Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange
Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [thunderbolt]

Hardware interface designed by Intel that allows for the connection of external peripherals to a computer. For questions related to meteorological thunderbolts, please use the [lightning] tag.

Hardware interface designed by Intel that allows for the connection of external peripherals to a computer. For questions related to meteorological thunderbolt, please use the tag.

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How to communicate faster than the system clock

I was reading about the new (ish) Thunderbolt 3 today, and was very impressed by the specced speed of 40Gbps. Then I looked at Intel's latest i9 processor speed... about 4.2GHz max. How can a system communicate almost 10 times faster than the clock…
Isaac Middlemiss
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Can Thunderbolt be used to power the host device?

Could the Thunderbolt interface be used to provide power to the PCIe host device? In this case, this would be a battery-powered mobile device, connecting to a range of peripherals. Thunderbolt here would serve as the extension connector, basically…
mathrick
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pass-through Thunderbolt KVM Switch

I can not find a true pass-through KVM Switch for USB-C (Thunderbolt) to buy. So I am thinking about maybe building one myself. Currently I am just plugging and unplugging the Thunderbolt (USB-C) cable from my docking station to the laptop I want…
Diego
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Why can't you make a thunderbolt 3 hub?

So laptops with thunderbolt 3 are pretty common, docks are common, every other kind of USB seems to be able to be used with a hub. I know thunderbolt 3 can be daisy chained, theoretically eliminating the need for a hub. That's not the point, the…
Delaney Fitzpatrick
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Which USB C cable has DN1, DN2, DP1 and DP2 or which USB C cable has A6, A7, B6 and B7 connected in both cable and receptacle?

I have designed a custom PCB to take sensor data over USB C. I need to use both differential pairs to send data over cause my sensor has 10 pins. I would like to know which USB C cable has all the 24 pins in USB C receptacle? Or should I make a…
Vaibhav Krishna
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How does a USB-C dock work? What is the difference between an expensive dock and a cheap USB hub

So I notice that cheap $20 USB-c hubs (no power supply) lower transfer speed for connected devices. This isn't surprising, after all my laptop only have 1 lane and now all the mouse, keyboards, external SSDs are sharing it. I recently bought an…
40pro
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USB-C laptop charger / circuit breaker device

Is it theoretically possible to build a device that connects to a laptop via USB-C, receives battery level information and connects laptop to a charger only if the battery level is in certain range? I am totally inexperienced in electrical…
Edward Ruchevits
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What makes a communication architecture/protocol faster than others?

Why is thunderbolt considered faster than other? Apart from the inherent channel properties which affect the speed of data propagation, what else determines the speed of data transfer? Of course more channels => parallel transfer=> more speed. Also…
Divya K.S
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Thunderbolt 3 connecting to USB 3.1

I know that Thunderbolt 3 uses the USB Type-C port, and I know that you can plug a USB cable into a Thunderbolt port and it will function as USB or Thunderbolt depending on the peripheral. However, if I have a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C Port and I plug a…
Dublek
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PCB Design - Mini Pcie Express to Thunderbolt 1 2/Mini Display

What I want to achieve is to connect a Mini Pcie Express device to a thunderbolt (1 / 2) port. I have looked around and such connector does not seem to exist, so as a computer engineer I went looking on how I could design my own PCB for that. From…
Fernando Barbosa Gomes
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Requirements for Integrating Thunderbolt 3 Into Product

Based on the bandwidth and relatively good availability of Thunderbolt 3 ports on PCs we are considering incorporating a Thunderbolt 3 interface into a new product. My understanding is that the thunderbolt can interface a PCIe endpoint. Intel has…
Keegan Jay
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Charging a QC 3.0 USB-C Thunderbolt specced laptop via generic 15V charger

I have a USB-C PD & QC3.0 device. It takes 20V @ 2.25A (45W), or 15V@3A to charge. I also have a 15V 5A portable charger with a female 5.5mm x 2.5mm output port. I plan to connect the 5.5mm x 2.5mm female output port to the USB-C device via a 5.5mm…
Azrudi
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Thunderbolt, how to get access to developer Area?

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…
Juanma
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Why is it so hard to find a Thunderbolt 3 to USB 3.0 hub online?

I want an extra USB terminal on my macbook and thought this would be a good opportunity to use my my never touched thunderbolt port. So i searched on ebay for a Thunderbolt 3 to USB 3.0 female. However all i kept getting was USB-C hubs. Some of…
kingportable
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What is ThunderBolt?

What is the Thunderbolt technology developed by Intel Corp.? How does it compare to USB 3.0? If it really is as fast as is claimed , why hasn't it replaced USB 3.0?
Infusion of Wormwood n Asfodel
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