Symwave Cuts Power, System Cost, and Size with 2nd Generation USB 3.0 Storage Controller
6/1/10
SW6313 delivers industry’s lowest power and highest performance, optimized for thumb drives and portable storage applications
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Symwave today announced the immediate availability of SW6313, Symwave’s second generation USB 3.0 storage controller. The SW6313 device is the industry’s lowest power and highest performance solution, optimized for cost-sensitive and portable storage products. Symwave’s current customers will also benefit from software compatibility with its first generation devices – such as the SW6316 – which has been in production since late 2009. The accelerated transition from USB 2.0 to SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is driving an explosive unit growth across all storage applications and form-factors. By achieving new levels of cost, power, and size, Symwave now targets over 50 million units in the coming year.
“The SW6313 underscores Symwave’s continued USB 3.0 industry leadership and SoC engineering expertise. By partnering with the USB-IF, our leading customers, host solution providers, and software companies, Symwave has continued to aggressively advance our products,” said Yossi Cohen, President and CEO of Symwave. “With over two years of focus on USB 3.0 and six months of shipping field-proven solutions with the leading storage OEMs, we used our cumulative experience to deliver the absolute best system solution in terms of performance, power, system cost, and a software rich platform to our customers.”
Symwave Demos USB-Attached-SCSI Protocol With Renesas
4/6/10
At SuperSpeed USB Developers Conference
Symwave, Inc., silicon supplier of system solutions for USB 3.0 storage devices, announced the collaborative demonstration of USB-Attached-SCSI Protocol (UASP) at the SuperSpeed USB Developers Conference with Renesas Electronics Corporation, provider of semiconductor solutions.
“Symwave has been a supportive development partner of Renesas Electronics' UASP solutions and we are pleased to demonstrate the results of our collaboration at this USB-IF developers conference," said Kunio Mori, Associate General Manager of Industry & Network Business Division at Renesas Electronics Corporation. "UASP is a major advancement for USB based storage devices and working with Symwave will ensure our UASP solutions are fully interoperable and have peak performance with current and future deployed devices."
Symwave Delivers Unmatched USB-Attached-SCSI Performance Demonstration in Collaboration with Renesas Electronics Corporation
Software upgrade improves performance of USB 3.0 external storage devices by up to 500%
4/1/10
Symwave announced the collaborative demonstration of USB-Attached-SCSI Protocol (UASP) at the SuperSpeed USB Developers Conference with Renesas Electronics Corporation, a leading provider of semiconductor solutions. Starting today, the conference is being held at Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan. The conference provides detailed information about SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0) and UASP specifications and serves as an excellent venue to showcase the technology advancements of both Symwave and Renesas Electronics.
“Symwave has worked closely with Renesas Electronics since the launch of their widely adopted xHCI host controller,” said John O’Neill, Symwave vice president of marketing. “This collaboration has yielded impressive end-to-end performance gains using the now released UAS protocol. As both Symwave and Renesas Electronics formally release our UASP solutions in the near future, our joint efforts pave the way for a successful and rapid adoption of UASP by external mass storage device OEMs.”
USB 3 promises 10x faster data transfers
We could soon be transferring videos, music and other files up to 10 times faster than in the past.
The SuperSpeed USB 3 is the upgrade to USB 2 which is commonly used to move data between devices.
Ian Hardy reports onthe challenges this new technology, and similar ones, face as they race to become widely adopted.
With its promise of data transfer rates 10x greater than current USB 2.0 devices USB 3.0 is a technology much anticipated by those of us regularly dealing with the transfer of huge files. Symwave’s VP of Marketing, John O’Neil, provided Gizmag with a first-hand demonstration of some of the USB drives utilizing the company’s technology starting to appear on store shelves from the likes of LaCie, OCZ and Super Talent. The peripherals impressed with not only their transfer speeds, but also their low demands on a PCs CPU.
For an idea of what to expect from the next generation of USB devices check out the video.
RAID Invasion for USB 3.0 Symwave teamed up with second company to launch another USB 3.0 solution at CES. This time, the USB device company has partnered with storage vendor LaCie to create what the two companies describe as "the world's first USB 3.0 dual-drive RAID drive."
The new product combines LaCie's 2Big USB 3.0 dual-disk RAID solution with Symwave's USB 3.0 dual SATA and RAID bridge controller. As a result, the new 2Big USB 3.0 RAID drive reaches the highest throughput ever achieved in a USB 3.0 external storage product, according to the companies, delivering performance of up to 275 MB/s. Like previous versions of LaCie's 2Big RAID drives, the new USB 3.0 model will support up to 4 TB of storage.
USB 3.0: The new speed limit
We check out the first devices equipped with USB 3.0's SuperSpeed spec
Brian Nadel
3/2/10
Have you spent too much time waiting for large files to crawl between a computer and an external hard drive? Don't fret -- USB 3.0 has arrived. Not only can it move data faster and provide more power, but it's compatible with USB 2.0 devices.
Developed by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), USB 3.0's SuperSpeed specification promises a theoretical top speed of 5Gbit/sec. versus USB 2.0's 480Mbit/sec.
The key to blending old and new is NEC's μPD720200 controller chip. It has the circuitry for USB 2.0 and 3.0 transfers inside and can use either, depending on what's plugged in. Right now, it's the only game in town, but look for other companies, including Symwave, to introduce their own USB 3.0 chips in the coming months.
Rob Williams
1/1110
USB 3.0 is a fast-growing technology, and the vast number of equipped products either on the show floor or in one of the many hotel suites around Vegas proved that we should all be expecting a quick upswing of adoption in the months to come.
USB 3.0 can be used for many things, but most commonly it will be used for storage devices, at least right now. These could include external enclosures where you throw your own hard drive inside, external enclosures that have a fixed amount of storage straight from the vendor, flash drives, and also SSDs. Yes... SSDs via USB, with no AC adapter requirement.
This in particular is the kind of USB 3.0 product I'm looking forward to being able to test out in the near-future, because the idea of being able to carry around 100GB+ in my pocket and be able to plug it into any USB 3.0 port and get speeds similar to a regular hard drive excites me. Of little surprise, OCZ is soon to release such a drive. Under its hood is a Symwave controller and MLC chips, similar to those used in current consumer SSDs.
OCZ says that with a typical USB 2.0 drive, a Blu-ray movie (25GB) could be copied in 13.9 minutes. With its USB 3.0 drive, that time drops to 70 seconds. Likewise, for a 1TB, USB 2.0 would take 9.7 hours, while the USB 3.0 drive could finish the transfer in 47 minutes.
1/11/10
LeCroy and Symwave demo SuperSpeed USB 3.0-to-SATA storage device at CES
LeCroy demonstrated Symwave's production released SW6318 SuperSpeed USB 3.0-to-SATA storage device operating at sustained data rates of 435MB/sec using commercially available storage drives. Symwave utilized LeCroy's Voyager protocol verification system (M3 USB exerciser).
External storage devices offering SuperSpeed USB are now commercially available and offer consumers a dramatic user experience improvement when compared to legacy alternatives. For example, it only takes 1.3 hours to backup a 1 Terabyte (TB) drive over USB 3.0, compared to nearly 14 hours when using USB 2.0. A 20 Gigabyte (GB) personal music library copies in 2 minutes with USB 3.0, compared to over 20 minutes with USB 2.0. In addition to delivering unmatched data transfer speeds, USB 3.0 has another major advantage: It has virtually no impact on a PC's CPU or system performance, allowing user's to fully utilize their PC during copy or backup operations.
"Symwave's SW6318 controller provides unique capabilities that are architected to provide maximum performance for SuperSpeed storage applications," said Michael Romm, Director of Product Development at LeCroy's Protocol Solutions Group.
USB movie kiosk causes a stir at CES 2010
1/11/10
We’ve all heard about the success of movie rental kiosks, such as Redbox, but the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show has thrown up an intriguing industry incumbent. DVDs you rent can often end up damaged or unplayable and returning them is as much of a hassle as sending an old fashioned rental back to the shop.
So, Symwave and Xona Media have invented a better way.
They’ve created the MK3 DVD+Digital kiosk, and they’ll be showing it off next year at CES 2010. This kiosk uses USB 3.0 technology to deliver full movie downloads to customers in less than 10 seconds, and will carry an almost unlimited selection of films. Plus, when you’re done with the film, it just gets deleted from your hard drive. You never have to worry about returns
First certified USB 3.0 products announced
Superspeed USB ten times faster than USB 2.0
Paul Trotter, PC Advisor UK
1/7/10
The first round of USB 3.0 consumer products are on show at the CES trade show in Las Vegas this week, after the USB Implementers Forum announced the first 17 devices to pass compliance and certification testing.
USB 3.0, also known as SuperSpeed USB, provides the bandwidth to transfer data at close to ten times the speed of USB 2.0 and offers improved power management, according to the USB Implementers Forum.
The group finalised the specification a year ago, but only now are products supporting it hitting the market. A number of motherboards, storage devices and laptops have been announced with USB 3.0 support.
The first wave of certified SuperSpeed USB consumer products includes products from ASMedia, Asus, Fujitsu, Gigabyte, HP, I/O Interconnect, LucidPort, Ratoc Systems, SIIG, Symwave and Western Digital.
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Backup and Instant Recovery
IT Management
1/5/10
Although the Universal Serial Bus 3.0 specification will get a lot of air time this week at CES, the advent of much faster USB devices for local storage should spark some deeper thoughts about how backup and recovery is handled in most organizations today.
Right now, too many IT organizations treat all data the same. And yet when it comes to backup and recovery, most end users are looking for something they were working on in the last 90 minutes. Obviously, continuous backup across the network might be a nice thing to provide, but a low-cost backup device at the client would probably be a lot more network bandwidth efficient.
That’s why a lot of IT organizations will be giving end users access to local USB 3.0-based backup storage in 2010, as exemplified this week at CES by companies such as Symwave, which is building a solid-state disk attached via USB 3.0.
Ellisys and Symwave Demo 350 MB/s USB 3.0
1/5/10
Ellisys, supplier of protocol test and analysis solutions for the USB and other wired and wireless communications protocols, in conjunction with Symwave, Inc., a silicon supplier of system solutions for SuperSpeed USB 3.0 applications, announced a demonstration at the Storage Visions 2010 Conference in Las Vegas, NV. The demonstration will unleash the performance of USB 3.0 and show data transfer speeds never seen before - over 350 MB/sec. The demonstration will feature the Ellisys Explorer 280 SuperSpeed USB protocol analyzer and host emulation generator and Symwave's SW6318 dual SATA storage controller.
