At present, there are several products certified by Usb3.0 on the market, and the large-scale market of Usb3.0 has become an inevitable trend. What is the main driving force behind it? Usb3.0 not only improves the transmission speed, but also improves the user experience effect in many aspects. In the era of user experience, it is very difficult for Usb3.0 not to catch fire!

Universal serial bus, also known as USB, is a peripheral connection standard originally released in 1996. USB1.0 includes two speed classes: low speed and full speed, which support data rates of 1.5MBPs and 12Mbps respectively. The goal of USB1.0 is to unify the peripheral connection interface of PC.

USB2.0 was released in 2000, which added a high-speed USB with a data rate of 480Mbps. This higher maximum bandwidth conforms to the growing storage trend, and meets the demand for greater data transmission between PC and peripherals. Up to now, there are more than 6 billion USB devices in the world, and about 2 billion new USB devices are sold every year.

The newest member of USB series is Usb3.0 specification, which increases the maximum data transmission rate to 5Gbps or slightly higher than 600MB/ sec. The Usb3.0 specification is completely backward compatible in design, and the latest SuperSpeedSSTX+/- and SSRX+/- signals provided are compatible with the original USB2.0D+/D- signals, so the system that has not fully supported Usb3.0 can use USB2.0.

1. Why use Usb3.0?

Usb3.0 (also known as SuperSpeed) puts forward many value propositions, which can greatly benefit mobile handheld devices and electronic consumer products. First, data rates as high as 5Gbps or 600MB/ s can provide sufficient bandwidth for high-performance applications. Due to the popularity of high-definition content and 3D technology recently, the size of transmitted media files has also increased dramatically.

These trends can be reflected in the capacity values of mass storage devices currently on sale, and new handheld devices are now equipped with embedded and/or mobile storage devices up to 64GB. With the emergence of more HD and 3D content, this trend is expected to continue.

The new embedded and mobile mass storage standards (eMMC4.41 and SD3.0) define a capacity of up to 2TB. In order to keep up with the increasing mass storage density, the speed of inputting and outputting content on handheld devices needs to be improved accordingly. Figuratively speaking, using USB2.0 in a new generation of storage devices is like filling the Olympic standard swimming pool with a small rubber hose, which takes too long.

In terms of quantity, it takes about 60 seconds to transmit 1GB of data using USB2.0, while it takes more than 60 minutes to transmit 64GB of data. Now, imagine using USB2.0 to transfer 2TB of data. With SuperSpeedUsb3.0, the transmission speed will be increased by 10 times, and 64GB of media data can be transmitted in just a few minutes.

2, battery life considerations

The second value of Usb3.0 lies in its excellent power management. Usb3.0 introduces a new power mode, which allows the power of USB link layer to be cut off independently when the USB connection is established but not activated. These new power modes allow more efficient use of limited battery energy to power mobile devices.

In the case of intermittent access to data through USB (such as video streaming and music playback), the improvement of this protocol layer combined with faster Usb3.0 can reduce the overall power consumption per byte by 80%. In addition, the low power link layer state can automatically enter and exit, and it is transparent to the upper application layer. This makes it easier to migrate the system to Usb3.0.

3, faster charging

In addition, Usb3.0 also increases the amount of current that downstream USB devices can extract from traditional hosts (such as PCs). The current limit is increased from 500 mA in USB2.0 to 900 mA in Usb3.0, which is equivalent to an increase of 80% in available power supply. This can not only support higher performance applications, but also make the battery of mobile handheld devices charge faster.

For end users who are always on the road, it is very important to shorten the charging time. For example, it takes more than 3 hours to fully charge a 1400mAh battery with an efficiency of 90% by using USB2.0 host, while it takes only 1.5 hours by using Usb3.0.

4. High definition and 3D multimedia era

High-definition cameras and mobile phones with video functions are becoming more and more popular, and video sharing applications (such as YouTube) now support HD(1080p) format. In order to store compressed and uncompressed HD video formats of various formats, the storage density will increase accordingly.

Higher storage density means that the "transmission pipeline" also needs to speed up. Users have no patience to wait for an hour to save the video on their devices to PC for editing and sharing. Usb3.0 has played a vital role in the production and use of the new generation of high-definition content.

5, manufacturing process: brush machine

In view of the above values, Usb3.0 can support new usage patterns and improve existing usage patterns. In addition to being able to load media content at 10 times the speed of USB2.0 system, one of the early applications of Usb3.0 was to brush the content/code during production.

The cost of manufacturing a mobile handheld device is mainly related to the time spent on the production line, and the most time-consuming part of this process is to write programming and preload content. The brushing process is usually completed by USB, and USB2.0 is widely used in production lines at present. Usb3.0 can not only brush mobile phones at 10 times the speed, but also be used to brush multiple devices at the same time. In the end, Usb3.0 will significantly reduce manufacturing costs.

6, no controller game

With the launch of the latest game platforms such as XboxKinect and SonyPlaystaTIonEye, gesture-based controller-less games are becoming more and more popular. These applications use high-resolution sensors to capture pictures of players and transmit information to the game console in real time. The connection function between sensor and console will greatly benefit from the speed advantage of Usb3.0.

7, USB video transmission

In view of the wide application of HD or 3D media content on mobile handheld devices, the next logical usage model is to find a way to output the content to a larger display screen for shared browsing. This has always been a challenge for USB2.0 system, because its bandwidth seriously limits the video quality. With the help of Usb3.0 bandwidth, even without any compression, it can easily support 30FPS complete 1080pHD of 24-bit color.

In addition, the Usb3.0 audio-video category currently being defined by USB-IF is also aimed at optimizing HD/3D video support for mobile handheld devices. The interface speed of Usb3.0 also makes it possible to transmit multimedia content, including video, audio and metadata. In view of the introduction of Usb3.0 specification for mobile handheld devices, system integrators will no longer need to buy additional HDMI connectors, which are not only bulky, but also do not provide battery charging function after connection.

Other interesting usage models in the video industry include connecting multiple screens at the same time and transmitting different content to each screen, but other interfaces cannot support this application. Usb3.0 can also support two-way synchronous content streaming.

There is no theoretical limit to the number of channels that can be sent over a physical connection. The bandwidth of Usb3.0 supports up to about 500 channels of DVD-quality video (up to 6Mbps through 3Gbps pipeline) and about 100 channels of HD-quality video (up to 30Mbps through 3Gbps pipeline).

New applications (such as webtop) that allow handheld devices to be plugged into larger monitors and keyboards will require faster connectivity solutions to provide a seamless user experience. Due to the increased bandwidth and low power consumption, Usb3.0 is very suitable for such applications. In addition, in the future, display screens (such as televisions and monitors) will no longer need to be "intelligent" (multifunctional). Mobile phones can be connected to these displays to provide "intelligence" (multifunction) and drive the display.

Usb3.0 will compete with existing mobile device interface solutions (such as MHL and HDMI), but USB is obviously a more popular and widely used interface. Usb3.0 meets the long-awaited demand for high-definition content on mobile handheld devices, and is designed and positioned as an ideal solution for HD/3D content transmission and use.

At present, there are several products certified by Usb3.0 on the market, and the large-scale market of Usb3.0 has become an inevitable trend. What is the main driving force behind it? Usb3.0 not only improves the transmission speed, but also improves the user experience effect in many aspects. In the era of user experience, it is very difficult for Usb3.0 not to catch fire!

Universal serial bus, also known as USB, is a peripheral connection standard originally released in 1996. USB1.0 includes two speed classes: low speed and full speed, which support data rates of 1.5MBPs and 12Mbps respectively. The goal of USB1.0 is to unify the peripheral connection interface of PC.

USB2.0 was released in 2000, which added a high-speed USB with a data rate of 480Mbps. This higher maximum bandwidth conforms to the growing storage trend, and meets the demand for greater data transmission between PC and peripherals. Up to now, there are more than 6 billion USB devices in the world, and about 2 billion new USB devices are sold every year.

The newest member of USB series is Usb3.0 specification, which increases the maximum data transmission rate to 5Gbps or slightly higher than 600MB/ sec. The Usb3.0 specification is completely backward compatible in design, and the latest SuperSpeedSSTX+/- and SSRX+/- signals provided are compatible with the original USB2.0D+/D- signals, so the system that has not fully supported Usb3.0 can use USB2.0.

1. Why use Usb3.0?

Usb3.0 (also known as SuperSpeed) puts forward many value propositions, which can greatly benefit mobile handheld devices and electronic consumer products. First, data rates as high as 5Gbps or 600MB/ s can provide sufficient bandwidth for high-performance applications. Due to the popularity of high-definition content and 3D technology recently, the size of transmitted media files has also increased dramatically.

These trends can be reflected in the capacity values of mass storage devices currently on sale, and new handheld devices are now equipped with embedded and/or mobile storage devices up to 64GB. With the emergence of more HD and 3D content, this trend is expected to continue.

The new embedded and mobile mass storage standards (eMMC4.41 and SD3.0) define a capacity of up to 2TB. In order to keep up with the increasing mass storage density, the speed of inputting and outputting content on handheld devices needs to be improved accordingly. Figuratively speaking, using USB2.0 in a new generation of storage devices is like filling the Olympic standard swimming pool with a small rubber hose, which takes too long.

