USB-C levels up and powers up to deliver 240W in upgraded power delivery spec
- Reference: 1622102348
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/05/27/usb_pd_240w_upgrade/
- Source link:
Wake up! This is no mere standards document, because this one improves USB-C’s power-carrying capacity from 100W to 240W, where implemented.
“With the new capabilities of USB Power Delivery 3.1, we now enable higher power products such as larger notebook PCs to shift from traditional power connectors to USB Type-C,” said Brad Saunders, chair of the USB Promoter Group in its [1]announcement [PDF] of the new spec.
[2]
[3]
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“We also anticipate a wider range of product application developers outside of the traditional USB ecosystem to now consider standardizing on USB Type-C with USB PD power their power needs.”
If you fancy getting into the weeds with this stuff, you can find the 744-page USB Power Delivery Specification [5]here and the 400-plus pages of the USB-C spec version 2.1, updated to match the PD Spec, [6]here .
[7]Australian Federal Police hiring digital evidence retrieval specialists: Being a very good boy and paws required
[8]USB4: Based on Thunderbolt 3. Two times the data rate, at 40Gbps. One fewer space. Zero confusing versions
[9]USB-C adds authentication protocol
But the most important bit is in the Promoter Group’s canned statement, in which Matteo Lo-Presti, an executive veep at STMicroelectronics, mentioned “the market’s need for a higher-power, truly universal bus connector … to anticipate customer requirements, potentially creating new markets for USB Power Delivery.”
Lo-Presti is essentially saying that One Charger To Rule Them All is a desirable thing. Saunders’ mention of “larger notebooks” shows why: today thin and light laptops can easily cope with power carried over USB-C, but gaming laptops need a brick of their own. PC-makers would love to offer one USB-power brick and toss it into every box they ship.
Or don’t ship. Some phone-makers have already started to make chargers an optional extra with new smartphones on the assumption you’ve already got a drawer-full and don’t need a new one.
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The European Union has some influence here, too, as it has [11]made USB-C the charging standard inside its bloc because it wants chargers to be used for years instead of ending up as e-waste.
We’re not home and hosed with 240W over USB-C, as the new specs call for cables to carry labels mentioning their carrying capacity and that means not every cheapo bit of kit you buy at a convenience store will do the job. ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.usb.org/sites/default/files/2021-05/USB%20PG%20USB%20PD%203.1%20DevUpdate%20Announcement_FINAL.pdf
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YK9tucokag3TFcQjN-mxAwAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YK9tucokag3TFcQjN-mxAwAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YK9tucokag3TFcQjN-mxAwAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.usb.org/document-library/usb-power-delivery
[6] https://usb.org/document-library/usb-type-cr-cable-and-connector-specification-revision-21
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/19/woof_woof_whos_a_good/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2019/03/05/usb_4_incoming/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2016/04/13/usbc_adds_authentication_protocol/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YK9tucokag3TFcQjN-mxAwAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2020/01/17/eu_goes_full_usb_c_jab_at_apple/
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Gaming laptops
Like the Alienware Area51m R2?
10900K + RTX 2080 Super.
Very nice specs, but utterly dumb to put that in a laptop enclosure.
Reviews are mostly - "battery life is rubbish but I expected that"
Re: Gaming laptops
Not sure if it was that one, but something similar - he sees the battery as a (short term) UPS and nothing more!
Coming soon
USB Power Delivery Specification Revision 4.0: use your USB-C cable to charge your Tesla.
Re: Coming soon
It's probably going to be the reverse soon given the way "G" specs drive higher and higher power use: you'll need a Tesla to keep your 10G mobile phone powered..
I predict excitement
So, the average punter is going to use any old USB-C cable, because it fits in the hole. Then they're going to pump a nice amount of current down it. What could possibly go wrong?
Re: I predict excitement
Probably the same thing that happens when people try and chuck a full 13 amp load down a cheaply made mains cable that can barely cope with 3amps.
Re: I predict excitement
That's actually one of the two arguments in favour of the UK style lump of a power connector:
1 - it is fused to the capacity of the cable (although tt's too easy to insert an unsuitable fuse).
2 - it ensures you know which lead is live and which is neutral so you can place a switch in the right wire.
That said, from a risk managament perspective option (2) is maybe not good because it creates an assumption with a latent possible error condition, whereas most European plugs are symmetrical and thus force switches in both leads.
Re: I predict excitement
Switches in both leads might be the required practice these practice these days. It might even be carried out in new installations. However, it is certainly not always in place in older installations. Light sockets in particular can still be live even when the switch is off.
Re: I predict excitement
Well, that's the exact reason USB-C cables have chips in the connectors. The cable tells the power supply what it's capable of.
Re: I predict excitement
Hmm. I used a Belkin (I think) one to power my Macbook once - it was thicker than the Apple cable (which I did not have with me), but it got alarmingly soft in use!
Re: I predict excitement
No problem, the negotiation phase will sort that out.
I mean, there's never been any problems with USB 3 or USB C chargers or cables before, have they? Especially off-brand ones.
Re: I predict excitement
Yes, because the cynic in me expects that there will very shortly become available cables which claim to be able to handle the power, even in the negotiation phase, but lie...
Re: I predict excitement
I'm really hoping the standards makers have thought of this and made sure that chargers can't supply too much and devices won't accept too much unless they detect the appropriate conditions at all 3 points (charger, cable, device). Not easy to do while maintaining compatibility, but I know from experience that fast charging doesn't work with any old cable, so there's something there already.
Not all chargers or cables are equal and navigating the compatibility between them all is a pain.
Do OnePlus still use a proprietary fast charger standard, rather than USB PD?
I've got an old OnePlus 3, it's USB-C, but you can only fast charge if using their provided charger and cable, use a USB PD charger, or a different cable, and it just trickle charges.
Does anyone else do that?
I've no issue per say with them using some other standard, but that really aught to be in addition to USB PD, rather than instead of.
As it stands now, it means you still end up with two sets of chargers and cables, if you want to cover fast charging, even though both, or more, devices are USB-C.
RE OnePlus Warp Charge 30
As far as the Nord at least, yes. Warp Charge 30 just makes 6A available at 5V instead of upping the voltage to keep the current to reasonable levels. Maybe it's cheaper to do that than pay for the licensing to do USB PD.
I wish they fixed the hub issue
Annoyingly, at present you can't really get a USB-C to USB-C only hub, so you're still stuck with a mix of USB-C and USB-A connectors.
Not as complete a migration as I'd hoped for..
Re: I wish they fixed the hub issue
Intel are supposed to have released a device to allow USB-C only hubs to be produced. Not seen one yet...
hope it's enough
In theory USB-C can provide power transfer in both directions.
But I recently purchased an electric car, and even plugging in chargers to both the USB-C ports in the car seems to have virtually no effect topping up the car's state of charge.
Fortunately it looks like there is a filler cap hatch on the outside body of the car, so I am guessing for now I can just add some petrol until they can get this charging business to work.
Gaming laptops
I know someone who has a gaming "laptop" that needs two 300W+ PSU's if it is ordered with the highest spec graphics card. One of these weighs more than my laptop and PSU combined!