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Intel spreads USB 3.0 love to everyone

Intel finally announced the availability of the draft specification for the USB 3.0 host controller. Intel dubbed the specification the Extensible Host Controller Interface (xHCI). The USB 3.0 architecture is also known as SuperSpeed USB.

Intel says that the xHCI draft 0.9 -- which it has made available under royalty free licensing terms to all USB 3.0 Promoter Group and contributor companies -- provides a standardized method for the host controller to communicate with the USB 3.0 software stack.

Intel says the specification describes the registers and data structures needed to provide the interface between system software and USB 3.0 hardware. Intel also says that it plans to make available a revised xHCI 0.95 specification in the fourth quarter of 2008. The revised specification will also be subject to the licensing terms of the original .90 specification and will be distributed free of charge.

Along with the announcement that the open host controller for the USB 3.0 specification is now available, Intel also has some major manufacturers and software companies backing its open host specification for USB 3.0 -- including Dell, Microsoft, NEC Electronics, and AMD.

AMD's Phil Eisler, vice president and general manager of the Chipset Business Unit, said in a statement, "The future of computing and consumer devices is increasingly visual and bandwidth intensive. Lifestyles filled with HD media and digital audio demand quick and universal data transfer. USB 3.0 is an answer to the future bandwidth need of the PC platform. AMD believes strongly in open industry standards, and therefore is supporting a common xHCI specification."

Eisler's statement may be confusing to some who remember back in June when AMD and NVIDIA accused Intel of withholding the USB 3.0 specifications. AMD, NVIDIA, VIA, and SIS all announced in June that they would team up to devise their own USB 3.0 host controller specification. Now AMD is saying that it will fully support Intel's xHCI specification.

That leaves many wondering exactly where NVIDIA stands with its competing specification, which would seem to be dead at this point. When you combine AMD support for Intel's xHCI specification with the fact that VIA announced this month that it was leaving the chipset business altogether, it could reasonably be expected that NVIDIA would jump on Intel bandwagon as well.

Back in June, when AMD and NVIDIA accused Intel of withholding the specification, Intel fiercely denied the claim. Intel maintained at the time that the USB 3.0 specification simply wasn't ready to be released. However, there is no doubt that insiders at Intel were privy to the specification before it was released the other chipset and hardware manufacturers. That would mean that Intel should have a lead to market for USB 3.0 chipsets and hardware.

AMD is not the only manufacturer throwing their support behind Intel's xHCI specification. Microsoft says that it has supported drivers for the USB industry since the inception of USB and is committed to support the latest USB 3.0 specification on the Windows platform. NEC electronics promises to be a leader in the USB 3.0 market using products and solutions based on Intel's xHCI specification.

The USB 3.0 specification promises to increase performance by 10 times what USB 2.0 is capable of. USB 3.0 or SuperSpeed USB promises bandwidth in the 600 MB/s second range. Products utilizing USB 3.0 are expected to arrive in 2009 or 2010. USB 3.0 is also backwards compatible with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1.

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Hurray for Monster Cable....
By PCXLFan on 8/14/2008 3:13:49 PM , Rating: 5
I can picture Noel Lee ceo of Monster Cable frothing at the mouth at this new oppertunity to rip off customers.

I can already see in a few years time bestbuy associates trying to push gold Contact quadruple layer shielded nitrogen injected dielectric $150 1 meter usb3.0 cables down my throat.




RE: Hurray for Monster Cable....
By HaZaRd2K6 on 8/14/2008 7:47:56 PM , Rating: 5
The funniest thing is going to a Monster Cable "training session" (I work in retail).

Did you know that an ohm is actually the thickness of a cable? Neither did I; I always thought it was the measure of resistance through a conductor to a load, but maybe it's changed since I was in school.

And did you know that by injecting nitrogen into their dielectrics, Monster Cable manages to keep their "ohm level" the same throughout the cable and make it flexible? Would it not make sense that for something to keep the same thickness all the way across to be rather rigid?

Monster is all about marketing and margin. Hell, they even tell you that the first thing you have to know about Monster is that "we make you loads of money". That should tell you something.


RE: Hurray for Monster Cable....
By Newspapercrane on 8/15/2008 6:00:54 AM , Rating: 2
Any idea of what the profit margin is on one of those cables?

It's got to be something crazy like 600%.


RE: Hurray for Monster Cable....
By Drexial on 8/15/2008 11:44:33 AM , Rating: 2
it varies from 60-80% on all monster products. For any cable in an electronics store for that matter.


