USB 3.0 and greater specifications not only promise higher speeds, up to 10Gbps for USB 3.1, but also the ability to deliver up to 100W over USB to power your laptop, display, and printer via equipment, usually a USB hub, that supports USB Power Delivery, or USB PD, via a USB Type C connector. So far very few products appear to support it, and I could only find the Macbook and ChromeBook Pixel, and a few USB PD chargers on Amazon.
So basically in the future, the need for power supplies should decrease sharply, simplifying connections, and decreasing the cost of products and shipping since devices will only need a USB port that’s compatible with USB PD, meaning your computer, printer, and display won’t need an extra power supply as long as they consume less than 100 watts combined.
The reasons I’m writing about this today, is that completely forgot about this until I saw a video by Renesas that explains USB PD in a way easy to understand with 4 main advantages:
- One cable achieves both data communication and charging
- Simple design for the interconnections between boards
- Faster charging
- Universal charger
Beside Renesas, many other companies also provide solutions for USB PD including Microchip, Cypress, NXP, TI, and more, so I assume it’s just a question of time before more devices support USB Power Delivery.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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The USB hub is going to be huge …. with their exemple (1:16 in the video) they need :
– 20v : 3+2+1.5= 6.5A => 130w
– 12v : 1a => 12w
– 5v : 3+1.5=4.5A => 22.5w
looking at meanwell smps, it need at least something similar to QP-200 series (215*115*50mm 1.2kg) and bigger if powering a NUC instead of laptop :(.
Interesting concept but I don’t want to check the power of the set-up each time I’ll plug a new device … I imagine a friend wanting to charge his huge phablet needing 3A and see the hub smooking :D.
I want the industry to finally give me one cable, that does Ethernet, Video, USB-type of data xfer and power.