In terms of quantity, it takes about 60 seconds to transmit 1GB of data using USB2.0, while it takes more than 60 minutes to transmit 64GB of data. Now, imagine using USB2.0 to transfer 2TB of data. With SuperSpeedUsb3.0, the transmission speed will be increased by 10 times, and 64GB of media data can be transmitted in just a few minutes.

2, battery life considerations

The second value of Usb3.0 lies in its excellent power management. Usb3.0 introduces a new power mode, which allows the power of USB link layer to be cut off independently when the USB connection is established but not activated. These new power modes allow more efficient use of limited battery energy to power mobile devices.

In the case of intermittent access to data through USB (such as video streaming and music playback), the improvement of this protocol layer combined with faster Usb3.0 can reduce the overall power consumption per byte by 80%. In addition, the low power link layer state can automatically enter and exit, and it is transparent to the upper application layer. This makes it easier to migrate the system to Usb3.0.

3, faster charging

In addition, Usb3.0 also increases the amount of current that downstream USB devices can extract from traditional hosts (such as PCs). The current limit is increased from 500 mA in USB2.0 to 900 mA in Usb3.0, which is equivalent to an increase of 80% in available power supply. This can not only support higher performance applications, but also make the battery of mobile handheld devices charge faster.

For end users who are always on the road, it is very important to shorten the charging time. For example, it takes more than 3 hours to fully charge a 1400mAh battery with an efficiency of 90% by using USB2.0 host, while it takes only 1.5 hours by using Usb3.0.

4. High definition and 3D multimedia era

High-definition cameras and mobile phones with video functions are becoming more and more popular, and video sharing applications (such as YouTube) now support HD(1080p) format. In order to store compressed and uncompressed HD video formats of various formats, the storage density will increase accordingly.

Higher storage density means that the "transmission pipeline" also needs to speed up. Users have no patience to wait for an hour to save the video on their devices to PC for editing and sharing. Usb3.0 has played a vital role in the production and use of the new generation of high-definition content.

5, manufacturing process: brush machine

In view of the above values, Usb3.0 can support new usage patterns and improve existing usage patterns. In addition to being able to load media content at 10 times the speed of USB2.0 system, one of the early applications of Usb3.0 was to brush the content/code during production.

The cost of manufacturing a mobile handheld device is mainly related to the time spent on the production line, and the most time-consuming part of this process is to write programming and preload content. The brushing process is usually completed by USB, and USB2.0 is widely used in production lines at present. Usb3.0 can not only brush mobile phones at 10 times the speed, but also be used to brush multiple devices at the same time. In the end, Usb3.0 will significantly reduce manufacturing costs.

6, no controller game

With the launch of the latest game platforms such as XboxKinect and SonyPlaystaTIonEye, gesture-based controller-less games are becoming more and more popular. These applications use high-resolution sensors to capture pictures of players and transmit information to the game console in real time. The connection function between sensor and console will greatly benefit from the speed advantage of Usb3.0.

7, USB video transmission

In view of the wide application of HD or 3D media content on mobile handheld devices, the next logical usage model is to find a way to output the content to a larger display screen for shared browsing. This has always been a challenge for USB2.0 system, because its bandwidth seriously limits the video quality. With the help of Usb3.0 bandwidth, even without any compression, it can easily support 30FPS complete 1080pHD of 24-bit color.

In addition, the Usb3.0 audio-video category currently being defined by USB-IF is also aimed at optimizing HD/3D video support for mobile handheld devices. The interface speed of Usb3.0 also makes it possible to transmit multimedia content, including video, audio and metadata. In view of the introduction of Usb3.0 specification for mobile handheld devices, system integrators will no longer need to buy additional HDMI connectors, which are not only bulky, but also do not provide battery charging function after connection.

Other interesting usage models in the video industry include connecting multiple screens at the same time and transmitting different content to each screen, but other interfaces cannot support this application. Usb3.0 can also support two-way synchronous content streaming.

There is no theoretical limit to the number of channels that can be sent over a physical connection. The bandwidth of Usb3.0 supports up to about 500 channels of DVD-quality video (up to 6Mbps through 3Gbps pipeline) and about 100 channels of HD-quality video (up to 30Mbps through 3Gbps pipeline).

New applications (such as webtop) that allow handheld devices to be plugged into larger monitors and keyboards will require faster connectivity solutions to provide a seamless user experience. Due to the increased bandwidth and low power consumption, Usb3.0 is very suitable for such applications. In addition, in the future, display screens (such as televisions and monitors) will no longer need to be "intelligent" (multifunctional). Mobile phones can be connected to these displays to provide "intelligence" (multifunction) and drive the display.

Usb3.0 will compete with existing mobile device interface solutions (such as MHL and HDMI), but USB is obviously a more popular and widely used interface. Usb3.0 meets the long-awaited demand for high-definition content on mobile handheld devices, and is designed and positioned as an ideal solution for HD/3D content transmission and use.