linux-drivers/
drivers/usb/host

USB host controller drivers (xHCI, EHCI, OHCI, UHCI, and platform HCDs)

The set of low-level controllers that drive the USB ports on virtually every Linux machine, covering the modern xHCI standard used for USB 3.x and most current hardware as well as the older EHCI (USB 2.0), OHCI and UHCI (USB 1.1) controllers still found on legacy chipsets, plus various SoC-integrated platform variants. Without these, no USB keyboard, storage device, webcam, or hub would work.

keep conf=0.97 deploy=high replacement=none subsystem=usb category=bus-usb
97%

recommendation

It should stay because this is the core collection of USB host controller drivers that every modern Linux system relies on to talk to USB devices. Active 2025–2026 fixes to xHCI debugfs and sideband code show the subsystem is being maintained, not retired, and xHCI in particular is the current standard shipped on essentially all new PCs, servers, and embedded boards. Only individual obsolete leaf drivers are being trimmed; the subsystem as a whole is fundamental infrastructure.

repository signals

118 files
88,787 source lines
884 commits, 5y
+19,035 / −22,954 lines added / removed, 5y
213 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 884 total · active in 61/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 1 commit · +2 −41 2021-05: 19 commits · +79 −209 2021-06: 20 commits · +94 −119 2021-07: 10 commits · +51 −43 2021-08: 26 commits · +534 −756 2021-09: 13 commits · +64 −134 2021-10: 15 commits · +97 −61 2021-11: 10 commits · +1,677 −33 2021-12: 14 commits · +53 −36 2022-01: 7 commits · +49 −22 2022-02: 18 commits · +254 −274 2022-03: 20 commits · +157 −91 2022-04: 10 commits · +55 −66 2022-05: 19 commits · +5,850 −317 2022-06: 15 commits · +107 −55 2022-07: 7 commits · +15 −71 2022-08: 11 commits · +80 −134 2022-09: 16 commits · +47 −98 2022-10: 9 commits · +45 −6,855 2022-11: 17 commits · +296 −76 2022-12: 2 commits · +2 −4 2023-01: 18 commits · +578 −260 2023-02: 22 commits · +430 −499 2023-03: 29 commits · +710 −3,820 2023-04: 7 commits · +48 −22 2023-05: 51 commits · +156 −187 2023-06: 12 commits · +198 −193 2023-07: 30 commits · +73 −111 2023-08: 11 commits · +432 −130 2023-09: 8 commits · +132 −101 2023-10: 20 commits · +184 −119 2023-11: 3 commits · +43 −24 2023-12: 24 commits · +261 −289 2024-01: 10 commits · +533 −318 2024-02: 20 commits · +334 −370 2024-03: 5 commits · +33 −21 2024-04: 26 commits · +162 −251 2024-05: 1 commit · +0 −25 2024-06: 29 commits · +305 −271 2024-07: 2 commits · +64 −68 2024-08: 10 commits · +86 −49 2024-09: 20 commits · +237 −183 2024-10: 11 commits · +153 −64 2024-11: 38 commits · +526 −398 2024-12: 9 commits · +90 −46 2025-01: 7 commits · +31 −32 2025-02: 8 commits · +58 −52 2025-03: 21 commits · +321 −281 2025-04: 14 commits · +607 −84 2025-05: 28 commits · +534 −309 2025-06: 9 commits · +47 −19 2025-07: 4 commits · +13 −5 2025-08: 8 commits · +185 −85 2025-09: 20 commits · +376 −136 2025-10: 5 commits · +22 −15 2025-11: 35 commits · +622 −523 2025-12: 4 commits · +10 −3,705 2026-01: 10 commits · +238 −119 2026-02: 4 commits · +84 −89 2026-03: 4 commits · +14 −5 2026-04: 2 commits · +3 −15

sources

  1. docs.kernel.org

    Kernel documentation describes Linux host-controller drivers as current core USB infrastructure and notes modern PCs typically expose multiple USB 3.x and legacy USB buses.

  2. en.wikipedia.org

    xHCI is the current unified USB host-controller standard, intended to replace older UHCI/OHCI/EHCI families and used for modern USB 3.x-era hardware.

  3. spinics.net

    There was active 2026 stable-fix traffic for drivers/usb/host/xhci-debugfs.c, showing ongoing upstream maintenance rather than deprecation.

  4. spinics.net

    A 2026 patch series updated xhci-sideband logic in drivers/usb/host, again indicating active feature/bug-fix work instead of subsystem removal.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

This directory is an active subsystem directory containing many real USB host-controller drivers, not a helper library. Shell inspection of the tree showed current xHCI/UHCI/OHCI/EHCI and platform HCD sources; a local `git log` also showed fresh 2025-2026 fixes plus one targeted removal of an obsolete leaf driver, not a subsystem-wide retirement. URLs were obtained via web search (`docs.kernel.org`, Wikipedia, and spinics/lore mirrors). No credible subsystem-level removal/deprecation discussion was found; evidence instead shows broad current deployment on modern systems and continuing upstream maintenance, so keep is the defensible outcome.