What’s next for USB and Thunderbolt?

Article By : Brian Dipert

早在2018年夏天（时间如何），我在USB上进行了两部分系列，首先审查了to-date evolutionsin signaling, connectors (including the physically compatible 3rd-generation Thunderbolt), and power delivery over various generations, and then discussing thedocks, adapters and other accessoriesI’d acquired for my first USB-C-equipped computer, aGoogle Pixelbook. I’ve subsequently acquired another “high-end” (as I referred to the product category in mySeptember 2018 piece) hub, for a couple of reasons:

• The Belkin hubI’d mentioned in my earlier coverage was priced attractively at the time I purchased it, but seems to havelongevity problems.
  • This new one I bought waswell reviewedand compellinglypromo-priced($230.44, versus theusual $279.99 on Amazon; given past experience with docks, I also sprung for the optional $33.99 3-year extended warranty)

It’sCalDigit’s TS3 Plus Thunderbolt 3 Dock; here are some “stock” shots to kick off my coverage of it:

The TS3 Plus has the following dimensions:

• Height : 5.15 inches (131.0 mm)
• Width : 1.57 inches (40.0 mm)
• Depth : 3.87 inches (98.44 mm)

And its weight is 1.04 lbs (0.47 kgs). It comes in two different shades of grey (mine’s the darker option).

风景和肖像(相对少见)operating orientations for the dock are possible, the latter nice for minimizing the required desk footprint. And as you may have already noticed, the TS3 Plus offers an abundance of connectivity options, including a relatively unique-among-docks S/PDIF digital audio connection:

Not shown in these photos is the separate power supply, which at 6″ × 1″ × 3″ is comparable in girth to the dock itself. But there’s a good reason for this; the Thunderbolt 3 port appropriately labeled [Computer] on the back of the TS3 Plus not only allows for data interchange with the connected PC or Mac, it also supplies up to 87 W of power to that computer. And again, this particular dock is intended for use in higher-end at-the-office setups, not necessarily when traveling (where bulk would be more problematic).

说话的权力,我不幸的是不能够se the TS3 Plus to the degree that I’d aspired, at least in the near term. I’d hoped that, since Thunderbolt 3 (which, recall,leverages the same physical connector as USB-C) is a functional superset of USB 3, I might be able to use the TS3 Plus (albeit in a reduced-performance and –function configuration) with my USB-C-equipped Google Pixelbook. No dice, it turns out; the TS3 Plus wouldn’t even wake up when connected to the Chromebook, far from do anything meaningful. Admittedly, I wasn’t completely surprised by this outcome, given that Amazon’s product listing for the TS3 Plus had explicitly noted “(Not compatible with 2015+ MacBook-Retina with USB-C port. Please use CalDigit USB-C Dock with MacBook-Retina).”

不过，我不是completelyshort-term SOL. As it turns out, I can use the TS3 Plus (again, in a reduced-performance and –function manner) with my existing Thunderbolt 1- and 2-equipped Macs in conjunction with anApple-branded adapter:

When I plugged the TS3 Plus-plus-adapter combo into one of the TB2 ports on my early-2015 13″ Retina MacBook Pro, for example, the dock woke up as intended, and USB flash memory drives I inserted in its various ports were promptly mounted by the computer. One thing Ihaven’t然而，能够通过码头工作是一个外部显示，但我想我知道为什么。该特殊的LCD具有VGA和DVI输入；我以前一直从我的Elgato Thunderbolt dockin conjunction with a HDMI-to-DVI adapter cable.

About the only notable “ding” I’ve seen in the various reviews of the TS3 Plus is that it includes a DisplayPort video output (presumably in a nod to theinterface’s implementation-cost-friendly open standard nature) instead of HDMI. And,as it turns out, any adapter connected to the dock’s DisplayPort output needs to beactive, not passive. All the ones I have on hand from myto-date HP Hackintosh experimentationare passive (I’ve got an active one on order).

Longer term, now that Apple isthankfully regressing its laptop keyboard design, I’m sure I’ll eventually migrate beyond my 2015-era (or older) Macs into newer TB3-equipped successors. Thunderbolt 3 is becomingPC越来越普遍，尤其是使用薄灯系统和游戏量的笔记本电脑，您可以将外部图形卡（EGPU）绑定到其中，尽管Microsoft的Surface Line（其WHS）明显不存在TB3Surface Pro family, for example, only migrated beyond USB 3 with the latest-generation “7” version, and then only to USB-C).

And speaking of generational evolution, what’s next for both USB and Thunderbolt? In early March 2019, Intel somewhat surprisingly (at least to me)donated the Thunderbolt protocol specification to the USB Promoter Group. In coordination (with asubsequent finalized-spec announcement that September), the USB Promoter Group also announced the pending release of the USB4 specification, incorporating the Thunderbolt protocol. In Intel’s words, “the convergence of the underlying Thunderbolt and USB protocols will increase compatibility among USB Type-C connector-based products, simplifying how people connect their devices.”

That said, “the devil’s in the details,” as the saying goes; manufacturers will still need to successfully complete a separate Intel-sanctioned certification process in order to be able to promote their next-generation USB devices as also being Thunderbolt-compliant (ironically, AMD and partner ASRockfinally通过英特尔认证成功获得了Thunderbolt 3主板just a few weeks ago）。因此，我怀疑许多（如果有的话）手机制造商会追求这一增加的Thunderbolt认证步骤；平板电脑供应商有点有些morelikely, and computer companies even more likely.

USB4, not due until next year at the earliest, will also double USB 3.2’s peak transfer speeds, therefore matching Thunderbolt 3’s current performance. Further muddying the waters, therefore, Intel did abrief Thunderbolt 4 sneak peekat January’s Consumer Electronics Show. After an Intel keynote claimed that TB4 would deliver “four times the speed of USB 3” the back-pedaling began, with company officials clarifying that they were comparing Thunderbolt 4 against the 10 Gbps version of USB 3.2 Gen 2. Since USB4 also has “four times the speed of USB 3.2 Gen 2,” nobody (save for Intel, presumably) knows at this point what Thunderbolt 4 will offer besides the earlier-mentioned Intel blessing of USB4’s various Thunderbolt aspects. Stay tuned, I guess.

Can your application leverage the functional, performance, and other benefits of these advanced interfaces, or is a good ol’ COM port good enough for you? Sound off in the comments!

—Brian Dipert is Editor-in-Chief of the Embedded Vision Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the company’s online newsletter.

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• Apple’s forced O/S migration causes Thunderbolt failure
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• Hackintosh: Another path to a high-end Mac