USB Implementers Forum


The USB Implementers Forum is a nonprofit organization created to promote and support the Universal Serial Bus. Its main activities are the promotion and marketing of USB, Wireless USB, USB On-The-Go, and the maintenance of the specifications, as well as a compliance program.
The USB-IF was founded in 1995 by the group of companies that was developing USB, which was released in 1996. The founding companies of USB-IF were Compaq, Digital, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, NEC and Nortel. Notable current members include Hewlett-Packard, NEC, Microsoft, Apple Inc., Intel, and Agere Systems.
The working committees within USB-IF are:
The USB-IF web caters to developers who may sign up freely to the developer web-forums and access documentation. To join a working group, however, one has to work for a member company or register as a member. The developer forums oversee the development of the USB connector, of other USB hardware, and of USB software; they are not end-user forums.
In 2014, the USB-IF announced USB-C. USB-C connectors can transfer data with rates up to 10 Gbit/s and provides up to 100 watts of power.
In 2015, the seven-person board of directors, led by USB-IF President and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Ravencraft, consisted of representatives of Apple, HP Inc., Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Renesas Electronics, STMicroelectronics, and Texas Instruments.

Obtaining a vendor ID

A vendor ID is necessary for obtaining a certification of compliance from the USB-IF. The USB-IF is responsible for issuing USB vendor IDs to product manufacturers. The cost for issuing this number is US$5,000 per year. Additionally, the use of a trademarked USB logo to identify certified devices requires license fee of US$3,500 for a 2-year term. Some microcontroller manufacturers offer a free or low cost sublicense of their vendor ID for development/testing and limited production. Vendors offering this free service include:
Alternatively, many members of the open source community promote the use of USB VID 0xF055 for open-source hardware projects. Although this VID is not registered to any company, the USB-IF have not released any confirmation about reserving it for this particular purpose.