The Universal Serial Buss Implementers Forum or USB-IF has released their new specification, USB 3.1. The full spec will be available for download off the USB-IF website on Friday Aug 2, 2013. The new specification allows for 10Gb/s transfer rate. Of course this is optimal transfer speed without the incurrence of operating system resources trying to regulate bandwidth for multi device transfers, but none-the-less it’s a huge jump in speed for USB.
USB 3.1 cable
USB is the most versatile connector type in the computer market. Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and communications protocols used in a bus for connection, communication, and power supply between computers and electronic devices.
Originally USB was specific to connect computer peripherals such as keyboards, pointing devices, digital cameras, printers and network adapters. With the increased need for bandwidth with digital content and the faster speeds of portable storage devices and smartphones the need to increase the speed of USB has been significant.
In addition the USB specification incorporated a Power Delivery or PD protocol which can deliver up to 100watts of power over a USB cable. The PD technology must use a certified cable with the Power Delivery wiring so not all USB cables will have the PD ability. The intent is to permit uniformly charging laptops, tablets, USB-powered disks and similarly higher power consumer electronics, as a natural extension of existing European and Chinese mobile telephone charging standards.
With the increased 3.1 speeds and the power ability of 100watts per cable it appears USB has made a substantial gain in the cable of choice for manufacturers and consumers a like for connecting their peripherals to their host computers.
The USB 3.1 specification is just now in development and products should come to market in the next 8-10 months.
Kicking around in technology since 2002. I like to write about technology products and ideas, but at the consumer level understanding. Some tech, but not too techie.
