VIA announces new VL811 USB 3.0 hub controller

VIA has announced a new USB 3.0 hub controller that is a second gen controller and a single chip solution. The controller supports the higher transfer speeds of USB 3.0 with transfer rates up to 5Gbps. The new controller is called the VL811 and it has a key new feature that is called the Charging Downstream Port or CDP. The CDP is defined in the USB battery charging specification.

What that means is that when the user of the device running the VL811 controller hooks a USB device that is battery charging specification compatible it can charge more than three times as fast as a conventional hub or host is able to charge the device. Faster charging is one of the features that many people want out of their gadgets.

The charging downstream port allows the user to charge quickly and transfer data as well at the same rate the device would transfer when charging with an AC adapter. The VL811 allows for USB devices to be connected to a single downstream port on the host computer or another hub. The four ports are all backwards compatible for older devices. The new hub controller is also supported on all major OS' including Windows 7 and it uses an in-house USB PHY with an advanced CMOS processor for low power consumption. It also supports low power states to conserve battier life.