Intel’s Thunderbolt 4 Promises More Bandwith Over Single Connection
July 13, 2020Intel has announced Thunderbolt 4 (8000 Series), the next generation I/O connectivity solution. Having a minimum transfer speed of 40GB/s, the new standard will offer docks with up to four Thunderbolt ports. These expanded capabilities and USB4 specification compliance also allow it to support universal cables of up to 2 meters in length.
The upcoming mobile PC processors, code named “Tiger Lake,” will be the first chips to have Thunderbolt 4 integrated with them. That said, the Thunderbolt 4 controller 8000 Series, will be compatible with computers with Thunderbolt 3 as well.
Speaking of the announcement, Jason Ziller, Intel general manager of the Client Connectivity Division, said, “Thunderbolt provides consumers with a leading connectivity standard, the promise of USB-C with simplicity, performance and reliability and universal connectivity solutions.”
Credit: Intel Corporation
Thunderbolt 4 offers the same minimum speed requirements of 40Gb/s as Thunderbolt 3. However, the older standard has a lower video and data bandwidth compared to the newer one. Over a single cable, Thunderbolt 4 can offer data and video transmission while supplying power to a device.
Here are its certification requirements:
- Double the minimum video and data requirements of Thunderbolt 3.
- Video: Support for two 4K displays or one 8K display.
- Data: PCIe at 32 Gbps for storage speeds up to 3,000 MBps.
- Support for docks with up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports.
- PC charging on at least one computer port2.
- Wake your computer from sleep by touching the keyboard or mouse when connected to a Thunderbolt dock.
- Required Intel VT-d-based direct memory access (DMA) protection that helps prevent physical DMA attacks.
Intel says that it expects to deliver the new Thunderbolt 4 8000 series controllers sometime later this year. The HL8540 and JHL8340 host controllers are for computer makers, while the JHL8440 device controller is for accessory makers.
This new standard helps increase the data bandwidth, allowing for more monitors and more connections to be made over a single port. This in turn, will allow manufacturers to further reduce the thickness of devices such as laptops.
