3.2 HID Overview

The USB Device Stack provides a high-level abstraction of the Human Interface Device (HID) class under the Universal Serial Bus (USB) communication with a convenient C language interface. This stack supports revision 2.0.0 of the USB HID specification released by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF).

The USB HID device class supports devices used by humans to control the computer system operations. The HID class of devices includes several human interfaces, data indicators, and data feedback devices with various types of output directed to the end user.

Some common examples of HID class devices include:
  • Keyboards
  • Pointing devices such as a standard mouse, joysticks, and trackballs
  • Front-panel controls like knobs, switches, buttons, and sliders
  • Controls found on telephony, gaming or simulation devices like steering wheels, rudder pedals, and dial pads
  • Data devices such as bar-code scanners, thermometers, and analyzers

The USB HID class offers services to the application to interact and respond to the host’s requests.

Obtain additional information about the HID class from the HID specification available from the USB Implementers Forum at www.usbif.org.