and Using the Printer
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