“Being first to market with several SuperSpeed USB 3.0 devices and working in conjunction with Ellisys, the first company to deliver a USB 3.0 protocol analyzer/generator, Symwave is at the forefront of the USB 3.0 storage solutions market. Ellisys was a key enabler to ensure our products comply with the highest standards as set forth by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF),” said Christopher Thomas CTO of Symwave.
USB World
1/4/10
LaCie Partners with Symwave to introduce world’s first USB 3.0 Dual-Drive RAID Storage Solution
LaCie’s 2Big USB 3.0, a dual-disk RAID 0/1 storage solution, powered by Symwave’s USB 3.0 standard-compliant dual SATA and RAID bridge controller, reaches the highest throughput ever achieved in a USB 3.0 external storage product – setting a new standard in the dual disk market. The 2Big USB 3.0 will be available in up to 4TB capacities and is bundled with award-winning backup software for both Mac and PC users.
“Offering fast speeds is a major priority for LaCie. Our customers have long awaited a robust, super fast interface to enable a better workflow. Symwave’s industry-leading dual SATA bridge controller enabled us to address this demand, and to achieve the highest speed ever obtained with a dual-disk solution,” said Minh Lê, Marketing Director at LaCie.
Now professionals who require a large data flow can leverage the USB 3.0 interface. Developed for users that require sizeable data flow and fast storage products – such as video professionals who needs high bandwidth, the 2Big USB 3.0 will let users transfer a high-definition uncompressed video at speeds up to 275MB/s burst read transfer speed, or perform real time streaming and editing of multiple HD files simultaneously.
Computer Technology Review
Storage Technology
Symwave achieves USB 3.0 device silicon certification
1/4/10
Symwave Inc., a silicon supplier of system solutions for SuperSpeed USB 3.0 devices, today announced last week that its SW6316 USB (universal serial bus) 3.0 to SATA (Serial-ATA) storage controller has achieved USB 3.0 peripheral silicon certification by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF).
The USB-IF initiated the USB 3.0 (SuperSpeed USB) Compliance and Certification Program in September and is considered the gold standard for testing USB products. The certification of Symwave’s device means that Symwave’s OEM (original equipment manufacturer) customers can feature the "SuperSpeed Certified" logo on their products, giving consumers the ultimate confidence of interoperability, compliance, and performance as set forth by the USB-IF.
SuperTalent to introduce USB3.0 RAIDDrive at CES 2010
Symwave and Super Talent jointly announced they will demonstrate Super Talent’s RAIDDrive, the world’s first and only mobile USB 3.0 flash drive at CES 2010 in Las Vegas, January 7-10. Symwave’s low power device enables portability without an external power source even from a standard USB 2.0 port. The new Super Talent drive, offered in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities, is 10 times faster than current solutions and is fully backward compatible with USB 2.0 ports. A benchmark video is available for viewing at http://www.youtube.com/gosupertalent.
“Symwave’s SW6318 device was the obvious choice for our new line of SuperSpeed USB 3.0 mobile storage products,” said C.H. Lee, Chief Operating Officer at Super Talent Technology. “Our USB 3.0 RAIDDrive, based on Symwave’s SW6318 device, delivers phenomenal performance of more than 300 MB/sec.”
Symwave Achieves USB 3.0 Device Silicon Certification
SW6316 Storage Controller Successfully Passes all USB-IF SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Compliance Testing
12/31/09
Symwave, a leading silicon supplier of system solutions for SuperSpeed USB 3.0 devices, today announced that its SW6316 USB 3.0 to SATA storage controller has achieved the World’s first USB 3.0 peripheral silicon certification by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF). The USB-IF initiated the USB 3.0 (SuperSpeed USB) Compliance and Certification Program in September and is considered the gold standard for testing USB products. The certification of Symwave’s device means that Symwave’s OEM customers can feature the "SuperSpeed Certified" logo on their products, giving consumers the ultimate confidence of interoperability, compliance, and performance as set forth by the USB-IF.
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Symwave Achieves World's First USB 3.0 Device Silicon Certification
12/31/09
“Symwave has demonstrated several SuperSpeed USB 3.0 World’s firsts including a physical layer device (PHY), a single chip USB 3.0 to SATA storage controller, a dual-drive RAID storage controller delivering 400 MB/s, and now the World’s first USB 3.0 device certification. Compliance to industry standards is essential to the successful deployment and broad market adoption of any new technology, and the USB-IF demonstrated great leadership by launching a compliance program early,” said Yossi Cohen, President and CEO of Symwave. “Working with the USB-IF team over many months at the forefront of the test procedures development was both challenging and rewarding. Our OEM customers' products can now prominently display the 'SuperSpeed Certified' Logo which consumers have come to recognize as assurance that the product meets the highest standards.”
Super Talent and Symwave team for USB 3.0 RAIDDrive
Shane McGlaun
12/31/09
USB 3.0 gear is going to be big at CES 2010 starting in January. There have already been several announcements of different companies that will be showing off USB 3.0 gear at the show. Much of the gear will be hitting the market early next year for consumers to get their hands on too. Super Talent and Symwave have announced that they will be showing off the USB 3.0 RAIDDrive at CES 2010.
The drive uses the Symwave SW6318 device and will be offered in 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB capacities. Super Talent claims that the drive is ten times faster than other solutions with performance of more than 300 MB/sec.
The drive uses parallel channels of NAND flash in RAID 0 configuration to achieve the performance. The drive is small measuring in at 3.75″ x 1.5″ x 0.5″ and plugs directly into the USB port needing no cables or power adapters.
Symwave and Super Talent to show off USB 3.0 Drive at CES 2010
12/31/09
Super Talent is set to debut a new USB 3.0 drive at CES 2010 that uses new Symwave technology. The drive is called the USB 3.0 RAIDDrive and claims to be the world's fastest USB 3.0 storage solution. The device will be offered in 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB capacities, is 10 times faster than current solutions and is fully backward compatible with USB 2.0 ports. A benchmark video is available for viewing at http://www.youtube.com/gosupertalent.
Xona & Symwave Supercharge Digital Movie Kiosks with USB 3.0
12/23/09
Digital self-serve kiosks are found all over the place for quick tasks like printing maps or pictures. You can create greeting cards and photo albums. These are well on their way to becoming the vending machines of the digital era.
The next evolution of this trend is here with the vending machine dispensing data instead of physical goods like the MK3 Kiosk. Movies can be downloaded from these Redbox competitors straight to your portable hard drive. Nothing to return, nothing to rewind (how long until no one knows what that meant?). The content simply expires and won't play in the player.
This XIMD technology smacks of the original Divx expiring DVD's that came in went in months around the dawn of DVDs. USB 3.0 technology should be able to push a full DVD of content to your drive in under 10 seconds. Xona's media distribution system will feed the MK3 Kiosk with current and obscure movies. Prices, peripherals and plans will have to come later as the devices roll into retail locations around the world.
MK3 Kiosk dispenses data instead of goods
12/23/09
Vending machines have been around for so many decades that to not see one in a town or public area might feel a little bit weird for city slickers. Well, looks like such kiosks have evolved to dispense not just goods but data as well - and (XONA Media’s) MK3 Kiosk (enabled by Symwave) is one of them. You will be able to download movies directly to your portable hard drive, and it sure beats not having to return a physical disc be it through shipping or driving to the store yourself. This downloading process relies on XIMD technology. Would be interesting to see whether the advent of USB 3.0 technology will further push such a business model to the mass market, helping move more USB 3.0 portable hard drive sales as well.
Digital Spy
New digital movie rental kiosks announced
Oli Simpson
12/23/09
A new video-rental kiosk capable of allowing consumers to download an unlimited number of movies, TV shows or videogames onto USB drives or memory sticks is due to be released. The MK3 DVD+Digital kiosk, developed by Californian firms Symwave and XONA Media, will utilise advanced USB 3.0 technology to achieve faster transfers and make the purchasing process fast and simple for customers.
"Consumers can select and download a movie at a convenient MK3 kiosk with the entire transaction taking less time than getting cash from an ATM," Symwave marketing chief John O'Neill said in a statement.
"The movie playback is then just as simple as plugging the flash drive device into any commonly-used USB-compatible media player, including gaming platforms and DVD players."
The downloaded films are automatically deleted after viewing, saving the customer from having to return the video while also preventing pirates from duplicating the file.
Symwave & Xona Media To Unveil USB 3.0 Movie Kiosk At CES
Robert Evans
12/22/09
There are tons of those little red-box movie kiosks sitting around my city. Pretty much every major grocery store, gas station, and supermarket has one out front. In terms of location and availability, they're very convenient. Despite that fact, I haven't used one in years. The DVDs you rent frequently end up damaged or unplayable and returning them is as much of a hassle as sending a movie back to the rental place.
Thankfully, Symwave and Xona Media have invented a better way. They've created the MK3 DVD+Digital kiosk, and they'll be showing it off at CES 2010. This kiosk uses USB 3.0 technology to deliver full movie downloads to customers in less than 10 seconds. MK3 kiosks will be fast and will carry an almost unlimited selection of films, which puts them about three heads above the Red Box in my book.
If you don't have a USB 3.0 capable drive (and who does right now?) your old 2.0 stuff will still work with the MK3. Using it is still going to be faster and more convenient than any other movie renting experience. Plus, when you're done with the film, it just gets deleted from your hard drive. You never have to worry about returns.
LaCie intros USB 3.0 Storage Device
The USB 3.0 spec enables the transfer of data at rates up to 4.8Gbits per second
Antone Gonsalves
12/21/09
LaCie has introduced a dual hard disk, RAID storage device that includes a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 connector, which provides higher bandwidth for moving video and other large files. In building the latest 2Big product, LaCie partnered with chip maker Symwave, which is supplying the USB 3.0-compliant dual SATA and RAID bridge controller. The device is bundled with backup software for both the Mac and Windows PC.
LaCie's latest 2Big product attaches to a PC via the USB 3.0 port. The higher bandwidth and large storage capacity is beneficial to professionals who need to move large files back and forth between the 2Big and an attached device. A use scenario would include video editing, which requires moving and updating large files between a workstation and the storage device. The 2Big device can run in RAID 0 and 1 modes, with the latter making it possible to replace defective disks without shutting down the machine. The product is not a network-attached storage device, but is meant to provide backup to a single workstation.
