The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) has announced the upcoming Intel 7 Series Chipset and Intel C216 Chipset Family host silicon has achieved SuperSpeed USB certification by the USB-IF. The certified solution includes four SuperSpeed USB ports integrated into the chipset, enabling manufacturers to conveniently incorporate SuperSpeed USB into their systems.

“This is a tremendous milestone for the industry,” says Jeff Ravencraft, USB-IF president and chief operating officer. “With USB-IF certification of Intel’s integrated USB host silicon, host manufacturers will be able to bring SuperSpeed USB to the masses. Intel’s commitment to SuperSpeed USB will continue to provide peripheral device manufacturers a compelling incentive to develop a growing number of diverse SuperSpeed USB products.”

SuperSpeed USB brings significant performance enhancements to the ubiquitous USB standard, while remaining compatible with the billions of USB-enabled devices currently deployed in the market. SuperSpeed USB delivers up to 10x the data transfer rate of Hi-Speed USB, as well as improved power efficiency, according to Ravencrft.

The USB 3.0 specification was developed by the USB 3.0 Promoter Group, which consists of Hewlett-Packard Company, Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Renesas Electronics, ST-Ericsson and Texas Instruments. For more info go to http://www.usb.org .