Kandou began volume production of the next generation in the Matterhorn™ family of USB-C® multiprotocol retimers solutions for USB4™, adding support for DisplayPort 2.0 functionality to target mobile, tablet, and desktop PC applications. 

Matterhorn KB8010 extends the feature set of earlier Matterhorn retimers and reinforces Kandou’s USB4 innovative leadership in high-speed, energy-efficient, chip-to-chip link solutions to improve the way the world connects and communicates.

“Kandou’s mission is to improve customer experiences with electronic devices by delivering cutting-edge chip-to-chip communications solutions,” says Amin Shokrollahi, Founder and CEO of Kandou. “Matterhorn’s market-leading features, compliance readiness and proven interoperability with hundreds of industry products are the key reasons why five of the top six PC OEMs have deployed Matterhorn in their personal computing platforms.”

Introducing Matterhorn KB8010

By adding support for DisplayPort 2.0 functionality to KB8010, Kandou is meeting the industry’s demand for increased bandwidth and higher data rates. The DisplayPort 2.0 standard pushes 77.4 gigabits per second of data, nearly triple the bandwidth of DisplayPort 1.4a at 25.92 gigabits per second. This means DP2.0 handles 16K resolution with HDR at 60Hz or a 10K resolution with HDR at 80Hz. End users can also use DP2.0 for excellent resolution with dual-monitor setups including, for example, running two displays with 8K resolution at 120Hz. Substantially improved display resolution and refresh rates are highly valued for billboard-sized displays, gaming, and video editing.

In addition to support for DP2.0, KB8010 supports the optional USB4 low-power (CLx) states, USB3.2 Gen 2x2 (20Gbps), supports 1.8V IO logic and doubles the number of I2C device addresses, enabling system designers to reduce components on the motherboard and decrease system cost.

Kandou’s KB8010 USB4 retimer is sampling now and will ship in volume production starting Q1 2023. An evaluation kit and full product documentation are available to support customer evaluation and implementation in laptop, notebook, desktop, and other host systems that support USB4 and DisplayPort.

Samples of KB8010 and evaluation kits are available now; pricing is available upon request.