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We now find ourselves in a similar spot with USB 3.2. The newest, fastest version of USB 3.2 offers a max speed of 20Gbps and is called USB 3.2 Gen 2x2. (The 2x2 means it's the second generation and has two 10Gbps lanes to achieve its maximum throughput of 20Gbps.) The older USB 3.1 has a single 10Gbps channel and is called USB 3.2 Gen 2. Then there's USB 3.0, which is now called USB 3.2 Gen 1. Know your USB 3.2 versions In 2013, USB-IF announced that it was taking USB up to 10 Gbps and, in doing so, changed the version number for all USB 3.x products. So USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) became USB 3.1 Gen 1 and the new, 10 Gbps speed became USB 3.1 Gen 2. USB4 hosts and devices will be marketed to consumers as USB4 20Gbps or USB4 40Gbps, depending on the maximum speed they support. One would think that is great, as USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 devices are rated at 20Gbps. This would easily fit into the lower USB4 tier. Unfortunately, therein lies the fine-print: Prior to looking at the benchmark numbers, power consumption, and thermal solution effectiveness, a description of the testbed setup and evaluation methodology is provided. Testbed Setup and Evaluation Methodology
Commercial controllers were expected to enter into volume production in the first quarter of 2010. [23] On 14 September 2009, Freecom announced a USB 3.0 external hard drive. [24] On 4 January 2010, Seagate announced a small portable HDD bundled with an additional USB3.0 ExpressCard, targeted for laptops (or desktops with ExpressCard slot addition) at the CES in Las Vegas Nevada. [25] [26] And then, in desperation, we swapped the provided PNY cable with another that came from a Seagate One Touch SSD, which is ironically only Gen 2 speed rated. The USB Implementors Forums (USB-IF) maintains USB specifications and compliance, and it's behind the naming schemes found on USB cables and devices. When it introduced USB 3.1, rather than keep things simple and let that name differentiate from USB 3.0, it called the new standard "USB 3.1 Gen 2." USB 3.0 was retroactively renamed "USB 3.1 Gen 1."Note, we said ‘can be’ because the exercise of testing this drive proved to be much more challenging than we’d anticipated.
Having two Gen 2x2 devices in hand, we felt that the standard was gaining market traction. To get started with the review, we reached out to a couple of the aforementioned expansion card manufacturers, and Yottamaster was the first to respond with a retail sample of the C5 expansion card. USB 3.0 Radio Frequency Interference Impact on 2.4GHz Wireless Devices" (PDF). USB.org. USB Implementers Forum. April 2012 . Retrieved 14 October 2019. USB 3.0 Technology" (PDF). hp.com. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 January 2014 . Retrieved 2 January 2014.
Introduction
This isn't the first time USB names have shifted. USB 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 were absorbed into USB 2.0. When USB 3.1 showed up, USB 3.0 suddenly became USB 3.1 Gen 1, and the newer standard received the label USB 3.1 Gen 2. This means that USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 devices - capable of operating at up to 20 Gbps like the SSDs we discussed in this review - will operate at Gen 2 speeds (10 Gbps) in those USB4 ports that only fulfil the minimum mandated USB 3.2 data speed. In fact, it is confirmed that even the USB4 40Gbps and Thunderbolt 4 ports (that are compliant with USB4 specifications) of the Tiger Lake UP3-based systems will operate these 20 Gbps SSDs only at 10 Gbps. Adding to existing equipment [ edit ] A USB3.0 controller in form of a PCI Express expansion card Side connectors on a laptop computer. Left to right: USB3.0 host, VGA connector, DisplayPort connector, USB2.0 host. Note the five additional pins on the underside of the tongue of the USB3.0 port. Currently available USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 hosts and devices use silicon from one supplier - ASMedia. JMicron had previously talked in various trade shows about the JMS586 USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 to PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD bridge controller and the JMS591 USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 / eSATA III to 5-port SATA III bridge controller. When retail products using those controllers start hitting the market, the pricing premium that ASMedia commands may temper a bit.
Why Samsung took until now to jump on the Gen 2x2 bandwagon is a mystery, but it could have plenty to do with the less than overwhelming level of USB 4.0 capable systems in the market.Finally, and perhaps most importantly, external SSDs and the best hard drives need at least USB 3.2 / 3.1 / 3.0 speeds. The fastest external SSDs or SSD enclosures can operate at USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) or USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps), though the 10 Gbps speed is far more common and cheaper. USB3.2 Gen1(x1) – newly marketed as SuperSpeed USB 5Gbps (replaces SuperSpeed or SS), 5 Gbit/s signaling rate over 1 lane using 8b/10b encoding (nominal data rate: 500 MB/s); replaces USB3.1 Gen1, or USB3.0, respectively.
USB3.2 is supported with the default Windows 10 USB drivers and in Linux kernels 4.18 and onwards. [66] [67] [68] USB4 was announced in 2019 as the next evolution of the USB standard, and is available exclusively using the USB-C connector (rather than the legacy USB-A connector). It can operate at either 20 or 40 Gbps, the latter of which is equivalent to Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 as USB4 can be compatible with Thunderbolt. The VBUS, D−, D+, and GND pins are required for USB2.0 communication. The five additional USB3.0 pins are two differential pairs and one ground (GND_DRAIN). The two additional differential pairs are for SuperSpeed data transfer; they are used for full duplex SuperSpeed signaling. The GND_DRAIN pin is for drain wire termination and to control EMI and maintain signal integrity. Ku, Andrew (19 June 2012). "USB Attached SCSI (UAS): Enabling Even Better USB 3.0 Performance– Faster USB 3.0 Performance: Examining UASP And Turbo Mode". Tom's Hardware . Retrieved 19 January 2014.Direct-attached storage devices are evaluated using the Quartz Canyon NUC (essentially, the Xeon / ECC version of the Ghost Canyon NUC) configured with 2x 16GB DDR4-2667 ECC SODIMMs and a PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD - the IM2P33E8 1TB from ADATA. The USB3.1 specification includes the USB 2.0 specification while fully preserving its dedicated physical layer, architecture, and protocol in parallel. USB3.1 specification defines the following operation modes: The USB3.0 specification is similar to USB2.0, but with many improvements and an alternative implementation. Earlier USB concepts such as endpoints and the four transfer types (bulk, control, isochronous and interrupt) are preserved but the protocol and electrical interface are different. The specification defines a physically separate channel to carry USB3.0 traffic. The changes in this specification make improvements in the following areas:
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