Universal Serial Bus

Sources:

• http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/io/universal-serial-bus/universal-serial-bus.html?wapkw=usb
• http://computer.howstuffworks.com/usb.htm

The current standard competing heavily against Thunderbolt is USB.

History:

• Released in 1995 with transfer rates of 12.5 Mbps.
• Promoted by a USB Implementers Forum formed by a collaboration of many different companies.

Facts:

• USB 2.0 supports transfer rates up to 480 Mbps.
• USB 3.0 supports transfer rates up to 5 Gbps.
• Is backwards compatible with previous USB devices.
• Can connect up to 127 devices.
• Slots can be increased by adding hubs with more ports.