USB 3, USB 4, Thunderbolt, & USB-C

In terms of tech success stories, the triumph of the USB, or Universal Serial Bus, has to rank up there among the best of them.

And it’s easy to forget that when the USB interface first became a thing in the mid-1990s, the change was a pretty big deal. Gone were the days of trying to match the right connector to the right port for the right peripheral device, and instead a single universal standard established itself to drive the IT revolution of the past 20 years. Indeed, as the world’s first company to manufacture the first SOC USB flash controller, Phison is at the forefront of this technological upheaval.

But things have gotten a little complicated as of late. With the introduction of different cable types, and a retroactive naming system that has caused more confusion than clarity, it’s not surprising that many people aren’t as up-to-date with developments as they’d like to be.

So let’s take a look at the current play as it pertains to USB connectors today and see what’s on the horizon with coming future developments.

USB 3.0 Type-A

The USB 3.0 standard connector encompasses the three USB 3.2 types currently available. These are:

1. 1. The SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.2 Gen 1), with a max speed of 5 Gbps
   2. The SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen 2), with a max speed of 10 Gbps
   3. The SuperSpeed USB 20 Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen 2 x 2), with a max speed of 20 Gbps

The SuperSpeed USB series is backward compatible with the previous USB 2.0 standard, and utilizes the same USB Type-A connectors first seen with the USB 1.1 in the late-1990s. The Type-A connector is the most common kind of connector in use today, and is found in the design of many kinds of peripheral devices, such as flash drives, digital cameras, external hard drives and computer keyboards, to name but a few.

Any USB Type-A plug will work with any other kind of Type-A port, regardless of whether the devices being connected were manufactured in different eras. The only thing that will be compromised will be the performance speed of the devices, with the slowest speed predominating, yet working nonetheless.

Read: Dominating the Game of Game Load Times

USB Type-C

The USB Type-C cable is a symmetrical connector system that can transfer both sizeable quantities of data, as well as facilitate faster and increased power charging across multiple devices.

The Type-C connector allows for a whooping 100W of power to be transferred between devices, compared with just 7.5W with the existing USB Type-A. The direction of the power transfer is no longer fixed, meaning that the device with the most power can act as the host. Power management is also optimized across whichever peripherals are connected, ensuring that each device only takes the power it needs, leading to lower overall power usage of all devices and applications.

Data transfer speeds of up to 20 Gbps are possible with the USB Type-C connector, and because the connector supports a number of different types of data, including video data, an entire movie could be downloaded in less than a second.

The Type-C port can also support the Thunderbolt protocol, but it will depend on the specific device. One issue here is that the ports will look the same, so it’s up to the owner of the device to determine whether the port is Thunderbolt compatible or not. However, Intel is now working with the USB Promoter Group, which should see all Type-C ports and devices compatible with the Thunderbolt connector system.

Thunderbolt

The Thunderbolt Interface (Version 1 + 2) was an alternative connector system jointly developed by Intel and Apple, and first brought to market under the name Light Peak in 2009. The new protocol sought to build on the benefits of USB by facilitating both data transfer alongside other forms such as video, and was able to double its maximum data rate to 20 Gbps by multiplexing its data signals.

The latest version of Thunderbolt 3 utilizes the Type-C connector, but allows for data transfer speeds of up to 40 Gbps. This means, for instance, that two 4K displays can be run simultaneously, or one 5K-resolution image displayed at a time.

And with Thunderbolt 3 using the Type-C connector – unlike the earlier Thunderbolt versions which used the Mini Display Port – it can support any other device or application that the Type-C connector supports, including its 100W power transfer capability, so long as the correct cables and ports are in place to facilitate this.

To make adoption of Thunderbolt technology more pervasive, Intel has decided to waive its royalty requirements to device makers who want to incorporate the technology into their products. Furthermore, Intel began building Thunderbolt into its native CPUs in 2019.

USB4

The aim of the USB4 system is to converge the USB Type-C ecosystem, and to increase data transfer based on the needs of the specific devices being used. The USB4 is modeled on the Thunderbolt protocol, and as such will permit the tunneling of PCI-e and DisplayPort data.

Although the USB4 will be compatible with the older Type-A interface, the enhanced features will not be preserved. This is also true of less sophisticated devices, where top level speeds of 40 Gbps will not be achieved. However, it is expected that clear labeling of USB4 devices will determine whether the application is capable of reaching either 20 Gbps or 40 Gbps.

Leverage your data storage options with Phison’s industry-leading USB solutions
Whatever kind of connection type you use, or the data storage needs you require, Phison has the answer with a full suite of Type A, Type A + Micro-B, Type A + Type C, and Type C Flash Drives available in standard, micro, OTG and encrypted forms.

And just as high-speed data rates are one thing, your data storage options are equally important.

With the best-in-class option for both entry-level and high-performance USB flash drive applications, Phison’s U17 and U18 SSD Controllers are the perfect solution for more efficient and productive data management. Built for any device using the Type-C connector, and backwards compatible for Type-A USB systems including the USB 2.0 and later, the U17/U18 single chip solution offers up to 4 TB capacity, is DRAM-less, and is 15x faster than external HDDs.

The U18 also allows for encryption via the Opal Storage Specification, offering enhanced cryptographic features, data confidentiality and authentication protocols should the device be breached.

Read: SD 7.0 Express - Making SD Bigger and Faster