mynovelweb Chapter 145 UHSB Press Conference
Chapter 145 UHSB Press Conference
10:00 AM, San Jose Convention Center, Main Exhibition Hall.
The venue was filled with over 800 seats. The front row was occupied by representatives from manufacturers such as Dell, HP, Compaq, AMD, Sun, IBM, Sony, and Toshiba. The middle row was for media reporters, and the back row was for developers, students, and industry professionals.
The stage backdrop featured a giant UHSB logo—three letters above a speed graph. Countdown timers were displayed on the side screens: 00:00.
The lights went out.
Ling Yun walked up from the left side of the stage, wearing a dark gray suit but no tie.
"Good morning, everyone," the voice boomed through the microphone, "Today, we'll be talking about computer interfaces."
There was no opening, just a direct introduction.
"Over the past two decades, computer interfaces have become incredibly diverse. Printers used parallel ports, keyboards and mice used PS/2, and external storage used SCSI or parallel ports. Each device needed its own interface, its own cables, and its own drivers."
A messy interface diagram appeared on the large screen.
"Chaos leads to high costs, poor compatibility, and a terrible user experience." Ling Yun pressed the remote control in his hand. "Today, we propose a solution: one interface to connect everything."
Screen switching. A concise interface diagram appears.
"Universal High-Speed Bus (UHSB)"
Digital display:
Transmission speed: 150Mbps (theoretical value)
Interface dimensions: 8mm x 2mm
Power supply capacity: 5V/1A
Supports hot-swapping
Supports reversible blind insertion
A low murmur arose from the audience.
“Numbers are boring,” Lingyun said. “Let’s look at the actual product.”
The staff pushed in a table with several pieces of equipment on it.
The first one is a USB flash drive. It's black and small.
"UHSB flash memory disks. Capacities of 32MB, 64MB, and 128MB. Actual read and write speeds exceed 100Mbps. Copying a movie only takes a dozen seconds."
Demonstration. Plug in the laptop; a transfer progress bar appears on the large screen. A 100MB file completes in 8 seconds.
Applause erupted from the audience.
The second is the mouse, "UHSB mouse. Latency is less than 1 millisecond, twice as fast as existing technology."
Demonstration. Fast movement in FPS games, with a responsive cursor and no ghosting.
The third is an external optical disc drive.
The fourth is a portable hard drive.
The fifth one is... a strange square device.
"This is a concept product." Ling Yun picked it up. "A UHSB hub. One port expands to four, allowing you to connect a mouse, keyboard, USB flash drive, and mobile phone simultaneously."
The room fell silent for a moment, then the applause grew louder.
"But these products are just the beginning," Lingyun said, putting down the hub. "The more important thing is the standards."
The cover of the protocol document appears on the screen.
"The UHSB 1.0 standard specification is now completely open source. Anyone can download, use, and modify it. The only condition is that if you develop a product based on this standard, you must pass compatibility certification to ensure a consistent user experience."
Someone in the audience raised their hand; it was a reporter from Wired magazine.
Does "open source" mean "free"?
"Completely free," Ling Yun confirmed. "No licensing fees, no patent fees. All of our core UHSB patents have been placed in the 'UHSB Alliance Patent Pool.' Alliance members can use them for free."
"An alliance?" another reporter asked.
"Yes." Ling Yun pointed to the front row below the stage, "Please invite the founding members of the alliance to come up on stage."
Representatives from Dell, HP, Compaq, AMD, and Sun took the stage. Each of them held an agreement in their hand.
"Today, the UHSB Standards Alliance is officially established," said Ling Yun. "There are seven founding members, and the alliance's charter is very simple: First, to maintain the standard's openness and free access; second, to jointly build a patent pool and share technology; and third, to promote UHSB as the de facto industry standard."
The AMD representative took the microphone.
"We joined the alliance because UHSB represents the future. Higher speeds, lower power consumption, and smaller size. This is crucial for mobile devices, networking equipment, and consumer electronics."
Sun's representative added.
"The open-source and free model is the best way to break the monopoly. We support UHSB just as we support Java."
Next are the specific details.
Patent pool management: Managed by an independent third party. Alliance members pay an annual fee (ranging from $10,000 to $500,000 depending on company size), which is used to acquire relevant patents and make them available to all members.
Compatibility Certification: Testing centers are located in six locations worldwide (Silicon Valley, Taipei, Shenzhen, Munich, Tokyo, and Singapore). Products receive certification marks after passing the tests.
