USB stands for Universal Serial Bus, which you probably already knew. You probably already know a lot about USB, being that it is now the most popular data connection for typical consumer end computers.
Brief History
USB was originally designed to replace the motley assortment of cables coming out of the backs of personal computers with their big inconvenient connectors which were USB's predecessors: parallel and serial connections. USB 1.0 was introduced in 1995 but wasn't standardized in computers until 1998 when Apple Computers came out with the iMac G3. USB 1.1 was soon developed after that to help solve problems with the initial USB adoption process.
Later, large companies like Intel, HP, Lucent, Microsoft, etc. decided to join forces and develop a higher-speed USB standard. Improving upon USB 1.1's "Full Speed" of 12 Mbit/s, USB 2.0 to this day supports a max transfer rate of 480 Mbit/s.
Future
USB 3.0 was demonstrated in 2007, and has increased USB 2.0's maximum transfer rates by 10 times, supporting 4.8 Gbit/s (which translates to roughly 600 Megabytes per second). USB 3.0 is just now becoming available in consumer products, and will become the standard in the future.
USB Limitations
Perhaps one of USB's biggest limitations is its distance limitations. USB only extends across 16 feet of typical USB cable. Although you'd probably be able to get more distance, the further you go the more likely you will begin to experience slower transfer rates because of corruptions in the file packets, until entire files are not able to transfer any longer.
Many companies have created ways to overcome this set-back, including the basic USB 2.0 Active Extender which has an active USB booster chip built-in. If you're needing to go further than the 32 feet this booster cable will give you, try the 20 meter USB Active Extension Cable, which features multiple active repeaters to go even further.
Amazing USB Feats of Strength
USB has come a long way and has truly become quite Universal, handling more types of connections than the original creators might have imagined:
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USB to Serial and USB to Parallel: Perhaps the first USB adapters conceived since USB was devised to replace the old serial and parallel connections.
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USB to DVI: Probably one of the more impressive uses of USB, this one allows you to use a USB port as a video port.
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USB to VGA: Like the USB to DVI, this one allows you to use a USB port as a video port.
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USB to HDMI: This amazing device allows you to send your computer’s A/V signal through HDMI to your HDTV.
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USB to Bluetooth: This is a pretty cool way to free yourself of wires, especially if you already have bluetooth devices, like a bluetooth mouse, or a phone with bluetooth on it.
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USB Video Capture Device: Another impressive feat, this device allows you to digitally record analog video in real time going from composite video (RCA) to USB and your computer.
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USB to Ethernet: If you want to get a computer on a wired network and you don't have an ethernet port, you can use your USB port with this adapter.
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USB Wifi Adapter: In order for a computer to be on a wireless network, they have to either have a wireless antenna built in, or use an external antenna like this one that connects via USB.
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USB to Expresscard and USB to PCMCIA: Expresscard and PCMCIA are the most common slots in laptops and many manufacturers make cards for these slots for many applications. These USB adapters allow you to add expresscards or PCMCIA cards to a computer that doesn't have these slots available. This adapter comes in extra handy for 3G data cards given to you by your cell phone provider to get internet almost anywhere.
USB 3.0
No Doubt you know all about USB by now. If not, read our quick introductory article about USB's abilities, limitations, and applications.
A Quick Recap
If you aren't up to speed on USB, here's a quick recap. USB 1.1 came out in 1998, transferring data at a max. 1.5 mbit/s at "low speed" and max. of 12 Mbit/s at "full speed." USB 2.0 was released in 2000 and increased the transfer speeds to a mind-blowing maximum of 480 mbit/s. Since the release, other amendments have been added to USB 2.0 over the years.
About Mbit/s
Mbit/s, or megabit per second is not the same as megabyte per second. There are 8 bits in a byte. This means that 480 megabits per second transfer speed is equivalent to 60 megabytes per second.
USB 3.0
Backwards compatibility and construction
USB 3.0 first of all will be fully compatible (or "backwards compatible") with past versions of USB. The actual physical shape of the USB interface remains unchanged, so you can plug any version of USB into any USB port. Of course if you want to take advantage of new USB 3.0 speeds, your device(s) and cable(s) will have to support USB 3.0. Mixing and matching cables and devices of different USB iterations will not hurt anything.
The USB 3.0 interface itself appears the same as USB 2.0 when you just glance at it, but it in fact includes 5 more pins than the USB 2.0. USB 2.0 has always had 4 pins: 2 for data transfer, one for power, and one for grounding. USB 3.0 introduces 5 new pins that sit in a location that can be accessed by USB 3.0 cables and ports, but can be easily ignored by older USB interfaces when plugged in. With the extra pins, the USB 3.0 cable is noticeably thicker.
Four of the five new pins are dedicated to transferring data up and down stream. This is new for USB, since with USB 2.0 the 2 data transferring lines could only transfer data up or down at any given time. Simultaneous up/down transfer is a huge new improvement for USB 3.0.
