Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2009/09/23/idf_usb_3_adaptor/
First USB 3.0 ExpressCard adaptor spotted
One SuperSpeed port for your old laptop
Posted in Personal Tech, 23rd September 2009 17:39 GMT
IDF We're not expecting to see SuperSpeed USB devices shown off in significant numbers until next year, but a few have turned up at Intel Developer Forum.
At the top of the list is Point Grey's 1080p HD webcam that uses the 5Gb/s USB 3.0 bus to stream the 60f/s picture data uncompressed.
Point Grey's camera uses USB 3.0 PCI Express-to-USB 3.0 chippery from semiconductor company Fresco Logic.
Fresco Logic's USB 3.0 ExpressCard: new ports for old
Of course, none of us have USB 3.0-compatible computers, and it may be some time before we get one. Can't wait? Then Fresco Logic also has an ExpressCard 34 add-in with a USB 3.0 port at the business end - and clearly room for a second one.
One port for now, room for another
NEC showed off its USB 3.0 host controller, a single-chip offering its was using to bridge an SSD's 3Gb/s Sata connection to USB 3.0. The hardware's not much to look at - and is just test kit, in any case - but the demo saw 500MB of data copy over in just over four seconds using USB 3.0 but almost 40 seconds with USB 2.0 - almost ten times as long.
NEC's chip is the first of its kind to be certified by the USB-SIG under it new device approval process.
Special Report Inside USB 3.0: What makes SuperSpeed tick