The USB Type-C standard has been developed to meet the ever growing needs of connectivity between modern devices. The latest USB Type-C Power Delivery (PD) standard provides significantly more power and higher data transfer speed. As a member of the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), Richtek has been developing innovative USB Type-C and PD compliant products to meet the latest standard for a wide range of applications, from USB-PD power adapters, Car Chargers, Type-C cable e-Mark ICs to Type-C Dual Role Power PD port controllers which use the latest USB3.0 PD protocol to support Direct Charging systems. This issue will introduce the basic operation of USB Type-C systems with Power Delivery, and show some practical examples of USB Type-C applications with selected Richtek USB Type-C power management solutions.

What is USB Type-C? This is a new 24-pin USB connector system allowing higher power transfer and faster data transfer than previous USB standards. Please see the comparison tables between the older USB and new Type-C Standard in terms of connectors, connections, data speed and power.

Key advantages of new USB Type-C standard: Reversible plug orientation, smaller physical connector and receptacle size, auto-configuration, dual role capability for both data and power, up to 100W (20V/5A) of power transfer with PD; up to + 10Gbps data rate and support for Alternate Mode data transfer like HDMI / DisplayPort / Thunderbolt. 

How does USB Type-C configure data and power? Because the Type-C plug is reversible and identical for both cable ends, the USB type-C system includes Configuration Channel (CC) logic which takes care of sensing and communication functions:

- Sensing of Device connection and Host current capability

- CC PD communication between host and device to allow selection of the suitable bus voltage and current

- detection of the connection polarity in order to configure the transceiver to select the correct wire pairs for data transfer.

Under what condition is an E-marker IC required in a Type-C cable? Cables that support Superspeed USB3.1 data transfer or cables that can carry currents higher than 3A must be electronically marked, to inform the Host about cable characteristics like current capability, the presence of re-driver for signal conditioning, etc. The presence of an e-marked cable is detected by the CC logic which then connects VCONN power to the cable electronics. Read more to regarding Richtek E-marker IC solution RT1710 and its evaluation board and test tools.

Richtek provides evaluation kits and development boards for various USB Type-C Power Delivery applications.

For USB Type-C Power Adapter with Power Delivery applications, we have developed RT7786 wide range Flyback controller which works together with RT7207 USB Type-C PD controller with Synchronous rectifier at secondary side to form a total adapter solution with high efficiency covering the complete Power Delivery range.

Applications like Smart-Phone, Tablet PC or Notebook PC can sometimes act as host (Power Source) and sometimes become power consumer (Sink) when they are charged. In this case a Dual Role Power (DRP) port controller is needed. RT1715 is a tiny 1.38x1.38mm USB Type-C controller including CC logic, PD3.0 communication, VCONN support and role swap with I2C bus. RT1711P is a full-featured USB Type-C PD controller and includes power path control, VBUS current sense, VBUS discharge and DC/DC converter output control.

USB Type-C car charger applications with Power Delivery will need a Buck-boost regulator to derive the 5V - 20V VBUS voltage from the 13.5V car battery. RTQ7880 is an automotive grade USB Type-C PD Source solution with integrated Buck-Boost controller for delivering up to 100W for charging Mobile phone, Tablet PC and Notebook PC in your car. It includes an embedded ARM CortexTM-M0 MCU for high flexibility, including programmable cable drop compensation and protection features, VCONN support, customizable GPIO’s and master & slave I2C bus.

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