USB 3.2 Gen2 loopback

[Derek@Sealevel]

2024 is nearing the end. Can you offer any status update since the last post?

[David (PassMark)]

Bit of a sad story. We had a working prototype and were doing PCB design for mass production. It was going to be expensive however. We were going to use a FPGA. Initially we thought costs were going to be something like $150 per FPGA chip (plus maybe $30 for other parts, plus $25K for off the shelf "IP" for the FPGA, plus maybe $100K for our own engineering & software). Plus we needed to make a profit, or at least break even. Then we found the FPGA wasn't quite fast enough. The next one up was ~$300 per chip. So if we produce 500 units, the cost base was going to be ~$600 per unit. This would have give us 10Gbit/s, instead of the current 5Gbit/s. It was also slightly technically risky using 3rd party IP we don't control for part of the project and economically risky, in that we might not sell many units if they are $800 each retail. Plus we are aware that 10Gbit/s isn't all that fast (going to 20Gb looked possible in 2025, but maybe at $2000 per unit, as FPGAs aren't cheap at high speeds).

At the same time we became aware of another non-FPGA chip which was claimed to have twice the speed (so 20Gbit/s) for maybe 1/3rd the price. (to be confirmed as we are just guessing for the moment). This chip + it's pricing is going to be released in Dec 2024, it is claimed. So 6x better on a speed per $ basis. Too good it ignore.

So we made the choice to put aside the relatively slow expensive solution and wait for the cheap fast solution.

Note that if there was some customer out their who was willing to give a firm order for 200+ units, we could still do this FPGA solution, as a lot of the risk would be removed. Let us know.

So, disappointingly, we've got nothing for 2024.
But we are still committed to the project.

[Mantvydas]

Is there any update on this topic for 2025?

[David (PassMark)]

Yes, the new chip eventually became available. It was late, so instead of Dec 24, it was June 25.
But we bought a bunch of them. and the good news is that they work at 20Gbit/s, as advertised. But then they got recalled because of some low level bootloader issue. But we can work around that. There was a few deep technical issues, like being able to count and report protocol errors, but we think we solved them.

High level task list is
Test development board => Done
Write firmware => Mostly done
Write windows client software => Mostly done
Sort out device driver => Mostly done
Design new prototype PCB => Done
Manufacture prototype PCB & source all the other parts (LCD screen, flash storage, protection circuits, etc..) => Done
Design plastic case => Done (3D print)
Test prototype => Next week
Get mold made for plastics case
Design 2nd prototype PCB
Manufacture 2nd prototype
Test 2nd prototype. (Hopefully it all works at this point)
Go to mass production of board + case + cabling
Sort out compliance, packaging, documentation, bar codes & web site.
Shipping

Will all this get done before the Christmas break, probably not. But we are pretty confident now for an early 2026 release, as the risky part seems to be solved.

[David (PassMark)]

Here's a photo of prototype #1 (outside of the case, without the screen connected)

[Halil]

Hi David, looks promising, we are really interested also to use this device. When do you think, it will be available.

[David (PassMark)]

After a few rounds of prototyping, R&D and bug fixing, we now have a fully working USB loopback testing device at 20Gbit/s.

We are now buying components for mass production, getting a nice plastic case made up, writing the web site, documenting the programming API, testing the best quality 20G cables, getting bar codes, sorting out shipping to distribution sites and various other stuff that needs doing before a commercial launch.

So maybe another 2 months to get all of the above done. No fixed date as the timing of all the steps is a bit variable. Could be 3 months if components have a lead time (we obviously picked parts that should be available off the shelf, but you never really know until you try and order them).

We have a couple of prototype units we could sell today! EMail us if interested in doing some testing. (Update 23/Feb/26: prototypes have been sold. Will need to wait for mass production)

Photo of final prototype (3D printed case, so not the final look for the plastic case).

[David (PassMark)]

Update: We will have a small qty to ship next week (4th May), then a large qty in about 2 weeks.