"...Standard Microsystems announced today that it had successfully demonstrated a USB 2.0 to ATAPI/ATA/FDC drive adapter prototype IC system to invited customers at COMDEX/Fall 2000 recently held in Las Vegas, NV.

Devices compliant with the new USB 2.0 specification offer a backward and forward compatible upgrade to the multitude of USB 1.1 systems and peripherals currently available. With 40 times faster data rates, optical drives, such as CDROM and CD-R/W, and magnetic media rigid and flexible drives can now be connected via USB without any compromise in drive performance. It is expected that the majority of PCs shipping by the end of 2001 will have converted from USB 1.1 capability to USB 2.0.

The system demonstrated was an almost exact emulation of a single chip IC, currently in development, that will provide a USB Mass Storage Class interface directly to ATA, ATAPI, and FDC magnetic and optical drives and storage devices. The unique architecture of the integrated circuit will result in a device that fully complies with the USB 2.0 specification and provides complete ATA-66 Ultra DMA compatibility in an extremely compact and cost effective silicon solution. Unlike other announced solutions that do not have full ATA-66 compliant drive interfaces, this allows USB connected optical and magnetic media drives to achieve the full 53 MBps throughput capability of USB 2.0 and ATA-66 compliant drive mechanisms.

Details of the forthcoming USB 2.0 IC and its sample availability are expected to be announced in January 2001..."