Look for these logos when buying a USB device. The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) has developed logos for each of the four data rates. Low-Speed, Full-Speed, and High-Speed devices are USB 2.0 compliant but not USB 3.0 compliant, so a USB High-Speed device should not be labeled as a USB 3.0 device. This is accomplished by referencing, not replacing, the USB 2.0 specification. Will this confusing labeling exist for USB 3.0? The USB 3.0 specification supports the three legacy speeds in addition to SuperSpeed. A device labeled USB 2.0 can operate at Full-Speed instead of High-Speed. This is usually, but not always, the case. Table C shows maximum data rates for the four data rate types. Each new USB specification has been backward compatible. Table B shows USB data rate types supported by the four USB specifications. Each new major USB specification introduced a new data rate. There are four distinct data rates – not to be confused with the four USB specifications.
USB (universal serial bus) was developed as an alternative to serial and parallel data transfer protocols.
This article is also available as a PDF download. The examples in this document all use Windows 7.
If you find an error in the documentation or have additional information, please post it in the forum. Note: I have taken great care to verify the accuracy of this information, but USB is complex. Now that USB has finally arrived, albeit barely, this is a good time to compare the previous USB specifications with USB 3.0. The Linux kernel supports USB 3.0 as of version 2.6.31.
That means that USB 3.0 is not likely to go mainstream until then.Ĭurrent versions of Windows do not support USB 3.0, but support is expected for Windows Vista and Windows 7 at a later date via an update or service pack. AMD may not support USB 3.0 until 2011 either. There is some bad news, though: Intel has announced that it will not include USB 3.0 in its chipsets until 2011. Dane-Elec has announced a family of external SuperSpeed SSD drives and add-in card, but you will have to pay a hefty premium for the extra performance. ASUS has also announced an add-in PCIe x4 card with USB 3.0 support, though it is compatible only with its P55 series of motherboards after a BIOS upgrade. USB 3.0 is here! After long delays and much touted promotion of the new specification, USB 3.0 is now finally available or soon will be on some new ASUS and Gigabyte motherboards. Find out about its availability, specifications, benefits, and limitations.
USB 3.0 has been highly anticipated - and now, it’s finally here. USB 3.0 has been highly anticipated - and now, it's finally here. 10 things you should know about USB 2.0 and 3.0