Will the USB 3.1 interface possibly replace all other interfaces in the future?

“For consumers, the small USB connector looks weak and must be taken care of, especially the USB connector of a smartphone. If it is broken, it cannot be charged. Therefore, the design of USB Type C focuses on In “Strong and Durable”, it can withstand at least 10,000 insertions and extractions, which is equivalent to an average of 5 insertions and extractions a day, and can be used for about five and a half years, which has exceeded the cycle of smartphone dynasties!

“

For consumers, the small USB connector looks weak and must be taken care of, especially the USB connector of a smartphone. If it is broken, it cannot be charged. Therefore, the design of USB Type C focuses on In “Strong and Durable”, it can withstand at least 10,000 insertions and extractions, which is equivalent to an average of 5 insertions and extractions a day, and can be used for about five and a half years, which has exceeded the cycle of smartphone dynasties!

Picking up my new smartphone and knowing that one type of charger will work and not having to stock up on multiple chargers makes me thank goodness. Using a mobile phone, for an “old man” type of user like me, having a novel App is not as important as using “simple”. Over the years, all kinds of strange and unusable charging connectors are really annoying, and they are neither economical nor environmentally friendly.

Most users do not understand the principle of the product, but they are experts and have many requirements for whether the product is good-looking, durable, convenient, and cheap.

Universal Serial Bus (Universal Serial Bus, abbreviated as USB) is a serial port bus standard for connecting computer systems and external devices. It is an input and output interface technical specification, which is widely used in communication products such as personal computers and mobile devices, and extends its functions to other related fields such as photographic equipment, digital TV (set-top boxes), game consoles, and of course smart phones. this field.

When I first asked the market, the unification of the connectors of various devices and the plug-and-play feature that supports hot insertion really brought great convenience. USB is specially designed for external devices, and its application is diverse and extensive. In terms of external interface, it is now beating IEEE 1394 and eSATA.

The external interface directly faces the user, that is, the group of guys who do not know much but have a lot of requirements, and are more concerned about whether it is good-looking, durable, convenient, and cheap. As for how the machine works, most people are as uninterested as the author, as long as they can “keep things unchanged”, and old equipment can be connected to new products. The interface (connector) of USB Type A and B does exactly this, and no matter how the generations of USB alternate (USB 1.0, USB 2.0, USB 3.0), users do not seem to increase the trouble of use.

It’s just that the connectors of USB Type A and B are too large for mobile devices. If you want to continue to maintain influence in the market, of course, you must reduce the size. Therefore, the emergence of Mini USB and smaller Micro USB continues to run rampant in the market. An “old man” like me is so excited that the charger connector for a smartphone can be simplified into what’s left of Micro USB and another Apple connector.

If you want to use the reduced version of USB3.0 (Micro B) on mobile devices, the effect is not ideal. The industry’s saying is that the USB3.0 Micro B connector is not robust enough. In addition, USB3.0 Micro B can not meet the requirements of future smartphones. In view of this, it is necessary to upgrade the specifications of USB3.0, and the connector related to the interface connection also needs to be redesigned. This new connector, called USB Type C, is the upgraded specification, which is USB 3.1. Although the appearance of USB Type C is larger than that of Micro USB, it is smaller than USB Type A. It is estimated that it is acceptable for users to install it on a computer or mobile device.

The selling point of USB Type C, or USB3.1, is ease of use and improved transfer speeds.

(1) For consumers, ease of use is one of the selling points of the USB Type C connector, because as long as its plug is aligned with the socket, it can be used regardless of whether it is on the front or the back. USB connectors can’t do that. The method used is not unusual. USB Type C adopts the method of more than less, adding a set of contacts in the connector. No matter the front or the back, there are corresponding contacts, so this goal is achieved.

(2) The transmission speed is improved. After the launch of USB 3.0, it brought 5Gbps high-speed transmission performance, and the USB 3.1 bandwidth specification is even greater than 10Gbps. The improvement of the transmission speed specification is not just written in the specification, of course, there must be corresponding supporting measures. For example, the encoding rate should also be improved. USB 3.0 is 8b10b encoding, that is, for every 10 bits of data transmitted, only 8 bits are real data, and the remaining 2 bits are used as check codes, so the entire bandwidth will be as high as 20% (2/10). ) loss, while the new USB 3.1 uses 128b130b encoding. In 130bit data, only 4bit is used as the check code, and the transmission loss rate is greatly reduced to 3% (4/132).

For consumers, the transmission speed of USB 3.1 is definitely much faster than USB 2.0, which should be the most used on the market, but whether it reaches the 10Gbps advertised, then “God knows”, okay For performance, there must be a good surrounding environment. Without good transmission lines, good connectors and good devices, the advertised 10Gbps speed cannot be achieved. Therefore, consumers have to be mentally prepared to get what they pay for, and they must spend more money in exchange for high-performance performance.

The increase in transmission speed also allows USB3.1 to extend its influence in the application of audio and video. The USB transmission line may also replace other Display interfaces and become the most practical audio and video transmission line. It is actually very convenient to use USB to transfer pictures. In addition to the wide range of USB interfaces, it can also save a power cord and provide power directly through USB.

The new USB AV 3.1 provides 10Gbps bandwidth, supports up to 4096 x 2304 @ 30FPS 4K display, and USB AV also supports HDCP image encryption technology, and with a larger power supply, larger monitors are expected to be able to use USB AV 3.1 to display 4K resolution. In addition, existing devices and monitors can transmit audio and video via a USB cable through a USB AV adapter.

Who is the opponent of USB 3.1? This is usually not a concern of consumers, but in the future, when USB3.1 is gradually popularized and the clerk in the 3C store shows off his professional knowledge to you, he must not be at a loss.

One of USB 3.1’s opponents is the Thunderbolt interface dominated by Intel, which has a higher bandwidth than USB 3.0 and supports daisy-chain applications. Thunderbolt 1.0 has a transmission bandwidth of 10Gbps and a Thunderbolt 2.0 transmission rate. It has reached 20Gbps. I believe that most readers have never seen Thunderbolt at all. At present, the more common Thunderbolt devices, except for Apple computers, only a few high-end motherboards, external storage and display devices are used. Compared with USB, the visibility is actually very low.

The second opponent of USB 3.1 is HDMI, which already has a place in audio and video applications. HDMI 1.4 can support 4K resolution, and USB AV 3.1 is also used to display 4K resolution. In the future, USB 3.1 will definitely have the opportunity to share the market with HDMI.

To sum up, USB 3.1 is a common interface for the new generation of mobile phones and tablet computers. In addition to the fast speed, the ideal transfer rate can reach 10Gbps. With the USB 3.1 Type-C connector, USB 3.1 becomes a powerful external interface and has the opportunity to unify future mobile phones. , tablet, computer transmission interface, so that my “old uncle” can more easily do digital data transmission, and enjoy various audio and video applications.