Curtin University

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Transmission and Interface Design 203 Assignment

Due: 5.00pm, Wednesday, 16 May 2012 Submit your work directly to your Lecturer

Universal Serial Bus, or USB, has become a very popular standard for connecting digital devices together, for example, printers, digital cameras, desktop and laptop computers, and thumb drives. It was first introduced to the market in 1995/1996 as USB 1.0, and since then, it has gone through a number of revisions, with USB 3.0 being the latest version. Firewire is another popular serial interface, and like USB, it too has undergone a number of enhancements since its introduction with Thunderbolt being the latest incarnation. In this assignment, you are required to write a report discussing the following points: (i) (ii) What is USB3.0, and in particular, its underpinning technology? What is Thunderbolt, and in particular, its underpinning technology?

(iii) How does USB3.0 compare with Thunderbolt? That is, what are their relative merits and demerits? (iv) Can USB3.0 be made compatible with Thunderbolt, and vice versa? The requirements of the report are: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) 5-page minimum, 12-point Times Roman font, and 1 line spacing. Margins no more than 2.5cm top, bottom, right and left of the page. Include appropriate headings in your report, for example, Introduction, USB3.0, Thunderbolt, Comparison, Compatibility, Conclusions, References. Label all figures and diagrams. Except for the figures and diagrams, all text must be written by you. The style of English must be at a professional level. Therefore, for example, the use of words such as you and I are strictly forbidden, though we is acceptable.