As an embedded systems programmer with over 15 years of experience working on hardware and software for Windows platforms, I have had the opportunity to work extensively with the progression of USB standards over the years from USB 1.1 to the latest USB 4 versions. In this comprehensive technical deep dive, we will unpack everything related to the SuperSpeed USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, commonly identified by SS markings, that have become ubiquitous on Windows computers.
A Brief History of USB Standards
To properly understand SuperSpeed USB, it is helpful to quickly recap the evolution of USB versions over the years:
- USB 1.0: Released in January 1996. Very slow 12 Mbps signaling rate only intended for keyboards and mice.
- USB 1.1: Released in 1998. Minor update to 1.0 specification. Increased max speed to 12 Mbps from 1.5 Mbps.
- USB 2.0: Released in April 2000. Major update referred to as Hi-Speed USB. Boosts speeds up to 480 Mbps and adds support for high power bus-powered devices.
- USB 3.0: Formally released in November 2008. Dubbed SuperSpeed USB. Massive speed upgrade to up to 5 Gbps along with a number of protocol improvements.
- USB 3.1: Released in July 2013. Upgrade to modify SuperSpeed signaling to extend speed to 10 Gbps. Later split into two generations.
- USB 3.2: Released in September 2017. Update that defined dual-lane operation for 20Gbps speed and introduced the term "generations" to describe versions. Essentially a renaming exercise for marketing purposes.
- USB 4: Released in August 2019. Merges Thunderbolt and USB to deliver up to 40 Gbps using certified USB-C cables and connectors.
So in summary, the USB standard evolved rather slowly in performance capabilities in its first 12 years, before absolutely exploding in speed enhancements since 2008 with the jump to SuperSpeed and subsequent upgrades.
Detailed Technical Overview of SuperSpeed USB
The SuperSpeed USB 3.0 release in 2008 was the first major reworking of the core protocol and physical layer signaling since USB 1.1 over a decade earlier. Some key technical changes include:
- Dual unidirectional data paths: USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 only had a single bidirectional data channel. SuperSpeed adds separate transmit and receive differential pairs for up to 10x more throughput (Intel, 2010).
- New data encoding scheme: USB 3.2 devices leverage 8b/10b encoding compared to the NRZI scheme used by USB 2.0. This allows better DC balance, optimizations for EMI reduction, and clock recovery (USB-IF, 2010).
- Full-duplex operation: Earlier USB versions only supported half-duplex on the data lines requiring direction switching. SuperSpeed‘s separate transmit and receive paths enable simultaneous two-way transfer (Axelson, 2015).
- Packet prioritization: The new protocol stacks allows high priority traffic for devices that need low latency to jump ahead of bulk data packets (USB-IF, 2013).
- Sleep to wakeup latency: Hardware optimizations to preserve high-frequency PLL lock enable much faster recovery from low power states compared to USB 2.0 (Intel, 2010).
- Backwards compatibility: Support for legacy USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 device connectivity.
So in summary, SuperSpeed USB delivered a massive nearly 10X speed boost over its predecessors thanks to dual channels, more efficient encoding, full-duplex communication flows, priority scheduling and more.
These changes at multiple levels of the interconnect allow Windows platforms to finally offer external peripheral connectivity with throughputs closer to what internal SATA ports deliver – removing a major bottleneck.
SuperSpeed USB Implementations in Windows Hardware
On the hardware side, supporting these enhanced SuperSpeed capabilities requires controllers, ports and cabling designed specifically for USB 3.2 Gen 1 operation:
- Host controllers: All modern Windows desktops, laptops and tablets rely on one of several USB host controller solutions from vendors like Renesas, ASMedia, VIA Labs, Intel, AMD, MediaTek and others to enable their USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports. For example, AMD‘s Promontory, Bryce and Ryzen chipsets with integrated USB 3.0 controller cores are very common in AM4 platform motherboards (AMD, 2017). Intel‘s more recent generations of CPUs also integrate USB 3.2 controllers compatible with the Enhanced Host Controller Interface (xHCI) specification.
- Connectors: To support the extra physical pins required for the SuperSpeed transmit and receive paths, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports feature an additional set of five pins compared to standard USB 2.0 ports. So you will see a total of 9 pins in an SS USB Type-A port. The Type-C USB connector used on modern portable devices also has extra pins to carry the SuperSpeed lane signals regardless of USB 2.0 or 3.2 device connection.
