[Elecraft] Re: 10/100 BaseT vs USB

[Bill Coleman]

On 7/16/02 11:52 PM, Mike Butts at mbutts@realizer.com wrote:

>Controlling the K2 is a very low-bandwidth undemanding application,
>nothing remotely like the printer, scanner and camera that use my USBs.
>So USB in K2 adds no more function over RS-232 besides convenience.

To me, there's three issues with regard to USB over serial ports:

* Serial ports are being phased out, USB is becoming ubiquitious. Apple 
hasn't shipped a computer with a serial port in three years. Other 
computer manufacturers are following suit -- particularly in laptops or 
other portable computers. Sure, you can use a USB/Serial adaptor in the 
interim, but the writing is on the wall -- serial ports are no longer 
ubiquitious. 

* USB is a functional interface, Serial requires detailed programming. 
The functional interface means that programs can have positive control 
over the device, with all the specifics handled by the USB driver. Serial 
programming requires very meticulous handling of each character on the 
port. Whereas the USB functional interface can be shared, the Serial 
interface cannot. If manufacturers would get together and define a class 
interface for USB-controlled radios, programs could control radios 
without having to write and test software with each different version of 
the radio -- the drivers would take care of those details.

* USB has a lot more capability than serial. Serial ports top out at 
around 230,400 bps. USB is either 1.5 or 12 Mbps, perhaps faster. Serial 
ports are not error-corrected. The higher data rates allow control or 
data transfer of elements that would not be practical with serial. USB 
allows several different channels of information to exist concurrantly. 
On Serial, this is difficult. (While I was at Hayes, I worked on a 
technology to do this, called AutoStream. It was event patented, but for 
political reasons, my name wasn't on the patent)

So, yea, if all you are concerned with is maintaining the status quo, USB 
seems like something of overkill. 

But the reality is -- serial ports are going way. Moving to USB makes 
sense. And if you go to USB, there are new things that become possible.

>As long as there's an off-the shelf solution available for USB, I'd just as
>soon see Wayne and Eric apply their unique talents to radio stuff.

But USB/Serial adaptors don't address the other factors above. Plus all 
the distributed costs of software developers who have to write and test 
code to talk to each and every radio serial interface.

Radio manufacturers will go to USB eventually. I'm just suggesting that 
Elecraft should lead the way.



Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr@arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
            -- Wilbur Wright, 1901