Renesas USB Power
September 9, 2014, Intel Developer Forum, San Francisco—Renesas Showed off their latest USB functions with a pair of chips that enable the USB 3.0 power delivery function. They also showed some production samples of the new type-c connector for the power delivery.
The power deliver controller (uPD720250) supports up to 100W (5A at 20V) power over a USB PD cable. The chip handles the full handshake and querying of the target and power cable to ensure safe interconnections and power delivery within the capacities of all the intervening components. The USB 3.1 specification requires the cable identify its power capacity, the target power needs, and the host tells the rest of the systems what is available.
The entire chip set focuses on safety and reliability first, so the handshake and interrogation functions were primary design requirements. The interface complexity requires an MCU, which also allows the internal firmware to be upgraded should implementation issues occur.
The power delivery chip also has to control the external power supply to manage the voltage and current, since the power delivery spec can deliver current at 5V or 20 V. The new chip has design support through a design kit and reference design.
The companion receiver chip provides the power request and target configuration information to enable the complete handshake functions to support power delivery controller PD Version 2.0. Based on PD version 2.0, the Renesas Power Delivery Controller Design prototype demonstrates the use of the new Type-C connectors, where the smaller, thinner size is convenient for use with portable devices.
