Explaining USB: From 1.0 to USB4 V2.0

foreign [Music] welcome to another video from explaining computers.com this time I'm going to talk about usb or the universal serial bus this common standard for connecting computers and peripherals was first introduced in 1996 and since that time 14 different physical connectors and eight different USB specifications have been released fortunately today many of these have now been appreciated but even so in practice there are still eight connectors and six different USB specifications in Fairly common use and with USB 4 version 2.0 announced in September 2022 there will soon be seven USB specifications out there in the wild foreign before we look at different USB connectors and specifications it's important to note that the two are not directly related to be clear a particular connector does not indicate the USB specification used to communicate data so for example the popular belief that USB C ports are always faster than type A ports is not correct this point made how can we make sense of USB standards well to borrow a phrase from Julie Andrews let's start at the very beginning the specification for USB 1.0 was released in January 1996 and could transmit data at either 1.5 or 12 megabits per second depending on the cable used in August 1998 there was an update to USB 1.1 which worked at the same speed but removed some technical limitations it was therefore USB 1.1 that was the first version to become widely used and indeed today some new USB 1.1 Hardware is still sold for example there is a USB 1.1 port on the Raspberry Pi Pico W micro controller that was released in 2022 this gets us to the subject of connectors and in the early days only two existed then known as USB series a and USB series B USB was originally designed as an interface between a computer or host under peripheral so type A plugs and sockets were specified for use on host devices with type B for use on peripherals such as printers in April 2000 USB 2.0 was launched this can communicate data at a theoretical 480 megabits a second or 40 times faster than USB 1.1 today USB 2.0 remains in widespread use as the standard is perfectly sufficient for connecting Hardware that includes keyboards rodents and lower capacity storage devices we therefore still find type a USB 2 ports on most new desktop PC motherboards in October 2000 the range of USB connectors was expanded with the specification of mini B plugs and sockets these were introduced to allow USB connectors to be included on phones cameras media players and other mobile devices some of which remain in use today for use on host devices rather than peripherals and mini a connector was later specified along with a mini a b socket that could accept both mini a and mini B plugs by 2007 even mini connectors would deemed too large which resulted in the specification of micro b this became very popular and is still featured on some new hardware micro a connectors along with a micro a b receptacle were also specified although like mini a and mini a b these are now rare and I couldn't find any rude examples to include in this video linked to the development of the minion micro connectors was USB on the go or OTG first released in 2001 the usb OTG standard notes that was by definition USB communication occurs between a host and a peripheral a line between PCS and other products has blurred with many devices that are not PCS having a need to connect directly to peripherals an OTG product was subsequently defined as a mobile device with a single USB port that may operate as a host or as a peripheral for example a digital camera with an OTG USB port May operate as a host to directly control a printer that will appear as a peripheral storage device when connected to a PC foreign just when we thought that things couldn't get any more exciting November 2008 saw the release of USB 3.0 this increased the data transmission speed to 5 gigabits per second or a theoretical eight-fold improvement over the 480 megabits per second of USB 2.0 and to achieve this whilst maintaining backwards compatibility a new range of super speed connectors was introduced but included both the old USB 2.0 Bots as well as a new set of super speed pins starting with type A the super speed connectors are color-coded light blue and as we can see here have five new pins at the back in addition to the four Legacy pins at the front meanwhile on a full size type B super speed connector the additional pins are included on the top and for a micro b connector the super speed bus is on the side all of these connectors remain in common use although the micro a and micro a b variants that were also specified are now rare without doubt USB 3.0 was a Triumph that delivered at least a five times increase in real-world data transmission speeds whilst maintaining excellent backwards compatibility to be explicit type a USB 2 plugs work just fine in Taipei super speed sockets and vice versa if only at USB 2.0 speeds meanwhile a type B plug works at USB 2.0 speed in the type B super speed socket and a micro b plug happily functions at USB 2 speeds in a micro super speed socket granted type B super speed and micro b super speed plugs do not fit in standard type B and micro b receptacles but all of this is fine and dandy and indeed up until July 2013 USB remained a very clear set of standards what happened in July 2013 was the launch of the USB 