Standard methods of data input/output (I/O) is having an increased presence within the central-processing, printed-circuit-board, and IP communities, reports In-Stat, a market research firm in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Standard, or nonproprietary I/O methods-HyperTransport, PCI Express, and Serial RapidIO-all have announced major revisions to their existing standards, and will increase their per-link chip-to-chip throughputs and overall bandwidths because they are finding ways to move high-frequency signals.

“The increased bandwidths serve to make the I/O more purposeful, but the nonproprietary I/O is stretching out to new usages,” says In-Stat analyst Chris Kissel. “Computing, networking, and communications are the early adopters of the new standards.”

In-Stat research finds that standard I/Os were in 461.3 million devices in 2006; that by 2010 517.3 million devices will have standard I/O; and that PCI Express, a serial I/O instead of a parallel I/O, has changed the nature of the PCI bus.

The research report, entitled “I/O, I/O, Changing the Status Quo: Chip-to-Chip Interconnects,” forecasts the use of HyperTransport, PCI Express, and RapidIO for devices from 2004 to 2010.

The report also covers the implications of changes in the I/O, and what they mean on a device level. For example, the I/O requirements for portable devices are different from those of personal computers.

This research is part of In-Stat’s PC Technology Service, which analyzes the market and technology changes that effect current and future PC system architectures. The report costs $3,495. For more information contact In-Stat online at www.in-stat.com.