The most commonly used USB port is going to get upgraded soon.
The USB 3.0 Promoter Group have announced that the work of USB 3.1 specification has been completed. It will feature enhancements to enable SuperSpeed USB to offer transfer speeds of up to 10 Gbps.
The Group said in a press statement, “SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps uses a more efficient data encoding and will deliver more than twice the effective data through-put performance of existing SuperSpeed USB over enhanced, fully backward compatible USB connectors and cables. Compatibility is assured with existing USB 3.0 software stacks and device class protocols as well as with existing 5Gbps hubs and devices and USB 2.0 products.”
USB 3.1
Brad Saunders, Chairman of USB 3.0 Promoter Group said that The USB 3.1 specification primarily extends existing USB 3.0 protocol and hub operation for speed scaling along with defining the next higher physical layer speed as 10 Gbps. “The specification team worked hard to make sure that the changes made to support higher speeds were limited and remained consistent with existing USB 3.0 architecture to ease product development.”
After the announcement, chips that support the new USB 3.1 specification can be made by chip makers like Intel.
Alex Peleg, Vice President, Intel Architecture Group said, “The industry has affirmed the strong demand for higher through-put, for user-connected peripherals and docks, by coming together to produce a quality SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps specification. Intel is fully committed to deliver on this request.”
After the start of chipset production, OEMs will also be able to offer USB 3.1 connectivity with their devices.
“We recognize this advancement in USB technology is an important development for our customers,” said Tom Bonola, Chief Technology Officer, Business PC Solutions, HP. “The USB 3.1 Specification enables us to meet the growing needs of our customers for faster data transfer while maintaining backwards compatibility with existing devices.”
Devices with USB 3.1 Specification are expected to arrive by late 2014.