3.1 specification along with the type C connector now often referred to as USBC the USB 3.1 specification double data transmission speeds over the super speed bus to 10 gigabits per second and to indicate this labeled devices as super speed Plus meanwhile the type C connector provided the apparent advantage of being able to be inserted either way around however confusion was also introduced as some users came to believe that only a USBC connector can operate at USB 3.1 data speeds which is not true to cede further confusion the USB implementer's Forum made the bizarre decision to rename USB 3.0 as USB 3.1 gen 1. given that they didn't possess the magical power to remove the name USB 3.0 from every previous product and manual already released this was clearly Madness but Madness that was infectious as in August 2017 The Forum again played its renaming game with a specification of USB 3.2 at this point I could throw my hands in the air and go and sit in a corner but instead let's transition to this table that illustrates the four versions of USB 3 that now exist how fast they can transmit data and which connectors they may use as we can see using a USB 3.2 Gen 2 x 2 interface it's possible to transmit data at 20 gigabits per second but only using a type c connector as only these support two lane communication but the key takeaway from this table is that if you have a blue or super speed Taipei or type B connector on your device you cannot know if it can transmit data at either 5 or 10 gigabits per second without looking at a label or instruction manual similarly if your device has USB C ports whilst the most likely data transmission speed is currently 10 gigabits per second you need to read up or run tests to find out their maximum operational speed it's also worth noting that some USB ports on some devices support a standard called DisplayPort over USBC also known as USB type-c DisplayPort alt mode this transmits digital video and audio so allowing a monitor to be connected to a USBC port foreign August 2019 USB 4 became a thing as the introduction to the specification noted USB 3.1 and USB 3.2 were evolutionary steps to increase bandwidth the goal for USB 4 Remains the Same with the added goal of helping to converge the USB type-c connector ecosystem and minimize end user confusion and the fact that the supposedly replaced term USB 3.1 appears in the usb4 specification only goes to demonstrate how much confusion exists USB 4 uses type c connectors only and initially operated at a theoretical 40 gigabits per second however in September 2022 version 2.0 was announced and will double the theoretical speed to 80 gigabits per second this equates to 600 gigabytes a minute which is staggeringly fast for a consumer connector USB 4 also supports pcie Express DisplayPort 1.4 alternate mode and Thunderbolt 3 which uses the same type c connector since version 1.0 USB connectors have been able to Supply electrical power up until USB 2.0 output was limited to 500 milliamps at 5 volts with the current increased to 900 milliamps the USB 3.0 and 1.5 amps the USB 3.2 over Taipei or type B connectors or 3 amps using a type c connector however these are the general USB power specifications and in July 2012 an additional standard called USB power delivery or USB PD was released and this allows pdaware USB connectors to negotiate for and provide higher currents and voltages over the past 10 years the USB PD specification has been updated on many occasions with the latest version issued in July 2022 this supports two Power Ranges the standard power range which can deliver up to 5 amps at 20 volts equating to 100 watts and an extended power range which via a USB type-c connector can now deliver up to 240 Watts USBC connectors also look set to become a more and more common means of charging and powering devices that include laptops and monitors as well as tablets and smartphones indeed in the EU it's been mandated that by the end of 2024 frequently used small and medium-sized portable electronic devices must have a USBC charging port and new laptops in the EU must include USBC charging by 2027. foreign USB Remains the most common set of standards for physically connecting computers and peripherals as we've seen over time data transmission speed and power delivery have both increased although the USB implementer's Forum has created a great deal of Confusion by renaming standards already in use hopefully this video has helped you to understand USB a bit more clearly and if you remember just one point it should be that you cannot determine the speed of a USB connection just by looking at its physical connector but now that's it for another video if you've enjoyed what you've seen here please press that like button if you haven't subscribed Please Subscribe and I hope to talk to you again very soon [Music]

Channel: ExplainingComputers

Views: 64,749

Keywords: USB, universal serial bus, USB4, USB 4, USB 4.0, USB4 Version 2.0, USB4 V2.0, USB4 Version 1.0, USB3, USB 3.0, USB 3.1, USB 3.2, USB tutorial, USB-C, USB power, USB power delivery, USB DisplayPort, USB Display Port, DisplayPort USB, Christopher Barnatt, Barnatt, USB Mini-A, USB Mini-B, USB Mini-AB, USB Micro-A, USB Micro-B, Micro USB, USB Micro-AB, USB standards, USB specifications, fastest USB, USB 1.1

Id: PctX3kcTj5U

Length: 14min 45sec (885 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 25 2022