A high-performance device standard (based on serial bus architecture) found on computers, printers, and scanners. The first version of the standard was introduced in 1996 and gained wide acceptance when Apple included it its 1998 iMac. To construct USB networks, an individual needs to connect special cables to the ports on the devices. USB is known to be plug-and-play compatible, meaning that the operating system driver software not only detects but also configures connections. One USB network can support as many as 127 devices. USB 2.0 supports a fast rate of 480 Mbps and competes well with, say, FireWire, as an advanced computer peripheral networking standard.

See Also: Computer; Driver or Driver Device.