NEC world's first USB 3.0 host controller

In support of the industry's rapid introduction of new technologies, NEC Electronics has recently announced the introduction of the world's first Universal Serial Bus (USB) host controller to support the new Super-Speed USB 3.0 standard. According to the company, the new controller is designed for future computers, external hard drives, portable electronic devices and thumb drives with support for a higher performance transfer solution. The technical specifications for the new Super Speed USB 3.0 standard, the new NEC μPD720200 chip is fully compatible with USB versions 2.0, 1.1 and 1.0 of the USB standard.

The industry's next-generation USB standard, also known as USB 3.0, is designed to complement the performance of USB 2.0 on the market, while maintaining backward compatibility with current standards. According to available data, the new standard is capable of supporting transmission speeds of up to 5 gigabits per second (Gbps), which is essentially a 10-time increase in speed over the last USB 2.0 solutions. The technology can provide 25 GB of video content to be transferred to a Blu-ray Disc, which normally leads to a remarkable performance increase compared with current USB 2.0 standard, with a speed of 480 Mbps.

NEC's commitment to the development of the world's fastest USB standard dates back to 1996 when the company is one of the USB Implementers Forum. Since then, NEC Electronics also deserves praise for is the first company to a USB 2.0-compatible host controller chip, with the introduction of μPD720100 device back in 2000.

With the launch of the new μPD720200, NEC also offers its support to the new standard and PC suppliers and products to take advantage of new and improved USB 3.0 technology. This solution should further improve the results of a number of computers and other USB devices.