Superspeed USB is here!

Posted by James MacArthur to Technology on 07th July 2010 - 0 Comments

In 1994 the Universal Serial Bus (USB) was introduced to the computing world. It was designed to simplify the myriad of different connection options on your PC. And it was a massive success!

In 2000 USB 2.0 aka Hi-Speed USB was released offering faster data transfer speeds, backwards compatability and a greater number of external device connection.

That was 10 years ago, a lifetime in  an industry that traditionally reinvents itself every Friday. In November 2008 the USB 3.0 aka superspeed USB specification was announced promising 10 x the data transfer rate of USB 2.0, optimized power efficiency, sync-n-go technology that minimizes user wait-time and backward compatibility with USB 2.0.

With its high-speed data transfer capability, the new SuperSpeed host controller will require only 70 seconds to transfer 25 GB of HD video content, the equivalent of a Blu-Ray disc. Transferring the same content would take upwards of 14 minutes with Hi-Speed USB

The new specification has a signal rate of 5 Gigabits per second (Gbps). Compare that to the previous 2.0 specification, which was 480 Megabits per second (Mbps), and you're looking at a huge increase in transfer speeds.

You can already buy a new motherboard with USB 3.0 integrated or install an add-on card to an available PCI Express x4 slot for desktop systems or ExpressCard 2.0 slot for notebooks. A PCI Express x4 slot must be used because a x1 slot would limit the effective bandwidth to 250 Megabytes per second or about 2 Gigabits per second. The same is true for ExpressCard slots that are not ExpressCard 2.0 compliant. External hard drives, case enclosures, and notebook computers are already available using the technology, and with many more on the way, it's only a matter of time before you're spending less time watching progress bars and more time doing the things you want to be doing.