Intel recently revealed the final spec for USB 3.0 to the public and while the reception was relatively favorable. PC gamers, however, may want to make sure their home owner’s insurance premiums are paid up, there are some thing we didn’t know about USB 3.0 that are just now surfacing. According to our inside source, several members of the USB consortium are “put off” and “miffed” over their rather generic naming, having to compete against “cooler sounding” names such as i.Link and Firewire. USB 3.0 will be dubbed LaserWire and to live up to that name, they’ve made some questionable (but nonetheless impressive) changes to the original USB 3.0 spec draft.
USB 3.0 will no longer use traditional cabling as we’ve become accustomed to, instead opting for a decidedly next-generation optical delivery system. Not to be one to rely on existing technology, fiber optic cabling couldn’t handle the full bandwidth and transmission speeds required for USB 3.0, so instead of cabling, all hookups will be done with lasers, mirrors, and prisms. We will no longer need USB “hubs” as a series of precisely arranged prisms can divide a USB 3.0 beam into an impressive theoretical four trillion devices, limited only by desk space.
One caveat that hasn’t been addressed in the documentation is the power level of the lasers being used. To ensure adequate bandwidth and sufficient signal strength for repeated splitting, the power level is over 9000! While that may not seem notable, if the mirrors and prisms used to direct the USB 3.0 beam aren’t precisely aligned, you stand a very good chance at inflicting property or bodily damage. In our test lab, a laser rated at the same “over 9000″ power level, shot through the side of our 22″ CRT monitor like a stick pin through a balloon, destroying the tube inside.
While USB 3.0 has proven to be EXCEPTIONALLY powerful and efficient, there are still some areas that have proven troublesome. Early tests of USB 3.0 wireless mouse technology didn’t use an RF Dongle and tried to directly connect the mouse to the PC via laser connection, but every time you moved the mouse once it was aligned, you risked losing fingers. During testing, apparently the power level is turned down considerably, but several members of the testing team suffered 2nd degree burns across their knuckles. USB 3.0 mice for retail customers are still very much “on the drawing board” as opposed to the assembly line.
As a word of advice for folks looking to embrace USB 3.0 when it launches, I would recommend honing up on your Laser Squad skills as they’ll translate very nicely to how you’ll need to configure your USB 3.0 devices.
Laser Battle or USB 3.0 configuration? You decide!
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8 responses so far ↓
1 BlackBirdNL1 // Aug 15, 2008 at 6:42 pm
I was in the beta for Laserwire. I started testing the product and had severed all my limbs in no time. Intel didn’t even gave me as much as a coupon, thank god I have a chip build into my brains that allows me to communicate with my computer.
2 tsukasa // Aug 15, 2008 at 7:44 pm
LaserWire has been finetuned since dead BlackBirrdNL1, namely the biggest change is the creation of prisms with high density that weaken or reinforce the laser beam depending the need.
This easily offers you the choice of setting up some rather weak (with minimal effects on speed) that connects your PC to the remote mirrors/prisms where it is again reinforced to be able to travel in great distances.
Thankfully to the fact that I have a neighbour also a beta tester of LaserWire, we have had the pleasure to test the laser beams on MANY MORE applications than Intel initially mentioned. Said applications can be:
1: We found out that by boosting up the beams strength by condensing it via multiple prisms we could have it travel at great range, namely I can use my neighbours external HDD and printer just like they were in my own room.
2: the fact that there’s almost no limitation to how you use the laser beams gave us the idea of using it for security. Remember the Resident Evil movie? Atm we got setup a web of laser beams on every inch of our houses except a small corridor connecting them.
Regarding concerns about slowdown of the transfers when the beam is weakened, well current ‘production’ transfer speed is 19.7TB/sec. Weakening the beam down to the level that it cannot cause physical injury (but can still cause blindness) reduced the transfer speed to 14.3TB/sec. I dont think we need more than that atm. Not for peripherials atleast.
PS: And honestly for the love of god, if you dont know what you are doing, dont mess with laser beams. Im bored of reading off people loosing hands or other vital parts due to a prism getting knocked down or similar…
3 Zoomer // Aug 15, 2008 at 11:47 pm
ROFL. “It’s over 9000!”
Sorry. Other than that, I don’t have any intelligent input, other than that it would be very cool if this was for real….and also very stupid, in the way that detonating an atom bomb underwater, throwing river rocks into a fire, or spraying a hacky-sack with axe then lighting it and playing with it is.
4 Captain DDL // Aug 16, 2008 at 8:40 am
Great post, rothbart…I was reading this in my rss reader (so no tags or whatnot) and it was fairly believable…
5 urmomsaid // Aug 16, 2008 at 8:41 am
thats wut ur mum said
6 BlackBirdNL1 // Aug 16, 2008 at 9:19 am
@tsukasa, holy crap!!! I’M DEAD!?
7 Eoco // Aug 17, 2008 at 5:33 am
Hah! Nice post rothbart
8 jamezDeadman // Aug 17, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Damn, that was too much for me
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