The USB cable market is taking a new look and soon we will witness the latest USB 4 version 2.0 capable of delivering speeds up to 80Gbps. The speed of the upcoming Type-C will be able to provide roughly twice the capacity of the original USB 4 or even Thunderbolt 4. The USB Promoter Group has announced the upcoming release of the USB4 version 2.0 specification, and the main highlight of the upcoming USB release is that it will enable up to 80Gbps data performance through the latest USB Type-C connectors and cables. The USB Type-C and USB Power Delivery (USB PD) specifications have also been updated for higher data performance. “This updated USB4 specification once again follows the USB legacy, doubling data performance and providing a higher level of functionality for the USB Type-C ecosystem,” said Brad Saunders, chairman of the USB Sponsors Group.
“Solutions seeing the most benefit from this speed enhancement include higher-performance displays, storage, and USB-based hubs and docks,” he said in a statement.
All of these specification updates are expected to be released ahead of the USB DevDays series of developer events this November. Protocol updates have also been made to better utilize higher-performance USB 3.2, DisplayPort, and PCI Express (PCIe) data tunneling for higher available bandwidth.
Key features of the updated USB4 solution include operating speeds of up to 80Gbps, based on a new physical layer architecture, using existing passive 40Gbps USB Type-C cables and newly defined active 80Gbps USB Type-C cables. It provides data updates and display logs to better utilize the increase in available bandwidth and is backward compatible with USB4 version 1.0, USB 3.2, USB 2.0 and Thunderbolt 3 – Packard, Intel, Microsoft, Renesas Electronics Corporation, STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments as member.