Symwave and XONA Media Enable DVD Movie Downloads in Under 10 Seconds
12/21/09
Symwave and XONA Media debuted Instant Movie Download (XIMD) technology which incorporates USB 3.0 and enables consumers to download DVD-quality movies to portable devices in less than 10 seconds. This breakthrough download speed paves the way for dramatically improved consumer buying experiences via automated download stations at retail locations and beyond.
"Consumers can select and download a movie at a convenient MK3 kiosk with the entire transaction taking less time than getting cash from an ATM. The movie playback is then just as simple as plugging the flash drive device in to any commonly used USB compatible media player including gaming platforms and DVD players, said John O'Neill, Vice President of Marketing at Symwave."
WIRED
GADGET LAB
LaCie’s USB 3.0 RAID Drive is Desk-Burning Fast
Charlie Sorrel
12/21/09
The folks in Lacie’s hard drive research kitchen have a need. A need (dramatic pause) for speed. And a need that they have managed to sate with the shiny new USB 3.0 2Big RAID drive.
Not happy with the already huge speed-jump gained by switching from boring old USB 2.0, the 2Big throws in a RAID 0/1 setup to open the throttle even further, striping the information across two drives to reach a blistering 275MB/s burst speed. Compare that to USB 2.0’s pedestrian theoretical maximum of 480 Mb/s. Notice the lowercase b in the latter, which stands for bits not bytes. This is, LaCie says, fast enough to throw many HD streams around at once, editing and watching in full resolution at the same time.
Symwave and XONA Media Enable DVD Movie Downloads in Under 10 Seconds
12/21/09
Symwave and XONA Media debuted Instant Movie Download (XIMD) technology which incorporates USB 3.0 and enables consumers to download DVD-quality movies to portable devices in less than 10 seconds. This breakthrough download speed paves the way for dramatically improved consumer buying experiences via automated download stations at retail locations and beyond.
“We developed the MK3 Kiosk to be the most flexible distribution platform for both today’s and tomorrow’s markets,” said Pete Popcke, Chief Operating Officer of XONA Media. “A key design goal was to protect our operator and retailer customers in the coming digital transformation, with a digital download time at retail locations up to 1000 times faster than downloading a movie at home. The performance, security and maturity of Symwave’s USB 3.0 technology was a perfect companion to the MK3 design targets. The 10 second movie download sets a new standard at a wide variety of retail locations including grocery and convenience stores, restaurants, travel depots, and consumer electronics and big box discount retailers.”
LaCie & Symwave Launch USB 3.0 Dual-Drive RAID Storage Solution
Jennifer Johnson
12/19/09
LaCie and Symwave have teamed up to create the 2Big USB 3.0, a dual hard disk RAID 0/1 storage solution that uses the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 standard. Symwave’s USB 3.0 standard-compliant dual SATA and RAID bridge controller powers the 2Big USB 3.0. According to LaCie, the 2Big USB 3.0 is capable of burst read speeds of up to 275MB per second. The 2Big USB 3.0 will be available in up to 4TB capacities early next year.
LaCie intros USB 3.0 Dual-Drive RAID
LaCie and Symwave will display RAID 0/1 storage solution using USB 3.0 at CES
Kevin Parrish
12/18/09
Yesterday LaCie revealed its 2Big USB 3.0, a new dual-disk RAID 0/1 storage solution using Symwave's USB 3.0 standard-compliant dual SATA and RAID bridge controller. The details on the 2Big were rather slim, however LaCie is boasting a new standard in the dual disk market.
"Offering fast speeds is a major priority for LaCie. Our customers have long awaited a robust, super fast interface to enable a better workflow. Symwave’s industry-leading dual SATA bridge controller enabled us to address this demand, and to achieve the highest speed ever obtained with a dual-disk solution," said Minh Lê, Marketing Director at LaCie. "LaCie intends to lead the market transition to USB 3.0 technology and will launch a full range of products in the coming months."
What we do know is that the 2Big will offer storage up to 4 TB, and will be bundled with back-up software for both the PC and Mac. The 2Big will supposedly let users transfer high-definition uncompressed video at speeds up to 275 MB/s burst read transfer speed. LaCie even said that consumers will be able to perform real-time streaming and editing of multiple HD files simultaneously.
LaCie Brings USB 3.0 to Dual-Drive RAIDs
Lacie's 2Big USB 3.0 will offer throughput of up to 275 MB/s and capacities up to 4 terabytes.
Geoff Duncan
12/18/09
Peripheral and storage vendor LaCie has announced its 2Big USB 3.0 dual-drive RAID system, which the company claims is the first of its kind on the market. The 2Big USB 3.0 offers a dual disk configuration supporting up to 4 TB of storage and RAID 0 and RAID 1 support—and, thanks to a USB 3.0 bridge controller from Symwave—can push up to 275 MB/s, which is the kind of number that makes high-definition video editors get a gleam in their eye.
LaCie intros 2Big USB 3.0 RAID storage solution
Nick Spence
12/18/09
A collaboration with Symwave, the dual hard disk RAID storage solution is based on the new SuperSpeed USB (3.0) standard. The 2Big USB 3.0 will be available in up to 4TB capacities and is bundled with award-winning backup software for both Mac and PC users.
Developed for users that require sizeable data flow and fast storage products -- such as video professionals who needs high bandwidth, the 2Big USB 3.0 will let users transfer a high-definition uncompressed video at speeds up to 275MB/s burst read transfer speed, or perform real time streaming and editing of multiple HD files simultaneously explains LaCie.
"The end user experience of external storage is undergoing a very significant upgrade with the launch of USB 3.0 products. We are pleased to be leading the market transition with such a strong partner like LaCie," said John O'Neill, Vice President of Marketing at Symwave.
LaCie and Symwave announce 2Big USB 3.0 dual-drive RAID
Donald Melanson
12/17/09
LaCie has just announced new storage option that should get folks plenty excited on its own: a new dual-drive 2Big USB 3.0 RAID drive developed in partnership with Symwave. As you've no doubt been able to surmise by now, this thing is big and fast, with it able to support up to 4TB of storage, and provide a peak burst read transfer speed of 275MB/s thanks to a new dual SATA and RAID bridge controller developed by Symwave. It is promising to show off the drive at CES next month though, and hopefully offer a few more details about it as well.
Symwave USB 3.0 RAID Storage Controller
12/18/09
Symwave, Inc. announced the immediate availability of the SW6318, a single chip USB 3.0 to dual SATA storage controller.
The SW6318 device is the industry’s first and highest performance solution with transfer speeds up to 400 MB/sec. This performance is more than ten times faster than current RAID storage solutions based on USB 2.0 technology and fully utilizes the speed and system level improvements that next-generation USB 3.0 technology delivers.
According to Brian O’Rourke, Principal Analyst at In-Stat, "Symwave has been at the forefront of USB 3.0 storage solutions and their SW6318 device should help to keep them there. Combining two 2.5 or 3.5 inch hard drives with USB 3.0 enables a full spectrum of storage products with unique selling features that were not possible with USB 2.0.”
LaCie announces 2Big USB 3.0 RAID
Roman Loyola
12/17/09
LaCie has introduced the 2Big USB 3.0, a RAID array the uses the new USB 3.0 connectivity standard. Using a USB 3.0-compliant dual SATA and RAID bridge controller from Symwave, the 2Big USB 3.0 has a pair of hard drives that can be used as either a RAID 0 or RAID 1 array. LaCie says the 2Big USB 3.0 is capable of burst read speeds of up to 275MB per second.
Macs, however, use USB 2.0, not USB 3.0. Apple's policy is to not comment about future product plans, so we don't have concrete details on when we might see USB 3.0 on the Mac. And while USB 3.0 has started to trickle its way into the PC market, a USB 3.0 expansion card for Mac Pros has yet to make an appearance.
But despite the lack of USB 3.0 support on the Mac, LaCie says it will be there when USB 3.0 is finally available. "LaCie has always been a supporter of Mac compatibility," said Kimberly Myers, Worldwide PR Manger for LaCie. "As you may remember with USB 2.0, it takes a little longer for driver support on the Mac OS. We will of course be on board when support for Mac becomes available."
The 2Big USB 3.0 is available in capacities up to 4TB and will start shipping early next year.
Article also appeared in: MacWorld, PC World & InfoWorld
THE FUTURE OF THINGS
LaCie 2Big USB 3.0 Dual-Disk RAID Drive Gets Official
[LaCie & Symwave Announce USB 3.0 Dual Hard Disk RAID Storage Solution]
Chris Smith
12/17/09
We might not be able to really make the most of USB 3.0 yet but that doesn’t mean we don’t have to think proactively. Companies like LaCie and Symwave are looking forward to a world where USB 3.0 will replace the current USB 2.0 standard and we will all be ready to enjoy lots of USB 3.0-ready gadgets and devices.
That’s why LaCie has partnered up with Symwave to introduce the world’s first USB 3.0 dual-drive RAID storage solution. The LaCie 2Big USB 3.0 drive boasts record speeds of up to 275MB/s which is definitely something to remember. The 2Big USB 3.0 hard disk drive will be available in up to 4TB capacities and it could become exactly the backup/storage solution you were looking for. LaCie will launch it at some point in early 2010 but not before showcasing the 2Big USB 3.0 drive at the CES 2010 from January 7-10, 2009 in Las Vegas.
LaCie and Symwave unveil first USB 3.0 dual-drive RAID solution
Shane McGlaun
12/17/09
USB 3.0 products and accessories are coming hot and heavy ahead of CES 2010. USB 3.0 promises lots more speed and performance than the USB 2.0 products we have today. LaCie and Symwave have announced they have teamed up to produce the first USB 3.0 dual-drive RAID storage solution.
The storage solution is called the LaCie 2Big USB 3.0 and is a dual-disk RAID 0/1 storage solution. The drive uses the Symwave USB 3.0 dual SATA and RAID bridge controller for the highest throughput ever seen on a USB 3.0 drive.
The 2Big USB 3.0 offers performance up to 275 MB/s and it will be offered in up to 4TB capacities. The drive will be bundled with backup software for Mac and PC users. Pricing and availability are unannounced at this time.
Symwave Commences High Volume Production of World’s Highest Performance USB 3.0 Storage Controller
SW6316 now production qualified with leading OEMs, high volume customer shipments underway
12/9/09
Symwave announced the production release of the SW6316, a single chip USB 3.0 to SATA storage controller. The SW6316 device is the industry’s highest performance solution with transfer speeds in excess of 270 MB/sec, more than 10x faster than current products based on USB 2.0 technology.
