Intel Corp. will not charge license fees for its USB 2.0 enhanced host controller spec, the interface between the host controller and its software driver. This is a sharp departure from its policies regarding its host controller spec for USB 1.0, which the industry rejected in favor of various specs. This led in turn to the creation of the open host-controller interface (OHCI) spec by the industry in an effort, considered less than optimal because of interoperability problems, to accommodate many different controller specs.

This time, however, Intel worked with Compaq, Lucent, Microsoft, NEC and Philips in hopes of establishing a de facto standard. The removal of royalties from the license agreements is meant to aid the adoption of the interface. Widespread deployment in chipsets is expected in Q3 2001 but products hurt by the low bandwidth support of USB 1.0 will likely use add-in cards supporting 2.0 much sooner.

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