80Gbps! USB-IF Releases New Specification for USB4® 2.0

November 11, 2022Industry

On October 18, 2022, in order to promote the development and application of USB technology, USB-IF officially launched the USB4 specification version 2.0. This significantly updated specification doubles the maximum aggregate bandwidth to 80Gbps. This performance boost can be applied to products such as higher-performance displays, data storage solutions, hubs, and docking stations. At the same time, USB-IF has also updated the specifications of USB Type-C and Power Delivery to support the new version of USB4.

80Gbps! USB-IF Releases New Specification for USB4® 2.0-Chargerlab

USB4 version 2.0 builds upon the multi-protocol tunneling architecture different from USB3.2 and USB2.0.
The key characteristics of the updated USB4 solution include:

Up to 80 Gbps operation, based on a new physical layer architecture, using existing 40 Gbps USB Type-C passive cables and newly-defined 80 Gbps USB Type-C active cables.
Updates to data and display protocols to better use the increase in available bandwidth.

⊙USB data architecture updates now enable USB 3.2 data tunneling to exceed 20 Gbps.

⊙Updated to align with the latest versions of the DisplayPort and PCle specifications.

Backward compatibility with USB4 Version 1.0, USB 3.2, USB 2.0 and Thunderbolt™ 3.

As for the next generation of thunderbolt, it will also deliver 80 Gbps of bandwidth while maintaining compatibility with previous versions of Thunderbolt and USB. In addition, the next generation of Thunderbolt, built on the newly released USB4 version 2 and DisplayPort 2.1 specifications, will benefit the next generation of gamers and creators.

Summary of ChargerLAB

The USB and thunderbolt have never been so similar until today. Not only is Thunderbolt based on USB4 version 2, but they also have the same maximum bandwidth. Maybe one day these two specifications will merge together and become a true "Universal" Serial Bus.