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USB

USB – interface allowing the connection of a variety of peripherals (e.g. keyboards, mouse, web camera, HDD…).

USB has multiple versions which differ in bit rate:

  • USB 1.1 – The oldest version of USB. At its time, devices were differentiated between slow and fast. The slow version achieved speed of 1.5 Mb/s, the fast one 12 Mb/s
  • USB 2.0 – Bit rates were unified and reached 480 Mb/s. Backwards compatible with version 1.1
  • USB 3.0 – Another increase in speed, this time to 5 Gb/s. Backwards compatible with previous versions.
  • USB 3.1 – introduced alongside the USB-C connector. This version has 2 standards, all compatible with previous versions.
  • USB 3.1 gen. 1 – 5 Gb/s bandwidth
  • USB 3.1 gen. 2 – 10 Gb/s bandwidth
  • USB 3.2 – A replacement of the previous generation’s standard and a further increase in bandwidth. This version has 3 standards, all compatible with previous versions.
    • USB 3.2 gen. 1 – 5 Gb/s
    • USB 3.2 gen. 2 – 10 Gb/s
    • USB 3.2 gen. 2×2 – 20 Gb/s
  • USB 4.0 – The latest USB standard, reaching bandwidth of 40 Gb/s. Has many similarities to current ThunderboltTM Backwards compatible with previous versions. This standard is currently in development and is scheduled to release in the second half of 2021.

 

Old nameUSB 3.0USB 3.1USB 3.2
New nameUSB 3.2 Gen 1USB 3.2 Gen 2USB 3.2 Gen 2×2
Marketing designationSuperSpeed USBSuperSpeed USB 10 GbpsSuperSpeed USB 20 Gbps
Bandwidth5 Gbps10 Gbps20 Gbps
ConnectorUSB-A / USB-CUSB-A / USB-CUSB-C