U.S.B. is classified as Serial communication, as opposed to parallel communication.

This means that it transmits data/info/signal, if you like, one ?bit? at a time. Conversely, it receives it in a similar fashion. This is done or executed, in one wire or cable.

Did you ever notice the ?big? or ?wide? ends on your cables? These cables are parallel and transmit/receive data/info/signals, many ?bits? at a time. Therefore, parallel communication needs many cables/wires and consequently more connections, at its port.

U.S.B. ports and cables are smaller. Just pop around to the back of your P.C., and you will immediately notice the difference. On the machine that I am currently working on, I noticed that the printer has both types of ports and that the parallel port and cabling is the option that the technician used. The serial option would have worked just the same, at this level, where transmission speeds are of little relevance.

In summary, Plug ?n Play is welcomed and embraced by everyone and is a major step towards ?user-friendly? computing.

Seamus Dolly is the webmaster of http://www.CountControl.com His background is in engineering and analogue electronics. His studies include A+, Net+ and Server+.

seamus@countcontrol.com