Speedy USB 3.0 spec to be unveiled

The next-generation USB specification is slated to be introduced later this month.

USB 3.0 SuperSpeed logo as shown at WinHEC 2008

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

On November 17 the SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0) Developers Conference, hosted by the USB Implementers Forum in San Jose, Calif., will unveil the USB 3.0 specification to the industry, according to a statement Wednesday from the Implementers Forum.

The USB 3.0 specification, a next-generation high-speed connection standard due in 2009, is significant because all future PCs and devices will use connectors based on it. The spec is also expected to offer 10 times the speed of USB 2.0--used in virtually all PCs introduced in the last few years--or roughly 5 gigabits per second.

Hewlett-Packard, Intel, NEC, NXP Semiconductors, Microsoft, and Texas Instruments are all backers of SuperSpeed USB.

Speaking at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in Los Angeles, USB-IF President Jeff Ravencraft said he expects the final specifications to be made public on November 17.

Intel and Nvidia had been skirmishing over the standard but resolved their differences.

[jamesk111]

5GB per second? That's a lot! I mean, if I (somehow) has a 0.5TB Flash Drive, it would only take about 2 minutes to transfer data

[taylorde]

@jamesk111 And then, I didn't quite realize that you had already accounted for that in your calculation. ... I'll go shut up now.

[KTLA_knew]

James, I think you're confusing GB (gigaBYTES) with Gb (gigaBITS). My calculations show that it'll take close to 14 minutes at max throughput to transfer 0.5GB. (Still very impressive!)

[Kuko Ako]

The USB 3.0 transfer rate in the article is expressed in gigabits per second (Gbps), not GBps. A byte (usually used for storage) equals 8 bits (used for transfer rate).

[taylorde]

Slow down there jamesk111. A gigaBIT is a lot different than a gigaBYTE. Remember that a byte is comprised of 8 bits. So...according to a fancy online calculator: 5 gigabits = 640 megabytes
http://www.translatorscafe.com/cafe/units-converter/data-storage/calculator/megabit-to-megabyte/
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_megabytes_and_megabits

Still fast, but not THAT fast.

[gsmiller88]

Apple needs to incorporate this into their machines ASAP, it will definitely be reason to upgrade.

[kelmon]

And they will, once USB 3.0 becomes a reality. However, I'd much rather that they stick with Firewire for the likes of connecting to mass storage devices. USB 2.0 has never been impressive in reality and I'm not convinced that USB 3.0 will be much different until I see it in action.

[bhadley1]

I'm no expert but I think 5 Gigabits = 625 Megabytes (8 bits per byte). So it would be more like 5 minutes. Maybe someone can verify this...Anyways it sounds pretty fast and I'll take it.

[tipoo_]

so around 625 megabytes per second, if im not stupid? sounds pretty good to me. Firewire 800 offers 3200 Mbit/s, so 3.2Gbits/s vs the 5 of USB 3.0.

[Canberra-photographer]

3200 Mb/s, Firewire 800 can't do that, it only does around 800Mb/s compared to Firewire 400 which did 400Mb/s, hence the names. Firewire version 3 which will be out next year will do up to 3400Mb/s.

[tipoo_]

Future iterations of FireWire should bring a bump in speed to 6.4 Gbit/s......

[rgmenke]

I belive we will see a completely different architecture to get this speed. Probably something more like firewire with a smart controller to handle the transfers. Apple has been laying low on the firewire front which suggests to me that they are on board with this new spec.

[itworker--2008]

Problem is, it'll take 50% CPU usage to do it. LOL

Now compare CPU usage between firewire and USB, Firewire wins hands down. It only got worse with USB2....Now we look forward to USB3.....sad

Plus these are all theoritical speeds. No one will actually get anywhere close to what their final outcome stated speed is

[sghanna]

Will the latency be improved over USB 2? Latency in USB 2 make Firewire a necessity for live music. Fix the latency issue and we can finally have one standard input for all devices.

[coryschulz]

With Apple phasing firewire out of their products it's possible we won't see much support for it from now on. I'm thinking FW 800 will be the last of its kind. But USB 3.0 looks very promising. If they could develop USB 3.0 so it doesn't hurt the processor as much, that would probably be much appreciated by many people. And yes, latency times should also be improved for those of use that use ProTools.

[Earl Benzar]

Firewire isn't going anywhere. It'll be used on pro equipment. Consumer equipment OTOH USB.

[kingrah1]

i hate how people rate things in gigabits, its like they want slow things to seem faster... like internet, i only look at gigabyte ratings, after all, you have data saved as gigabytes, not gigabits

--ive been waiting for usb 3 for a year!!

[AppleSuxLeo]

Perfect timing to upgrade to Nehalem and Win 7. Fry`s , here I come !!

[karpenterskids]

Ooo...even FASTER file transfers?

And the porn industry profits again...lol

looks like the end to eSATA...

As long as the drive is SATA, eSATA will always be faster with less CPU load. You can't beat the drives native interface, even going to a 'faster' interface will only increase latencies and delays in conversions of the protocols etc

If however internal drives start using USB3 as their interface then sure, but I wouldn't hold my breath for that. SATA has a roadmap too and USB doesn't have the best tradition of providing anything near the performance it toutes on paper.

[dennisl59]

Bottom Line: Not upgrading until the New Processor and USB 3.0 Motherboards are in GA.

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