MIPI Alliance and USB 3.0 Promoter Group Collaborate to Bring SuperSpeed USB "Inside the Box"

Agreement Driven by Performance Needs of Mobile Device Market

Piscataway, NJ, and Hillsboro, OR May 3, 2011 – MIPI Alliance and the USB 3.0 Promoter Group today announced the signing of a letter agreement between the two organizations.  The agreement will facilitate the combined use of the MIPI M-PHYSM physical layer with the SuperSpeed USB protocol and software layers to produce the SuperSpeed Inter-Chip (SSIC) specification.  Currently under development, the specification will bring M-PHY’s exceptional high bandwidth and low power, and the significant performance enhancements of SuperSpeed USB “inside” the mobile device interface system.  The two groups anticipate the SSIC specification will be available to USB adopters in early 2012. 

“USB 3.0 and MIPI Alliance both benefit from this agreement,” said Brian O’Rourke, Research Director at In-Stat. “USB 3.0 gains a path inside the box of a number of large, fast growing applications, including mobile phones and digital cameras. And MIPI gains access to the next generation of the world’s most successful interface technology and its software.”

The M-PHY interface is a high speed serial interface targeting up to 2.9 gigabits per second (Gbps) per lane with up-scalability to 5.8Gbps per lane as well as a low pin count and exceptional power efficiency.  SuperSpeed USB has a 5 Gbps signaling rate offering a 10x performance increase over High-Speed USB with enhanced protocol and power management while retaining compatibility with the existing USB device and software model.

“Achieving higher performance within the mobile device is at the heart of MIPI Alliance’s efforts,” said Joel Huloux, Chairman of the Board of MIPI Alliance.  “By joining the M-PHY physical layer with the SuperSpeed USB protocol and software, we believe adopters will benefit from the new mobile, low-power PHY technology.”

“By enabling SuperSpeed USB to operate over a physical layer optimized for internal use in mobile devices, a broad range of USB-enabled functions will have the opportunity to migrate into this huge non-PC market,” said Brad Saunders, Chairman/Secretary of the USB 3.0 Promoter Group.  “It is also possible that this solution will ultimately find its way back into the PC ecosystem for its low-power benefits as a chip-to-chip interface.”

About MIPI M-PHY

M-PHY is a physical layer serial interface technology with high bandwidth capabilities, developed specifically for mobile device applications.  The first version of the specification was released in 2009 and has received wide usage throughout the industry.About MIPI Alliance

MIPI Alliance is a global, collaborative organization comprised of companies that span the mobile ecosystem and are committed to defining and promoting interface specifications for mobile devices.  MIPI Specifications establish standards for hardware and software interfaces which drive new technology and enable faster deployment of new features and services.  For more information, go to www.mipi.org

About SuperSpeed USB

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 High-Speed USB, as well as improved power efficiency.  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. To learn more about SuperSpeed USB, please visit www.usb.org.