Rember, the PC's bus is the circuitry that ties all the devices on your motherboard together. The bus concept is to: "extend and link the signals of your system"; however, you have to know what it means to understand it.

Well, the motherboard supports a USB port on the motherboard, but you must connect device to the USB interface which is located on the motherboard. Devices such as a USB keyboard may have one or more ports on it to which you connect other USB devices. On most PC's, external devices are usually connected to a "serial" or a "parallel" port, or to an expansion card in an expansion slot. These ports usually take only one device; or you have to have a "interface" card such as a SCSI to which you can hook up to 7 devices.

These ports are relatively slow (115 Kbps with serial ports, and about 2.5 Mbps for parallel ports) and expansion cards are even slower if in an 8 bit ISA slot.

With the advent of the USB concept, you now have the ability (as soon as the devices are commercially available) to hook up to 127 devices off the USB port - if they have USB connections on the devices! Sounds great; however, get realistic for just a moment.

You currently have devices that are not USB compliant, your old motherboard does not have a USB port, and you don't know if there are any companies working on an interface card, with a USB port, which will be available to you.

Even if there are companies working on an interface card that will connect to your current motherboard, it will not work at the speeds envisioned by the developers of the USB specifications. What will the USB standard eventually allow you to do?

1. Connect up to 127 devices thru a single USB port.
2. Speed - Have a total throughput of 1.5MBPs for for some devices such as keyboards, modems, etc., and up to 12 Mbps for printers, monitors, etc. over the single USB port.
3. IRQ's: a single IRQ can handle up to 127 devices through the single USB port!
4. Cable lengths between devices may be up to 5 meters long.
5. A USB keyboard can have multiple USB ports and act as a USB hub.
6. Multiple devices can run at either of the above speeds without conflicts.
7. Peripheral devices can be "hotswappable".
8. Automatic detection and loading of device drivers.
9. Two devices running at either speed can operate without conflicts at the same time.

Larger software companies are currently working on providing drivers for the USB ports such as Windows95 and Windows NT.

Most manufacturers of motherboards have already incorporated USB ports on their products, and these motherboards began shipping in late 1996. The Micronics "Stingray" motherboard is an example.

Just imagine, peripheral devices stacked along every wall of your office, or room at home, only occupying one I/O port, one IRQ, and one DMA address!