In addition to the standard set of consultant hardware and software capabilities, J. Gordon has developed a specialty focus on the design and implementation of USB products. We have invested heavily in this technology for nearly ten years through training engineers already on staff, hiring staff with significant USB experience, development of internal USB intellectual property and purchase of tools such as USB bus analyzers.

We have experience in all aspects of USB product development, including both peripheral and host side. We have developed hardware, peripheral firmware, custom device drivers (Windows and Linux) and host side applications. We have developed HID and Mass Storage Class peripherals, as well as completely custom peripherals; embedded host applications to allow instrumentation to interface with off-the-shelf Mass Storage class devices; and porting of USB host stacks into embedded RTOS’s.

USB development services include:

• USB product specification development/system design

• USB peripheral device hardware development

• USB peripheral device firmware development

• USB application software development (Visual Basic, Visual C++, .Net)

• USB Windows or Linux device driver development

• USB embedded host development with Cypress EZ-Host in both stand-alone and co-processor mode

USB PERIPHERALS

With the inherent support in Windows and Linux operating systems (and increasingly in embedded RTOS's), its plug and play capability, its flexiblity of data transfer speeds and types, USB is an ideal communication bus interface for devices that need to communicate with a desktop PC, a laptop or an embedded computer, especially as serial and parallel ports become less and less common on new computers. However, USB is a complex interface with a substantial learning curve.

USB EMBEDDED HOST/OTG

Increasingly, we are seeing embedded applications that require embedded USB host capabilities. A common use for embedded host is to provide capability for an embedded system to access a USB memory stick to download new code or configuration data to the embedded device and/or to upload data from the embedded device to the USB memory stick. Like the USB peripheral designs, there are many choices in how to provide this capability.

WIRELESS USB

There are at least three competing technologies for making USB devices that are wireless: Freescale's Cable-free™ USB; Cypress Semiconductor's WirelessUSB™; and the USB Implementers' Forum Certified Wireless USB. Each has its advantages and disadvantages with different combinations of cost, ease of development and features. If you are considering a USB device that will be wireless, call us for help in determining which technology is right for your application.

Let us help you to make the right USB design choices up front and avoid pitfalls in the detailed design and implementation of your USB device. Rather than waste your precious internal resources learning USB, you can concentrate on the device functionality that provides the real value to your end customer.