Device Working Group Committee
The USB Device Working Group ("DWG") enables and promotes increased interoperability and reliability between USB products through documents that augment, enhance and extend USB specifications.
Device Working Group
USB-IF Board of Directors
The USB-IF board has responsibility for all aspects of USB promotion, compliance and specification development in support of the core specification. It sets policy and procedures for all DWG activity and has final approval prior to release of all DWG specifications.
DWG
The Device Working Group is an oversight group for monitoring processes and specification development for committee activity under its scope. This scope generally includes specification development activities that support the Primary USB specifications and define the way that specific devices are used in USB.
Membership is open to all USB-IF members in good standing and is required for membership in any of the working groups within DWG. Membership in subcommittees that create specifications will require that an IP agreement specific to that specification be signed by an officer of the participant’s member company.
DRB
The Document Review Board (DRB) is chaired by the DWG chair and is made up of working group chairs and USB-IF board members. The DRB has responsibility for administering the DWG and ensuring that proper processes are followed by the working groups. They also support the USB-IF board by offering recommendations on new work items and other board decisions.
Audio
The Audio/Video Class Working Group is open to any DWG member and is intended for video-related discussions on general Audio and Video topics that are not governed by IP agreements.
A/V (Video Display)
The Audio/Video (AV) working group is chartered with defining the way in which audio, video, voice, and all image- and sound-related functionality are transferred over USB. This includes both AV data (analog and digital) and associated metadata and the functionality that is used to directly control the AV environment, such as Volume and Contrast Controls. Of particular interest are the display use cases, where control of the video source may come either from the USB Host or from the USB peripheral. The scope of the working group also includes defining the various codecs to be used.
DWG Members may join this group only after executing the IP Agreement corresponding to the specification under development by this group.
Members interested in the security aspects of A/V transmission should also consider joining the Content Security working group.
Battery Charging
The Battery Charging Working Group is chartered with creating a specification that will define a means for devices to draw current in excess of the USB specification when connected to wall chargers and specific hosts that know how to indicate that they can supply additional current. The specification will cover wall charger requirements, device requirements, and host charger requirements. The mechanisms will be fully backward compatible with all legacy hosts and devices.
DWG Members may join this group only after executing the IP Agreement corresponding to the specification under development by this group.
CabCon
The CabCon Working Group (CCWG) is open to any DWG members, and has responsibility for USB connector standard activity. They make recommendations on new connector work activities, write change requests to improve connectors defined in the existing USB Standard and assist the USB-IF Compliance subcommittee with connector compliance issues.
Thin Card
A subgroup of CabCon, the Thin Card Working Group is working on the mechanical specifications required for USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 thin cards as well as the compliance test plan for the certification of these devices.
USB-IF Members may join this group only after executing the IP Agreement corresponding to the specification under development by this group.
Comm WG
The USB Communications Working Group (CWG) is open to any DWG members, and has responsibility for organizing development activity in the networking and communications area. The CWG has created multiple specifications:
- Communications Device Class 1.2 - 2008 (includes ATM, CDC, ECM, ISDN, and PSTN)
- Wireless Mobile Communications 1.1 - 2008
- Ethernet Emulation Model 1.0 - 2005
- Network Control Model (NCM) 1.0 - 2009
- Mobile Broadband Interface Model (MBIM) v1.0 - 2011
Content Security
The Content Security Working Group has the general charter for the handling of secure content over USB. This group is currently working on providing the secure means necessary for offering HDCP-secured A/V over USB. As a result of their close relationship, members will receive the most value by also joining A/V Video Display working group.
USB-IF Members may join this group after executing the IP Agreement corresponding to the specification under development by this group.
Human Interface Device (HID)
The Human Interface Device Working Group is open to any DWG members. Since there is no active spec development they do not meet at DWG face-to-face meetings. There is however, activity on the reflector on an as needed basis to review and process new requests for extensions to the HID tables. Members interested in creating new HID usages should present their proposals to the HID reflector to ensure that any HID code usage is known to the USB community at large.
Mass Storage
The Mass Storage Class Working Group is open to any DWG members and addresses issues related to using hard drives, flash media, optical devices and other types of mass storage devices over the Universal Serial Bus.
Mass Storage UASP
The Mass Storage USB Attached SCSI Protocol (UASP) working group is chartered to develop a highly efficient Mass Storage protocol that is suitable for use on SuperSpeed USB. The new protocol will also improve efficiency when used at traditional USB 2.0 speeds. The working group also has responsibility for developing the compliance test for UASP.
USB-IF Members may join this group after executing the IP Agreement corresponding to the specification under development by this group.
Media Transfer Protocol
The Media Transfer Protocol Group is chartered with developing a specification to define the control and object exchange (sync) mechanism over USB to be used by multimedia portable devices such as cell phones, portable music players and digital still cameras.
USB-IF Members may join this group only after executing the IP Agreement corresponding to the specification under development by this group.
