USB OTG: The only wired interface portable consumer products need?

With so many portable product interfaces, UBS On-the-Go is perhaps the best choice in many situations

By Dan Harmon, USB Product Marketing Manager, Connectivity Interface Solutions, Texas Instruments
Planet Analog (04/20/09, 07:00:00 AM EDT)

Abstract
When we consider today's small portable devices, they really are just small-form-factor PCs. Typically, they have multi-gigabyte storage capacity for rich content. Their functionality is enabled by multiple processors and co-processors. Most offer multiple wireless interfaces. They enable both digital still and camcorder functionality. Most are multi-media players, for both music and video. They utilize full-featured operating systems. They offer desktop equivalent applications such as spreadsheets, documents, PDFs, e-mail, and more.

So, when we consider these devices, we really need to think of them as more than just a mobile phone, MP3 player, or digital still camera. Just as PCs have thrived with USB as the standard interface, so can these portable devices. However, given the usage scenarios for these devices, standard USB just doesn't offer everything they need. On the other hand, USB On-the-Go (USB-OTG) is a near-ideal, wired interface that enables all of these situations over a single, small-profile receptacle that can eliminate the need for any other wired interface.

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