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I am trying to implement Thunderbolt in my own board design. I have seen that it is possible to get the thunderbolt controller (hardware) but it is impossible to get important design information. I have tried to get the access making contact with them but they told me us this:

Your request for re-evaluation was reviewed by Management, and unfortunately our resources remain unavailable. We do not want to put anyone into a situation where they are trying to certify without support, and instead we suggest TMRW/Room to partner with one of the Thunderbolt ODMs who have a track record of certifying Thunderbolt devices. Please see [ https://thunderbolttechnology.net/tech/odms ] for a list of Thunderbolt ODMs.

I have made contact with some of ODMs of the list, but one of them have answered to me (Areca). I have tried to explain them what i need (design support) but it seems that they don't help with this, they have offered to me an a PCIe to Thunderbolt card expansion.

Is it impossible to add Thunderbolt to our designs?

Juanma
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    You're asking for access to a joint project from Apple and Intel.... Is USB an option for you? You can more easily join the USB-IF I suspect. Probably cheaper and better support as wel. Otherwise, more money always works. – Jeroen3 Jun 28 '21 at 10:03
  • The main problem is the device I am looking for. I am using PCIE to USB 3.0 Controllers and there are 5-6 devices and are to dificult to handle it or to find complete datasheets, the manufacturers don't give much information unless you buy thousands of units. I though that Thunderbolt was a better idea, but I have realized that is not a big deal. – Juanma Jun 28 '21 at 10:20
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    USB 4 is supposed to incorporate most of Thunderbolt and should be documented, so that might be an option. Otherwise you're not going get far with a secretive, proprietary standard unless you're willing to pay for access to it. – user1850479 Jun 28 '21 at 13:02

1 Answers1

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Solution is attached on the comments of the post.

Editing to add the solutions purposed by two users on the comments:

"You're asking for access to a joint project from Apple and Intel.... Is USB an option for you? You can more easily join the USB-IF I suspect. Probably cheaper and better support as wel. Otherwise, more money always works". – Jeroen3 Jun 28 at 10:03

"USB 4 is supposed to incorporate most of Thunderbolt and should be documented, so that might be an option. Otherwise you're not going get far with a secretive, proprietary standard unless you're willing to pay for access to it". – user1850479 Jun 28 at 13:02

Juanma
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