Switching upstream and downstream logic between ports in a universal serial bus hub

A serial bus hub, comprising:

• a plurality of ports configured to couple to a plurality of devices, wherein a first port is coupled to first upstream logic for controlling a first subset of devices and a second port is coupled to second upstream logic for controlling a second subset of devices;
• and
• switching logic configured to perform port reversal by coupling a third port of the plurality of ports to the first upstream logic for controlling the first subset of devices, wherein before switching, the third port is coupled to downstream logic and the first port is coupled to the upstream logic, and wherein after switching, the upstream logic is no longer coupled to the first port and the downstream logic is no longer coupled to the third port;
• wherein the switching logic is further configured to change the configuration of the serial bus hub to change members of the first subset of devices and/or the second subset of devices.

A method, comprising:

• receiving input to a serial bus hub, wherein the serial bus hub comprises a plurality of ports for connecting to a plurality of devices, and wherein the input specifies a change in control of at least a subset of the plurality of devices by a first device coupled to a first port to control of the at least a subset of the plurality of devices by a second device coupled to a second port, wherein, prior to the input, the first device is configured to act as a host controller for the second device;
• switching upstream logic from the first port to the second port, wherein after said switching, the second device is configured to act as the host controller for the first device;
• wherein the serial bus hub further comprises one or more additional upstream logics coupled to one or more respective ports of the plurality of ports, and wherein the serial bus hub allows a plurality of host controllers to control respective subsets of the plurality of devices;
• changing the configuration of the serial bus hub to allow the plurality of host controllers to control other respective subsets of the plurality of devices.

A serial bus hub, comprising:

• upstream logic for sending and receiving information to and from a host controller;
• downstream logic for sending and receiving information to and from a serial bus device;
• a plurality of ports configured to couple to a plurality of devices, including a first port of the plurality of ports coupled to the upstream logic, and a second port of the plurality of ports coupled to the downstream logic;
• and
• switching logic configured to switch the upstream logic and the downstream logic with respect to the first port and the second port respectively, and wherein the switching logic is configured to switch the upstream logic and/or the downstream logic in response to a user invoked switching condition received after the serial bus device is coupled to the downstream logic.