THUNDERBOLTI/O INTERFACE

B.Tech Colloquium Presentation by Raghav Aggarwal

School of Electronics and communication Engineering

SMVDU, Katra , Jammu & Kashmir

THUNDERBOLT I/O INTERFACE

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Brief View• What Is Thunderbolt?• Key Features Of Thunderbolt• General Specifications• Connector Pin Diagram• Copper vs. Optical• Protocol Architecture• Controller Architecture• Early Versions of Thunderbolt• Thunderbolt vs. other existing I/O interfaces• Future-Thunderbolt 2• Conclusion

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What is Thunderbolt?Thunderbolt Technology is a transformational high speed, dual core protocol I/O protocol which provides unmatched excellent performance over current I/O technologies which are available in the market with 10Gbps bi-directional transfer speed. It provides flexibility and simplicity by supporting both data and video on a single cable connection that can daisy-chain up to six devices

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With this Thunderbolt technology it is now possible to enable the thinnest and lightest laptops can connected over a single cable to high performance storage, external media drives, multiple HD displays, HD media and editing systems as well as legacy I/O hubs and devices

DEVELOPED BY INTEL & COMMERICALISED BY APPLE

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Key Features• 10Gbps bi-directional, dual channel data transfer• Data & Video on single cable with Dual-protocol (PCI Express and

DisplayPort)• Daisy chain up to six devices• Compatible with existing DisplayPort devices• Low latency with highly accurate time synchronization• Uses native PCIe and DisplayPort protocol software drivers• Power over cable for bus-powered devices (electrical cables only)

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General SpecificationsParameters Specific values

Length 3 metres (9.8 ft) (copper) max100 metres (330 ft) (optical) max

Width 7.4 mm male (8.3 mm female)

Height 4.5 mm male (5.4 mm female)

Hot Pluggable Yes

Daisy Chain Yes, up to 6 devices

Audio/Video signal Via DisplayPort Protocol

Pins 20

Connectors Max Voltage Max Current Bit Rate

Mini-display Port 18V (bus power) 550mA (9.9 W max) 10 Gbps per channel (20 Gbps in total) 7

Connector Pin DiagramPIN NO. SIGNAL FUNCTIONPIN 1 GND GroundPIN 2 HPD Hot plug detectPIN 3 HS0TX(P) High speed transmitter 0 (positive)PIN 4 HSORX(P) High speed receiver 0 (positive)PIN 5 HS0TX(N) High speed transmitter 0 (negative)PIN 6 HS0RX(N) High speed receiver 0 (negative)PIN 7 GND GroundPIN 8 GND GroundPIN 9 LSR2P TX Low speed transmitPIN 10 GND ReservedPIN 11 LSR2P RX Low speed receiverPIN 12 GND ReservedPIN 13 GND GroundPIN 14 GND GroundPIN 15 HS1TX(P) High speed transmitter 1 (positive)PIN 16 HS1TX(P) High speed receiver 1 (positive)PIN 17 HS1TX(P) High speed transmitter 1 (negative)PIN 18 HS1TX(P) High speed receiver1 (negative)PIN 19 Ground GroundPIN 20 DPPWR power

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Copper vs. Optical

The interface was originally intended to run exclusively on an optical physical layer using components and flexible optical fiber cabling developed by Intel partners and at Intel's Silicon Photonics lab. However, it was discovered that conventional copper wiring could furnish the desired 10 Gbps Thunderbolt bandwidth per channel at lower cost which lead Intel switched to electrical connections to reduce costs

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Protocol Architecture

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Thunderbolt technology is based on a switched fabric architecture with full-duplex links. The Thunderbolt protocol architecture can be abstracted into four layers

A Thunderbolt connector is capable of providing two full duplex channels. Each channel provides bi-directional 10Gbps of band-width

Protocol Architecture continuation

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The Thunderbolt protocol physical layer is responsible for link maintenance including hot-plug detection, and data encoding to provide highly efficient data transferThe heart of the Thunderbolt protocol architecture is the Transport layer.

DisplayPort and PCI Express protocols are mapped onto the transport layer. The mapping function is provided by a protocol adapter which is responsible for efficient encapsulation of the mapped protocol information into transport layer packets

Controller Architecture

• A high-performance, cross-bar Thunderbolt protocol switch

• One or more Thunderbolt ports

• One or more DisplayPort protocol adapter ports

• A PCI Express switch with one or more PCI Express protocol adapter port

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A Thunderbolt controller is the building block used to create Thunderbolt products. A Thunderbolt controller contains:

Thunderbolt technology leverages the native PCI Express and DisplayPort device drivers available in most operating systems today. Native software support means no additional software development is required to use a Thunderbolt technology enabled product

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Controller Architecture Continue

Early versions of thunderbolt

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Apple's introduction came as a major surprise when it was revealed that the port was based on Mini DisplayPort, not USB. As the system was described, Intel's solution to the display connection problem became clear

Different ControllersMODEL CHANNEL POWER FAMILY RELEASING TIME FEATURES

82523EF 4 3.8 W Light Ridge Q4 2010 DEMO

82523EFL 4 3.2 W Light Ridge Q4 2010 DEMO

L2310 2 1.85 W Eagle Ridge Q1 2011

L2210 1 0.7 W Port Ridge Q4 2011 DEVICE ONLY

L3510H 2 3.4 W Cactus Ridge CANCELLED HOST ONLY

L3310 4 2.2 W Cactus Ridge Q2 2012

L4410 2 ------- Redwood Ridge Q4 2013 HOST ONLY

Journey of thunderbolt

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Thunderbolt vs. other existing I/O interfaces

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Thunderbolt 2

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In June 2013, Intel announced that the next generation of Thunderbolt, based on the controller codenamed "Falcon Ridge" (running at 20 Gbps), is officially named "Thunderbolt 2" and slated to begin production before the end of 2013

Conclusion

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Thunderbolt technology brings a new balance of performance, simplicity and flexibility to end users and product designers alike

Due to cost factor, it is out of reach for an average product for now, USB still more popular which practically free

At present it is running at electrical standard but it will be at optical standard in long run

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REFERENCES:

[1] “Thunderbolt Technology brief”, www.thunderbolttechnology.net, 2012

[2] Apple-India, “Thunderbolt next generation high speed technology”, Apple website,2011

[3] Andrew Ku,” everything you need to know about thunderbolt” Tom’s hardware, 2013

[4] Intel, ”Thunderbolt Ready-upgrade program for PC, Motherboard, workstation computers”, Benchmark

review.com, 16 Nov 2013.

[5] James Gilbraith, “Promise preps for MAC Pro with Thunderbolt 2” macworld.com, 16 Sep 2013

[6] Thunderbolt (interface), Wikipedia, Retrieved Nov 18, 2013

[7] Jason Ziller, “Thunderbolt Technology update” Intel, 8 April, 2013

[8] Gordon Mah Ung, “Thunderbolt vs. USB 3.0 “maximumpc.com, 29 Jan 2013

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