Intel’s Executive Vice President and General Manager of Client Computing Group Gregory Bryant is currently visiting Intel’s Israeli offices. Pictures from his visit, which he published on Twitter, now unintentionally give first insights into the successor to Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 5.
Transfer rate doubled from 40 to 80 Gbit/s
The tweet, which initially included four images, was immediately replaced by a tweet with only three images. However, Anandtech was able to back up the deleted image in good time. It shows Gregory Bryant in front of a test station, whereby the poster on the wall reveals details about Thunderbolt 5 – at least according to previous assumptions – that Intel had not yet made public. Accordingly, with the next Thunderbolt generation, Intel is planning to double the speed from 40 Gbit/s for Thunderbolt 4 to 80 Gbit/s, which should also continue to use the USB-C connector, as the poster reveals. When switching from Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 4, the data rate remained the same with a maximum of 40 Gbit/s. Conversely, this could mean that USB 5 also has a maximum transmission speed of 80 Gbit/s, since the two standards are currently advancing in lockstep.
For For users, the higher data rate could mean faster data transfers with storage media, higher resolutions and faster frame rates with connected monitors.
New pulse amplitude modulation PAM-3
Also technical details, such as the 80 Gbit/s can be achieved has the poster ready. With “The PHY will be based on novel PAM-3 modulation technology”, Intel addresses the transmission of bits. While normally one bit or two bits with the pulse amplitude modulation PAM-4 can be transmitted, Intel plans to be able to transmit three bits with two clocks, in which the amplitude can assume the states -1, 0 and +1. A 000 stands for a -1 in the first bar and a -1 in the second bar, for example. 001, however, for -1 and 0.
Production at TSMC?
First According to Intel, test chips show promising results in the laboratory, with Intel speaking of an “N6 test chip” on the poster, which could indicate a 6 nm production at TSMC, which they call N6.