Symwave’s patented SW6316 architecture provides a powerful and flexible platform for developing industry-leading USB 3.0 external storage, DVD and Blu-Ray optical drive products. Symwave offers customers a complete turn-key software development kit (SDK) solution, including reference design hardware, firmware, software, documentation, and manufacturing tools to speed time-to-market and enable value-added hardware and software customization.
Symwave to Demonstrate Unmatched Transfer Speeds of USB 3.0 with External HDD and SSD Storage Solutions at CES 2010
12/3/09
At CES 2010, Symwave will demonstrate its leading edge storage controller and showcase multiple end products based on its USB 3.0 technology. These include new external hard disk drive (HDD) and solid state drive (SSD) storage solutions that achieve the highest performance and lowest power available. Symwave continues to demonstrate significant market leadership in SuperSpeed USB 3.0 product developments. Earlier this year at CES 2009, Symwave demonstrated the world’s first SuperSpeed USB 3.0 host/device vendor interoperability and the first SuperSpeed USB 3.0 to SATA controller, showing a complete external storage solution in collaboration with hard disk drive manufacturers.
OCZ and Symwave Partner To Deliver USB 3.0 External Storage Product
11/30/09
OCZ Technology and Symwave announced a partnership to deliver next generation USB 3.0 solutions at the CES 2010. The first outcome of this partnership is the industry's highest performance external Solid State Drive (SSD) storage product, ideal for consumers demanding uncompromised leading-edge technology. By working with Symwave, OCZ was able to leverage its flash technology expertise and develop even faster cutting-edge solutions making use of the new USB 3.0 standard.
"Thanks to Symwave's industry leading USB 3.0 storage controller, our external SSD device delivers 10x the transfer rate of USB 2.0 at 5Gb/s, as well as several 'green' improvements including superior power management and lower CPU utilization," said Eugene Chang, Vice President of Product Management at the OCZ Technology Group. "We are determined to be at the forefront of the market by offering products with unparalleled performance, reliability, and design to unleash the potential of flash-based storage."
OCZ & Symwave Partner To Deliver USB 3.0 External Storage Product
Jennifer Johnson
11/25/09
OCZ and Symwave are working together to deliver next generation USB 3.0 solutions at the upcoming International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January. As a result of the partnership, the companies have created the industry’s highest performance external Solid State Drive storage product. Using Symwave’s USB 3.0 storage controller, OCZ’s external SSD device is able to deliver 10x the transfer rate of USB 2.0 at 5Gb/s.
Symwave Taps Broadcom for CFO
11/18/09
Laguna Niguel-based Symwave, a developer of USB semiconductors, said yesterday that it has hired Adam Spice as the firm's new Chief Financial Officer. Spice was most recently Broadcom's Vice President of Finance and Corporate Development, and was headed up Broadcom's acquisitions and strategic equity investments. Symwave said that Spice was at Broadcom for the past nine years, and oversaw over 40 acquisitions and investments worth $6 billion. Spice also has served in other roles at Broadcom and Intel.
Adam Spice Joins Symwave as Chief Financial Officer
Semiconductor Industry's Most Proven M&A Finance Executive will Facilitate Company’s Growth and Scalability
11/17/09
"In prior roles at Broadcom and Intel, I evaluated hundreds of companies for the purposes of investments and acquisition and I believe Symwave truly represents a rare combination. The company not only has an aggressive team of proven entrepreneurs who have created and scaled multi-hundred million dollar lines of business, but it is at the forefront of pursuing a huge market opportunity, and is supported by top-tier committed strategic investors," said Adam Spice. "I am excited and fortunate to join this team and look forward to achieving great success together again. Over the coming years, USB 3.0 will become a multi-billion unit market and can serve as a great technology and revenue growth platform for Symwave."
Symwave and MCCI Demo USB 3.0 System
270MB/s achieved by combining PC host software and integrated storage controller
9/25/09
Symwave, Inc., silicon supplier of system solutions for SuperSpeed USB devices, and MCCI, developer of USB drivers and embedded software, announced their successful collaboration to demonstrate the world's highest performing USB 3.0 system achieving over 270MB/s.
The demo took place at the Intel Developers Forum September 22-24 using a commercially available computer and solid state drive (SSD) combined with MCCI‚s optimized USB 3.0 host software and Symwave's USB 3.0 SuperSpeed SATA controller.
"SuperSpeed USB 3.0 offers developers of devices and software a huge market opportunity based on differentiating features and performance. Symwave's storage controller was the obvious choice to showcase the results that can achieved when our solutions and complementary USB expertise is combined," said Terry Moore, CEO of MCCI.
Symwave and MCCI Demonstrate the World’s Highest Performance USB 3.0 System
Over 270MB/s achieved by combining MCCI's PC Host Software and Symwave's Integrated Storage Controller
9/22/09
"Collaborating with MCCI and achieving this type of performance is an example of how excellence breeds excellence. The Symwave storage controller was architected to offer our customers unmatched performance and a platform for advanced features and storage product evolution," said Yossi Cohen, CEO of Symwave. "MCCI has partnered with us to unleash the performance of our device significantly beyond what the existing USB 3.0 host software solutions achieve. We will continue to work closely with MCCI and introduce even higher performing devices and software solutions."
The live demonstration of MCCI's and Symwave's USB 3.0 SuperSpeed host software and storage controller can be seen at the Intel Developers Forum (IDF) from September 22-24 (www.intel.com/idf/).
Over 270MB/s achieved by combining MCCI`s PC Host Software and Symwave`sIntegrated Storage Controller
9/22/09
Symwave and MCCI announced their successful collaboration to demonstrate the world`s highest performing USB 3.0 system achieving over 270MB/s. The demo will take place at the Intel Developers Forum September 22-24 using a commercially available computer and solid state drive (SSD) combined with MCCI`s optimized USB 3.0 host software and Symwave`s USB 3.0 SuperSpeed SATA controller. "With over 600 million devices deployed with MCCI USB software, MCCI understands what can be achieved by combining best in class SoCs and software. Even with the exceptional performance shown, this demonstration showcases the result of our initial collaboration and not the end product," said Terry Moore, CEO of MCCI.
Symwave Creates USB 3.0 Raidchip
Marc Mouthan
8/31/09
One of the biggest advantages USB 3.0 brings around is the increased bandwidth of up to 5 Gbit/s, where USB 2.0 was limited to a data speed of 480 Mbit/s. In practice, this meant the USB 2.0 ports reached reading speeds of 30 MB/sec, not very favorable when copying large files. When you compare this speed to the SATA I/O protocol, which can easily handle speeds of up to 300 MB/sec, it's quite obvious why large hard disks with a USB2.0 connector never became really popular.
The coming of USB 3.0 however finishes off this problem and several companies have already announced chips to convert the SATA I/O protocol to the USB 3.0 protocol. By using these chips, external hard disks with a SATA-connector can be attached using a single USB 3.0 cable. Symwave has introduced a raidchip which, thanks to the raid-combination, is capable of reaching speeds up to 500 Mbyte/sec: more than enough for most RAID-0 configurations of hard disks and SSD's. Manufacturers can use the chip in external casings, allowing two hard disks to be hooked up using a single USB 3.0 cable as well.
Symwave Selects Discretix Embedded Security for its High Performance USB 3.0 Storage Controller
8/27/09
HOT CHIPS Symposium — Discretix, a leading global provider of embedded security solutions, and Symwave today announced that Symwave has chosen Discretix as the provider of security technology for Symwave’s high performance USB 3.0 System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions. The agreement will ensure Symwave storage controllers deliver world-class data encryption for a wide array of external storage devices incorporating hard drives (HDD) and flash based (SSD) storage media. Discretix embedded technology ensures state-of-the-art security at the chipset level to reliably protect data transferred to and from external hard drives.
“Symwave continues to demonstrate leadership in USB 3.0 storage solutions. Improving convenience, speed and storage capacity will create a wave of new demand for external storage devices. However, those advancements also create security challenges which is why robust security protection is so critical,” said David Deitcher, CTO of Discretix. “By working closely with Symwave, we were able to achieve new performance levels which will help secure these next-generation external HDD and SSD storage products.”
Symwave's USB 3.0 SoC is almost ready
USB RAID possible?
David Neal
8/25/09
Symwave was at the Hot Chips conference where it discussed its USB 3.0 System-on-Chip (SoC) storage controller architecture. First mentioned in November last year, Symwave's USB 3.0 SoC is backwards compatible with previous USB incarnations but offers massive throughput gains, from USB 2.0's 480Mbps to as much as 5Gbps. Basically that means you could transfer a DVD quality movie in less time than it takes to skip forward through the anti-piracy messages. In a demonstration, the firm discussed the data transfer speed boosts its USB 3.0 SoC will offer and suggested that a RAID system could support up to two serial drives.
The firm also announced an embedded security deal with Discretix that it claimed will offer tough encryption for devices. "Discretix's embedded security technology is both powerful and flexible. Not only can it protect storage drives from attachment to unauthorized computers, but it also supports the high transfer speeds required for USB 3.0 configurations," said Chris Thomas, Symwave's Chief Technology Officer.
Symwave said that external storage products from OEM partners are expected later this year. Just in time for all those Windows 7 backups.
USB 3 Chip Will Bring RAID to External Drives
Stephen Lawson, IDG News Service
08/24/09
At the HotChips Symposium, Symwave’s Vice President of Solutions Architecture, Gideon Intrater discussed how the company’s SOC, using the high-speed standard, USB 3.0 will boost performance up to and beyond the top speed of SATA. It's a chip for external storage devices that includes several key functions for either HDD (hard disk drive) or SSD (solid-state drive) units. The chip will allow OEMs of storage devices and enclosures to offer speeds as high as 500MB per second because it includes support for RAID 0 configurations. Using RAID, the system maker can build an enclosure with two drives and either feed data faster by addressing both drives at once, or feed the same data to both drives so one is a mirror of the other, Intrater said.
RAID hasn't been a realistic option with USB 2.0 because just one SATA drive can easily saturate the USB connection, according to Intrater. In addition, USB 2.0 has been limited in the kinds of devices it can power by itself. USB 3.0 can carry as much as 900 milliamps, up from just 500 milliamps for USB 2.0, he said. That will make it easier to power a portable RAID array of two drives, as well as to power faster-spinning HDDs than before and to charge some smartphones and other devices that the older standard couldn't fill up, Intrater said.
