USB 3.0 Specification Now Available

[btarunr]

The USB 3.0 Promoter Group today announced the completion of the USB 3.0 specification, the technical map for device manufacturers to deliver SuperSpeed USB technology to the market.

SuperSpeed USB brings significant power and performance enhancements to the popular USB standard while offering backward compatibility with billions of USB-enabled PCs and peripheral devices currently in use by consumers. Delivering data transfer rates up to ten times faster than Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0) with optimized power efficiency, SuperSpeed USB is the next step in the continued evolution of USB technology.

"SuperSpeed USB is the next advancement in ubiquitous technology," said Jeff Ravencraft, USB-IF president and chairman. "Today's consumers are using rich media and large digital files that need to be easily and quickly transferred from PCs to devices and vice versa. SuperSpeed USB meets the needs of everyone from the tech-savvy executive to the average home user."

The USB 3.0 Promoter Group, comprised of Hewlett-Packard Company, Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, NEC Corporation, ST-NXP Wireless and Texas Instruments, developed the USB 3.0 specification. The group now has transitioned the specification's management to the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), the managing body of USB specifications. The USB 3.0 Promoter Group is now accepting adopters of the USB 3.0 specification, which has been finalized at the 1.0 level. To download both the specification and adopter agreement, visit http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/.

It is anticipated that initial SuperSpeed USB discrete controllers will appear in the second half of 2009 and consumer products will appear in 2010, with adoption continuing throughout 2010. The first SuperSpeed USB devices will likely include data-storage devices such as flash drives, external hard drives, digital music players and digital cameras.

The USB 3.0 specification debuted today in conjunction with the first SuperSpeed USB Developers Conference in San Jose, California. The conference provides attendees the first opportunity to hear directly from the creators of the USB 3.0 specification; keynote speakers will address advancements offered by the new technology. In addition to technical sessions, an exhibit area will showcase the latest developments and early designs featuring SuperSpeed USB technology. Attendees will obtain information on the best practices for incorporating SuperSpeed USB into their product roadmaps.

The USB 3.0 specification includes many advancements for both consumers and adopters, including higher speeds and enhanced power efficiency. For more information about the USB 3.0 specification, visit http://www.usb.org/developers.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[csendesmark]

Fine

My opinion: USB is the best invention in IT
and I waiting for it

 

[EarlZ]

So this is like how many MB's of sustained real world data transfer on 3.0 ?

 

[DaC]

So this is like how many MB's of sustained real world data transfer on 3.0 ?

good question...... usb 2.0 bus is 480mbps..... usb 3.0 is 5gbps.....
I really don't think it will change much from what we have now.....

 

[Skywalker12345]

Delivering data transfer rates up to ten times faster than Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0)

So this is like how many MB's of sustained real world data transfer on 3.0 ?

yea thats what i was wondering?

60 MByte/s USB 2.0 X 10 = 600 MB/s

600 Mb/s damn

 

[KBD]

so this USB 3 is even faster than eSATA it turns out?? I just dont know if we'll actually see 5gb/s speeds in reality.

Another question comes to mind, if Intel is one of the developers you guys think they will license USB 3 to others like AMD and Nvidia for their boards or no?

yea thats what i was wondering?

60 MByte/s USB 2.0 X 10 = 1800 MB/s

1.8 GB/s damn

if i'm not mistaken its around 600MB/s, actually 625 to be precise. 60 x 10 = 600MB/s, not sure where 1,800 came from, unless i'm missing something.

 

[DaC]

Is there a USB 2.0 device that can do 60MByte/s sustained ? I thought fasters usb 2.0 device were around 30-40 MByte/s

 

[kakazza]

60 MByte/s USB 2.0 X 10 = 1800 MB/s
1.8 GB/s damn

lol

 

[mlee49]

Its about time.

We should be seeing PCI-E 3.0 in 09 as well.

edit: Seeing news about pci-e in 09, seeing devices early 2010.

 

[WhiteLotus]

So this is like how many MB's of sustained real world data transfer on 3.0 ?

Transfer of a 25GB HD movie:

* USB 1.0: 9.3 hours
* USB 2.0: 13.9 minutes
* USB 3.0: 70 seconds

 

[BOSE]

Is there a USB 2.0 device that can do 60MByte/s sustained ? I thought fasters usb 2.0 device were around 30-40 MByte/s

It is around 35 on average. USB2.0 is 480mb, not 600mb

60 x10 = 600, not 60 x10 x usb2.0

 

[Swansen]

Its about time.

We should be seeing PCI-E 3.0 in 09 as well.

Not to get off track here, but there is hardly a point for PCIe 2.0, as far as bandwidth usage goes. USB 3.0 is going to be the coolest thing since they invented cheese.
USB 2.0 = Hi-speed USB
USB 3.0 = SS USB ?????

 

[cdawall]

i still call BS on all of the numbers by tech spec USB2.0 is faster than firewire while in the real world firewire blows it out of the water

if its still a burst protocol it can have all the bandwidth it wants but it will make no difference

 

[BOSE]

FireWire 400 is dead.

FireWire in general is not that common, sure its faster, but I dont see any one make FireFire Thumb drives. Majority of devices use USB interface.

 

[Skywalker12345]

yea my bad not to good at math

 

[cdawall]

FireWire 400 is dead.

FireWire in general is not that common, sure its faster, but I dont see any one make FireFire Thumb drives. Majority of devices use USB interface.

firewire does not provide power like USB does hence you will never see firewire thumb drives

 

[InnocentCriminal]

yea my bad not to good at math

Is that with or without a calculator?

 

[aj28]

firewire does not provide power like USB does hence you will never see firewire thumb drives

Sorry, but that's not correct... 500mA/5V is the maximum output for USB 2.0, while firewire can do 1.25A/12V. The big issue with firewire thumb drives as I see it is the availability of the interface and the price of controllers...

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

The speed sounds very good. I hope this actually goes better than my USB 1.1 to 2.0 transition (in which I fried all my 1.1 stuff)

 

[BOSE]

The speed sounds very good. I hope this actually goes better than my USB 1.1 to 2.0 transition (in which I fried all my 1.1 stuff)

so you gona try all your 1.1 stuff with 3.0? ...hehe

 

[cdawall]

Sorry, but that's not correct... 500mA/5V is the maximum output for USB 2.0, while firewire can do 1.25A/12V. The big issue with firewire thumb drives as I see it is the availability of the interface and the price of controllers...

i didnt know that thanks for the info

 

[Steevo]

i still call BS on all of the numbers by tech spec USB2.0 is faster than firewire while in the real world firewire blows it out of the water

if its still a burst protocol it can have all the bandwidth it wants but it will make no difference

Holla.



Protocol overhead makes USB fail.

 

[Easy Rhino]

i hate when companies and organization start naming things like "high speed" and "super speed." what is next, "super awesome speed?" or "super duper USB scooper?"

 

[TheGuruStud]

USB 2 tops out at like 25 MB/s sustained (bursts are faster, but that's useless for HDDs). Suffice to say, USB 3 will also suffer the perf penalties of the design.

 

[Mussels]

Theres two sized firewire plugs. the larger of which, does provide power.

While USB 2.0's theoretical speed is 60MB/s, its one of those stupid speeds where they measure both ways at once. You can only get 30MB/s maximum (give or take 2-3MB/s) in any one direction.

USB 3.0 will be the same - capping out at 300MB/s maximum. Great to have some headroom, but no faster than SATA-II... so hey, it sounds great for this generation of external drives.