The USB 3.0 Promoter Group announces the availability the USB 3.1 specification-- meaning vendors can now make devices with SuperSpeed USB with data transfer rates of up to 10Gbps.
According to the Group SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps uses more efficient data encoding and delivers twice the effective data throughput of existing SuperSpeed USB.
It remains fully backwards compatible with existing USB connectors and cables, including 5Gbps and USB 2.0 products.
"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 10Gbps,” USB 3.0 Promoter Group chairman Brad Saunders says. “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.”
The USB 3.0 Promoter Group unites HP, Intel, Microsoft, Renesas, ST-Ericsson and Texas Instruments. It released the USB 3.0 Specification back in November 2008, and continues to maintain the specification while working further on the overall USB standard.
