This post has been republished via RSS; it originally appeared at: Microsoft USB Blog articles.
As part of the MUTT (Microsoft USB Test Tool) family and a follow-on to the USB Type-C Connection Exerciser, we are excited to introduce the USB4 Switch: a USB Type-C 1:2 programmable switch, compatible with USB4 as well as older protocols such as Thunderbolt™ 3, USB 3.2, USB Type-C Alternate Modes, and of course Power Delivery.
The USB4 Switch automates connect-disconnect of a USB Type-C port and will be used in stress testing, switching between peripherals (for example, a dock and a display), or any automated reconfiguration of a USB Type-C port. It is compatible with the Connection Exerciser tools and scripts and integrates with the Hardware Lab Kit (HLK) test content.
It will be a required test device for Windows Certification through the HLK but is highly recommended for use much earlier in your hardware development cycle as well. In our experience, long-run randomized switching on a USB Type-C port is highly effective in exposing bugs in the hardware-firmware-software stack, both in the USB Type-C controller as well as the underlying data protocols. We expect the USB4 Switch to have similar value in the development and validation of USB4 hardware and software.
The device is available to purchase from our partners at MCCI at https://mcci.com/usb/dev-tools/model-3141/
For UCSI based systems we recommended to perform testing with some additional settings to help discover firmware bugs. Please see “Converting firmware failures to bugchecks” in this blog post.