33

CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock Teardown

 2 years ago
source link: https://dancharblog.wordpress.com/2022/03/05/caldigit-ts4-teardown/
Go to the source link to view the article. You can view the picture content, updated content and better typesetting reading experience. If the link is broken, please click the button below to view the snapshot at that time.

[Don’t forget to check out the other 35 Thunderbolt 4 Docks]

Thanks to longtime reader /u/Chaftalie, we have some details on the CalDigit TS4 docking station. [Photos used with permission]

CalDigit TS4 feature summary:

  • 230W PSU
  • 1 TB4 rear-facing upstream port with 98W power delivery
  • 2x TB4 ports (40Gb/s / 15W)
  • 1x DP 1.4 port
  • Dual monitor support:
    • 2x TB4 or 1x TB4 + 1x DP 1.4
    • 1x 8K60, 2x 5K60, 1x 4K144, 1x 3440x1440p180 or 1x 1440p240
  • 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen2 (10Gb/s / 20W)
  • 2x USB-C 3.2 Gen2 (10Gb/s / 7.5W)
  • 5x USB-A 3.2 Gen2 (10Gb/s 7.5W)
  • 3x 3.5mm audio (1x trrs front, 2x trs rear)
  • Intel i225 2.5Gb/s Ethernet (does not work on legacy USB-C systems)
  • UHS-II SD Card reader
  • K-lock

Teardown

A weight held on with adhesive helps stabilize the Dock in the vertical orientation.

Chassis held together with 4 long bolts and 4 small screws

Front cap removal reveals a PCB sandwich fastened with metal stand-offs

Rear cap removed

Main assembly slides out of the shell

Assembly bottom has 4 more screws to remove

The bottom piece reveals 7 heat-sink thermal pads

Primary PCB – top

Primary PCB – bottom

Secondary PCB – top

Secondary PCB – bottom

PCB investigation

The Primary PCB includes the key control chips like the Intel JHL8440 TB4 controller, USB-C PMICs, DC-DC converters, bulk capacitors, flash RAM and USB hub chips. The board houses the upstream TB4 connector, two downstream TB4 connectors, a DisplayPort 1.4 connector, two USB-C 3.2 Gen2 connectors and a DC power barrel jack. It is connected to the secondary PCB with a board-to-board 50-pin compact molex-style double-sided edge connector.

The secondary PCB includes 2 USB hub chips, an SD Card reader chip, an Intel i225 2.5Gb Ethernet chip, two audio chips, and various USB PMICs. It houses, the RJ-45 Ethernet jack, five USB-A 3.2 Gen2 ports, three 3.5mm audio jacks, SDcard reader, and an additional USB-C 3.2 Gen2 port. Below I’ve listed the key components:

Topology (best guess):

  • TB4 Upstream port
    • Intel JHL8440
      • TB4 downstream port #1
      • TB4 downstream port #2
      • Diodes Inc PI3DBS12212A 12Gbps 4->2 mux/demux
        • DisplayPort 1.4
      • 50-pin connector (PCIe x1 channel)
        • to secondary PCB
          • Intel i225 2.5GbE
            • RJ-45 Ethernet jack with integrated transformers
      • Fresco Logic FL5500-2F0 6-port USB 3.2 Gen 2 hub controller #1
        • Fresco Logic FL5801-2Q2 5-port USB2 port expander
          • TI T65982DMC Dock management controller
          • SPI connections to flash chips
        • USB-C port #1 (front)
        • USB-C port #2 (front)
        • 50-pin connector (2x USB 3.2 Gen2 channels)
          • to secondary PCB
            • Fresco Logic FL5500-2F0 6-port USB 3.2 Gen 2 hub controller #2
              • 4x USB-A 3.2 Gen2 ports
            • Fresco Logic FL5500-2F0 6-port USB 3.2 Gen 2 hub controller #3
              • USB-A 3.2 Gen2 port (front)
              • USB-C port #3 (rear)
              • CMedia CM6533 Audio #1 (top of PCB)
                • 2x 3.5mm jacks (rear)
              • CMedia CM6533 Audio #2 (bottom of PCB)
                • 1x 3.5mm jack (front)
              • Genesys Logic GL3231S USB 3.1 Gen 1 dual LUN SDCard reader
                • SD card slot
                • microSD card slot

Comments and final thoughts

As always, CalDigit’s construction and design is impressive. CalDigit is not afraid to use exposed fasteners making device repairs simple. Unlike its competitors, CalDigit is serious about power delivery by providing a 230W PSU and distributing USB-C PMICs and DC-DC convertors across both PCBs close to the ports. Users should have no problems connecting multiple external HDD, SSD, 10GbE, cellphones, or other devices and draw the full rated power.

The lack of an MST chipset is surprising with a device offering so much functionality as it limits users to only two displays. Still, 1x 8K60 or 2x 5K60 support is more than enough for most folks in the target market – many of CalDigit’s customers are Mac users where MST isn’t supported anyway. Curiously, there are two CMedia CM6533 audio chipsets – one for the front port and one for the rear. According to CalDigit’s documentation only the front or rear can be used – not both together – so I don’t understand why there are two chips. Perhaps with firmware changes, all three ports could be used to support a subwoofer or surround speakers.

Unlike the competing Lenovo dock which is cross-marketed to USB-C and Thunderbolt 4 laptops, CalDigit does not include a USB-based Ethernet chip to run alongside the PCIe-based Intel i225 2.5GbE solution. This means USB-C systems won’t get Ethernet functionality. But the dual PCB design enables CalDigit to bring a variety of future devices with different components and ports to market so its plausible we could see a device with an alternate secondary board with 1GbE or even 10GbE.

References


report

Recommend

About Joyk


Aggregate valuable and interesting links.
Joyk means Joy of geeK