Intel IDF Report #2 - Serial ATA & USB 2.0

USB 2.0

USB 2.0 is a simple, but very useful, evolution of the USB 1.1 that we all know and love. The 0.9 spec was finalized in December 1999 and the final 1.0 spec is expected in April of this year. The original goal of USB 2.0 was to have 10 - 20 times the transfer rates of USB 1.1, which offers 12mbps. Well, they did even better than that and ended up with a 40x increase for a total of 480mbps.

The spec was wisely designed to be backwards and forwards compatible, meaning that a USB 2.0 device will work in a USB 1.1 port and vice versa. Of course, a USB 1.1 device won’t speed up any in a USB 2.0 port. Along the same lines, a USB 2.0 device will be limited to 12mbps when plugged into a USB 1.1 port. All cabling and ports are exactly the same.

At IDF, Intel demonstrated a prototype USB 2.0 scanner and an older USB 1.1 printer hooked up to the same system. They scanned in a press release and then printed it on the printer without any problems.

Look for USB 2.0 in the second half of 2000, most likely first in the upcoming i815 Solano chipset.