Electronic – a USB Host Device

usbusb device

I recently came across the term USB Host Device while reading how someone used a micro controller as a USB Host device.I haven't been able to understand the meaning of this term.

  • Could some one please tell me what it is in the simplest words possible?

Also

  • how is it different from a USB peripheral device?

Best Answer

A host device is a computing device into which you can plug a peripheral.

Some micros can be either a host or a peripheral. Using the mouse as an example: If your micro is emulating a mouse and plugged into a computer, it is a peripheral. If your micro is accepting input from a mouse (and presumably acting on it in some way), then your micro is a host device, capable of hosting a plugged in peripheral.

Hopefully this makes sense.