USB 3.0 – What You Should Know
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… is that you’re not getting it this year. Ba-dum-bum! That it, the specification is there, but just as the 1.0 and 2.0 specifications, the specifications were not simply ahead of delivery (duh!) but well ahead of delivery of the first items to comply.
Truthfully, there really are few things that will require the speeds possible with USB 3.0. Also, there are competing standards, and that is never good for early adoption. The best need for usage would be external hard drives, but eSATA has already beaten USB 3.0 to the punch. Unless USB 3.0 brings something else great to the party, it might be a corner-sitter for awhile.
Unless there is something to be gained – clear and beyond a doubt – USB 3.0 just may become a specification in search of a need.
from ghacks.net
USB 1.0 and USB 2.0 are serial bus standards that connect devices to computer systems. Most users probably know USB from devices like external hard drives, keyboards, mice but also mobile devices which are usually connected via USB to computer systems these days. USB 2.0, also known as Hi-Speed USB, was the first upgrade to the USB standard in April 2000 which delivered faster transfer speeds. The transfer speed rose from 12 Mbit / s for USB 1.0 devices to 480 Mbit / s for USB 2.0 devices.
SuperSpeed USB, which was demonstrated for the first time on 2007 will advance the serial bus standard once again. Transfer speeds have been raised to a speed of 5 Gbit / s which improves data transfer speeds tremendously. To copy a 25 Gigabyte file USB 1.0 needed 9.03h, USB 2.0 13.09 minutes and USB 3.0 1.10 minutes. USB 3.0 receptacles are backwards compatible with USB 2.0 device plugs which basically means that computer users can still connect their USB 2.0 or USB 1.0 devices into a computer system supporting USB 3.0.
The USB 3.0 spec seems to indicate that a separate bus will conduct the USB 3.0 signals, so the bus will be, by design, segmented. However, will the signals on the SuperSpeed bus play nicely with those on the slower bus? This is starting to seem like the USB hub fiasco where there are usually not enough transaction translators so that the hub can actually achieve its best speed. If it is not possible to maintain the highest speed for the highest speed peripherals, what will be the point?
Another interesting addition to USB 3.0 are power saving features which were especially designed for mobile devices. Packet traffic is no longer being broadcasted to the USB device which reduces its power usage. Additional power saving features like idle, sleep and suspend states have been added to USB 3.0 as well. A device entering sleep mode will practically be left alone by USB 3.0 Hosts until itself initiates a device mode change. The power specs have been increased on the other hand to be able to provide devices (like external hard drives) with additional power for their operation.
These specs suggest that all kinds of problems could crop up, unless all suppliers implement the features exactly the same way. (Does anyone else remember the problems with the original VIA implementation of USB on the motherboard?)
First devices that make use of USB 3.0 are expected in 2009 but the main push towards USB 3.0 is expected to begin in 2010.
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of course there’s that blurb from Engadget in January 2008
Get ready, speed freaks. USB 3.0, the oft-rumored, much-discussed, rarely seen new standard heading our way has been spotted, sliced, chopped, and diced at CES 2008. Actually, we just got a chance to check the connectors and compare with the old 2.0 standard (which the reps tell us is backward compatible, of course). With speeds of 4.8 Gbit/s (600 MB/s), and a powering system which intelligently cuts the juice when you’re not using a device, we have a feeling you’ll want. Too bad we all have to wait till 2010… the year we make contact… with USB 3.0.
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from everythingusb,com
What operating systems support USB 3.0?
At the SuperSpeed Developers Conference in November 2008, Microsoft announced that Windows 7 would have USB 3.0 support, perhaps not on its immediate release, but in a subsequent Service Pack or update. It is not out of the question to think that following a successful release of USB 3.0 support in Windows 7, SuperSpeed support would trickle down to Vista. Microsoft has confirmed this by stating that most of their partners share the opinion that Vista should also support USB 3.0.
I have not seen anything about this from the Windows 7 blurbs, nor do I think that Vista support will be a priority – Microsoft wants everyone moving to Windows 7.
SuperSpeed support for Windows XP is unknown at this point. Given that XP is a seven year old operating system, the likelihood of this happening is remote, as Microsoft in our opinion, will have to focus on the biggest bang for the buck applications.
This will be something where the individual suppliers will make drivers for their add-in boards. Perhaps the major board manufacturers will provide support, but I wouldn’t expect any whippy-dip manufacturer to have support for it developed. That means Asus, Gigabyte, Tyan, and maybe one or two others, tops.
With the open-source community behind it, Linux will most definitely support USB 3.0 once the xHCI specification is made public. Currently available under non-disclosure agreement in version 0.95 (a draft specification), organizations are forbidden to ship code because it might reveal or imply what is in the specification. Once that hurdle is out of the way, the Linux USB stack would have to be updated to add support for USB 3.0 details such as bus speed, power management, and a slew of other significant changes detailed in the USB 3.0 specification.
As is customary, Apple remains silent on the issue of SuperSpeed USB support in MacOS X. Our opinion is that if USB 3.0 realizes the promise of plug and play simplicity like USB 2.0 with dramatically increased speeds, the market for SuperSpeed devices will take off, and Apple will follow the trend. Whether or not this signals a threat to Firewire is not known, but you can be sure that Apple will need to support SuperSpeed if the rest of the industry adopts this interface standard.
Given the iterative nature of any software release, USB 3.0 O/S support will come in stages and phases, where initial support may be buggy, slow, or lacking in some features. Over time, these bugs will be ironed out, but expect some growing pains as systems migrate and the development teams struggle to catch up to the high expectations of the computing community at large. We will get there, but it will take time. Anyone remember how buggy and unstable USB support was in the MacOS in all versions of OS 8 and OS 9 before OS X 10.2 arrived?
And then there’s that nasty part about availability. Get in line.
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2 Comments
GRPeng
May 2nd, 2009
at 1:13pm
“The best need for usage would be external hard drives, but eSATA has already beaten USB 3.0 to the punch.”
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Really? eSATA provides power to external devices through one connector and runs at 6 Gb/s? No, not really. There was a demonstration of USB 3 at CES in January. The first demonstration of SATA 6 Gb/s I could find in the news was two months later. Power Over eSATA is not a ratified standard from what I can find, and eSATA is used less than FireWire/1394. That might change if more devices like this hit the market.
http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles%2F2009%2Fs2004%2F03a04%2F03a04.asp
I actually think the standards are complimentary but that most SSD flash drives will be USB 3 because of backwards compatibility. Some SLC SSD drives are already bumping up against the speed limit of SATA 3 Gb/s. The standard that gets accepted first will likely be the one that gets hardware in the market first.
the oracle
May 2nd, 2009
at 4:26pm
GRPeng, what I was referring to was not the speed, but the implementation and adoption. Look around. Fewer and fewer USB external cases for hard drives are available, as eSATA is forcing its way in. I just purchased a CM690 (Coolermaster) case a month ago, and instead of a Firewire port (either 400 or 800) there is an eSATA port, where a few months prior, there would have been a 1394a port, right next to the obligatory USB ports.
USB 3 might be a big thing, but I prefer to think it will be a product falling somewhere between niche and mainstream. A good analogy would be mice - nearly everyone has an optical mouse these days, with almost no one having the rubber covered ball to deal with anymore. However, few people find the need for the next step, a laser mouse, to replace the simple LED of their optical one. So it will be with USB, lots of 2.0 for quite a while, but not a great deal of 3.0.