More About Various Types of Connections

USB

There are currently three versions of the USB standard: 1.1, 2.0, and 3.0. Each of these versions supports
up to 127 devices connected to a single port.

The original USB 1.0 standard, also called low-speed, has a data transfer speed of 1.5 Mbps, which was
suitable for non-gaming USB mice and keyboards. USB 1.0 has been deprecated.

 USB 1.1, also called full-speed, is still commonly found in devices and systems. USB 1.1 uses half-
duplex communication.
 USB 2.0, also called high-speed, was released in April 2000, and is the most commonly
implemented standard. USB 2.0 supports low-bandwidth devices such as keyboards and mice, as
well as high-bandwidth devices such as scanners, multi-function printers, and high-resolution
webcams. A USB 2.0 device connected to a USB 1.1 hub or port will communicate at only USB
1.1 speeds, even though it might be capable of faster speeds. Generally, the operating system
will send a notification about this when the device is connected. USB 2.0 uses half-duplex
communication.
 The USB 3.0 specification, also called SuperSpeed USB and identified as Gen1 was released in
November 2008. It is 10 times faster than the USB 2.0 standard, has enhanced power efficiency,
and is backward compatible with USB-enabled devices currently in use. USB 3.0 provides full
duplex communication by using two unidirectional data paths for sending and receiving data
simultaneously.
 The USB 3.1 specification, identified as Gen 2 or SuperSpeed+, was released in July 2013, and
supports speeds up to 10 Gbps with the ability to provide up to 100 watts of power to
connected devices.

Characteristics of each version are described in the following table.

Characteristic USB 1.1 USB 2.0 USB 3.0 USB 3.1

Analog or digital? Digital Digital Digital Digital
Distance Maximum cable Maximum cable Maximum cable Maximum cable
limitations length 3 meters length 5 meters length length
with devices recommended 3 recommended 3
operating at low meters meters
speed (1.5 Mbps);
maximum cable
length of 5 meters
with devices
operating at full
speed (12 Mbps)
Data transfer Up to 12 Mbps Up to 480 Mbps 5.0 Gbps Up to 10 Gbps
speed when connected
to USB 2.0 hubs
or ports
Up to 12 Mbps
when connected
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Characteristic USB 1.1 USB 2.0 USB 3.0 USB 3.1

to USB 1.1 hubs
or ports
Quality Low speed mode Poor signal Very short latency Very short latency
is less susceptible integrity at its and brief jitter. and brief jitter.
to highest data
electromagnetic transfer speed
interference (EMI) due to reflections.
half-duplex
communication
Frequencies 48 MHz 48 MHz Uses spread Uses spread
spectrum clocking spectrum clocking
on its signaling, on its signaling,
which produces a which produces a
broad spectrum broad spectrum
of radio frequency of radio frequency
(RF) radiation (RF) radiation
energy over a energy over a
large frequency large frequency
band. This can band. This can
create noise in create noise in
the 2.4 GHz band the 2.4 GHz band
used widely for used widely for
wireless wireless
peripheral peripheral
devices. devices.

IEEE 1394

Like USB, IEEE 1394 encompasses multiple versions of standards.

 The original 1394 standard was released in 1995 and is now more commonly referred to as
FireWire 400. It specified the 6-conductor alpha connector.
 IEEE 1394a was released in 2000. In addition to feature enhancements, it introduced the 4-
conductor alpha connector.
 IEEE 1394b was released in 2002 and is more commonly known as FireWire 800. It introduced
the 9-pin beta connector, which is incompatible with legacy cables. Bilingual cables are available
to overcome this limitation.
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Characteristics of each version are described in the following table.

Characteristic IEEE 1394/1394A IEEE 1394B

Analog or digital?
Distance limitations
Data transfer speed
Quality
Frequencies
Digital Digital
Maximum cable length 4.5 Maximum cable length 100
meters meters
400 Mbps 800 Mbps
Can use simultaneous data Reduced buffering using
transfer to coordinate data flow simultaneous data transfer
rates and application timing,
which reduces buffering in
multimedia applications, video
and audio streams.
33 MHz 25 MHz

Thunderbolt
The following table describes the characteristics of Thunderbolt connections.

Characteristic Value
Analog or digital? Digital
Distance limitations  For copper wire: 3 meters
 For optical fiber: 60 meters
Data transfer speed  Version 1: 10 Gbps per channel, for a
total of 20 Gbps.
 Version 2: 20 Gbps per channel, for a
total of 40 Gbps.
 Version 3: 40 Gbps per channel, for a
total of 80 Gbps.
Quality Thunderbolt devices transfer isochronously
(steady stream), making both audio and video
precise in real-time.

Frequency 430 kHz fixed switching frequency

SATA

External SATA (eSATA) is an external interface for SATA connections. Like USB and IEEE 1394, it provides
a connection for external storage devices. eSATA connections provide fast data transfers without having
to translate data between the device and the host computer. eSATA interfaces do require an additional
power connector to function. eSATA functionality can be provided by installing an eSATA card.
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Characteristics of SATA connections are described in the following tables.

Characteristic Value
Analog or digital? Digital
Distance limitations 1 meter

Version Characteristics

SATA 1.5Gb/s (SATA I)  Frequency: 37.5 MHz

 Transfer speed: 1.5 Gb/s
 Interface throughput: 150 MB/s

SATA 3Gb/s (SATA II)  Frequency: 75 MHz

 Transfer speed: 3.0 Gb/s
 Interface throughput: 300 MB/s
 Backwards-compatible with SATA 1.5
Gb/s

SATA 6Gb/s (SATA III)  Frequency: 150 MHz

 Transfer speed: 6.0 Gb/s
 Interface throughput: 600 MB/s
 Backwards-compatible with SATA
1.5Gb/s and SATA 3Gb/s

SATA 16Gb/s (version 3.2)  Transfer speed: 16.0 Gb/s

 Interface throughput: 1969 MB/s

eSATA  External SATA connectivity

 Transfer speed: 3.0 Gb/s
 Interface throughput: 30 MB/s