Friday, September 2nd 2022
USB4 Version 2.0 Said to get 120 Gbps Asymmetric Mode
It was only yesterday that the USB Promoters Group announced the USB4 Version 2.0 spec with support for speeds of up to 80 Gbps, something TechPowerUp mentioned at the end of our USB4 article back in June. Now details of a 120 Gbps asymmetric mode has popped up, courtesy of Angstronomics and we've managed to confirm that it is indeed something that is coming from one of our own sources. We were in fact told back in June that the 80 Gbps mode was meant to be asymmetric, but this was not mentioned in the recent press release.
The 120 Gbps mode will use three of the four data pairs for upstream data and the fourth 40 Gbps data pair will be for downstream data from and to the host controller.Asymmetric data transfers are nothing new over USB Type-C cables, as the DP Alt Mode is already taking advantage of this. This is possible because USB4 Version 2.0 will move to PAM3 (Pulse-Amplitude Modulation) data encoding from today's 64/66- or 128/132-bit encoding. The next generation of Thunderbolt is also expected to use PAM3 encoding to reach the rumoured 80 Gbps speeds that were posted somewhat by mistake by an Intel executive last year.
Source:
Angstronomics
The 120 Gbps mode will use three of the four data pairs for upstream data and the fourth 40 Gbps data pair will be for downstream data from and to the host controller.Asymmetric data transfers are nothing new over USB Type-C cables, as the DP Alt Mode is already taking advantage of this. This is possible because USB4 Version 2.0 will move to PAM3 (Pulse-Amplitude Modulation) data encoding from today's 64/66- or 128/132-bit encoding. The next generation of Thunderbolt is also expected to use PAM3 encoding to reach the rumoured 80 Gbps speeds that were posted somewhat by mistake by an Intel executive last year.
66 Comments on USB4 Version 2.0 Said to get 120 Gbps Asymmetric Mode
At these speeds, we'd get eGPUs working with no performance deficit, if this USB4 v2 handles latencies well (which it probably doesn't).
USB4 supports PCIe tunelling, so it would be pure PCIe signals, so no latency penalty.
Save for perhaps some select GPGPU tasks, I don't know why a GPU would need a whole lot of bandwidth to send data to the system memory. It's probably the flow of assets from system memory to VRAM that takes the most bandwidth anyway.
That said, it seems like someone has written a short paper on asymmetrical PCIe, that might help answer your question.
www.tdcommons.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2864&context=dpubs_series
I'm looking forward to more powerful docks, peripherals, eGPUs, DP2.0 monitors, faster external storage coming to market. And with an open USB4 implementation, prices of such technology should come down, as many manufacturers won't need to get thunderbolt certification. Case in point: I have an Anker USB4 cable, certified by the USB-IF for 40 Gbps data, and 240W charging. The cable was only $26.99 on Amazon, which less than half of the price of TB4 cables... and this cheaper cable can charge a compatible device at 2.4x the charging speed capability as the more expensive TB4 cables. 240W vs 100W. I have a 140W battery, and TB4 cables can only charge it up at 100W... the cheaper USB4 cable can charge it up at full tilt.
My main question here is: what generation of PCIe will USB4 v2 enable? Is it PCIe4.0? 5.0? And how many lanes of PCIe bandwidth? Finally, we've heard that with PAM3 signaling, existing TB4 (and USB4 40 Gbps?) cables will be able to take advantage of the new data speeds, no problem. But what about existing TB4 controllers...will a firmware update enable them to pump data at faster than 40 Gbps? I doubt this: my thought is TB4 controllers are connected to the PCIe root complex at PCIe 3.0... foreclosing any opportunity for a speed bump via a firmware update.
really how hard is it to call it USB5 it has x2 the bandwidth
Those cables are not that hard to find. But yes you will have more luck finding generic or "dodgy" brand cables than well known brand cables. But they do work. How long they last I will never know though. I can also find USB4 cables but I don't need those and I can't test them anyway because they are too expensive, comparable to TB4 cables in pricing. Not to mention I don't have a Ryzen 6000 laptop anyway. Just buy a Ryzen 6000 series laptop for a host. Then buy a good NVME SSD and a USB 4 (USB4? whatever) external enclosure. They exist. Then come back with a review. Thank you.
My concern with USB4 is the ever shortening length of cables. All the high speed USB-C cables are 1 meter long and you really have to search to find a longer cable. Connecting my webcam from the top of my monitor to the desktop PC on the floor was a pain because I needed a 3m cable and had to buy and return 5 different ones before I found one that reliably works at 5gbps.
WTF USBIF??? Make it easy, will you?
I do like the concept of the assymetrical connections, if only they could negotiate in realtime - allowing external hard drives for example to swap around in real time depending if you're reading or writing
This has gone beyond anything sane... :banghead: Exactly! Plus, these speeds can't be achieved over even moderate distances with USB4.
Pretty much useless spec
USB4 [major version dot minor version] [generation] [revision] x(3+1)
optionally followed by PD [major version dot minor version].