EMI issues of universal serial bus and solutions

Abstract

Universal Serial Bus (USB) is rapidly replacing the serial port on Personal Computers (PC). It provides high speed flexible interconnectivity between a PC and its peripherals. It is a low cost solution which supports data transfer rates up to lZMhps (USB 1.0) and 480Mhps (USB 2.0). It also provides 5V supply to the peripheral device. High level of emission was observed in the power supply wires of the USB while a satellite receiver (peripheral) was evaluated for its functionality. On analysis, it was observed that emission from USB can affect the performance of the peripheral unit depending on the sensitivity of peripheral device to the power supply spurious noise. In this paper, the emissions from a typical PC and methods towards improvement of the emissions are analysed. Precautions to he taken whenever any peripheral device is evaluated, for EM1 performance, are discussed. USB, even though a powerful interface, should he carefully used for a overall performance of the system in which it is utilized. UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUSUSB is a small port similar to a RJ-45 or connector provided in Personal Computers. Many types of devices can be connected to the PC using USB. For example, keyboards, mouse, scanners, finger print scanners etc. that are usually connected to a serial or parallel port can be connected to the USB.The higher data rate of USB 2.0 i.e. 480Mbps opens up the possibility of connecting next generation, higher speed and higher resolution printer and scanner devices. USB transfers signals and power over a four-wire cable as shown in Figure 1.The signaling occurs over two wires. There are two data rates in USB 1.0 itself: 1The full speed signaling at 12 Mbps rate.

SoK: "Plug & Pray" Today – Understanding USB Insecurity in Versions 1 Through C

“…While timing-based fingerprinting significantly raises the bar for evasion, it seems likely that resource-rich hosts could modify their timing characteristics to evade detection, although this has not been demonstrated in the literature. Besides timing, power analysis and EM side-channel [108], [89] are also used, e.g., to extract secret information from USB devices.…”

“…FaceDancer [47], Syzkaller [48] Physical Layer Signal Eavesdropping Smart Phone USB Connectivity [132], USB Stack Interaction Intelligence [39], Power/EM Side-channels [108], [89], BadUSB Hubs [84], USB Fingerprinting [72], [16], USB Eavesdropping [82], USB Snoop [110], CottonMouth [5], [6], USB GPS locator [77], [11]…”