A PCI simple communications controller is a software component found on a computer that controls the PCI connected devices plugged into that computer. PCI (Practical Communication Interface) is a hardware component built into the computer that allows a wide variety of devices to physically connect to the computer via individual card slots. While the PCI allows the devices to be connected to the computer, the simple communications controller is responsible for managing the actions each device takes and how software interacts with those devices.   How a PCI Simple Communications Read More

The Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface connects peripherals in a variety of ways. These peripherals include the standard and non-standard computer mouse, keyboards, gaming controllers, scanners, printers, digital cameras, hard disks, CD/DVD-Rom drives, card media devices, music devices, speakers, and networking components. A variety of other devices that use USBs as well as devices that may use the USB pinout design to provide power, access data, or distribute the connections are available. Standard USB 1.1 can output data at 12Mbit/s, while USB 2.0 can output up to 480Mbit/s. This large Read More

A USB hub is a piece of hardware that allows for a single USB port to be expanded into several. This allows more ports to be used for different connected devices. For example, on a computer there might be four USB slots, but within the actual computer, there might only be a single upstream port. This means that the four downstream ports are connected to one port that leads within the computer. The USB hub allows for the four separate ports to connect together while keeping their autonomy and run Read More

Firewire, also known as IEEE 1394 and i.Link, is a high speed serial bus developed by Texas Instruments and Apple computers in the mid 1990s. Firewire is compatible with more than 63 electronic and digital devices, which makes it a great choice for many people. Technically speaking, Firewire is a PC serial bus interface standard that offers isochronous data services and high-speed communications between digital devices. Basically, Firewire facilitates faster data transfer rates and usability across multiple devices. Firewire is similar to Universal Serial Bus (USB), but it has a Read More

A mini USB, also known as a Type B USB cable or USB 1.0 connector, is a type of USB cable and port that is designed for mobile devices, such as smartphones, MP3 players, and cameras. Mini USB cables work in the same way that regular USB cables do, in that they carry power from the computer to a mobile device as well as data in both directions from a mobile device to a computer and vice versa. Mini USB cable endpoints are smaller than regular USB cable endpoints, but Read More