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USB 3.0 Will be 10X Faster, Could Doom FireWire [UPDATED]
by , 2:00 PM EDT, September 24th, 2007
Universal Serial Bus (USB) 3.0 is now being formulated by Intel and will transfer data at up to 4.8 gigabits per second (Gb/s), according to TechWorld on Monday. The specification will be completed in the first half of 2008.
That's ten times the current specification for USB2's maximum rate. The USB 3 protocol will be backwards compatible with USB 2, just as USB 2 was with version 1.1. USB 3 allows transfer over both copper and optical cables.
"The digital era requires high-speed performance and reliable connectivity to move the enormous amounts of digital content now present in everyday life. USB 3.0 will meet this challenge while maintaining (USB 2.0's) ease-of-use experience," said Jeff Ravencraft from Intel.FireWire, the principal competitor to USB, at one time had aggressive plans to move to "1600" and "3200" versions. Even so, FireWire 400 and 800 have proven, in practice, to well exceed USB 2 transfer rates. With USB 3, typical transfer speeds are expected to exceed FireWire 800. If USB 3 can achieve that in practice, faster versions of FireWire may not be developed, according to Techworld's Chris Mellor.
The USB 3.0 Promotors Group consists of Intel, HP, Microsoft, NEC, NXP Semiconductors and Texas Instruments. A complete specification is expected in the first half of 2008.
TMO notes that if that schedule holds, we may see the first products on the market before the end of 2008.
The IEEE 1394 Trade Association had this response, printed with permission.
"The 3.2 Gigabit version of the FireWire standard is in the final stages for release in early 2008. The new version will use the same connectors and cabling as 1394b, which was revised and updated for 1394b applications and certified for bandwidths up to 10 Gigabits/second. This is targeted for consumer applications providing true whole-home networking and multi-function utility with built-in quality of service required for transporting raw uncompressed video plus dozens of compressed HD video channels. Transporting raw graphics data will create new applications, such as the ability to share graphics resources or redirect desktop computers. FireWire OHCI providers have completed the transition from PCI to PCI Express, paving the way for an easy speed-up from today's FireWire 800 parts. The Trade Association is now reviewing applications for 10 Gigabit versions of 1394, which remains a key element on the road map in order to transport multiple uncompressed HD streams over a network.""FireWire continues to provide unique benefit. FireWire is peer-to-peer not Master-Slave. It is a network, not a bus or point-to-point. Since 2002, 1394 has been working on CAT5/6 and optical fiber (POF/GOF) at distances of 100 meters between devices. Today, 1394 is working on coax cable for home and automotive installations. And, 1394b is interoperable with existing products including the 100 mbps camcorders."
The IEEE1394 Trade Association representative also pointed put that support in Vista is due out in early 2008 which will, he said, increase penetration in Windows based PCs.
[This article was updated with information from the IEEE1394 Trade Association.]
Observer Comments
Unfortunately, even without USB 3 Firewire is already "doomed." eSTAT will replace Firewire for external storage and the consumer video marketplace is already moving away from Firewire to either USB 2 or removable flash storage. Firewire will continue to have some rather high-end commercial/industrial applications but for the average consumer its days are numbered. Too bad, since in many ways Firewire WAS the superior technology.
Mon Sep 24, 2007 3:44 pm Subject: FireWire 1600
Mon Sep 24, 2007 4:22 pm Subject: USB 2 true speed versus spec
The true speed of USB 2 is no faster than 150 Mbps.
The true speed of Firewire 800 is 800 Mbps, with the potential to get up to 3200 Mbps.
If USB 2 is really going to increase in speed 10 fold, that would mean it will only reach 1500 Mbps which is less than Firewire 800 under ideal cable lengths.
While Apple doomed Firewire to some extent, by making the iPod USB 2 only at least most camcorders use Firewire, and Firewire is the only standard that will boot PowerPC Macs into Mac OS X externally.
Wither Firewire under USB 3? No. Only those who beleive the existing specs of USB 2 are truly 480 Mbps can make that happen. Those who see what is in front of them, will release USB 3, is just a vain attempt to surpass Firewire 800.
Mon Sep 24, 2007 5:29 pm Subject: Disk Access
FW eclipsed USB with FW400 and FW800.
If they feel there is a market for FW then they'll ratify another USB-trumping-kick-ass speed for FW.
There are many drawbacks to USB. Perhaps they can address them with the new spec.
Notably, more bus power is needed badly.
Get it off the cpu load and get its own hardware. Wait a minute, that's FW!
USB has ALWAYS been eclipsed by FW. Perhaps they will come up with something that will be faster than FW for longer than a year.
I'm just a messenger...don't shoot me.
Well Firewire's processor load is minimal because it is DMA based. USB is Interrupt based and requires ever more powerful processor speeds, thus Intel's incentive.
For many applications that require the higher bandwidths and latencies, DMA based solutions are a requirement, namely, Video and environments were multi-tasking is paramount. So Firewire will always be the better choice for professionals.
Not only does cheaper beat quality for 80% of the masses, that means that cheaper will trump better everytime. We will never see quality beat out price-competitive because that's just how sales works. Think about how many people buy crap food versus healthy food because they are looking at things in a price-conscious way.
...
It just ends up killing them in the end.
Tue Sep 25, 2007 3:10 am Subject: Re: Price always trumps Quality
QuoteAnonymous wrote:
Not only does cheaper beat quality for 80% of the masses, that means that cheaper will trump better everytime. We will never see quality beat out price-competitive because that's just how sales works. Think about how many people buy crap food versus healthy food because they are looking at things in a price-conscious way.
...
It just ends up killing them in the end.
By your reasoning, then, the Creative Zen music players should have at least 80% of the market--but they don't. The iPods have 72+/-%.
People often spend a lot of money on quality food. If by "crap food" you mean "fast food," that is NOT cheap. One pays for the convenience and speed of delivery.
Tue Sep 25, 2007 8:53 am Subject: Will it be bootable?
Thats what keeps me using my old FW HD, despite the fact that I've added external drives with USB2/eSata ports, I don't yet have a Mac with eSata ports and can't boot from USB2. If USB3 can boot my machine correctly and well (even though USB booting "works" in Vista its dog-slow compared to eSata for the same job) then I'll consider it a potential FW-killer, not before.
Sun Oct 28, 2007 4:57 am Subject: Re: Disk Access
Quotej.martellaro wrote:
According to MacWorld a few months back, here are the typical speeds achieved in practice for a single, non-RAID, disk drive, megabytes/sec.
1. FireWire 400: 21
2. FireWire 800: 31
3. USB 2: 9.3
4. eSATA: 34
JM
I'm doing a 8Gb copy from my USB 2 drive right now, and I'm getting a sustained 37.2 MB/sec. Maybe I'm just holding my mouth the right way…
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