In addition to supporting RAID and the protocol conversion from SATA to USB 3.0, the Symwave chip can perform authentication and encryption. The company has made prototypes of the SOC and expects OEMs to ship products based on it by the end of this year.
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Symwave says its USB 3.0 chip can move 500MB of data in a second
8/24/09
Symwave, one of the first companies to design silicon for USB 3.0, is revealing more details today about its SOC using the high-speed standard at the HotChips conference. USB 3.0, which debuted last November, is designed to provide throughput as high as 5GB per second (Gbps), up from just 480Mbps for USB 2.0. Symwave says its USB 3.0 SOC can be used in external storage devices that ship data as fast as 500MB per second.
Symwave is trying to tackle the same problem plaguing many consumers and enterprises as they use more high-definition multimedia content and have to save more data in general. Demand for storage capacity continues to rise, and backing up that data from a laptop or desktop to an external drive can take hours. USB 2.0, nearly ubiquitous on PCs and portable consumer electronics today, can be a barrier.
"You're pretty much communicating through a straw," said Gideon Intrater, Symwave's Vice President of Solutions Architecture. “The SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) I/O protocol used with most hard drives can transport about 300MB per second, while USB 2.0 typically delivers just 20MB or 30MB per second,” he said. "USB 2 was good as long as you had 100GB on your hard drive, but now it's just way too slow."
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Symwave Selects Discretix Embedded Security for its High Performance USB 3.0 Storage Controller
8/24/09
Symwave has chosen Discretix as the provider of security technology for Symwave’s high performance USB 3.0 System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions. The agreement will ensure Symwave storage controllers deliver world-class data encryption for a wide array of external storage devices incorporating hard drives (HDD) and flash based (SSD) storage media.
“Symwave continues to demonstrate leadership in USB 3.0 storage solutions. Improving convenience, speed and storage capacity will create a wave of new demand for external storage devices. However, those advancements also create security challenges which is why robust security protection is so critical,” said David Deitcher, CTO of Discretix. “By working closely with Symwave, we were able to achieve new performance levels which will help secure these next-generation external HDD and SSD storage products.”
The first Symwave ICs with Discretix embedded security are expected to be available in commercial external storage products in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Symwave’s World Leading USB 3.0 Storage Solution Selected by HotChips Symposium
8/19/09
Symwave’s USB 3.0 storage controller has been chosen by the HotChips Symposium Program Committee. The technical paper will be presented by Gideon Intrater, Symwave’s Vice President of Solutions Architecture at the HotChips Symposium, the industry’s premiere venue focused on design innovation and performance advancement techniques.
Symwave’s presentation will introduce its USB 3.0 System-on-Chip (SoC) storage controller architecture and the associated engineering challenges in achieving both industry-leading performance and integration. The SoC will be used in both HDD and SSD external storage products and will include a bridge to the SATA interface. The device supports USB 3.0’s data rate of 5Gbps with storage-specific IEEE 1619 and IEEE1667 standards for encryption and authentication as well as legacy USB 2.0 devices. New high-performance external storage products from Symwave’s Tier-1 OEM partners are expected to be available in late 2009.
Partners push USB 3.0 growth
8/12/09
SMSC and Symwave Inc. have partnered to accelerate delivery of end-to-end USB 3.0 solutions into high volume mobile, computing and consumer segments. SMSC made an initial cash investment of Rs.19.54 crore ($4 million) in Symwave, and Christine King, SMSC's president and CEO, will join Symwave's board of directors.
Supporting a 5Gbps signalling rate, USB 3.0 delivers ten times the rate of USB 2.0, and is backward-compatible with all existing and legacy USB 2.0 ports and devices. Additionally, USB 3.0 delivers nearly double the bus powering and charging capability, improves device power management and includes significant host or PC performance improvements.
"SMSC is a recognised leader in some of the most pervasive USB applications today, with proven quality, innovation and high volume production," said Yossi Cohen, president and CEO of Symwave. "Collaborating with SMSC will enable Symwave to better execute on our business plan and add tremendous momentum to achieving our goals while simultaneously expanding our USB 3.0 market presence."
SMSC invests in USB 3.0 chip vendor Symwave
Dylan McGrath
8/6/09
Mixed-signal IC vendor Standard Microsystems Corp. (SMSC) has invested $4 million in USB 3.0 chip vendor Symwave Inc. The investment is part of a strategic relationship between the two companies, aimed at accelerating the delivery of end-to-end USB 3.0 solutions into high volume mobile, consumer and computing segments.
Symwave develops software-intensive high-performance analogue/mixed-signal SoC solutions for rapidly emerging USB 3.0 based consumer devices including external storage, cell phones, media players, camcorders and digital signal controllers.
Christine King, SMSC's president and CEO, will join Symwave's board of directors as a result of the relationship, SMSC said. "Symwave has assembled a talented team and they have developed a product roadmap which is complementary to SMSC's own plans for SuperSpeed USB," King said through a statement.
SMSC and Symwave Join Forces to Capitalize On Growth of USB 3.0
8/6/09
SMSC and Symwave announced a strategic relationship with the objective to accelerate delivery of superior end-to-end USB 3.0 solutions into high volume mobile, consumer and computing segments.
“Our relationship will give us an option to access a new segment of the USB 3.0 market, which could broaden our applications opportunity beyond PCs, personal media players and smartphones into storage,” said Christine King, President and CEO of SMSC.
The USB 3.0 standard, released in November 2008 is the latest technology evolution of the ubiquitous Universal Serial Bus, first introduced in 1996. Supporting a 5 gigabit per second signaling rate, USB 3.0 delivers ten times the rate of USB 2.0, and is backward-compatible with all existing and legacy USB 2.0 ports and devices. Additionally, USB 3.0 delivers nearly double the bus powering and charging capability, improves device power management and includes significant host or PC performance improvements.
Standards Drive USB Evolution
7/9/09
According to In-Stat, Universal Serial Bus (USB) is the most successful interface in existence. In 2008 alone, over three billion USB devices shipped. USB has been broadly adopted across PCs, PC peripherals, consumer electronics, communications, and automotive devices. Now, the industry is looking to broaden this technology’s reach through standardsefforts. USB 3.0—also known as SuperSpeed USB—promises to deliver power efficiency together with speed of 5 Gbits/s; a tenfold improvement over Hi-Speed USB or USB 2.0.
External storage devices are expected to be the first to adopt the SuperSpeed USB standard, due to the excessive time that it takes to currently download or backup large media files over legacy USB or FireWire interfaces. For example, it would take almost 14 hrs. to transfer the contents of a 1-Terabyte drive over USB 2.0 compared to just 1.3 hrs. with USB 3.0. According to Mike Micheletti, LeCroy’s (www.lecroy.com) product marketing manager, “The introduction of USB 3.0 is specifically targeted at storage applications and will feature an enhanced mass storage architecture called USB Attached SCSI (UAS) protocol.
To support the evolution to USB 3.0, LeCroy already has a number of test options available. Recently, Symwave utilized LeCroy’s Voyager M3 USB host emulation platform for system design validation and specification compliance of its SuperSpeed USB 3.0 to SATA storage device. The LeCroy Voyager M3 USB protocol analyzer with integrated exerciser was used to emulate a USB 3.0 host controller, generate USB 3.0 traffic, and monitor end-to-end data transfers to the Symwave USB 3.0 device controller.
USB Market Will Get SuperSpeed Boost After Slower 2009, In-Stat Says
6/23/09
Although the global recession will prompt a slight decline in USB-enabled device shipments this year, next-generation "SuperSpeed" technology will fuel the market over the next several years, reports In-Stat. SuperSpeed, USB's new incarnation, will deliver 5Gbps, a ten-fold improvement over high-speed USB. With the late 2008 introduction of SuperSpeed, the question is not whether it will be successful, but how successful it will be.
"All PCs, and most PC peripherals have transitioned from full-speed to high-speed. Most of these devices will eventually transition to SuperSpeed, the only issue is the speed of the transition," says Brian O'Rourke, In-Stat analyst. "For PC peripheral devices, the key will be how quickly SuperSpeed is integrated into the application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and microcontrollers that are the brains of these devices."
Recent research by In-Stat found the following: With over three billion devices shipped in 2008 alone, USB is the most successful interface ever. It has been broadly adopted across PCs, PC peripherals, consumer electronics (CE), communications and automotive devices.
Symwave Utilized LeCroy USB Host Emulation Platform
To accelerate arrival of SuperSpeed USB 3.0 storage devices
6/1/09
Symwave and LeCroy announced their successful collaboration to accelerate the development of Symwave’s advanced, next generation SuperSpeed USB 3.0 to SATA storage device.
“The use of personal storage devices and the consumer’s expectations of product performance are growing exponentially. SuperSpeed USB 3.0 offers greater bus powering, more efficient power management, lower host CPU burden and a more than 10x transfer rate improvement,” according to John O’Neill, vice president of marketing at Symwave. “By year end, external storage products will achieve transfer rates of up to 400MB/sec leveraging Symwave’s performance leading products. To put that in perspective, this performance is almost 4 times faster than gigabit Ethernet which only a few years ago was considered more bandwidth than a consumer could ever use.”
Symwave and LeCroy Accelerate Time-to-Market for Next Generation SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Storage Devices
6/1/09
Symwave utilized LeCroy’s Voyager M3 USB host emulation platform for system design validation and USB 3.0 specification compliance to achieve faster time-to-market for its consumer storage solution. Market research firm IDC estimates that over 120 Million personal storage devices will be shipped in 2012, with the vast majority having a USB interface (IDC, Nov. 2008).
External storage devices are widely expected to be the first to adopt the SuperSpeed USB standard due to the excessive time it takes to currently download or backup large media files over legacy USB or FireWire interfaces. For example, it would take almost 14 hours to transfer the contents of a 1 Terabyte (TB) drive over USB 2.0, compared to just 1.3 hours with USB 3.0. A 20 Gigabyte (GB) music library, or the equivalent of 20 hours of home video, will take over 20 minutes to transfer with USB 2.0, compared to 2 minutes with USB 3.0.
Agilent and Symwave Validate USB 3.0 Devices
Symwave USB 3.0 Design Validation Leverages Agilent Technologies USB Test Solution
4/13/09
Agilent Technologies Inc. and Symwave announced its use of the Agilent DSA91304A real-time oscilloscope and J-BERT N4903A high-performance serial BERT as part of its comprehensive USB 3.0 device testing and validation. Symwave is a leading silicon supplier of system solutions for SuperSpeed USB storage devices.
