4 ms·

Nope. Much simpler. Just enabling the use of the other data lanes that were already in the cable waiting to be used one day. USB-C has 4 differential twisted p

Nope. Much simpler. Just enabling the use of the other data lanes that were already in the cable waiting to be used one day. USB-C has 4 differential twisted pair data lines.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
artiscode 8y ago
That sort of explains why USB cables have been getting more expensive. More copper.
- chris_mc 8y ago
  Probably more like "better tolerances" or something like that. The labor/time put into a cable is the most pricey part, raw materials are probably only a few cents, even if you double the copper into it.
- gumby 8y ago
  and more silicon. These cables are more than just wire.
- metaphor 8y ago
  It's more the process of qualifying technology that's increasingly faster with every generation than the cost of raw materials.
starpilot 8y ago
Why not turn them on all at once?
- NullPrefix 8y ago
  Crosstalk with other pairs.
Dylan16807 8y ago
Not 'just' at all. USB 2 has a single twisted wire pair, specced for moderate speed. USB 3 replaces that with two pairs with much tighter requirements, one for transmit and one for receive. This involves a tenfold speed boost (.5Gbps to 5Gbps), with much more modern transceivers using much higher frequencies on much better wires. But it also drops the length a single passive cable can be from about 5 to 2 meters. USB C doubled the number of pins while making the plug reversible, so they went ahead and made the special case of C-to-C cables connect to all the pins and have four pairs of wires. But that's only a doubling from 5Gbps to 10Gbps. How are we getting up to 20 or 40? It's mostly coming from restricting cable length even further, down to 1 meter or only half a meter. But on the bright side you can get an active cable, with chips inside, that can get you back up to 1 meter or 2 meters or 60 meters. As long as you're willing to pay enough.
- kondro 8y ago
  Now, if only someone would actually ship a USB-C 3.2 (or Thunderbolt) active cable. :( I have a couple of situations I would like a 7m-ish Thunderbolt 3 cable but can’t seem to find one, even for the multiple-hundreds it would probably cost.
  - Dylan16807 8y ago
    Corning has several lengths of optical thunderbolt 2 cable, do you need it to be thunderbolt 3 specifically?
    - kondro 8y ago
      This is for 5K and docking station specifically.
      - Dylan16807 8y ago
        Ah, so just barely more than thunderbolt 2 or USB 3.2 can handle at 60Hz. It's really disappointing that Display Stream Compression hasn't been built into everything for the last 5+ years, and is only now barely getting into equipment. 2:1 or 3:1 compressed display data looks fine, and being able to add more pixels or bit depth or refresh rate far more than makes up for the tiny losses. Without it, tons of screens are stuck at significantly reduced framerates or 4:2:0 subsampling.
xxs 8y ago
I still wonder why the 'S' in the name - USB has stopped being serial (or bus) for quite some time.

Nope. Much simpler. Just enabling the use of the other data lanes that were already in the cable waiting to be used one day. USB-C has 4 differential twisted pair data lines.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

artiscode 8y ago

That sort of explains why USB cables have been getting more expensive. More copper.

chris_mc 8y ago
Probably more like "better tolerances" or something like that. The labor/time put into a cable is the most pricey part, raw materials are probably only a few cents, even if you double the copper into it.
gumby 8y ago
and more silicon. These cables are more than just wire.
metaphor 8y ago
It's more the process of qualifying technology that's increasingly faster with every generation than the cost of raw materials.

starpilot 8y ago

Why not turn them on all at once?

NullPrefix 8y ago
Crosstalk with other pairs.

Dylan16807 8y ago

Not 'just' at all. USB 2 has a single twisted wire pair, specced for moderate speed. USB 3 replaces that with two pairs with much tighter requirements, one for transmit and one for receive. This involves a tenfold speed boost (.5Gbps to 5Gbps), with much more modern transceivers using much higher frequencies on much better wires. But it also drops the length a single passive cable can be from about 5 to 2 meters. USB C doubled the number of pins while making the plug reversible, so they went ahead and made the special case of C-to-C cables connect to all the pins and have four pairs of wires. But that's only a doubling from 5Gbps to 10Gbps. How are we getting up to 20 or 40? It's mostly coming from restricting cable length even further, down to 1 meter or only half a meter. But on the bright side you can get an active cable, with chips inside, that can get you back up to 1 meter or 2 meters or 60 meters. As long as you're willing to pay enough.

kondro 8y ago
Now, if only someone would actually ship a USB-C 3.2 (or Thunderbolt) active cable. :( I have a couple of situations I would like a 7m-ish Thunderbolt 3 cable but can’t seem to find one, even for the multiple-hundreds it would probably cost.
- Dylan16807 8y ago
  Corning has several lengths of optical thunderbolt 2 cable, do you need it to be thunderbolt 3 specifically?
  - kondro 8y ago
    This is for 5K and docking station specifically.
    - Dylan16807 8y ago
      Ah, so just barely more than thunderbolt 2 or USB 3.2 can handle at 60Hz. It's really disappointing that Display Stream Compression hasn't been built into everything for the last 5+ years, and is only now barely getting into equipment. 2:1 or 3:1 compressed display data looks fine, and being able to add more pixels or bit depth or refresh rate far more than makes up for the tiny losses. Without it, tons of screens are stuck at significantly reduced framerates or 4:2:0 subsampling.

xxs 8y ago

I still wonder why the 'S' in the name - USB has stopped being serial (or bus) for quite some time.