On-The-Go and Embedded Host Supplement to the USB Revision 3.0 Specification Revision 1.1
1 Introduction
1.1 Overview
The Universal Serial Bus (USB), originally designed as an interface between PCs and peripherals, has
become the most successful general-purpose PC interface in the history of computing. The [USB3.0]
specification has added the capability for SuperSpeed communications over USB.
By definition, USB communication occurs between a host and a peripheral. The original intent was to
place the heavier workload on the PC (host) and to allow USB peripherals to be fairly simple.
Accordingly, the USB specification requires that PCs:
• provide power to peripherals (for [USB2.0] 0.5A at ~5V, for [USB3.0] 0.9A at ~5V)
• support all defined speeds (SuperSpeed, Low Speed, Full Speed and High Speed)
• support all defined data flow types (control, bulk, interrupt and isochronous)
As computing resources have become less expensive, the line between PCs and other products has
blurred. Today many devices that are not PCs in the classic sense have a need to connect directly to
peripherals: Printers connect directly with cameras, for example, or mobile phones may need to connect
to USB headsets.
These non-PCs have the computing resources to manage a USB host function, but they need to function
in ways that differ from standard PC hosts. Although they will provide host capability for some devices,
it's unreasonable to require them to support the full range of USB peripherals. For example, connecting a
camera to a printer makes a lot of sense, but the printer manufacturers may not think it is quite as
important for the printer to support a USB GPS dongle.
This specification defines these non-PC hosts as Targeted Hosts. A Targeted Host is a USB host that
supports a specific, targeted set of peripherals. The developer of each Targeted Host product defines
the set of supported peripherals on a Targeted Peripheral List (TPL). A Targeted Host needs to provide
only the power, bus speeds, data flow types, etc., that the peripherals on its TPL require.
There are two categories of Targeted Hosts:
1. Embedded Hosts: An Embedded Host (EH) product provides Targeted Host functionality over one
or more Standard-A or Micro-AB receptacles. Embedded Host products may also offer USB
peripheral capability, delivered separately via one or more Type-B receptacles.
2. On-The-Go: An OTG product is a portable device that uses a single Micro-AB receptacle (and no
other USB receptacles) to operate at times as a USB Targeted Host and at times as a USB
peripheral. OTG devices shall always operate as a standard peripheral when connected to a
standard USB host.
OTG devices can also be attached to each other. This specification enables the underlying driver
components to optionally swap between the role of either USB host or USB peripheral, without needing
to physically turn the cable around.
[OTG&EH2.0] applies to all Universal Serial Bus products. This supplement covers products which have
a SuperSpeed capability (as defined in the [USB3.0] specification) in addition to having capabilities
defined in [OTG&EH2.0]. The following additional configurations are covered by this supplement:
1. SuperSpeed Embedded Host or SS-EH: An Embedded Host which can operate at SuperSpeed
through its one or more Standard-A or Micro-AB receptacles in addition to EH capability defined in
[OTG&EH2.0]
for example support for SRP and ADP.