The USB Host Library (hereinafter referred to as the Host Library) is the lowest layer of the USB Host stack that exposes a public facing API. In most cases, applications that require USB Host functionality do not need to interface with the Host Library directly. Instead, most applications use the API provided by a host class driver that is implemented on top of the Host Library.
- Supports Full Speed (FS) and Low Speed (LS) Devices.
- Supports all four transfer types, i.e., Control, Bulk, Interrupt, and Isochronous.
- Allows multiple class drivers to run simultaneously, i.e., multiple clients of the Host Library.
- A single device can be used by multiple clients simultaneously, e.g., composite devices.
- The Host Library itself and the underlying Host Stack does not internally instantiate any OS tasks. The number of tasks is entirely controlled by how the Host Library interface is used. However, a general rule of thumb regarding the number of tasks is ``(the number of host class drivers running + 1)``.
The Host Library is the lowest public-facing API layer of the ESP-IDF USB Host Stack. Any other ESP-IDF component (such as a class driver or a user component) that needs to communicate with a connected USB device can only do so using the Host Library API either directly or indirectly.
The Host Library's API is split into two sub-sets, namely the **Library API** and **Client API**.
- The Client API handles the communication between a client of the Host Library and one or more USB devices. The Client API should only be called by registered clients of the Host Library.
- The Library API handles all of the Host Library processing that is not specific to a single client, such as device enumeration. Usually, the library API is called by a Host Library Daemon Task.
A client of the Host Library is a software component, such as a host class driver or user component, which utilizes the Host Library to establish communication with a USB device. Generally, each client has a one-to-one relation with a task. This implies that all Client API calls pertaining to a specific client must originate from the context of the same task.
By organizing the software components that use the Host Library's into clients, the Host Library can delegate the handling of all events specific to that client to the client's task. In other words, each client task is responsible for all the required processing and event handling associated with the USB communication that the client initiates.
Although the Host Library delegates the handling of client events to the clients themselves, there are still Library events – events that are not specific to any particular client – that need to be handled. Library event handling can include things such as:
Therefore, in addition to the client tasks, the Host Library also requires a task, which is usually the Host Library Daemon Task, to handle all of the library events.
The Host Library shields clients from the details of device handling, encompassing details such as connection, memory allocation, and enumeration. The clients are provided only with a list of already connected and enumerated devices to choose from. During enumeration, each device is automatically configured to use the first configuration found, namely, the first configuration descriptor returned on a Get Configuration Descriptor request. For most standard devices, the first configuration will have a ``bConfigurationValue`` of ``1``.
It is possible for two or more clients to simultaneously communicate with the same device as long as they are not communicating to the same interface. However, multiple clients can simultaneously communicate with the same device's default endpoint (i.e., EP0), which will result in their control transfers being serialized.
#. Send transfers to the endpoints of claimed interfaces. The client's task is responsible for handling its own processing and events related to USB device communication.
The Host Library and the underlying Host Stack will not create any tasks. All tasks, namely the client tasks and the Daemon Task, need to be created by the class drivers or the user. Instead, the Host Library provides two event handler functions that handle all of the required Host Library processing, thus these functions should be called repeatedly from the client tasks and the Daemon Task. Therefore, the implementation of client tasks and the Daemon Task will be largely centered around the invocation of these event handler functions.
The Host Library API provides :cpp:func:`usb_host_lib_handle_events` to handle library events. This function should be called repeatedly, typically from the Daemon Task. Some notable features regarding :cpp:func:`usb_host_lib_handle_events` are:
- Where :cpp:func:`usb_host_install` is called (e.g., from the Daemon Task or another task) depends on the synchronization logic between the Daemon Task, client tasks, and the rest of the system.
- Each registered client (in this case Client 1 and Client 2) is notified of the new device by way of the :cpp:enumerator:`USB_HOST_CLIENT_EVENT_NEW_DEV` event.
7. Client 2 completes its communication with Device 2. Client 2 then closes Device 2 and deregisters itself.
- The Daemon Task is notified of the deregistration of all clients by way the :c:macro:`USB_HOST_LIB_EVENT_FLAGS_NO_CLIENTS` event flag as Client 2 is the last client to deregister.
- If :cpp:func:`usb_host_device_free_all` was unable to free all devices for reasons like the device is still opened by a client, the function will return `ESP_ERR_NOT_FINISHED`.
- The Daemon Task must wait for :cpp:func:`usb_host_lib_handle_events` to return the :c:macro:`USB_HOST_LIB_EVENT_FLAGS_ALL_FREE` event flag in order to know when all devices have been freed.
9. Once the Daemon Task has verified that all clients have deregistered and all devices have been freed, it can now uninstall the Host Library by calling :cpp:func:`usb_host_uninstall`.
Clients & Class Driver
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Basic Usage
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The Host Library API provides :cpp:func:`usb_host_client_handle_events` to handle a particular client's events. This function should be called repeatedly, typically from the client's task. Some notable features regarding :cpp:func:`usb_host_client_handle_events` are:
- The client event callback of type :cpp:type:`usb_host_client_event_cb_t` delivers client event messages to the client. Client event messages indicate events such as the addition or removal of a device.
