Intel 2014 Thunderbolt plans revealed

Despite limited consumer interest, Intel continues to push its Thunderbolt interface. In the new year the company will deliver the 2014 Broadwell Thunderbolt LP controller, new features will include the ability to charge devices via Thunderbolt and 10Gbps file tranfers between computers using a straight connection. The slide below doesn't reveal much new, other than that the controller has a TPD of around 1.3W and an idle draw of 1mW.

Intel says that it’s including power delivery over Thunderbolt in its 2014 controller because of high customer demand. Intel notes that this controller will only have a stop-gap solution for power delivery until a full-featured solution arrives in 2015.

Slides show that Thunderbolt will be able to deliver up to 53W over a standard tethered cable via the PC’s regular Thunderbolt port.

The big question with Thunderbolt charging is adoption by manufacturers. Charging is a substantial addition to Thunderbolt, as it was one advantage USB had over the protocol. However adoption has been been quite slow, sources say, because of licensing barriers and strict validation.

Source: VR Zone