Provisional specification of new standard 'USB 4' assuming transfer rate of maximum 40 Gbps will be announced

by Masaru Kamikura

USB Promoter Group, an industry organization composed of companies such as Intel, Apple, and HP, announced the specification of the new USB4 specification following USB 3.2 . USB4 is based on Thunderbolt 3 and supports a variety of functions such as data transfer rate of up to 40 Gbps, display interface, power supply and so on.

USB Promoter Group Announces USB4 Specification
(PDF file) https://usb.org/sites/default/files/2019-03/USB_PG_USB4_DevUpdate_Announcement_FINAL_20190226.pdf

USB4 Specification Announced: Adopting Thunderbolt 3 Protocol for 40 Gbps USB
https://www.anandtech.com/show/14048/usb4-specification-40-gbps-type-c-tb3

In 2017, Intel announced that it incorporates support of its own high-speed data transmission technology "Thunderbolt 3" directly into the CPU, discloses its protocol specifications, makes it royalty free, and offers it free of charge to third parties. With Thunderbolt 3 royalty-free, Thunderbolt 3 compatibility became possible even for manufacturers other than Intel, and it could be said that it became the foundation of USB 4 as a result.

Intel Introduces Type-C Compatible "Thunderbolt 3" in CPU and Announces Royalty Free, Summary of Thunderbolt Popularization - GIGAZINE

USB4 has the same shape as USB Type-C, USB 2.0, USB 3.2, backward compatible with Thunderbolt 3 will be maintained. Encoding is 128b / 132b , USB4 maximum transfer speed using certified cable is 40Gbps. We are planning to support DisplayPort and USB Power Delivery Specification as well. The standard of USB 4 is expected to be officially approved in mid-2019, and more than 50 companies are actively participating in USB4 specification development for standard approval.

At the end of February 2019, it was announced that chips compatible with "USB 3.2 Gen 2 x 2", the next standard with a maximum transfer rate of 20 Gbps, will be released, and USB 3.2 Gen 2 x 2 will spread to the market from 2019 to 2020 It is expected to begin. Perhaps it is estimated that the chipset corresponding to USB4 will be on the market around 2021 - 2022.

The next-generation USB standard "USB 3.2" boasting a transfer rate of 20 Gbps is expected to be installed in PCs in 2019 - GIGAZINE