Verifying physical layer device (PHY) performance and compliance to the standard is a critical step to ensure a design will interoperate with other USB 3.0 products. Robust PHY performance can help compensate for poor-quality cables or signal impairments, leading to a better user experience with the end-consumer product.
"With a data rate of 5.0 Gigabits per second, the performance of SuperSpeed transceivers is critical," said Christopher Thomas, Symwave's chief technology officer. "We wanted to ensure that our device would exceed USB 3.0 specification requirements and be a robust product for our customers. Agilent's high-performance test platforms were the ideal solution. We were able to utilize these tools to validate the highest performance USB 3.0 product available today."
Chipware Developers Collaborate on USB Attached SCSI Protocol
3/15/09
Take your mark! Get Set! Sell. In the race to get USB 3 solutions to market, it seems we are now into step 2. Two of the chip makers that made news recently jumping on the USB 3.0 road are now working together to tool up and play off their respective strengths. With the major hardware specifications set, hardware manufacturers have to move to the next level and start to establish, implement and perfect the software protocols that allow for data to move along the hardware path. One of the early favorites for storage protocols is the USB Attached SCSI Protocol (UASP) - an overhaul of the current storage standard that will leverage SuperSpeed USB transfer rate while providing some performance improvements for legacy USB 2.0 MSC devices.
Symwave and Ellisys are working together to both develop storage devices and develop testing hardware to meter and diagnose said devices. Striving to be the first to market with a USB 3.0 Storage device led Symwave naturally to testing-analysis solution provider Ellisys. The Ellisys Explorer 260 has been created to test SuperSpeed USB 3.0 solutions. The availability of these tools will allow other hardware manufacturers in addition to Symwave to more rapidly test their hardware devices through the creation process. As updates are made to the standards and new developments arise in the UAS Protocol, Ellisys will provide firmware upgrades to keep its Explorer systems up to (Super)speed. The arrival of more development tools for SuperSpeed USB designer means faster product development and cheaper releases
Ellisys and Symwave Accelerate SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Mass Storage Products Introduction
3/12/09
Ellisys and Symwave announced the first release of protocol analyzer tools for the USB Attached SCSI protocol (UASP). UASP is a new industry-standard, high-performance mass storage protocol being developed for SuperSpeed USB 3.0 and USB 2.0. USB 3.0 is the latest technology evolution of the ubiquitous Universal Serial Bus, first introduced in 1996. It supports a 5 gigabit per second signaling rate, providing ten times the speed of USB 2.0 as well as backward-compatibility with legacy USB 2.0 ports & devices.
"Being first to market with a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 mass storage device presented significant engineering challenges for our team. It was a strategic objective to work closely and collaboratively with the leading test equipment vendors to ensure our products complied with all relevant standards and exceed the requirements of our customers," stated Craig Stein, vice president of engineering at Symwave.
"The Ellisys Explorer 280 SuperSpeed USB protocol analyzers and generators have proven to be an effective tool in designing, testing and characterizing the performance of Symwave's SuperSpeed USB 3.0 solutions."
The next-gen wired version of USB, called USB 3.0, saw a variety of demonstrations at CES, in spite of the fact the specs were only finalized in November 2008.
Five firms - Fresco Logic Inc of the US, Fujitsu Microelectronics Ltd of Japan, NEC Electronics Corp of Japan, PLDA Inc of the US, and Symwave Inc of the US - demonstrated prototype transceiver boards for USB 3.0 (Fig 17). With the exception of Fresco Logic, they all claimed peak data transfer rates of 5Gbps, as defined in the USB 3.0 standard.
Current is about double that of USB 2.0 during charging. Some manufacturers prototyped ICs for the USB 3.0 physical layer. Of them, Symwave was especially hot, commenting, "We want to have product on the shelves in time for the 2009 Christmas season."
USB continues to solidify its position as the charging interface for mobile phones and similar gear.
USB 3.0 gets more silicon support
Rick Merritt
3/9/09
The so-called SuperSpeed USB interface, released in November, runs at up to 5 Gbits/s and can deliver as much as 300 Mbytes/second of data at the application layer.
At the November spec release, Symwave demonstrated a working USB 3.0 chip. PLDA Inc. gave a demo at DesignCon in February of its USB 3.0 block running in an FPGA with throughput of about 3.5 Gbits/s.
Given the availability of the silicon blocks, SuperSpeed USB chips are expected to roll late this year and systems using them could emerge in the first half of 2010. With as many as 2.6 billion USB products in the market, one market researcher projected as many as 500 million devices could shift to the 3.0 spec by 2012.
THE FUTURE OF THINGS
CES 2009 - Future Technology Trends – Part 2
Iddo Genuth
2/9/09
Symwave is currently working on developing a USB 3.0 related technology and we had a chance to meet John O'Neill, the vice president of marketing, who demonstrated file transfer to a USB 3.0 device at a speed of 80MB/s (640Mb/s or about 1.5 times the max theoretical limit of USB 2.0). The demonstration rig was still very delicate and it is clear that some optimization is still needed before any actual end-user products could reach the market, but Symwave was fairly confident that it will be able to deliver to its clients (i.e. OEM manufacturers, etc.) the technology which could be integrated into commercial products by the end of 2009.
Mr. O'Neill also explained to us something we were not aware of. Apparently USB 2.0 is considered a “CPU hug” and USB 3.0 will have a much better software implementation which will reduce the strain on the CPU. Even more interesting (and surprising) was the next statement by Mr. O'Neill, who explained that the new USB 3.0 drivers will likely improve the performance of USB 2.0 devices as well. On the other hand there will not be any native support for USB 3.0 in XP or Vista and even Windows 7 will require special drivers in order to operate USB 3.0 devices (we can only hope that Windows 7 SP1, which will come sometime in 2010, will bring some native support for the technology).
The Evolution of Storage - MP4 Video Clip (4:40)
Ian Hardy
Symwave's CES USB 3.0 demonstration shown at approximately 4:20.
Third time's a charm for USB
Marc Saltzman
1/27/09
Hard-drive maker Seagate recently demonstrated USB 3.0 technology for the first time at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas…the technology could have a big impact on consumers.
Also referred to as SuperSpeed USB, USB 3.0 is designed to link computers with peripherals such as memory sticks, cellphones, printers, cameras, external hard drives, mice and keyboards.
USB 3.0 features speeds that are roughly 10 times faster than USB 2.0. That makes it ideal for transferring high-definition video from a camcorder to a computer. Transfer speeds are likely to be around 2.4 gigabits per second for now, gradually increasing to five gigabits per second as the technology matures, says Symwave, a USB semiconductor-maker.
Symwave says USB 3.0-based devices should roll out by the 2009 holiday shopping season, and will be backward-compatible with all past USB devices.
Symwave Taps Advisers, Eyes Q3 Ramp-Up
TECHNOLOGY: Advisory board includes ex-Broadcom executive
One of our first meetings (at CES) was with the folks at Symwave, who were demonstrating early PHY technology supporting the USB 3.0 specification, a 5 Gb/s serial interface with the same 8b/10b line code as USB 2.0 (and consequential 20% overhead, pulling the theoretical cap down to 4 Gb/s).
Of course, with peak throughput in the 500 MB/s range, host-based processor utilization becomes a significant concern, especially considering the relative inefficiency of USB 2.0’s polling mechanism, which involves the host every time a transaction takes place. With USB 3.0, the device initiates and terminates the communication, but does not have to be involved in every packet transaction. USB 3.0 is also point-to-point topology—similar to FireWire—and not a broadcast topology.
This means you’re going to see better power management. With USB 3.0, the hub (providing it’s a 3.0 hub), knows which device is active and can power down the others. Symwave claims that there’s also a lot of work going into the USB 3.0 driver to improve its efficiency. Though it’d be possible for USB 2.0 to transfer at around 50 MB/s, you generally see it moving data about half that fast. When USB 3.0 goes to market, it’s expected to sustain somewhere are 300 MB/s instead.
The most applicable application of USB 3.0 right out of the gate, according to the representatives we talked to, is external storage.
SuperSpeed USB 3.0 in action
Paul Miller
1/10/09
We dropped by to get a look at Symwave's SuperSpeed promised USB 3.0 setup, and got a real earful on the technology and its potential. Due to start shipping in devices near the end of the year, Symwave's chipset will hold up the device-end of the transaction, communicating with SATA for 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch drives. Since the host end of USB 3.0's plug is fully compatible with USB 2.0 (and 1.0, as it turns out), they expect folks to start buying future-proof USB 3.0 hard drives and wait for computer manufacturers to build it in -- or just grab a PCIe card if they're really enthusiastic.
With around 10 times the headroom -- about 500MB a second -- of USB 2.0, the real bottleneck now is hard drive speeds. In the test we saw, the drive averaged around 78MB per second, and we can easily see SSD and RAID scenarios exploring this transfer speed. Their prototype setup to accomplish this was sprawling, but by the time this is shipping in devices the chip will be shrunk down to about the size of a stamp. Action video was taken.
Symwave’s SuperSpeed USB 3.0
1/10/09
We got a look at Symwave’s SuperSpeed USB 3.0 setup, and thought to share with our readers. Though the release is expected around the year end, the device is worth the wait.
SuperSpeed USB Drive Prototype - Impressive
1/9/09
Readers who have extensive experience with USB storage probably know the early Hi-Speed USB hard drives weren't meeting user expectations (operating at 18-20MB/s in most cases) when they first debuted. In fact, it took nearly four years of chipset and controller tweaking for real-life benchmark to reach upwards of 30MB/s, which is still 50% shy of theoretical top speed, but at least data transfers can be completed in timely manner. Now the same thing is happening to USB 3.0 (aka. SuperSpeed USB); consumer joe shouldn't expect performance to jump tenfold, initially.
One of the first public demo of SuperSpeed USB hard drive prototype built by Seagate and Symwave showed read operations topping out at 165MB/s and write at 125MB/s. That's not shabby at all, considering the record for the fastest USB hard drive manages an impressive 39MB/s. The work-in-progress USB 3.0 drive is already 4 times the speed of a highly-optimized USB 2.0 product. A USB-IF representative emphasized that bandwidth is likely to improve for the first retail drive, but it remains to be seen whether the industry will need another four years to double the actual USB 3.0 rate to 300MB/s.
