Intel Unveils Barlow Ridge Thunderbolt 5 Controllers - TB5 Launching In 2024
by Ganesh T S on September 12, 2023 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Intel
- Thunderbolt
- Thunderbolt 5
- USB4 v2
The USB-IF and VESA released the specifications of USB4 v2 and DisplayPort 2.1 in Q4 2022. At that time, Intel also announced that their next-gen Thunderbolt specifications would build upon these standards. However, concrete details were not divulged. Today, the company is unveiling Thunderbolt 5 officially with discrete controllers in tow for both hosts and peripherals.
Thunderbolt 5: Technical Details
The USB4 v2 specifications have been public for almost a year now. As a result, the capabilities of Thunderbolt 5 on the technical front are not much of a secret. In fact, Intel had detailed most of them last year.
The technical aspects described above include:
- PCIe Gen4 x4 support (64 Gbps full duplex)
- DisplayPort 2.1 support (up to 80 Gbps)
- Asymmetric operation (120 Gbps transmit / 40 Gbps receive), in addition to the regular 80 Gbps transmit / 80 Gbps receive
- Usage of PAM3 (Pulse Amplitude Modulation with three levels) enabling more data transfer in each clock cycle
A few additional details were provided as part of today's announcement. These are in addition to Thunderbolt 4 features.
- Compulsory requirement to support dual 6K monitors
- Compulsory 140W PD support for charging, up to 240W optional
- Doubled Thunderbolt networking bandwidth (from 10 Gbps full duplex to 20 Gbps full duplex)
- Existing Thunderbolt 3 cables up to 1m can also support the new speeds
Thunderbolt 5 also supports up to 240W power delivery (USB-PD EPR specifications). This is useful for gaming notebooks and other power-hungry systems connecting to a Thunderbolt 5 dock (and relying on it as a power source). However, this is an optional feature and is likely to be relegated to premium Thunderbolt 5 peripherals. The compulsory features related to the increase in available bandwidth translate to support for high-refresh rate high-resolution monitors, and support for external SSDs and eGFX with PCIe Gen4 x4 links.
The Barlow Ridge Thunderbolt 5 Controller Family
Intel is bringing Thunderbolt 5 to the market with discrete silicon first. The Barlow Ridge family includes controllers for both hosts and accessories. Silicon meant for accessories are equipped with one upstream and three downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports. For computers, the controller takes in a DisplayPort 2.1 input along with a PCIe Gen4 x4 link to interface with the host.
The technical aspects of Barlow Ridge such as package size and TDP will be made public in the coming months. Intel expects Thunderbolt 5-equipped computers and accessories to launch in 2024. Technical collateral and other developer resources will become available in Q4 2023.
Based on the Thunderbolt 5 details presented today, it is clear that Thunderbolt ports will continue to remain the Type-C port that does it all. We would have liked some of the optional features (such as USB3 20G support) to become compulsory, but the other exciting updates in Thunderbolt 5 may make it easy for consumers to look past that. In any case, we have seen recent USB4 / Thunderbolt 4 implementations supporting that standard, so it is likely that at least some Thunderbolt 5 host ports will also support that standard.
Source: Intel
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repoman27 - Tuesday, September 12, 2023 - link
To further clarify what evilspoons said, the Thunderbolt link is a high-speed serial link between two Thunderbolt devices. With Thunderbolt 5, that link can provide up to 160 Gbit/s of aggregate bandwidth configured as either 80 Gbit/s downstream and 80 Gbit/s upstream, or 120 Gbit/s downstream and 40 Gbit/s upstream.The Thunderbolt controller then tunnels PCIe and DisplayPort packets over that high-speed serial link. The Barlow Ridge controllers presumably have PCIe Gen4 x4 and DisplayPort UHBR20 x4 interfaces to the host on the back side. The 64 Gbit/s PCIe data limit is due to the PCIe connection to the host, not the Thunderbolt link bandwidth. If the asymmetrical mode wasn't available, the entire link bandwidth could be saturated with just DisplayPort packets. Thunderbolt 5 allows a full 80 Gbit/s DisplayPort link to be tunneled alongside 40 Gbit/s of PCIe data—which is equivalent to the bandwidth of an entire previous generation Thunderbolt 4 link.
Samus - Tuesday, September 12, 2023 - link
I think the asymmetric operation is the most interesting component offered here, and the most technically impressive. After doing some research it is achieved using PAM3 encoding which offers a combination of hardware error correction and software-based signal control based on evaluated bandwidth requirements. Somehow they are mapping the 16 data pins, typically 8-tx 8-rx, to 12-tx 4-rx, and maintaining signal integrity, using cables that have existed for what, 7+ years?eddman - Tuesday, September 12, 2023 - link
Ah, I never realized DP has its own lanes.Bernie_71 - Friday, October 6, 2023 - link
is it possible to have a line architecture with TB5 (i.e. PC - TB dock - TB dock - peripheral)frbeckenbauer - Tuesday, September 12, 2023 - link
Can we just finally get Thunderbolt/USB4 controllers that just *work* on a PCIe card without needing extra random bullshit connections (apart from power)? Please?erotomania - Tuesday, September 12, 2023 - link
My own first thought was "Great how are we going to get working TB4 peripherals now?"onewingedangel - Tuesday, September 12, 2023 - link
With the launch of Alchemist I was surprised it didn't have TB4 built in as the GPU already has surplus PCIe bandwidth and the displayport feed, and can always add an extra PCIe power connector. Thunderbolt on GPU would be the key to gaining widespread use on desktop. Hopefully Battlemage will have TB5 integrated.meacupla - Tuesday, September 12, 2023 - link
It's because ARC GPUs are supposed to be price competitive.If you slap on a TB4 controller onto that, it would be so expensive. It would make the 4060Ti look like a deal.
Sonic01 - Tuesday, September 12, 2023 - link
No it won't Meteor Lake is basically finished already (it's released in 8 days) and this announcement says expect products in 2024, so no, no TB5 in this years chip released. Arrow Lake will prob come with it this time next year.Also, TB3 only throttles current cards by like 5-10%.
hubick - Tuesday, September 12, 2023 - link
All this power for charging but they couldn't bump the 15w for bus powered devices? I boot from a dual m.2 nvme enclosure, and I'd *love* to lose the power brick for that.