Future roadmap: The UHSB 2.0 standard is in the planning stages, with a target speed of 300Mbps, and is expected to be released in 1999. It will also be open source and free.
"Our vision is clear." Ling Yun returned to center stage, "In the next three years, we will make UHSB the unified interface for all mobile devices, network devices, and audio-visual equipment. Mobile phones, cameras, MP3 players, external hard drives, printers, scanners... all will use the same interface."
A concept image appeared on the large screen: the laptop has only one UHSB port on the side, which connects all peripherals through a hub.
"Simplify life, improve efficiency, and reduce costs," Ling Yun said. "This is what technology should do."
Q&A session.
The first question came from a reporter from The Wall Street Journal.
Intel and Microsoft released a joint statement this morning announcing that the USB 2.0 standard will be released earlier this June, with speeds of 60Mbps. What are your thoughts on this?
"We welcome competition," Ling Yun said. "But the technical specifications speak for themselves when comparing 60Mbps to 150Mbps. Moreover, USB 2.0 requires licensing fees, while UHSB is free. Manufacturers will make a rational choice."
"But Intel controls the chipset market. If they don't integrate the UHSB controller into the chipset, manufacturers will incur additional costs."
"So we need more allies." Ling Yun looked at AMD and Sun. "Fortunately, there's more than one company in the chip market."
The second question came from a German journalist.
How does the patent pool model prevent patent abuse?
"The patent pool has strict management rules," Ling Yun explained. "First, it only includes standard essential patents. Second, all patent grants must be fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory. Third, the patent pool itself is a non-profit organization with transparent income and expenditure, and publishes an annual audit report."
The third question came from a representative of the Taiwanese manufacturers.
How do we join the league?
"Starting this afternoon, applications can be submitted on the UHSB website, and the secretariat will review them within two weeks. In principle, any company can join, as long as it promises to abide by the alliance's bylaws."
The press conference lasted until 12:30 pm.
At the end, the manufacturers' representatives gathered around.
The Dell representative asked, "When will the first batch of UHSB controller chips be shipped?"
"Next month," Ling Yun replied, "manufactured by AMD and UMC, with an initial production capacity of one million units."
The HP representative asked, "When does the certification testing begin?"
"The Silicon Valley testing center will open first next Monday, with other locations opening gradually."
The Sony representative asked, "Can it also be used on consumer electronics devices, such as cameras?"
"Yes. We have already collaborated with several Japanese companies to develop the UHSB interface, which is small in size and suitable for portable devices."
The crowd gradually dispersed.
Backstage, Alex excitedly scrolled through the order records.
"Dell ordered 500,000 controller chips, HP 300,000, Compaq 200,000, and a dozen or so smaller manufacturers, totaling 300,000."
"Can the production capacity keep up?" Lingyun asked.
UMC said there was no problem; they had just expanded production.
"Okay." Ling Yun loosened his collar. "Is the media interview scheduled for this afternoon?"
"It's all arranged. CNN, BBC, NHK, Xinhua News Agency."
"In accordance with the unified message: technology should be open source, standards should be free, monopolies should be opposed, and innovation should be promoted."
"clear."
Zhao Hu handed him a bottle of water.
"Mr. Ling, what about Microsoft and Intel...?"
"Let them go." Ling Yun took a sip of water. "In the end, the technology war will be decided by the products. Our products are better, our standards are more open, and our prices are lower. The market will make the choice."
In the evening, we returned to the hotel.
Sofia compiled media reports.
"Mainstream media gave positive reviews, with technology media particularly praising the open-source model, while financial media focused on its impact on Intel and Microsoft."
"What about the stock price?"
Intel closed down 2%, Microsoft down slightly by 0.5%. AMD rose 5%, and Sun rose 3%.
"That's normal." Ling Yun turned off the TV. "This is just the beginning."
The UHSB launch event was a success.
But the real challenges lie ahead: how to implement the standards, how to build the ecosystem, and how to counter the backlash from the Wintel alliance.
My phone vibrated. An Shiyu had sent a text message: "I saw the news, congratulations."
Lingyun replied, "Thank you. I miss you."
"When are you coming back?"
"Soon. After I finish dealing with things here."
"it is good."
Lingyun put down his phone and said to Zhao Hu.
"Book a flight for the day after tomorrow. Back to Hong Kong."
"Yes."