Speed: USB 3.0 maximum speed is 4.8 Gbit/s
USB 3.0 increased the USB 2.0 max data rate ten-fold to 4.8 Gbit/s (or 600 mega bytes per second). Looking at this on paper, this is super fast. Imagine being able to transfer your entire library of music of 22.5 Gigs (well, that's mine) in a little less than a minute. I actually transferred all of my music from my mac back to my old mac and it probably took around 15 minutes.
Let's be realistic though
Many critics of USB 3.0 (and USB in general in most cases) point out that these are all theoretical data transfer rate specs. It is true that USB 2.0 has rarely (if ever) reached its 480 mbit/s potential. Many are waiting to see what it really does. The ability to transfer up and down simultaneously makes the 4.8 Gbit/s potential a little more reachable. Although data rates will likely greatly improve, many still doubt we will see 4.8 Gbit speeds.
Another barrier in the way of freely flowing data rates is hard drive read/write speeds. There aren't any traditional hard drives available that can read/write at these speeds, so it would seem that the 4.8 Gbit speed wouldn't work out anyway. Newer solid state drives will definitely benefit greatly, however. Compared to traditional drives that contain a physical spinning disk that can only spin at a finite speed, solid state drives (such as flash drives) don't rely on physical moving parts to work.
Real-time tools to benefit greatly
Firewire, an interface that is losing ground in this seemingly neverending format war, still finds comfortable niches in industries that require real-time transfers without any delay. Industries such as music, video, and other miscellaneous media use firewire 400 and firewire 800 to connect I/O instruments that transfer massive amounts of data in real time. A good example is a mixer interface. No one in their right mind would buy a USB mixer with 16 channels or more. Firewire has always performed the best in this application. USB 3.0 might replace firewire completely for real-time I/O applications.
More Efficient Power... and Just More Power
USB 3.0 has increased its current from 100 miliamps to 900 miliamps meaning you can charge and power bigger devices, and/or more devices at once. Not only is there more power, but it's smarter power. When battery powered devices that aren't being charged are connected to a computer, instead of draining power by the host attempting to find a signal, USB 3.0 uses a signal to announce when data transfer is activated.
Benefits of USB 3.0
USB 3.0 is over twice as fast as USB 2.0. This added speed, combined with the other new features offered by USB 3.0 is making a huge difference in the world of USB peripherals, including cameras, external hard drives, and more. Find out how USB 3.0 is changing the way we look at USB.
What is USB?
USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a universal connection used to connect electronic devices (like digital cameras, external hard drives, printers, etc) to a computer. The idea was to replace all of the different connection types needed for different devices with one easy to use connector.
We take for granted how much easier things are now that we have USB. For one thing, it was designed to work over all of the major operating systems. It’s also “hot-swappable,” meaning that you can add or remove a USB device without restarting the computer. Back in the day you would have to restart your computer in order for it to recognize your device. And finally, USB is “plug-and-play,” meaning that your computer will automatically recognize the device and install the right drivers for you.
All of these things seem commonplace right now, but back in the 90’s, when USB was invented, these were revolutionary advances. And USB hasn’t stopped being innovative. There have been three different versions of USB released over the years, each one becoming increasingly faster. The first USB drives only supported speeds of up to 11 Mbps, which didn’t give it much capability. Later USB 2.0 came out, offering speeds of up to 480 Mbps. This was a huge step forward and allowed external hard drives and other mass storage devices to be used with USB. Now SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is out, and it is once again changing everything.
What’s so Great About USB 3.0?
Every year people seem to have greater demands for transferring larger files at faster speeds. It’s not just companies that need large file backups anymore. With the price of hard drives becoming more and more affordable, many at home now have external hard drives that are 1 terrabyte or larger. Not only that, but more people are now able to afford cameras that allow for high quality video and photos, making the files much larger. You need faster transfer rates. SuperSpeed USB 3.0 gives you transfer rates of up to 5 Gbps. That’s ten times faster than USB 2.0. Not only that, its bidirectional, letting you read and write data at the same time. What does that mean for you? It means you can download photos, music, videos, and data faster. But not just faster, ten times faster. And, if you want to upload something on your device, but it’s already downloading something else, you don’t have to wait.
All of that added speed also means that USB Ethernet adaptors like the Gigaglider can now achieve internet speeds of up to 1 Gbps, making them even faster than wireless internet connections.
One more great thing about USB 3.0: It’s much friendlier on the environment and your wallet. USB 3.0 has new capabilities for managing power. These new capabilities allow for any unused devices you may have connected to your computer to enter into sleep mode, lowering your carbon footprint and your utility bills.
If you have some USB 2.0 devices, don’t worry, USB 3.0 is backward compatible, so it will still support all of your USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 devices. Just remember, if you want to achieve USB 3.0 speeds, you’ll need to upgrade your computer with a USB 3.0 host card, like the Xpand. You’ll also need to make sure that your device (like your external hard drive) is compatible.