Symwave and PLDA Demonstrate Worlds First Multi-Vendor USB 3.0 Interoperability
1/8/09
Symwave and PLDA today announced collaboration on a USB 3.0 interoperability demonstration at CES. The demonstration will showcase real-world data transfers between a PLDA SuperSpeed USB 3.0 host and a Symwave device at 5 Gigabits per second.
“Symwave is excited to team with PLDA to demonstrate for the first time USB 3.0 interoperability. Product maturity and interoperability are the catalysts of high volume markets and SuperSpeed USB 3.0 will be no different,” said John O’Neill, VP of marketing for Symwave. “PLDA is clearly on a path to become a leading supplier of USB 3.0 technology based on their execution to date.”
“We are pleased to work closely with Symwave on the development of our USB 3.0 IP,” said Stephane Hauradou, PLDA's CTO. “Symwave’s product developments have moved on a very aggressive timeline and are poised to have a significant time-to-market advantage in the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 markets they are pursuing.”
A new USB flavor is being previewed at CES this week. Seagate and Symwave are jointly demonstrating the first consumer application of USB 3.0 in Las Vegas, showing a Seagate FreeAgent drive running through a Symwave USB 3.0-compatible storage controller device. According to Symwave, this will result in "speeds previously unattainable with legacy USB technology."
The USB 2.0 Promoter Group completed the USB 3.0 specification in November. The new standard, also known as SuperSpeed USB 3.0, will manage transfer speeds of up to 5 Gbps -- more than ten times the transfer speed of USB 2.0.
The new USB technology will have a huge impact on PC peripherals and other consumer electronics. "Practically speaking, the implications are tremendous" says Melissa J. Perenson in a PC World article. "Imagine not having to wait hours on end for your full-drive data backup to complete, or not having a lengthy delay when off-loading 32GB flash memory cards from your digital camera."
The new standard will also improve power management. Ports will be able to send more electricity to devices, and devices can more efficiently manage electricity use. For instance, USB 3.0 will not poll devices, which will allow them to enter a sleep-like mode. And, of course, USB 3.0 will be backward-compatible with USB 2.0 and 1.1.
Symwave Demos SuperSpeed USB 3.0
1/7/09
Symwave, a semiconductor supplier of high-performance analog/mixed-signal connectivity solutions for the PC, consumer and mobile devices, announced it will demonstrate at CES, the world's first consumer application of SuperSpeed USB 3.0.
According to the company, Symwave is collaborating with test, cable, components and hard drive manufacturers to demonstrate the transfer speeds of USB 3.0 and is showcasing streaming data to and from external storage devices at speeds previously unattainable.
SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is poised to become the most pervasive high-speed connectivity technology over the coming years. It is backwards compatible with the more than 10 billion USB devices shipped to date, the company said.
USB 3.0 Promises Faster Speeds, Backward Compatibility
New interface for consumer electronics devices could be in products by Christmas 2009.
Melissa J. Perenson
1/6/09
Nearly a decade after USB 2.0 was first introduced, this practically ubiquitous technology is poised for its first major upgrade in years. Symwave, a semiconductor startup, and hard-drive maker Seagate are showing the first working demonstration of SuperSpeed USB 3.0 at CES. The demo setup includes an adaptation of an external Seagate FreeAgent hard drive equipped with the new interface, and shows the high read/write throughput and streaming video performance potential of USB 3.0 -- which promises faster speeds and backward compatibility with the 10 billion USB devices shipped to date.
Early in 2008, Symwave began work on a USB 3.0 physical-layer device in anticipation of the spec being completed by late last year. When the spec went to its first public 1.0 release at the SuperSpeed USB Developers Conference last November, Symwave was the only company ready with a proof-of-concept product.
One appeal of USB 3.0 over USB 2.0 for consumer electronics: The port can more efficiently handle power. "In 3.0, the power budget is up by 1.5 times that of USB 2.0. We believe that 3.0 will have a wider appeal to consumer electronics in that it offers greater flexibility in powering devices," (said John O’Neill, Symwave’s VP of Marketing). The improved pin configuration of USB 3.0 could allow for a device to charge faster, for example.
Article also appeared in:
Seagate Drives to Demo USB 3.0 This Week
Brian Heater
1/5/09
Seagate and semiconductor supplier Symwave today announced that the two companies are set to debut the Symwave USB 3.0 storage controller device this week at the Consumer Electronics (CES) show in Las Vegas.
Set to comply with SuperSpeed (USB 3.0) revision 1.0, the device will become the first consumer product to use the spec. Symwave USB 3.0 storage controller device will demonstrate its read-and-write speeds using Seagate's FreeAgent external hard drives.
"Symwave is honored to be working with Seagate in this show of the first USB 3.0 solution in a real world application of data backup, storage and media streaming," said, Symwave CEO, Yossi Cohen. "Customer reaction to our new PHY device for USB 3.0 has been extremely positive and we will continue to focus on delivering leading-edge products that will allow them to address the growing demand for high-speed storage solutions."
A version of this story was originally posted on:
K. T. Bradford
1/5/09
Symwave and Seagate are set to demonstrate just how fast a USB 3.0 hard drive will function at CES this year. Seagate’s FreeAgent external drives will be used for the demo which LAPTOP will attend later this week. However, the drives we see at the demo are not shipping USB 3.0 products but units that have been specially-modified just for testing. Still, it will be exciting to finally see what USB 3.0 is capable of.
Symwave, who announced the world’s first USB 3.0 physical layer device (PHY), will show off real world applications of SuperSpeed external drives, including data backup and media streaming. We’ll let you know how the demo turns out!
Symwave to Demo USB 3.0 Data Link Protocol at CES
Chris Preimesberger
1/2/09
Networking semiconductor maker Symwave will present the first public demonstration of USB 3.0 connectivity Jan. 6 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Symwave will demonstrate SuperSpeed USB 3.0, which it claims is at least 10 times faster than the current best USB performance. The ramifications for both consumer and enterprise markets are intriguing.
Symwave, in collaboration with several test, cable, components and hard drive manufacturers, says it will show USB 3.0 transfer speeds of up to 5Gb/ps for streaming data, to and from external storage devices.
"We believe that this will become the most pervasive high-speed connectivity technology over the coming years," John O'Neill, vice president of marketing for Symwave, told eWEEK. "There's FireWire, SATA [Serial ATA], Ethernet; when you look at the data rate capabilities of those technologies, USB 3.0 exceeds every one of those."
To view the article in its entirety, please visit:
Symwave is expected to show off the use of the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 specification for transferring data to and from external storage devices at CES in January. The semiconductor company said in a statement that the demonstration would highlight "streaming data to and from external storage devices at speeds previously unattainable." The demo is being done in collaboration with test, cable, component, and hard-drive manufacturers.
Version 1 of the next generation universal serial bus was sent in November by a group of tech companies, called the USB 3.0 Promoter Group, to the USB Implementers Forum, which is the managing body of the specification. The move effectively opened the high-speed spec to manufacturers of PC peripherals and other hardware.
USB 3.0 is capable of transferring data at a maximum rate of 5 Gbps, which is roughly 10 times faster than the current USB 2.0 standard. Devices that connect through a USB include mice, keyboards, personal digital assistants, joysticks, scanners, digital cameras, printers, personal media players, and external flash and hard drives.
USB 3.0 was unveiled in September 2007 at the Intel Developer Forum. The Promoter Group that developed the spec is comprised of Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, ST-NXP Wireless, and Texas Instruments. Nonmember contributors include Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia.
Symwave to Demonstrate USB 3.0 Storage Solution
1/2/09
Symwave will demonstrate at CES, the world’s first consumer application of SuperSpeed USB 3.0, which is 10 times faster than legacy USB technology. Symwave is collaborating with the leading test, cable, components and hard drive manufacturers to demonstrate the transfer speeds of USB 3.0 and will showcase streaming data to and from external storage devices at speeds previously unattainable.
SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is poised to become the most pervasive high-speed connectivity technology over the coming years. It is backwards compatible with the more than 10 billion USB devices shipped to date.
Symwave’s technology demonstration will be held in a private suite at the Las Vegas Hilton immediately adjacent to CES.
Symwave to demo USB 3.0 external storage solution at CES
We get the feeling that Symwave won't be the only outfit at CES 2009 showing off the flashiest revision of the USB protocol, but it will reportedly be the first to showcase USB 3.0 transfers to and from an external storage device. 'Course, we've already seen that SuperSpeed USB works (and works quickly), so we'll be most interested in seeing what external HDDs it relies on to make the magic happen. After all, the protocol can't gain traction without a small swarm of supportive devices on the market, right?
Symwave is expected to show off the specification for transferring data to and from external storage devices at CES in January
Symwave claims that next month it will become the first to demonstrate the use of the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 specification for transferring data to and from external storage devices.
Symwave plans to showcase the new spec at the Consumer Electronics Show, which runs Jan. 8-11 in Las Vegas. The semiconductor company said in a statement that the demonstration would highlight "streaming data to and from external storage devices at speeds previously unattainable." The demo is being done in collaboration with test, cable, component, and hard-drive manufacturers.
USB 3.0 devices are expected to be available in commercial controllers in the second half of next year. A USB controller is an expansion card or hardware built into a PC motherboard for communications between the operating system and the peripheral device. Consumer products using the new spec are expected in 2010.
Article also appeared in:
CES: First-Ever USB 3.0 Drive Expected
Mike Elgan
12/30/08
A company called Symwave plans to demonstrate at next month's CES the world's first-ever USB 3.0 storage drive. USB 3.0 promises to be 10 times faster than 2.0. Too bad the industry isn't ready yet.
It's your typical technology chicken-and-egg scenario, which requires, say, laptops with 3.0-compatible USB drives and USB 3.0 capable devices. Which comes first?
It's not clear if Symwave's drive actually comes first. That is, it's not clear whether Symwave will demonstrate an actual product, or a kludge designed to showcase their 3.0 technologies.
Still, it's a good sign, and one that suggests we could be seeing high-end notebooks with 3.0 compatibility -- plus peripherals that support them -- by the end of the year.
Article also appeared in:
Symwave Preps First USB 3.0 External Storage for CES 2009
Daniel Lim
12/30 /08
One week from now, the next-gen USB interface with full promises will make its run at CES 2009. The USB 3.0 version 1 enabled storage will get its first demo after a long 3 years in standardizing the new protocol. The demonstration will come from the Orange County based Symwave, who claimed to have achieved the World’s first USB 3.0 or Superspeed USB external storage solution, at CES 2009.
