USB 2.0 Up To 3 Times Faster Than Expected

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September 01, 1999 (12:00 AM EDT)

The next version of USB will be two to three times faster than previously planned, according to the USB 2.0 Promoter Group.

At the Intel Developer Forum, the group on Tuesday estimated that the target speed for USB 2.0 would be in the 360-megabit-per-second to 480-Mbps range, which is 30 to 40 times current USB 1.1 specifications and two to three times the speed originally envisioned when USB 2.0 was first revealed last February.

The USB 2.0 Promoter Group consists of Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, NEC Technologies, and Philips Electronics.

The exact speed of USB 2.0 is targeted to be a part of the specification draft to be released at the USB 2.0 developers' conference next month, said Jason Ziller, technology initiatives manager at Intel, chairman of the USB Implementers' Forum, and spokesman for the Promoter Group.

In any case, resellers should not plan on seeing USB 2.0 systems or peripherals for some time, Ziller said.

"We expect to see the first systems and peripherals [with USB 2.0] in the second half of 2000," he said. "We'll see broad availability after 2001."

While the speed of USB 2.0 will be similar to that of the 1394 FireWire interface, Ziller said he expects the two to coexist in the market -- and even in the same PC.

"1394 is the connector for consumer electronics, like video cameras [and] digital TVs," he said. "If you envision a world where these devices connect to a PC, you will see 1394."