14 DAY TRIAL // Pericom Semiconductor Company has announced today, the mass production and availability of the USB 3.0 ReDriver chips during the IDF (Intel Developer Forum). These products are intended for use in electronic devices with USB 3.0 support that require an increase in the length of the connection without compromising signal quality.
The use of USB 3.0 ReDriver chips, allows developers to build electronics that use long tracks on the printed circuit board or longer wires inside the device. According to the company, improved waveform ensures the stable detection of the connected peripherals that function using USB 3.0.
I think everybody that has used a USB 3.0 cable has noticed that the cable is much thicker than the usual and cheap USB 2.0 ones. This is because USB 3.0 exclusively requires high-quality cables for compatibility and correct transmission of data. The USB 2.0 standard allowed lower quality cables, unshielded and longer if needed.
It may not be that a better signal would allow a cheaper, unshielded USB 3.0 cable, but we’ll be happy to see longer USB 3.0 cables like 5- or even 10-meter ones.
The list of applications for the USB 3.0 ReDriver chips include laptops and desktop computers, workstations and servers, docking stations and external storage devices, networking equipment and consumer electronics devices that use the fast SuperSpeed USB 3.0 protocol. According to Pericom, the use of the USB 3.0 ReDriver or similar devices should be in about 5% of these cases.
The advantages of USB 3.0 ReDriver are, among others, that the manufacturer gets a low power consumption (using a single power supply voltage 3.3 V) and that there is no need for an external synchronization signal and programmable equalizer curve signal.
The family includes devices for two ports like the PI2EQX7742, priced at 1.95 USD in 10K quantity and single port like the PI3EQX7741 or PI3EQX7502 priced at just 1.18 USD in the same considerable quantity, as well as for a single channel like the PI3EQX7745 with a price of 0.99 USD for 10K amount.
Also, the manufacturer reported that the Pericom Add-On Card 7741 that uses a PI3EQX7741 USB 3.0 ReDriver chip has successfully passed all tests of USB-IF, and has received a certificate of compatibility with the SuperSpeed USB.