USB 3.2

USB 3.2 Specification

As technology innovation marches forward, new kinds of devices, media formats, and large inexpensive storage are converging. They require significantly more bandwidth to maintain the interactive experience users have come to expect. In addition, user applications demand a higher performance connection between the PC and these increasingly sophisticated peripherals. The USB 3.2 Specification addresses this need by adding an even higher transfer rates to match these new usages and devices.

USB continues to be the answer to connectivity and charging for PCs, Consumer Electronics, Display and Mobile architectures. It is a fast, bidirectional, low-cost, dynamically attachable interface that is consistent with the requirements of the PC platforms of today and tomorrow.

The USB 3.2 specification defines multi-lane operation for new USB 3.2 hosts and devices, allowing for up to two lanes of 10Gbps operation to realize a 20Gbps data transfer rate. While USB hosts and devices were originally designed as single-lane solutions, USB Type-C® cables were designed from the outset to support multi-lane operation to ensure a path for scalable performance.  

The USB 3.2 specification absorbed all prior 3.x specifications. USB 3.2 identifies three transfer rates – 20Gbps, 10Gbps, and 5Gbps.

Key characteristics of the USB 3.2 specification include:

  • Defines multi-lane operation for new USB 3.2 hosts and devices, allowing for up to two lanes of 10Gbps operation to realize a 20Gbps data transfer rate, without sacrificing cable length
  • Delivers compelling performance boosts to meet requirements for demanding USB storage, display, and docking applications
  • Continued use of existing USB physical layer data rates and encoding techniques
  • Minor update to hub specification to address increased performance and assure seamless transitions between single and two-lane operation
  • Improved data encoding for more efficient data transfer leading to higher through-put and improved I/O power efficiency
  • Backwards compatible with all existing USB products; will operate at lowest common speed capability

USB Data Performance Language Usage Guidelines

The USB Data Performance Language Usage Guidelines for products based on and compliant to the USB 3.2 Specification can be downloaded here: