What is USB 3.0? USB 3.0 is the latest USB specification, which was initiated by Intel and other major companies. At present, USB 2.0 has been generally recognized by PC manufacturers, the interface has become more of a hardware manufacturer interface necessary to look at the home commonly used motherboard is clear. With the continuous development and progress of hardware equipment, higher transmission speeds and greater bandwidth is increasingly being emphasized by people. The transmission speed of 2,300M per second will be more and more difficult for people to rest on their laurels. 2007, Intel in the IDF SuperSpeed USB as an important topic to come out to show. By November 17, 2008, the USB 3.0 standard was officially completed and publicly released. At the same time, the new USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) officially started to take over the operation of the specification, published a detailed technical document, so that the industry's hardware manufacturers can be based on the development of USB 3.0-related products. USB 3.0 brief specification is as follows: - Provides a higher transfer speed of 4.8Gb per second - Provides better support for devices that require Provides better support for devices that require more power, maximizing the power supply to the bus - Adds new power management functions - Full-duplex data communication for faster transfer speeds - Backward compatible with USB 2.0 devices Is it faster than USB 2.0? USB 2.0 provides ample bandwidth for a wide variety of devices and applications, but with the advent of high-definition video, terabyte (1,000 gigabyte) storage devices, up to gigapixel digital cameras, high-capacity cell phones, and portable media players, higher bandwidth and transfer speeds are a necessity. A transfer speed of 480Mb per second may not even be fast enough anymore, let alone the fact that no USB 2.0 device is currently capable of reaching this theoretical maximum speed limit. In practice, an average speed of 320Mb per second is good enough. Similarly, in fact, USB 3.0 also can not reach the theoretical value of 4.8Gb, but, even if it can only reach the theoretical value of 5 into, that is close to the USB 2.0 10 times. USB 3.0 is how to do so fast? USB 3.0 is the reason why the "super speed" performance, thanks to the improvement of technology. Compared to the current USB 2.0 interface, USB 3.0 adds more physical buses in parallel mode. Readers can pick up a USB cable next to you to see the interface part. On top of the original 4-wire structure (power, ground, 2 pairs of data), USB 3.0 adds 4 more lines for receiving and transmitting signals. So there are a total*** of 8 lines, both within the cable and on the interface. It is the additional 4 lines (2 pairs) that provide the bandwidth needed to support "SuperSpeed USB". Obviously, the 2 lines (1 pair) on USB 2.0 are not enough. In addition, the signal transmission method is still host-controlled, but has been changed to asynchronous transmission, and USB 3.0 utilizes a bi-directional data transfer mode instead of the half-duplex mode of the USB 2.0 era. Simply put, data only needs to flow in one direction, simplifying the time consumed by waiting. In fact, USB 3.0 does not adopt any advanced technology that we have rarely heard of, but it has theoretically increased the bandwidth by 10 times. It's also more approachable and user-friendly, and once SuperSpeed USB products are available, they'll be easier for more people to accept and make better customized products. What's more advanced about USB 3.0? The "SuperSpeed USB" improvements go far beyond the transfer rates. In USB 3.0, a major focus has been placed on how devices and host computers can work together better. Inheriting the core architecture of USB 2.0 on the basis of how to take advantage of dual-bus mode, how to allow users to directly experience USB 3.0 than USB 2.0 advanced, has become the focus of: - need to provide more power USB 3.0 can provide 50% - 80% more power to support those who need more power to drive the device, and Those devices that are charged via USB are heralded to be able to complete charging faster. The new Powered-B port consists of 2 additional lines that provide up to 1000 mA of power support. It is fully capable of driving wireless USB adapters and gets rid of the necessity of traditional USB adapters that rely on a cable connection. Usually wired USB devices need to be connected to a hub or the computer itself, but with the high power support, there is no need for a "cable". -Power consumption is also an important consideration when switching to USB 3.0, which automatically reduces power consumption when not needed, so effective power management is necessary to ensure that devices consume less power when idle. A large number of data streams need to be transmitted faster performance support, and at the same time transmission, idle device can be transferred to a low-power state. It can even be idle to receive other commands and complete other actions. How long is good? Actually, not everything has been updated in USB 3.0, such as the length of the cable. Often cables continue to be the bottleneck when the highest possible throughput is required in certain applications. Although the USB 3.0 specification does not specify how long a USB cable should be, the cable material and signal quality still affect the transmission. Therefore, in the transmission of hundreds of megabytes of large data streams, the cable length is best not to exceed 3 meters. In addition, some hardware products that support "SuperSpeed USB", such as hubs (hubs) may be much more expensive than USB 2.0, which is like the current active power hubs and passive power supply for a reason. Because a real "SuperSpeed hub" should have 2 types of interfaces, one to play the role of a real "SuperSpeed hub", and the other to play the role of a normal high-speed hub. There are now some unofficial comments on the network that USB 3.0 can use fiber optics, in fact, this is exactly what the USB specification organization is considering, perhaps in the next revision of the version will be launched, and perhaps let some capable third-party companies to try it out. USB 2.0 will still