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The Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector has a wide range of users—your daughter in high school who needs to plug in her computer at the library and your elderly father-in-law who just got his first tablet, for instance. Because everyone in the connected world uses peripheral connectors to link devices to host computers, other devices, and power supplies, the engineers behind the USB Type-C (USB-C) standard strive to make connecting as consumer friendly as possible.
Device technology is evolving, and that means that peripheral connector technology is evolving, too. The leading standards today in peripheral connector technology include (developed by Intel and Apple), (Apple proprietary, in favor of USB-C), (developed by ), and USB (developed by USB Implementers Forum, , ). While each of these technology standards is distinct, we will take a deep dive into USB-IF’s USB-C technology, specifically due to its emerging ubiquity. Read on to learn more about why USB-C is growing in popularity and how the latest update, USB 80Gbps, better enables next-generation device connectivity.
Improved performance is a chief differentiator for each generation of the USB standard. It had humble beginnings back in 1996 at 1.5Mbps and performance levels have kept evolving to 80Gbps today, a 16x increase in the last 14 years!
In addition to advancing performance, the 2015 USB-C update was particularly notable. It streamlined peripheral connectivity by including DisplayPort Alternate Mode into the USB-C standard. From that point forward, instead of needing different cables for each of these two prevalent standards, the same type of connector and cable sufficed to handle high-throughput data, video, audio, and power. The update also introduced the unidirectional cable and connector, so it didn’t matter which way the cable was plugged into the receptacle—both sides of the plug were the right side up. A single cable to connect peripherals was an elegant, clean alternative to reduce that tangle of cables in your junk drawer or under your desk and has helped to spur USB-C popularity.
Thunderbolt and USB-C coming together in 2019 (this update was previously known as the USB4 standard, and it is now called USB 40Gbps) solidified the emergence of a prolific ecosystem. In a recent survey we conducted, there were over 200 different models of Thunderbolt and USB 40Gbps enabled host computers currently available, and that number is growing. Because of this traction—virtually all desktops and laptops support the USB-C standard—and peripheral devices and docking stations using USB-C have become ubiquitous.
With the new USB 80Gbps standard, a single cable from your laptop or desktop can connect to:
Because the performance level is so high with USB 80Gbps, you can also connect a number of devices simultaneously, providing a clean, single interface connection to your host system.
Here are the key features of the new USB 80Gbps release:
Oftentimes the most elegant solutions are achieved only after working through great complexity. The USB-C protocol is no exception. Even so, as USB-C rates increase and the complexity of devices increase, your design effort will, no doubt, also increase: You have mixed-signal, digital, software, and system-level considerations to juggle. There is simply more to think about these days. This is even more true, if your end goal is a consumer-oriented solution that must be intuitive and easy-to-use, working right the first time and in the future.
As your design challenges get more complex, 草榴社区 can help you simplify your USB design effort. Our comprehensive portfolio of 草榴社区 USB IP solutions includes Controller and PHY IP, verification IP, IP subsystems, and prototyping kits. With over 20 years successfully providing USB digital and mixed-signal solutions and over $1 billion in USB IP sales, we help designers implement their next-generation USB-enabled chip designs with less risk.
If you’d like to explore USB 80Gbps for your next SoC, download our white paper, User Expectations Drive Design Complexity, or contact us for help getting started.