- Cabling: Passive USB 3.2 Gen 1 cabling utilizes additional twinax wire pairs in the cable along with standard USB 2.0 twisted signal pair to carry the Rx and Tx paths. Active optical USB cables for longer lengths have also been defined. To get the fastest speeds though, you need appropriate certified USB 3.2 Gen 1 cables that pass all compliance tests.
So SuperSpeed ports will be connected to one of the many modern USB host controllers available and feature telltale additional connector pins to carry the higher speed differential signals. Matching this with appropriate certified USB 3.2 Gen 1 cabling opens up the performance headroom this standard offers.
Performance Comparisons
How does this all translate to actual real-world Windows transfer performance though? Here is a numerical look:
| USB Standard | Version | Max Link Bandwidth | Max Real-world | Typical Real-world |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USB 2.0 | Base spec | 480 Mbps | 35 MB/s | 25 MB/s |
| USB 3.2 Gen 1 | SuperSpeed | 5 Gbps | 400 MB/s | 250 MB/s |
| USB 3.2 Gen 2 | SuperSpeed+ | 10 Gbps | 1000 MB/s | 500 MB/s |
As you can see from common external SSD transfers profiles, the nearly 10X bandwidth improvement from USB 3.2 Gen 1 over legacy USB 2.0 directly translates to 10X faster peak real-world file transfer rates. Actual peripherals in the Windows ecosystem may not hit the maximum 5 Gbps link speeds, but commonly still achieve 200-400 MB/s today which significantly enhance the experience.
Even the jump to the newer 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 doubles effective performance. So if you are shopping for a new external drive, always opt for models explicitly supporting USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20 Gbps) or Thunderbolt 3/4 (40 Gbps) to future proof yourself. The interface will likely never be the bottleneck then!
SuperSpeed Device Examples
With hardware support ubiquitous after over 12 years of availability what kind of devices can you expect to fully utilize these faster SuperSpeed ports?
Direct Attached Storage: External SSDs and HDDs have moved completely to support USB 3.2 Gen 1 minimum. Top options recommended for Windows users include:
- Samsung T5/T7 Portable SSDs – Up to 1050/1050 MB/s reads; 1000/1000 MB/s writes (Gen 2 models)
- Western Digital MyPassport External HDDs – Up to 174 MB/s sequential reads/writes depending on drive capacity
- SanDisk Extreme and Extreme Pro Portable SSDs – Up to 1050/2000 MB/s read/write speeds respectively
Smartphones and Tablets: All modern mobile devices depend on USB 3.2 for syncing data at reasonable speeds to Windows PCs.
- iPhones – Require Lightning to USB-C cables for USB 3.2 Gen 1 speeds to transfer photos and videos to Windows machines.
- Android Smartphones – Leverage USB 3.2 capabilities for both data and Battery Charge 1.2 compliant faster charging.
- iPads – Newer iPad Air and iPad Pro models boast Thunderbolt 3 or 4 support using their USB-C ports and compatible cables when connected to Windows laptops.
Hubs and Docks: Multi-port hubs and docking stations utilize SuperSpeed ports to enable attaching multiple accessories without congestion. Many also supply power for convenient desktop expansion.
- Anker PowerExpand Elite 13-in-1 Thunderbolt 3 Dock – Supports dual 4K 60Hz display connectivity at 40 Gbps.
- Dell Universal Dock D6000 – Connect up to three monitors and multiple peripherals using integrated USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports.
- Orico 6-Port USB 3.2 Gen 1 Hub – Simple hub with five USB 3.2 downstream ports with individual power switches.
This list while not exhaustive, gives you a sample of the range of options that can leverage SuperSpeed ports on Windows machines for faster effective data transfers.
Conclusion
Hopefully this technical deep dive has provided you a much more thorough understanding of what the SS USB ports on your Windows devices offer under the hood. The SuperSpeed USB 3.2 Gen 1 standard delivered nearly an order of magnitude evolutionary boost over USB 2.0 a decade ago through its re-engineered protocol, physical layer enhancements and hardware improvements.
Backwards compatibility ensures all existing devices continue working while new devices take advantage of up to 400 MB/s practical transfer speeds today. So keep an eye out for those blue connectors labeled SS USB or USB 3.2 Gen 1 to connect your flashy new storage drive or latest iPhone to extract maximum Windows performance!