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Data Transfer Comparison
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USB does not transfer data using interrupts. It uses a scheduled system and as a result, there can be periods when the USB request does not get scheduled and, if handshaking is not used, data loss will occur. An example of scheduling delays can be seen if an open application is dragged around using the mouse.

For a USB device, data transfer is done in packets. If data is to be sent from the PC, then a packet of data is built up by the device driver and sent to the USB scheduler. This scheduler puts the request onto the list of tasks for the USB host controller to perform. This will typically take at least 1 millisecond to execute because it will not pick up the new request until the next 'USB Frame' (the frame period is 1 millisecond). Therefore there is a sizable overhead (depending on your required throughput) associated with moving the data from the application to the USB device. If data were sent 'a byte at a time' by an application, this would severely limit the overall throughput of the system as a whole.