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USB 3 and the idiotic USB C standard can die in a fire. Replace it with a stripped down version of Ethernet with a simple, sane protocol that can encapsulate e

USB 3 and the idiotic USB C standard can die in a fire. Replace it with a stripped down version of Ethernet with a simple, sane protocol that can encapsulate ethernet frames, display port frames and PCIe frames. Something like firewire where we can memory map a device or perform bulk transfers or byte oriented transfers. Maybe a "converged" controller with some brains can allow it to handle Ethernet frames directly so an Ethernet port or dongle isn't much more than an external MAC. Then we can use existing Ethernet interface hardware, MAC's, jacks and so on. A new connector would be nice too. One that doesn't have the ability to inject 20V into a 5V device. Real-time can be handled using TSN and PTP can also be used. Finally, combine that with single pair Ethernet for local desktop device networking at up to 1GB with PoE over a single pair of wires. Why do we need USB 3 and C again?

labawi 6y ago
> Why do we need USB 3 and C again? Typical copper ethernet is 1Gb/s, while USB 3 is 5 Gb/s, going on 10/20/40 Gb/s with USB 3.2, USB 4 .. thunderbolt. As others have said, 10G ethernet is too power hungry, and even 1G ethernet is inherently more expensive. I resent active cables and do prefer ethernet, but it's not a realistic proposition for most use cases.
- MisterTea 6y ago
  > Typical copper ethernet is 1Gb/s, while USB 3 is 5 Gb/s, going on 10/20/40 Gb/s with USB 3.2, USB 4 .. thunderbolt. All the bit rates you listed Ethernet also covers. And as for copper - at the speeds you listed thunderbolt and USB3/C are limited to severely short cables, a measly 0.5 meters for 40Gb. Though 20Gb can do 1 or 2m, 2m being the longest thunderbolt cable you can use. As for power, that devil is in the interface details. I see no reason why multi-gigabit Ethernet can't be pushed over a similarly designed low power differential copper serial transceiver. As far as I'm concerned, Ethernet is more mature than USB could ever dream of being.
  - labawi 6y ago
    Ethernet is more mature, I like it. But to compete in most USB use-cases it would have to re-engineered so much, it wouldn't really be ethernet any more.
    - MisterTea 6y ago
      You don't think we need to change ethernet so much as to augment it with a co-processor that handles the "bus" aspect such as detecting when devices are plugged/unplugged and interrupt handling. Ethernet is just another serial port with higher level mechanisms which handles framing of the data. We just need a little more brains to handle the bus aspect and a simple protocol to talk to devices with as little overhead as possible.

labawi 6y ago

> Why do we need USB 3 and C again? Typical copper ethernet is 1Gb/s, while USB 3 is 5 Gb/s, going on 10/20/40 Gb/s with USB 3.2, USB 4 .. thunderbolt. As others have said, 10G ethernet is too power hungry, and even 1G ethernet is inherently more expensive. I resent active cables and do prefer ethernet, but it's not a realistic proposition for most use cases.

MisterTea 6y ago
> Typical copper ethernet is 1Gb/s, while USB 3 is 5 Gb/s, going on 10/20/40 Gb/s with USB 3.2, USB 4 .. thunderbolt. All the bit rates you listed Ethernet also covers. And as for copper - at the speeds you listed thunderbolt and USB3/C are limited to severely short cables, a measly 0.5 meters for 40Gb. Though 20Gb can do 1 or 2m, 2m being the longest thunderbolt cable you can use. As for power, that devil is in the interface details. I see no reason why multi-gigabit Ethernet can't be pushed over a similarly designed low power differential copper serial transceiver. As far as I'm concerned, Ethernet is more mature than USB could ever dream of being.
- labawi 6y ago
  Ethernet is more mature, I like it. But to compete in most USB use-cases it would have to re-engineered so much, it wouldn't really be ethernet any more.
  - MisterTea 6y ago
    You don't think we need to change ethernet so much as to augment it with a co-processor that handles the "bus" aspect such as detecting when devices are plugged/unplugged and interrupt handling. Ethernet is just another serial port with higher level mechanisms which handles framing of the data. We just need a little more brains to handle the bus aspect and a simple protocol to talk to devices with as little overhead as possible.