New USB 3.2 specification to double connection speeds

The USB 3.0 Promoter Group has announced the pending release of USB 3.2 specification. The new hosts and devices can now be designed as multi-lane solutions, thereby allowing up to two lanes of 5Gbps, or 10Gbps speeds.

However, in order to fully utilise these speeds, a user will need to have a USB 3.2 host that needs to be used with a new USB 3.2 device along with an appropriate USB Type-C ‘SuperSpeed’ cable. So, a USB 3.2 host connected to a USB 3.2 storage device will be capable of over 2GB/sec data transfer performance over existing USB Type-C cables that have been certified for SuperSpeed 10Gbps.

“When we introduced USB Type-C to the market, we intended to assure that USB Type-C cables and connectors certified for SuperSpeed USB or SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps would, as produced, support higher performance USB as newer generations of USB 3.0 were developed,” stated Brad Saunders, USB 3.0 Promoter Group Chairman. “The USB 3.2 update delivers the next level of performance.”

Don’t expect USB 3.2 to be available immediately. The new specification is currently in a final draft review phase, and the planned formal release is scheduled for the USB Developer Days North America even in September this year.

The USB 3.0 Promoter Group comprises of companies from Apple, HP, Intel, Microsoft, Texas Instruments and more. So expect devices from these manufacturers to be amongst the first offer the new specification.