Earlier at CES 2013, USB 3.0 promoter group proclaimed that faster USB 3.0 standard with up to 10Gbps speeds is in use, now we have the new USB 3.1 specifications with SuperSpeed USB speed up to 10Gbps ready for developers. The new specifications of USB 3.1 will keep hold of the same backward compatibility the USB standard has always had.
The USB 3.1 specification first and foremost extends existing USB 3.0 protocol and hub operation for its speed range along with defining the next higher physical layer speed as 10 Gbps.
The specification team worked hard to assure that the modifications to support higher speeds was inadequate and remained consistent with existing USB 3.0 architecture to ease product development.
The new standards are anticipated to be implemented soon by major hardware manufacturers like Intel and future devices which will offer much faster USB speeds once it is adopted. It is expected that we will most probably be seeing these initial products with USB 3.1 from the year 2014.
With 10 Gbps the new USB 3.1 standard is said to match Intel’s Thunderbolt standard in terms of pure bandwidth. Knowing USB’s history we can also expect to see the standard be much cheaper than Thunderbolt and shall carry on to fall in price with passing time as the standard gains market grip much like the route USB 3.0 followed.