There’s a new USB coming and it’s 10 times faster.
USB (Universal Serial Bus) has been around since 1996. The original specification was 1.0 and it allowed for data transmission speeds of up to 12 Mbits/second. This new technology played a big part in eliminating Parallel and Serial devices from your PC. USB 2.0 was introduced in 2006 and it allowed for transmission speeds up to 480 Mbits/s which, even today, was enough to accomodate most data transfer needs. But with the ever increasing amounts of data that we need to move around, we needed a boost.
USB 3.0, nicknamed “SuperSpeed USB,” promises up to 4,800 Mbits/s (4.8 Gbits/s) transfer speed. Additionally, it will be able to provide 80% more power for connected devices and will offer power management features where either the PC or the device can initiate a powersaving mode.
The physical changes that define USB 3.0 are the addition of 4 more wires which serve as 2 additional send/recieve pairs operating as the SuperSpeed channel. USB 1.0 and 2.0 only had 4 wires. These 2 new pairs will work in conjunction with the original send/receive pair which allows for backwards compatibility. Devices with the new USB 3.0 specifications should be hitting the shelves in time for Christmas 2009.
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