USB 3.0 unveiled at CES2008

[redbeacon]

USB 3.0 in the works

Successor to USB 2.0, ten times faster

~ by Joshua Topolsky

 

Get ready, speed freaks.

 

USB 3.0, the oft-rumored, much-discussed, rarely seen new standard heading our way, has been unveiled in Consumer Electrics Show 2008 in Las Vegas.

 

Only a few of the computer users could imagine life without the common, yet efficient USB port. Things are about to get even better with the advent of the new set of USB 3.0 specifications that are to boost transfer rates across the old cables, making it able to manage data-hungry stuff such as HD hi-definition videos, for instance.

 

The goal, Intel as well as the companies behind the specification said, is to create a version of the USB that's able to deliver files of 25GB or more across the wire.

 

http://i4.tinypic.com/6k086r9.jpg

From left: The older USB 2.0 cable, along with it's newer successor, the USB 3.0 one.

 

 

What's inside?

 

We even got a chance to see what it looks like "chopped". Not literally though, just diagrams only. We also had the chance to check the connectors and compare with the old 2.0 standard, to which we have discovered some interesting features.

 

http://i17.tinypic.com/7xedm49_th http://i4.tinypic.com/853gcba_th http://regmedia.co.uk/2007/09/19/usb_3_1.jpg

From left: (1) Shapes of the USB 3.0 connectors. (2) What the cable looks like, cross-section view. (3) USB3.0 will incorporate optical interconnects to this bus, hence the green light.

Click to enlarge each image.

 

 

 

Crikey! Will my old USB devices work with this?

 

Whenever there's a new invention or implementation that supersedes the old one, computer savvy users usually worry about whether their old USB 2.0 products would work (with the newer USB 3.0). We heaved a sigh of relief when the reps tell us that USB 3.0 is backward compatible; just plug whatever old equipment in and it should work as per normal...

 

 

How fast is it?

 

With blazing speeds of 4.7 Gbit/s (that's 4,700 Mbps), and an intelligent power system which cuts off the power to your future USB 3.0 device when you're not using it, we have a feeling geeks will oogle on this.

 

Speed comparison between wired/wireless products:

 

Internet(-work) cables and wireless

Network LAN (Ethernet) = 100 Mbps

"Gigabit" Network LAN (Gigabit Ethernet) = 1000 Mbps (or 1 Gbps)

 

WiFi Wireless-B = 11 Mbps

WiFi Wireless-G = 54 Mbps

WiFi Wireless-N (still in draft) = 108 Mbps

 

Equipment cables

Firewire 400 = 400 Mbps

USB 1.1 and 2.0 = 480 Mbps

USB 3.0 = 4.7 Gbps (that's 4,700 Mbps for ya!)

 

Too bad we all have to wait till 2010... the year we make contact... with USB 3.0.

[redname]

4.7G/s? wah, steady, when transfer porn videos from frens no need wait so long already

[uncletakumi]

that's looks great. am looking forward to faster transfer speed...

[Refugee]

4.7mbps... amazing..

 

500+++ mb per sec.. wonder if the HDDs now can take it.

[redbeacon]

In the market, people were selling USB devices that actually permitted file transfers between computers.

 

With a big fat pipe like this carrying data at blazing speeds of 4,700Mbps, I'm wondering whether the group of companies will consider making USB 3.0 network-able. If they do, I'm ditching my Ethernet network cables...provided that there are network equipment that's USB 3.0 certified as well.

[edition]

i dun tink it will be use on a normal pc .. mostly on the backbone of the network ...

[Lowness]

usb3 thumbdrive it will work very well with Vista "readyboost"

[dragonforce]

In the market, people were selling USB devices that actually permitted file transfers between computers.

 

With a big fat pipe like this carrying data at blazing speeds of 4,700Mbps, I'm wondering whether the group of companies will consider making USB 3.0 network-able. If they do, I'm ditching my Ethernet network cables...provided that there are network equipment that's USB 3.0 certified as well.

quite unlikely to have network equipment to use usb 3.0.. at least not to transfer data from internet to pc.. for now at least.. by the time they release usb 3.0.. who knows..

[Speedpass]

So should i upgrade my ancient P3 pc bought in 2003 or wait till 2010 .

[redbeacon]

So should i upgrade my ancient P3 pc bought in 2003 or wait till 2010 .

Now, that's a different question altogether. But it's okay if you brought it up

 

If you feel you're trying out new I.T. stuff in the market...

be it new software such as Microsoft Office 2007, true-to-life role-playing games, peripherals such as a webcam or even a video card

...but you are stuck to using these on your old and slow computer which is the only one in your house, it's time to upgrade.

 

Hope this answers your question.

[Speedpass]

Now, that's a different question altogether. But it's okay if you brought it up

 

If you feel you're trying out new I.T. stuff in the market...

be it new software such as Microsoft Office 2007, true-to-life role-playing games, peripherals such as a webcam or even a video card

...but you are stuck to using these on your old and slow computer which is the only one in your house, it's time to upgrade.

 

Hope this answers your question.

 

I onli use my PC surf net .

[redbeacon]

Linux to have next-gen "superspeed" USB support; strong possibility it'll be the first OS to support USB 3.0

After a year-and-a-half's worth of work, Intel hacker Sarah Sharp announced that Linux will be the first operating system supporting USB 3.0.

 

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/554/090611usb301.jpg

 

Linux kernel "Geekess" Sarah Sharp announced in her blog of June 7 that the first groundbreaking driver for USB 3.0 devices are now available. The driver supports the Extensible Host Controller Interface (xHCI) for the new USB 3.0 standard.

 

The NEC USB 3.0 controller is due to hit the streets this month, and already Sarah Sharp (the, um, "Geekess") has been able to crank out a Linux driver for the device. Sharp states that she is "working with Keve Gabbert (the OSV person in my group at Intel) to make sure that Linux distributions like Ubuntu and Red Hat" pick up the driver, meaning that Linux users will likely be the first to have their Super Speed dreams become a reality.

 

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/2445/090518c2b5pd72020001.jpg

 

Greg Kroah-Hartman already queued the patches for Kernel 2.6.31, "so Linux users should have official USB 3.0 support around September 2009. This means that Linux will be the first operating system with official USB 3.0 support" wrote Sharp, who was also active at Open Source Bridge in Portland, OR. The source code mostly under her name is on git.kernel.org.

 

Just recently NEC Electronics introduced the "world's first" USB 3.0 host controller. Sarah Sharp is looking forward to tests on NEC's device, of which the company "expects rapid adoption."

 

The basic specifications for USB 3.0 show it to have a transfer rate of 5.0 Gbps. The standard was announced in November 2008 by the USB Implementers Forum, Inc. (as we reported in December). Board of directors of the Forum are represented by companies such as NEC, HP, Microsoft and Intel (which has the current chairmanship).

 

Source

.

.

.

.

.