dominate the market in five years Will my existing peripherals work? USB 3.0 has been cautiously planned from the outset in the hope that it will survive with USB 2.0*** USB 3.0 utilizes new physical interfaces and new cables to ensure higher speed connectivity with new devices, but the new interfaces maintain the same specifications as the 4-wire USB 2.0, and are fully accessible for use with existing USB ports. But only the device itself hardware support "SuperSpeed USB", 5 independent cable group can realize the true meaning of USB 3.0, complete the role of receiving and sending data. What will happen to USB 2.0? We won't see USB 2.0 related products leaving the market for at least the next 5 years. Devices with higher bandwidth requirements, such as digital cameras and high-capacity removable hard drives, will be the first to transition to "SuperSpeed USB" due to demand. However, because of the cost, the industry will depend on production volume and market demand. This also limits the popularity of USB 3.0 in the high-end market. By 2010, motherboards will be the first to shift to USB 3.0 interfaces, and "SuperSpeed" specification interfaces will become standard on new PCs. At the same time, device manufacturers will have no choice but to passively convert to USB 3.0. In the end, USB 2.0 will be phased out just like USB 1.1. However, USB 2.0 related devices are still within reach now and even in the foreseeable future. What operating systems support USB 3.0? Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Linux already support USB 3.0. MAC does not support it yet, Steve Jobs is still waiting to see how it works, it will take some time. What kind of applications will USB 3.0 enable? Simply put, all Hi-Speed USB 2.0 devices can only perform better with USB 3.0, or at least not worse. These devices include: - external hard drives - at least twice the transfer speed, not to mention the problem of insufficient power supply. -High-resolution webcams, video monitors -Video monitors, such as products using DisplayLink USB video technology -USB interface digital cameras, digital camcorders -Blu-ray drives, etc. USB 3.0 will promote the popularization of Blu-ray In addition, we most commonly used card reader devices, especially when the device is used at the same time in a variety of types of flash memory cards, or the card reader is connected to the USB Hub, and there are multiple card readers on the USB Hub, that kind of transmission speed is simply unbearable torture. USB 3.0 provides more space to solve such problems, providing 5-10 times the bandwidth is not a problem. What's more, a theoretical transfer speed of 4.8Gb per second is predictable enough to allow USB to intrude into areas it has never dared to tread before, such as disk array systems. What about the competition in the USB 3.0 market? USB 3.0's potential competitors: 1394, eSATA Computer external low and medium speed peripherals ---- No rivalry. Computer external high-speed peripheral ----1394 high efficiency, but the price is high, belongs to the high-end (price) product applications General application market is occupied by the USB HS applications, USB 3.0 applications have a good chance of replacing the 1394 in this application. Instant image transmission of DV digital camera ----USB 2.0 requires PC operation and poor efficiency, does not rival the 1394, the market for a long time for the 1394 to occupy the 1394. USB 3.0 transmission is likely to enter this market. Growth Trends and Market Share Estimates - With 2.6 billion USB ports shipped in 2007 alone, Brian O'Rourke, senior analyst at In-Stat, said in a release, "The average annual growth rate for USB 3.0 from 2009 to 2012 is expected to reach 100 percent, and the average annual growth rate for USB 3.0 in 2012 is expected to reach 100 percent. growth rate will be 100 percent, reaching fifty million shipments in 2012." The market opportunity for USB 3.0 will significantly squeeze other organic interface technologies. Time to Market and Acceptance---USB 3.0 products entered the market in mid-2009 and became popular in 2010. Since it is fully compatible with older hosts and devices, it can be predicted that its acceptance into the market is very high and the time is very fast. How is the USB 3.0 market developing? ■USB 2.0 provides ample bandwidth for a wide variety of devices and applications, but with the advent of HD video, terabytes (1,000GB) of storage, up to 10 megapixel digital cameras, high-capacity cell phones, and portable media players, higher bandwidth and transfer speeds have become a necessity. A transfer speed of 480Mb per second may not be fast enough, let alone the theoretical maximum speed that no USB 2.0 device can reach. In practice, an average speed of 320Mb per second is good enough. ■ Similarly, in fact, USB 3.0 also can not reach the theoretical value of 5Gb, if you can only reach the theoretical value of 50 percent, that is close to the USB 2.0 10 times. The new "Superspeed USB" will be 10 times faster than the existing USB 2.0 speed, USB 3.0 specification has entered the final stage of completion. USB Promotion Group Chairman Jeff Ravencraft said that the maximum transmission speed of Superspeed USB will be 10 times faster than USB 2.0, and the minimum transmission speed will be 10 times faster than USB 2.0. 2.0 10 times, the minimum transfer speed of 300MB / s. ■ He will give flash memory products to bring higher speeds, the use of solid state drives, if the interface from USB2.0 upgraded to 3.0, then it is the propeller plane to the jet aircraft leap. Superspeed USB cables and ports will be used in a backward-compatible mode, intel has abandoned the previous fiber-optic interconnection of the USB3.0 interface is divided into two parts, part of the use and USB2.0 consistent pins; in addition to adding a series of electrical interfaces for USB3.0 signal transmission. USB3.0 signaling. According to Ravencraft, USB3.0 will be oriented to high-end products, the official product will be available in 2010, but there is no doubt that the end of last year after the announcement of the USB3.0 draft specifications, there must be manufacturers in order to compete with the first to launch some 3.0 products .