Thunderbolt

United States local time February 24, 2011, Intel has officially released a few months of publicity laboratory products, code-named Intel ThunderBolt high-speed interface technology"Light Peak" technology, and named "Thunderbolt". Thunderbolt technology from Intel designed to be completed in 2009, and its named "Light Peak" (the codename for Thunderbolt), Thunderbolt's original intention was to develop alternative and unified range of current computer performance on the uneven expansion of the number of interfaces, such as SCSI, SATA, USB, FireWire, and PCI Express. Thunderbolt is Apple and Intel (Intel) co-product, developed by Intel, and Apple's technical cooperation through the market. The technology used to connect PC and other devices, combines two mature technologies prior to data transmission technology PCI Express and DisplayPort display technology, two-channel simultaneous transmission of data of these two protocols, each channel provides bi-directional bandwidth of 10Gbps . To reduce costs, the current Thunderbolt uses copper connections instead of the earlier demonstration mode fiber-optic link, the maximum theoretical transfer rate of up to 50Gbps, now only set 10Gbps, the development of larger space.Working principle and performanceThunderbolt connection technology integration combines data transmission technology PCI Express and DisplayPort display technology, from a dedicated control chips Intel to drive through the PCI Express x4, DisplayPort bus connected with the system chipset. One PCI Express for data transmission, DisplayPort is used to display the signal transmission, can be directly connected through the integrated graphics core Intel processor for DisplayPort display output. Thunderbolt of the control chip, the system is essential. But Intel said its hardware does not require an Intel processor and chipset used in conjunction. It is more like a miniature router, you can quickly access the data in the two-way switch between.Thunderbolt uses a special interface. The physical appearance of the interface and the original Mini DsiplayPort same interface for a variety of light and small types of equipment, compatible with the DisplayPort interface displays, Mini DP port on the monitor and the Mini DP to HDMI / DVI / VGA adapter, etc. interface Thunderbolt interface can be in normal use, transmission and even the ultra-high definition 1080p video and up to eight channels of audio. Thunderbolt whether backward or forward compatibility depends on the cable. Backward compatible with PCI Express 2.0, I / O control system, but Intel did not comment on the USB 3.0. And forward compatibility, natural is better the more new friends, you can find a new port on the Macbook Pro has been prepared for optical transmission, which is also more cost-effective.Device connectivity, Thunderbolt technical support Daisy-chain form of the seven sets of daisy chain devices together (that is, Apple says the MacBook Pro can be connected in series 6 sets of peripherals, including up to two DisplayPort display full HD output), But asked DIsplayPort 1.1 devices must be located in the link at the end.
To reduce costs, the current Thunderbolt uses copper connections instead of the earlier demonstration mode fiber-optic link, wire length is 3 meters. Later this year, will introduce fiber optic cable products. However, copper is also retained in the future is still an advantage that is provided by 10W power supply cable, and fiber Thunderbolt will not provide power function.Current usesApple released the Thunderbolt interface with the new MacBook Pro at the same time, there are many brands announced the launch of Thunderbolt-related products, including Aja, Apogee, Avid and Blackmagic. Third-party support, Intel said Western Digital and LaCie will provide compatible Thunderbolt interface hard drive. Which, LaCie has demonstrated a device using the Thunderbolt, double the SSD Raid storage devices, of course, due to storage constraints, Thunderbolt's fighting really hard to be reflected in the home.
This speed is already a luxury for the home was too far, the three-meter line length also greatly limits the scope of its use, I can think of the current possible applications are:* Multi-monitor support, due to a single port can be connected to six devices, in theory, you can organize a 7-screen work platform.
* Ultra-high-speed disk array, set up by using SSD Raid, with the Thunderbolt can get very exaggerated disk performance, which for graphics processing, video rendering and other professional work would be beneficial.
Of course, with the growing popularity of the technology, the emergence of a large number of peripherals, Thunderbolt high transmission speed and capacity of a single interface to multiple devices will gradually demonstrate its advantages. The emergence of fiber-optic connection to a single Mac machine as the computing core, with a large number of related peripherals, seems to be laid out a centralized processing environment to the next year, we can proceed to update the current home network.