<hardware> (USB) A standard promoted by Intel for communication between an IBM PC and external peripherals over an inexpensive cable using biserial transmission.
USB works at 12 Mbps with specific cost consideration for low cost peripherals. It supports up to 127 devices and both isochronous and asynchronous data transfers. Cables can be up to 5 meters long and it includes built-in power distribution for low power devices. It supports daisy chaining through a tiered star multidrop topology.
Before March 1996 Intel started to integrate the necessary logic into PC chip sets and encourage other manufacturers to do likewise, so widespread availability and support can be expected.
(24 Mar 1996)