The USB Promoter Group has announced the pending release of the USB4 Version 2.0 specification, which will be able to reach speeds up to 80 Gbps.
The USB Type-C and USB Power Delivery (USB PD) specifications will also be updated to enable this higher level of data performance. All of these specification updates are expected to be published in advance of this year’s series of USB DevDays developer events planned for November.
Protocol updates are also being made to enable higher performance USB 3.2, DisplayPort and PCI Express (PCIe) data tunneling to best use the higher available bandwidth.
Brad Saunders, USB Promoter Group Chairman said; “Solutions seeing the most benefit from this speed enhancement include higher-performance displays, storage, and USB-based hubs and docks.”
Key characteristics of the updated USB4 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 PCIe specifications.
- Backward compatibility with USB4 Version 1.0, USB 3.2, USB 2.0 and Thunderbolt 3.
image: shutterstock/Alexander_Evgenyevich