USB 3.0 enables the transfer of large files (such as HD movies) at a storage rate limited by the memory device. For example, a flash drive with USB 3.0 can transfer 1GB of data to a host computer in 15 seconds, compared to 43 seconds with USB 2.0.
Driven by the ever-increasing resolution and storage performance demands of consumer electronics, and the desire to enable a wider range of media applications over broadband Internet connections, users need faster transfer performance to simplify downloading, storing, and sharing of large amounts of content for multimedia. usb 3.0 has been instrumental in providing consumers with the ease of connectivity they need.
When used in consumer devices, USB 3.0 will solve the problem of USB 2.0 not recognizing battery-less devices. Hosts will be able to recognize these devices, such as cell phones with dead batteries, by slowly reducing the current through USB 3.0.
For system and ASIC developers, the broad utility of USB 3.0 chips and IP ensures that every design requirement can be met in a timely manner. This all-encompassing support is especially important for standards like USB 3.0, where speeds, high-level protocols, and a variety of cable lengths (from a few inches to a few meters) make design and standards compatibility a challenge.
SATA vs. USB For several years now, among the various device standards vying to become external memory interfaces, USB, eSATA and Firewire have each achieved multiple notable successes in the personal computer space. At this point, Serial ATA (SATA) has supplanted all other interfaces for internal drive connectivity in consumer PCs. While the new Compactflash version known as CFast will be built on SATA, the older Parallel ATA (PATA) continues to be used in industrial and embedded applications that use CompactFlash as a storage medium.
Since its introduction in 2004, eSATA has challenged USB 2.0 and FireWire for external memory applications. eSATA transfers data to and from external devices at the same rate supported by SATA's internal drives. Notably, the eSATA interface can support data transfer rates of up to 3Gbps. Even taking into account the actual rate scaled down by encoding, the data rate of eSATA is perfectly adequate for use as the fastest hard disk drives, which are capable of transferring data at speeds of up to 12MB/sec (approximately 90Mbps).
Although eSATA is only used in memory applications, these capabilities allow it to take market share from USB 2.0 and FireWire. other advantages of SATA include low processor costs. usb 3.0 significantly outperforms both eSATA and FireWire 800. at 5Gbps full duplex, USB 3.0 can achieve 800Mbps faster than eSATA and FireWire. at 5Gbps full duplex, USB 3.0 is faster than eSATA and FireWire 800, which can reach 800Mbps. (Note that eSATA's 3Gbps data is single-duplex, while what USB 3.0 provides is full-duplex. While we can't be exhaustive here, it's important to draw attention to the fact that USB 3.0 includes optional devices for transferring out-of-order data and is the best choice for disk drive searching.)
