SLYY109B February 2021 – March 2022 HD3SS3212 , HD3SS460 , TPD4S311A , TPD6S300A , TPD8S300 , TPS25740A , TPS25750 , TPS65982 , TPS65983B , TPS65987D , TPS65988 , TPS65994AD , TUSB1042I , TUSB1046A-DCI , TUSB1210 , TUSB1310A , TUSB320 , TUSB542 , TUSB544 , TUSB546A-DCI , TUSB564
You may have heard about USB Type-C’s reversible cable. When you think about the requirements for a particular system, however, you may be unsure about what’s necessary and what’s just “nice to have.” In this paper, we will introduce the most basic USB Type-C applications and work our way up to full-featured USB Type-C and USB PD applications. But first, let’s review the evolution of USB data, starting with USB 1.0 through USB 3.1 Gen 2.
Table 1 lists the maximum transfer rate of each USB data transfer-related specification. The standard started with USB1.x supporting 1.5 Mbps (low speed) and 12 Mbps (full speed), but evolved to support 10 Gbps (SuperSpeed+) with USB 3.1 Gen 2.
| Specification | Data rate name | Maximum transfer rate |
|---|---|---|
| USB1.0 and USB 1.1 | Low Speed | 1.5 Mbps |
| Full Speed | 12 Mbps | |
| USB 2.0 | High Speed | 480 Mbps |
| USB 3.0 | SuperSpeed | 5 Gbps |
| USB 3.1 | SuperSpeed+ | 10 Gbps |
Table 2 shows the evolution of USB power, starting with USB 2.0 through USB PD 3.0. The overall trend has been to increase the maximum power to address the growing needs of platforms and devices. Without USB PD, you can support up to 5 V at 3 A (15 W) with just USB Type-C alone. However, with USB PD, you can support up to 20 V at 5 A (100 W) within the USB Type-C ecosystem.
| Specification | Maximum voltage | Maximum current | Maximum power |
|---|---|---|---|
| USB 2.0 | 5 V | 500 mA | 2.5 W |
| USB3.0 and USB 3.1 | 5 V | 900 mA | 4.5 W |
| USB BC 1.2 | 5 V | 1.5 A | 7.5 W |
| USB Type-C 1.2 | 5 V | 3 A | 15 W |
| USB PD 3.0 | 20 V | 5 A | 100 W |