USB 4 Support Being Added To The 5.6 Linux Kernel
Good bye, iterative USB!
While Linux 5.5 isn’t released yet, the 5.6 branch is already being worked on.
Among many other useful additions (WireGuard!), USB 4 support is coming to Linux in early 2020. The new standard builds upon the established USB 3.2 and USB 2.0 specifications and promises up to 40GB/s throughput.
It’s quite astonishing how far USB has come since its first introduction in 1996.
The USB 4 specification [ PDF ] was released in September 2019. All USB 4 devices will be compatible with Type C cables and chargers, so buying new peripherals isn’t necessary.
As mentioned before, 40GB/s are the theoretical transfer rate limit and not all USB 4 devices will be that fast. There are three types of USB 4 devices with only the raw transfer rate being different for 10GB/s, 20GB/s and 40GB/s.
Other notable changes from the existing USB 1/2/3 devices:
- the USB 4 specification allows for shared bandwidth between video and data transmissions
- USB 4 devices use Type-C ports (USB Power Delivery possible)
- compatibility with Thunderbolt 3 (based on it)
