R&D helps speed industry adoption of USB4 standard

A wide range of products, including smartphones, laptops, desktop computers, tablets, and digital cameras, will rely on this next-generation high-speed digital standard. USB4, a plug and play interface for inter-digital communication, is based on the Thunderbolt protocol specification and offers significant advantages in bandwidth, power and data delivery.

"USB-IF establishes close industry collaborations with its member companies, such as Keysight, that support the delivery of high-performance USB solutions, while ensuring their reliability, ease-of-use and quality," said Jeff Ravencraft, president and COO of USB-IF. "Keysight's support will help facilitate the adoption of the USB4 standard and accelerate the market introduction of certified USB4 products."

Close industry collaboration and development of solutions for design characterisation and validation for Thunderbolt have enabled Keysight to better serve an ecosystem built around reversible and backward compatible USB Type-C connectors.

This ecosystem, consisting of silicon vendors and system integrators, will likely expand to address a growing digital device market with applications such as high-resolution displays and higher-fidelity virtual reality devices, which will also benefit from adopting the USB4 standard.

"Keysight's commitment to supporting an ecosystem based on the USB4 specification helps drive the adoption of the ubiquitous USB digital connectivity standard," said Scott Bryden, vice president at Keysight Technologies. "By offering cost-effective test and measurement solutions that accelerate the development, implementation and deployment of new USB4 compatible devices, Keysight is strengthening a growing industry designed to enhance customer experiences."

To help boost the adoption of the USB4 standard, Keysight offers a comprehensive portfolio of high-speed digital instrumentation including its UXR real-time oscilloscope, which offers accuracy in waveform representation across a wide frequency range; vector network analysers which use a generated signal to analyse a network or device to deliver the accuracy needed to perform both linear and nonlinear device characterisation; and highly integrated bit error ratio testers (BERTs), which identify errors introduced into the system when data is received, a critical capability in physical layer characterisation, validation and compliance testing.