- The USB transfer completion callback of type :cpp:type:`usb_transfer_cb_t` indicates that a particular USB transfer previously submitted by the client has been completed.
Given that the callbacks are called from within :cpp:func:`usb_host_client_handle_events`, users should avoid blocking from within the callbacks as this will result in :cpp:func:`usb_host_client_handle_events` being blocked as well, thus preventing other pending client events from being handled.
The following code snippet demonstrates a bare-bones host class driver and its client task. The code snippet contains:
- A simple client task function ``client_task`` that calls :cpp:func:`usb_host_client_handle_events` in a loop.
- Implementations of a client event callback and transfer completion callbacks.
- Implementation of a simple state machine for the class driver. The class driver simply opens a device, sends an OUT transfer to EP1, then closes the device.
An actual host class driver is likely to support many more features, thus will have a much more complex state machine. A host class driver is also likely to need to:
#. Register the client via :cpp:func:`usb_host_client_register` and allocate any other class driver resources, such as allocating transfers using :cpp:func:`usb_host_transfer_alloc`.
#. For each new device that the class driver needs to communicate with:
a. Check if the device is already connected via :cpp:func:`usb_host_device_addr_list_fill`.
b. If the device is not already connected, wait for a :cpp:enumerator:`USB_HOST_CLIENT_EVENT_NEW_DEV` event from the client event callback.
c. Open the device via :cpp:func:`usb_host_device_open`.
d. Parse the device and configuration descriptors via :cpp:func:`usb_host_get_device_descriptor` and :cpp:func:`usb_host_get_active_config_descriptor` respectively.
e. Claim the necessary interfaces of the device via :cpp:func:`usb_host_interface_claim`.
#. Submit transfers to the device via :cpp:func:`usb_host_transfer_submit` or :cpp:func:`usb_host_transfer_submit_control`.
#. Once an opened device is no longer needed by the class driver, or has disconnected, as indicated by a :cpp:enumerator:`USB_HOST_CLIENT_EVENT_DEV_GONE` event:
a. Stop any previously submitted transfers to the device's endpoints by calling :cpp:func:`usb_host_endpoint_halt` and :cpp:func:`usb_host_endpoint_flush` on those endpoints.
b. Release all previously claimed interfaces via :cpp:func:`usb_host_interface_release`.
c. Close the device via :cpp:func:`usb_host_device_close`.
#. Deregister the client via :cpp:func:`usb_host_client_deregister` and free any other class driver resources.
#. Delete the client task. Signal the Daemon Task if necessary.
* A host class driver for the Communication Device Class (Abstract Control Model) is distributed as a managed component via the `ESP-IDF Component Registry <https://components.espressif.com/component/espressif/usb_host_cdc_acm>`__.
* The :example:`peripherals/usb/host/cdc/cdc_acm_host` example uses the CDC-ACM host driver component to communicate with CDC-ACM devices.
* The CDC-ACM driver is also used in `esp_modem examples <https://github.com/espressif/esp-protocols/tree/master/components/esp_modem/examples>`__, where it is used for communication with cellular modems.
* A host class driver for the Mass Storage Class (Bulk-Only Transport) is deployed to `ESP-IDF Component Registry <https://components.espressif.com/component/espressif/usb_host_msc>`__.
* The :example:`peripherals/usb/host/msc` example demonstrates the usage of the MSC host driver to read and write to a USB flash drive.
HID
"""
* A host class driver for the HID (Human interface device) is distributed as a managed component via the `ESP-IDF Component Registry <https://components.espressif.com/components/espressif/usb_host_hid>`__.
* The :example:`peripherals/usb/host/hid` example demonstrates the possibility to receive reports from a USB HID device with several interfaces.
* A host class driver for the USB Video Device Class is distributed as a managed component via the `ESP-IDF Component Registry <https://components.espressif.com/component/espressif/usb_host_uvc>`__.
* The :example:`peripherals/usb/host/uvc` example demonstrates the usage of the UVC host driver to receive a video stream from a USB camera and optionally forward that stream over Wi-Fi.
As a USB device may be hot-plugged, it is essential to have configurable delays between power switching and device attachment, and when the device's internal power has stabilized.
* After a port is reset or resumed, the USB system software is expected to provide a "recovery" interval of 10 ms before the device attached to the port is expected to respond to data transfers.
* After the reset/resume recovery interval, if a device receives a ``SetAddress()`` request, the device must be able to complete processing of the request and be able to successfully complete the Status stage of the request within 50 ms.
* After successful completion of the Status stage, the device is allowed a ``SetAddress()`` recovery interval of 2 ms.
The API of the USB Host Library is separated into the following header files. However, it is sufficient for applications to only ``#include "usb/usb_host.h"`` and all USB Host Library headers will also be included.
- :component_file:`usb/include/usb/usb_types_stack.h` contains types that are used across multiple layers of the USB Host stack.
- :component_file:`usb/include/usb/usb_types_ch9.h` contains types and macros related to Chapter 9 of the USB2.0 specification, i.e., descriptors and standard requests.
For more details regarding the internal implementation details of the USB Host stack, please refer to :doc:`/api-reference/peripherals/usb_host/usb_host_notes_index`.