Intel Press Release

No. 1 Peripheral Interface Takes Center Stage At Dev Con

Launch of Chipsets with Integrated USB 2.0 Opens Flood Gates in 'Year of USB 2.0'

USB 2.0 DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE, SAN JOSE, Calif., June 11, 2002 - Milestones were achieved today at the USB 2.0 Developers Conference with first public demonstrations of video capture product and the highest performance ever seen with the latest hardware and software based on the leading personal computer peripheral interconnect.

The biggest showcase for one of the hottest computer technologies is focused on Universal Serial Bus 2.0, known in the marketplace as "Hi-Speed USB 2.0." Taking place at the Fairmont San Jose, this is the largest developer conference for the technology that computing industry and research analysts are calling the next ubiquitous way to connect devices to PCs. The three-day conference concludes Wednesday, and features news announcements, first-time demonstrations, technical sessions and a record-number 26 exhibitors showing off products now shipping with many more in the wings.

Drawing more than 300 attendees representing nearly 200 companies, the conference comes on the heels of launches of systems and motherboards with USB 2.0-integrated Intel chipsets, a milestone that industry experts believe has opened the floodgates for the technology in what the event-hosting USB Implementers Forum is calling "The Year of USB 2.0."

Among the attention-grabbing trends talked about at the show is in the area of video, according to Jason Ziller, USB-IF chairman and Intel manager of technology initiatives. In his keynote today, Ziller said that video "is the next big thing" in the advancement and adoption of USB 2.0.

"Hi-Speed USB 2.0 opens the door to video," he said. "PC applications not before possible on USB 1.1 due to bandwidth limitations are no longer out of reach. This summer, for example, consumers for the first time can perform video downloading and editing on their PCs with a USB 2.0-enabled camcorder."

USB 2.0 increases the speed of the peripheral to PC connection from 12 megabits per second (Mbps) on USB 1.1 to up to 480 Mbps on USB 2.0, or 40 times faster than with the older technology. The higher bandwidth is a major boost for such external peripherals as CD/DVD burners, scanners, hard drives and digital cameras, and opens the market for peripherals that require higher throughput. It also supports demanding PC user applications where multiple high-speed devices run simultaneously, including digital image creation and Web publishing. Another benefit is USB 2.0 is forward and backward compatible with USB 1.1.

"Universal Serial Bus has been the most successful interface in the history of PCs," said Brian O'Rourke, an In-Stat/MDR senior analyst who delivered a keynote address today. "USB 2.0 is poised to succeed the first generation USB standard. PCs will adopt the new standard quickly, with PC peripherals and consumer electronics following closely behind."

The developers conference peers into the next phase of USB 2.0's introduction, which began in April 2000 with the release of the final specification by a team made up of Compaq, Hewlett Packard, Intel Corporation, Agere Systems (formerly the microelectronics group of Lucent Technologies), Microsoft, NEC and Philips. Following the mid-2001 introduction of PCI add-in cards and January's launch of a discrete host controller in th motherboards of high-end PCs, the next milestone was the integration of USB 2.0 in a core logic chipset with Microsoft driver support. Intel on May 20 introduced the Intel® 845G, GL and E chipsets for Pentium 4® processor and Celeron® processor-based systems, with coincident system and motherboards launches from many leading vendors. Other chipset manufacturers have also announced chipsets with integrated USB 2.0, and are expected to be shipping soon.

With USB 2.0 systems now on the market from Gateway, Compaq, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, NEC, Micron PC and other leading manufacturers, the next phase toward ubiquity in the PC market is the continued proliferation of USB 2.0-equipped PC peripherals.

The dozens of motherboards and systems displayed or used in demonstrations during the conference are a sample of what are available today or will be in the coming quarters.

The developers conference is an optimal venue to showcase the benefits of Hi-Speed USB 2.0 in everyday applications. Through a trio of demonstrations presented during today's opening keynote, Ziller showed off USB 2.0's attributes to increase transfer speeds and heighten video experiences, and enable portable computing devices such as handhelds and mobile phones to connect to the PC and other USB peripherals using USB On-The-Go technology.

A performance demonstration showed the increase of transfer speeds of USB 2.0 using a mass storage device, and compared the newer technology to its evolutionary predecessor. Using standard drivers and Intel's 845G chipset with integrated USB 2.0, the data transfer speeds peaked in excess of 30 megabytes per second (MBs) of data, as compared to approximately 1 MBs of data with USB 1.1. This is the fastest public demonstration of Hi-Speed USB 2.0 to date.

A video demonstration showed that with USB 2.0, new user applications will be spawned through the use of high-resolution USB 2.0 PC cameras and video capture devices. With the higher data rate, video originating in both analog and digital formats were transferred to the PC in higher frame rates and quality, allowing for more creative, fun and innovative user experiences on the PC that weren't before possible with USB 1.1 peripherals.

A third demonstration showcased the USB On-The-Go supplement to the USB 2.0 specification. With On-The-Go - the final spec was released in December - peripherals connected to each other and acted as a device or limited host. As demoed on stage for the first time publicly, USB On-The Go enables such applications as MP3 music being downloaded from a PC for immediate playback through USB speakers or headphones.

Further information about the USB 2.0 and USB-IF is available by visiting www.usb.org.

USB 2.0 DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE NEWS NUGGETS
The following announcements are among those being made during the USB 2.0 Developers Conference, June 10-12 in San Jose, Calif.

  • Fujitsu Computer Products of America previewed its USB 2.0 compliant Magneto Optical (MO) removable storage products that are planned for a summer introduction. Throughout the USB 2.0 Developers Conference, Fujitsu is conducting live back up/archiving/streaming media demonstrations of this product.
  • IOGEAR introduced SmartLink™ to cost-effectively share multiple devices through a USB port. The product adds ease and efficiency for Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) users to set up a network without need for a dedicated server.
  • Catalyst Enterprises, manufacturer of analytical systems for USB and other serial and parallel bus technologies, announced its newest USB 2.0 Analyzer system. The SBAE-30 provides native support for USB On-The-Go, a device-mode exerciser and other enhanced features.
  • Kawasaki LSI, USA, a USB controller company, enables an easy interface between high- speed 100 base-T Ethernet networking and the new USB 2.0 specification with its KL5KUSB220.
  • VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, announced that the new VT8235 South Bridge is in mass production, enabling mainboard makers, OEMs and system integrators to deliver ultra-fast peripheral connectivity as a standard feature in Intel® and AMD processor based systems.
  • NitAl announced its USB2Snooper™ USB 2.0 Bus Analyzer, an innovative and cost-effective bus analyzer based on PCI Add On card technology.
  • ARC International, a leader in user-customizable processors, software and embedded cores for communications and consumer products, introduced USB Now™, the world's first integrated and optimized USB for System-On-Chip (SoC) IP platforms.
  • NVIDIA Corporation, the leader in graphics, audio, and networking semiconductor technologies, announced that its next-generation nForce Platform Processors would integrate support for USB 2.0. PCs and motherboards based on NVIDIA's next-generation nForce processors will be available later this year.
  • Infinite Data Storage (IDS), a leader in optical data storage technology, announced that its portable, ultra-slim 12cm CD-RW recorder, the Calypso™, is to incorporate the Hi-Speed USB 2.0 interface.
  • MCCI® announced it can now provide testing for Hi-Speed USB 2.0 hubs and hosts through its independent test laboratory.

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