The SuperSpeed USB 3.0 has 10 times better bandwidth than existing USB 2.0 technology at 4.8 Gbits/s, excels the current eSATA interface and requires lower operating power while maintaining backwards compatibility; no doubt, it’s the next new wave to be featured in the next generation CE devices such as flash drives, external hard drives, Blu-ray drives, digital cameras, and many other speed-hungry electronics devices. The eyes are on Symwave now to deliver the first external storage with Superspeed USB technology.
Current Laptop and PC users need not panic, the new standard will find its way though ExpressCard or PCI Express slot expansion. Your equipment will not be obsolete when the USB 3.0 arrives. Besides, it’s fully compatible with USB 2.0.
Symwave will show a demo of a USB 3.0 storage solution next week in Las Vegas
USB 2.0 has been around for a long time now and its successor, USB 3.0, will be coming in the next few years to offer much faster transfer speeds. USB 3.0 will be available with products on the market by 2010 according to the USB-IF, the body in charge of the specification.
USB 3.0 will be the focus of attention at a demo slated to be shown at CES 2009 starting next week, put on by Symwave and partners from the data storage and hardware industry. Symwave says that its demo will show off the capability to stream data at speeds not previously available.
The big commotion surrounding USB 3.0 is its ability to transfer data at speeds of 5Gbps, roughly ten times the speed USB 2.0 is capable of. The massive speed increase will make it much easier for computer users to backup large amounts of data to an external storage solution using USB connectivity.
World's First USB 3.0 Storage to Debut at CES 2009
12/30/09
USB 3.0 is the next generation USB connectivity option for computer users that offers much faster connection speeds than what we get out of today's fastest USB 2.0 ports. At CES 2009, a company called Symwave will debut what it claims to be the world's first USB 3.0 storage solution.
This seems like a bit of the old chicken or egg dilemma to me. There are no computers supporting USB 3.0 at this time, but before OEMs and computer makers add USB 3.0 to computers, there need to be some devices on the market that use the interface.
Symwave will be offering demos of USB 3.0 external storage solutions at their CES 2009 booth. The big improvement for consumers with USB 3.0 is that data throughput is about ten times faster than USB 2.0. We can all agree that faster backups and transfer of large files is a great thing.
Symwave Breaks Desktop Connectivity Speed Record with World's First USB 3.0 Storage Solution
12/24/08
2009 International CES - Symwave, Inc. will demonstrate at CES, the world's first consumer application of SuperSpeed USB 3.0, which is 10 times faster than legacy USB technology.
Symwave is collaborating with the leading test, cable, components and hard drive manufacturers to demonstrate the transfer speeds of USB 3.0 and will showcase streaming data to and from external storage devices at speeds previously unattainable.
SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is poised to become the most pervasive high-speed connectivity technology over the coming years. It is backwards compatible with the more than 10 billion USB devices shipped to date. Just last month, Symwave announced the world's first USB 3.0 physical layer device (PHY) at the same time as the first public release of the Revision 1.0 Specification at the SuperSpeed USB Developers Conference.
Symwave Forms World Class Advisory Board with Industry Veterans from Dell, Best Buy and Intel
12/17/08
Symwave has named Dr. Kevin Kettler, Brian Chubboy and Gil Frostig to the Company’s new Technical Advisory Board (TAB). These three highly successful industry veterans bring nearly 80 years of combined technical and management expertise to Symwave. The TAB has been formed to proactively establish a long-term strategic vision for the company by drawing upon individuals with proven success in their careers and in synergistic industries.
Dr. Kevin Kettler, Chief Technical Officer of Dell, brings to Symwave 29 years of management and engineering experience in the personal computer industry.
Brian Chubboy, Senior Manager for Best Buy’s Exclusive Brands brings to Symwave 24 years of technology industry and retail experience.
Gil Frostig, Intel's Vice President of the Mobility Group, and Director of Low Power Components and Platforms Wireless for the Ultra Mobility Group (UMG), brings to Symwave over 25 years of industry-leading semiconductor experience at Intel.
“Having these distinguished individuals form our TAB underscores the strength of our technology and will bolster our pursuit of the market opportunity," said Yossi Cohen, President and CEO of Symwave. "As we continue to execute on our USB 3.0 product developments, it is paramount that our longer term strategic plans are developed, refined and launched. Collectively, this team brings both deep experience and broad perspective that is second to none in the entire high-tech industry. I look forward to working with them to capitalize on our technology leadership and drive explosive growth for Symwave."
In less than a year, Symwave Inc. Chief Executive Yossi Cohen has overhauled the chip startup he was recruited to run. When Cohen left a longtime gig at Irvine’s Broadcom Corp. in March to head Symwave, he made a lot of changes in short order. He moved the company’s headquarters from San Diego to Laguna Niguel, where he lives, as well as hired a trio of executives.
But his biggest task was to take a critical eye to the company’s chip lineup.
Before Cohen came onboard, Symwave’s primary business was designing chips for FireWire, a cord that plugs into a device, such as a camcorder, to transfer data quickly to a computer. Cohen decided to stop investing in FireWire and look for sales growth among the next generation of universal serial bus ports, or USB, the most popular means of connecting consumer electronics to a PC.
Users transfer photos, music, videos and data files between their handheld electronic devices and their computers via USB connections. They’re found in nearly every consumer device, including digital cameras, cell phones, digital music players and external storage drives.
Symwave shifted its focus to developing chips for the next generation of USB ports, dubbed USB 3.0. A few weeks ago the company debuted a chip that’s “backwards compatible,” which means it can make existing USB ports work 10 times faster. It’s an interim step before the newer version goes big and Symwave can land the chips in consumer electronics.
Spec drives USB to 300 Mbytes/s and beyond
Version 3.0 debuts new interconnect architecture
Rick Merritt
11/17/08
The widely used USB interface officially gets an upgrade to a version 3.0 Monday (Nov. 17) at a developers’ conference where a handful of companies are expected to announce product plans for the new spec with data rates that could hit 400 Mbytes/second.
In rough terms, client USB 3.0 chips could require twice the number of gates and consume three times the power of today’s USB chips, according to John O’Neill, vice president of marketing at Symwave, one of the companies demonstrating a USB 3.0 chip at the event.
However, thanks to its high data rates, USB 3.0 exceeds previous generations in terms of milliwatts per Gbit transferred, he said. “Additionally, because of the improved protocol, the host burden [in] processor cycles will be reduced and therefore the overall system power garners even more of an advantage on a mW/Gbit basis,” he added.
Symwave, Inc. announced a USB 3.0 physical layer device, the Quasar PHY which it will demonstrate at the show.
*Also covered in EE Times Asia and EE Times India
Also published EE Times story (above)
SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Finalized By Major Players in USB Promoter Group 11/17/08 The final specifications for the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is available and a discussion of the technology is underway at the SuperSpeed USB Conference in San Jose, California. Major players in the development of the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 include, Hewlett-Packard, ST-NXP Wireless, Intel, Microsoft, Texas Instruments and NEC. Symwave a global fabless semiconductor company provided a live demonstration of a USB 3.0 PHY device at the SuperSpeed USB Conference in San Jose. According to Yossi Cohen, President of Symwave, “ This is an amazing achievement for our engineering team and underscores our mixed-signal core competency. Symwave´s Quasar PHY is targeted at the fast-growing “sync- and- go” applications like mobile phones, media players, HD camcorders and external hard drives.
SuperSpeed USB 3.0 spec officially released, first chipset demonstrated
11/17/08
It’s been nearly a year since we first saw the USB 3.0 connector make an appearance at CES, and after months of corporate infighting, spec-polishing, and technical navel-gazing, the future of consumer peripheral connectivity is here — in the form of complete specifications and a demo. Yeah, so maybe SuperSpeed USB isn’t making the most dramatic entrance ever, but hey, it doesn’t have to with 4.8Gbps transfer speeds, improved power management, and backwards compatibility with USB 2.0 along for the ride.
As expected, the first wave of devices won’t hit until 2010, but Symwave’s giving attendees of this week’s SuperSpeed conference a taste of tomorrow with a demo of the Quasar USB 3.0 chipset, which is targeted at “sync-and-go” devices like phones and media players. Sounds lovely — now if you’ll excuse us, we have to go back to mourning the death of FireWire 400.
Monday November 17, 2008
First USB 3.0 Device Set to Debut Today
Symwave announced today that it will demonstrate the first-ever USB 3.0 Physical Layer (PHY) device, this week at the SuperSpeed USB Developer’s Conference in San Jose, CA.
The Quasar PHY is designed for use with “sync-and-go” devices like external hard drives, media players, HD camcorders, and phones. The Quasar is said to work at 5Gbps, making it 10 times faster than standard USB 2.0 devices.
The debut of the Quasar is set to coincide with the official release of the USB 3.0 specifications at the show.
USB 3.0, ExpressCard 2.0 Products Expected in 2010
Two popular PC I/O standards will see updated products in two years’ time, standards bodies announced Monday.
The USB Promoter Group announced that the final 1.0 version of the USB 3.0 standard had been approved and sent over to the USB Implementer’s Forum, which oversees licensing and compatibility testing. USB 3.0 is a serial protocol, and its improvement also had a domino effect, allowing the PCMCIA to announce release 2.0 of the ExpressCard standard.
Symwave said Monday that it will show off the first USB 3.0 physical layer component (PHY) this week.
Symwave, today announced that they are to demonstrate something that was first spoke about over a year ago, the first-ever USB 3.0 device. The Physical Layer (PHY) device will be on show at the SuperSpeed USB Developer’s Conference, which is being held in San Jose, CA.
The device is called the Quasar PHY and has been designed with “sync-and-go” devices; these include phone, media players, external hard drives and HD camcorders. The new device is rumored to work at 5Gbps, this makes is 10 times faster than USB 2.0 devices.
It is expected that the first SuperSpeed USB discrete controllers will appear in the second half of 2009, with consumer version coming in 2010. Full specs visit Business Wire
At the HotChips Symposium, Symwave’s Vice President of Solutions Architecture, Gideon Intrater discussed how the company’s SOC, using the high-speed standard, USB 3.0 will boost performance up to and beyond the top speed of SATA. It's a chip for external storage devices that includes several key functions for either HDD (hard disk drive) or SSD (solid-state drive) units. The chip will allow OEMs of storage devices and enclosures to offer speeds as high as 500MB per second because it includes support for RAID 0 configurations. Using RAID, the system maker can build an enclosure with two drives and either feed data faster by addressing both drives at once, or feed the same data to both drives so one is a mirror of the other, Intrater said. 
