IDF14 has seen Foxconn reveal some early renders of the USB 3.1 architecture implementation, and its accompanied USB 3.1 Type-C connecter cable.
Said to be smaller than Micro-USB, the USB 3.1 port allows the Type-C connector to be reversible in design, so that users don't have to worry about the cable's orientation while plugging it into the port.
The render images (via Golem.de) seem to be part of a presentation, and describe some details of the USB 3.1 specification, including HDCP support. However, there might be some final changes in its design before it reaches the end users.
The USB 3.1 port looks similar to that of Apple's Lighting Charger, and is described to be 8.3mm wide and 2.5mm tall. It has been also reported that the proposed USB Type-C connector will be able to support a SuperSpeed+ transfer speed for up to 10Gbps, which is twice the speed of existing USB 3.0 SuperSpeed transfer mode at 5Gbps. The USB 3.1 standard is aimed at reducing line encoding overhead to just 3 percent by changing the encoding scheme to 128b/132b.
USB 3.0 was released in November 2008. A USB 3.0 port is usually colored blue, and is backwards compatible with USB 2.0. The USB 3.1 standard will also be backward compatible with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0.
The USB 3.1 specification and accompanying USB 3.1 Type-C connector design is expected to be finalised by July, as per USB Implementers Forum, which had announced its plans in January.
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