RE: Hurray for Monster Cable....
By HaZaRd2K6 on 8/15/2008 12:38:00 PM , Rating: 2
Actually no it doesn't. On their "low-end" cables (like the iTV cable) the margin is pretty much standard; about 10-20%. On their high-end cable (like their four meter Monster 1000EX HDMI) is roughly 200%. It can be purchased wholesale for roughly $125/cable, but sells for about $250.

Monster Cable = Monster Margin. We've actually got a sign up in the back that says that.


RE: Hurray for Monster Cable....
By joex444 on 8/15/2008 6:21:48 PM , Rating: 2
Well, that just screwed up the thread.

Buy for $125, sell for $250. That's a 100% margin.


RE: Hurray for Monster Cable....
By xphile on 8/21/2008 7:23:25 AM , Rating: 2
Our sign wasn't as nice - but far more accurate:

"Monster - the size of the F&^%ing we give your wallet.."

They haven't changed and they never will, but don't ever say you don't know what you're getting.

"Slightly above average products at a slightly above extortion price."


RE: Hurray for Monster Cable....
By winterspan on 8/16/2008 5:45:01 AM , Rating: 4
He's most likely talking about MONSTER's own gross profit on each cable, not wholesale/retail margin.

that $125 cable the guy is talking about below is probably manufactured for <$5


predicted future DailyTech news titles
By hellokeith on 8/14/2008 5:14:15 PM , Rating: 5
"USB 3.0 mostly broken in Windows 7"

"Laptop batteries draining within hours of USB 3.0 usage"

"Intel sued for USB 3.0 licensing overcharges"

"Mac desktop first to fully support USB 3.0"

"USB 3.0 real world bandwidth only a fraction of promised"

"Dell laptop catches fire due to USB 3.0 port"

"Consumers cold to USB 3.0 adoption"




By crystal clear on 8/15/2008 8:44:42 AM , Rating: 3
"There is no reward for finding fault."


By DanoruX on 8/15/2008 1:28:03 PM , Rating: 2
"Mac desktop first to fully support USB 3.0"

This article will be written by none other than Jason Mick.


Good job Intel!...
By oTAL (blog) on 8/14/2008 2:30:17 PM , Rating: 4
And its all a product of gazzilion dollars and bazzilion man-hours invested in this project. =)

Anyway, lets hope for further unification of our interfaces. One day we will link our monitors to our PCs with a USB cable.




RE: Good job Intel!...
By Flunk on 8/14/2008 3:53:16 PM , Rating: 2
RE: Good job Intel!...
By Zoomer on 8/17/2008 12:08:25 PM , Rating: 2
No thanks. I don't need cpu spikes every time >20% of the screen gets updated.


By William Gaatjes on 8/14/2008 4:51:35 PM , Rating: 2
I would like to see wireless usb for camera's, mp3 players, and storage devices. Something in the speed of UBS2.0.
That way i don't have to plug everything to my pc. That would make for less worn out connectors.

I guess bluetooth v2.1 would be able to do this but does anybody know how far in production this is ?




By Silver2k7 on 8/15/2008 3:48:35 PM , Rating: 2
"Wireless USB performance is targeted at 480Mbps at 3 meters and 110Mbps at 10 meters."

I recall something about this was supposed to become avalible before USB3.. but didn't see any date..

http://www.usb.org/developers/wusb/


By TomZ on 8/15/2008 10:19:35 PM , Rating: 2
Wireless USB is already out, but there just aren't that many devices that use it yet. I'm not sure whether this standard will reach critical mass or not.


Revisionist history
By cruzer on 8/14/2008 4:15:53 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Microsoft says that it has supported drivers for the USB industry since the inception of USB


I remember Microsoft rejecting USB 2.0 support in XP in favor of Firewire. See here: http://news.cnet.com/2100-1040-255571.html




RE: Revisionist history
By TomZ on 8/14/2008 4:39:33 PM , Rating: 2
In reality, Microsoft didn't support FireWire instead of USB - it's not one or the other as the article implies. Clearly they intended to support both, but at that time, USB 2.0 wasn't really ready for prime-time, which is why they didn't release USB 2.0 support until later.

Interestingly, the same situation existed with Bluetooth at the time of XP's release.


Firewire!
By kelmon on 8/15/2008 10:49:14 AM , Rating: 2
Well, here's the ubiquitous "Bugger USB, Firewire Forever" comment. My interest in USB 3.0 is basically zero until we see how well it performs in reality. Until then I expect it to look great on paper but not much else. I still think it to be a crying shame that firewire is not as well adopted considering how much better it performs.