Since the USB Type-C interface was introduced in 2014, after years of promotion, more and more electronic devices have adopted the USB Type-C interface, and the application area is extensive. This article will introduce the USB Type-C power delivery capabilities and related evaluation board design, provide you with reference for developing related products.
Data Transmission and Charging Will Be Completed with Only One Cable
After interfacing support data transmission, a traditional USB interface only supports 5V charging, so it can only be used to recharge low-power products such as mobile phones. However, the newly released USB Type-C interface has high power transmission capability, so it can be used to recharge electronic devices with higher power requirements, further reducing the number of interfaces of electronic products. It can also simplify the design, to reduce the volume of the product; therefore, it is gradually accepted and adopted by the market.
In addition to the convenience of inserting positive and negative sides, the biggest feature of USB Type-C interface is to support the 100W output capability of the highest 20V and 5A, this makes the application of USB Type-C more extensive, and it is already not only a data transmission interface, but also an interface for power transmission. Because of its high-power output capability, its applications are not only limited to low power mobile devices such as tablets and mobile phones, others include digital cameras, external storage peripherals, notebooks, AIO computers and displays, let all the charging and data transmission be done with a single cable.
Another difference between the USB Type-C standard and the old one is that it introduces dual roles, the two ends of the USB Type-C cable are exactly the same, this means that the two devices connected to it must communicate to determine who is the host and who is the peripheral. Role communication must be carried out separately for power supply and data transmission, this work should be carried out just after the cable is connected.
For data transmission, the host port is called the Downstream Facing Port, DFP, the port of the peripheral is called Upstream Facing Port, UFP. In terms of power supply, the power supply terminal is called the source end, and the power consumption terminal is called the sink end. Some applications will use dual roles for data (Dual Roles for Data, DRD) and dual roles for power (Dual Role for Power, DRP).
Another advantage that the USB Type-C system brings is the higher power supply capability. Conventional USB cables allow supply of only 2.5W power, while USB Type-C cables allow up to 5V/3A i.e. 15W maximum power. If combined with the Power Delivery (PD) protocol, the voltage and current power supply capacity can be increased to 20V/5A i.e. 100W maximum power. Such a power supply allows the power supply for large devices, such as monitors, through the USB port, it also allows charging of notebooks and other devices with large battery packs.
In order to shorten the customer's product development time, Arrow ESC has introduced a 100W USB Type-C PD DFP evaluation board based on STMicroelectronics chips. The evaluation board adopts ST 100W USB Type-C as a whole solution, STCH03 is the core of QR flyback topology controller, equipped with SRK1000 synchronous rectifier, STUSB4700 USB controller provides compatibility of USB PD 2.0.
The demo board can provide 100W output for 5V3A, 9V5A, 15V5A and 20V5A in Type-C PD DFP (user output is in the range of 5-20V), support universal 115Vac and 230Vac input, compatible with USB Type-C PD 2.0, and has CC / CV (Constant Current / Constant Voltage) control charger function.
The core chips used in the evaluation board include STMicroelectronics STCH03 PWM controller and STF20N65M5 MOSFET for power management functions, SRK1000 controller and STL110N10F7 MOSFET as synchronous rectifier, STL9P3LLH6 MOSFET responsible for O/P SW, and TSM1012AI CC/CV controller that handles CC/CV functions, and STUSB4700 USB controller responsible for USB Type-C function. In addition, the TE USB Type-C 1-2295018-2 connector is also used, knitter-switch common mode choking turn ICSC30330600LVS-2 and transformer, and Vishay T55D107M025C0060 polymer output capacitors. This evaluation board can be applied to the 100W USB Type-C PD power supply / charger.
At present, more and more devices supporting USB Type-C interface are pushed out, it also represents a surge in demand for related peripherals, the market potential is amazing. Manufacturers interested in developing related products will greatly shorten product development time and seize market opportunities through this 100W USB Type-C PD DFP evaluation board.