Intel Announced USB 3.0 Host Controller

Intel finally announced the availability of the draft specification for the USB 3.0 host controller. Intel dubbed the specification the Extensible Host Controller Interface (xHCI). The architecture is also known as SuperSpeed USB.
Intel says the xHCI draft 0.9 provides a standardized method for the host controller to communicate with the USB 3.0 software stack. The specification describes the registers and data structures needed to provide the interface between system software and USB 3.0 hardware. Intel also says that it plans to make available a revised xHCI 0.95 specification in the fourth quarter of 2008. The USB 3.0 specification promises to increase performance by 10 times what USB 2.0 is capable of. USB 3.0 or SuperSpeed USB promises bandwidth in the 600MB/second range. Products utilizing USB 3.0 are expected to arrive in 2009 or 2010. USB 3.0 is also compatible with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1.