Who invented plug and play

It was incredible. We would do what we called a power breakfast. We might all fly in different times from different cities. We would have what we called a power breakfast. BC : We went, literally, on a road trip for about a year. We visited about 50 companies in the whole range of industries—printing, scanning, communications, industrial controls, the keyboard, mice, joystick, modems, and so on.

The enthusiasm came because every one of those companies had a requirement, and they felt there was a market opportunity that was restrained by the current interfaces. The biggest challenge however, was there was no existing problem to solve other than making it easier. The group was subdivided into different disciplines: overall protocols, how the bits would be organized, electromechanical issues—like connectors and cables—and groups devoted to business and adoption.

AB : We had organized ourselves to go attack all different aspects of a technology and what it takes to make it successful in the market because we wanted to cover all the bases. We not only wanted to do the spec, but we also wanted to help the developers develop products around this technology. Even though we were an alliance, we were like a startup who were paying attention to every aspect of not only the specs but the product development and ultimately, introduction in the market.

JP: Ajay was the technical spec lead, Bala was the engineering lead, and I was running the overall program. We were forming an engineering group. I asked Bala to join me running the program. He was looking into Intel and driving the engineering efforts, I was looking after driving the industry efforts. BC : Jim drove the external communication, the external alignment of industries, putting the promoter group together, the industry forum together.

Often, he would defer to me to give keynote talks, but we tag teamed on that. Routinely, Jim and I would touch base at the end of every day. It was an 11 p. That went on for years. That must be Jim. AB: I think we succeeded because everything that we did was well implemented. I knew that this would be the case because we had multidisciplinary teams where we had people who were experts in software and operating systems.

We had people who knew how to build systems, like IBM and Compaq. We had people who knew how to build chips, like Intel and NEC. We had Nortel that knew how to build the telephony and other things that eventually became very important. By assembling a team of experts, we were able to reduce the risk and see to it that these were very broadly applicable specs to a variety of applications.

BC: Ajay was central to developing the spec itself. He was also passionate in terms of understanding the requirements to make sure that the spec met the requirements.

He felt strongly that this was something he wanted to work on. He wrote a good chunk, I would say more than half, of the first spec along with all the white papers that went with it to develop the technology.

AB: The spec got done somewhere in Thereafter, we started working on the products and stuff. It was a long journey, but ultimately the industry realized that this was something that really addressed all the painpoints of a personal computer. Computer companies were eager to make plugging in easier, but one application on the horizon that seemed to demand a faster interface in particular was video.

Digital multimedia was still in its infancy, but getting video on and off computers would become a major focus for comp uter and peripheral makers. As Intel engineers worked on the interface that would become USB, they were also examining possibly faster alternatives. They would also have lower returns and fewer frustrated service calls.

The Size of a 16 GB flash drive compared to a floppy disk. We explored about 12 different technologies. When I first started attending those committee meetings to see whether that technology would work, was a megabyte interface. It felt like it was a technology looking for a problem to solve. It was also a little more complicated and expensive than what the PC cost point was.

On the other hand, it had elements that would be potentially usable. We looked at that generation of Ethernet-like technologies. We looked at audio interfaces.

Apple had an interface called GeoPort back then. We actually talked to Apple to see if they might be interested in evolving that. Access Bus was another industry standard. AB: I personally went to so many different forums.

I remember hosting a meeting with the key telephony vendors in Dallas, because there are a whole bunch of outside allies. We were trying to convince people that you could do computer telephony using something like USB, and a lot of people thought that we could not support certain things like that.

There was a view that HP had that your printers would talk to your computer using this link called infrared data [IRDA]. By then, there was a groundswell on USB. Back then, it was called the Serial Bus.

The user does not have to manually install drivers for the device or even tell the computer that a new device has been added. For example, a video card or hard drive may be a Plug and Play device, meaning the computer will recognize it as soon as it is installed. Q: What are the benefits of Plug and Play? A: The PC is easier to use since users do not have to worry about switches, jumpers, hardware conflicts or loading drivers manually. Users will have great mobility.

Examples of plug and play devicesComputer monitor. External hard drive. Gamepad or joystick. USB flash drive. This area of the BIOS exists primarily for compatibility with old or unusual hardware. This is typically used when diagnosing a piece of hardware that is not working correctly.

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Patent number EP B1 Country USA Company Intel Corporation, along with a consortium of six other companies Sector Electronics, computing The invention in a nutshell Prior to the invention of USB, computers relied on a number of drivers to communicate with peripheral devices, and the commands sent by these drivers were frequently in conflict with each other. Societal benefit Now found in billions of computer products the world over, USB not only allows users to more easily connect devices ranging from webcams, smartphones and computers to complex scientific instruments, it also streamlines work for hardware and software developers.

Economic benefit Attaching a price tag to this invention is nearly impossible because USB is not marketed and sold as a product but used as a standard in the computer industry. See our learning resources about patent searching. How to apply for a patent A step-by-step guide to the grant procedure Learn more.