Allion Labs, a global leader in engineering consultancy, has announced its qualification as an Authorized Test Lab (ATL) for Thunderbolt™ 5 Host Certification. The lab now offers Thunderbolt™ 5 certification testing and consultancy services for Host products.
In 2023, Intel announced the new Thunderbolt 5 specification. Compared with Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 5 delivers 80 gigabits per second (Gbps) of bandwidth, and a total bandwidth potential of up to 120 Gbps. It also offers USB4 V2 compatibility.
Figure 1: Bandwidth for USB2-4 & Thunderbolt 3-5
(Source: Intel)
Thunderbolt™ 5 Specification
Figure 2: Capabilities of Thunderbolt 5 and Thunderbolt 4
(Source: Intel)
In addition to higher bandwidth, Thunderbol 5 also adds the following specifications:
- Support asymmetric 3TX + 1RX configurations, providing a flexible bandwidth adjustment. This breakthrough surpasses the limitations of symmetric mode, which is restricted to 2TX + 2 RX.
- The bandwidth can be flexibly adjusted from 80Gbps to 120Gbps in asymmetric mode.
- Support DisplayPort 2.1 connectivity, offering greater performance in video bandwidth.
- Compatible with Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 3, USB4 V1, USB3.X, 0, and USB3.2 Gen2x2
- Double the PCI Express throughput from 32Gb/s to 64Gb/s.
- Support three DisplayPort streams, up from two with Thunderbolt 4.
Thunderbolt™ 5 Host Certification Testing
For Thunderbolt 5 Host certification requirements, as Thunderbolt 5 will be compatible with Thunderbolt 4 and Thunderbolt 3, besides Thunderbolt 5 certification test items, related test items for Thunderbolt 4 need to be conducted. The following figure illustrates the certification test items for Thunderbolt 5 Host Certification.
Figure 3: Thunderbolt 5 Host Certification Test Items
Since 2001, Allion has upgraded its test equipment and environments to meet the new Thunderbolt 5 specification and the more stringent demands for testing environments. Allion completed the pilot run with Intel recently and acquired the status as Intel’s recognized authorized testing lab to conduct Thunderbolt 5 Host certification on November 9th, 2023.
In addition to Thunderbolt 5 Host certification, Allion is one of the first labs in the world to provide the certification for Thunderbolt 4 hosts and devices. Allion’s expert team is dedicated to providing comprehensive certification testing and consulting services. The lab can also assist with test submission and debugging services to accelerate the test cycle and shorten the time to market.
For more Thunderbolt™ technology and related services, please refer to https://www.allionusa-sgs.com/certification/thunderbolt/
If you have other testing needs, please feel free to contact us at us_service@allionusa-sgs.com