- STMicroelectronics’ develops USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) certified evaluation board that assists developers to quicken designing of battery-powered products
- At the same time, users can update their old USB charging to the new USB Type-C with only minimum components
Fast-charging capabilities are rapidly expanding as products like mobile handsets are coming with large capacity batteries. The latest USB Power Delivery (USB PD) chargers can have power ratings of up to 100W and can provide optimised charging by dynamically adjusting current and voltage thanks to the USB Programmable Power Supply (PPS) feature of USB PD.
Now STMicroelectronics is facilitating battery-powered products to acquire the advantages of the latest USB PD technology including faster charging and easy reuse of USB-C chargers and cables. That means a huge range of products such as smart speakers, power tools, wearables, robots, gaming controllers, power banks and drones — traditionally recharged at 5V through older USB micro-B or proprietary connectors — can now leverage this ecosystem to benefit from the advantages and interoperability of USB-C technology for faster charging.
To support this, ST has created a USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) certified evaluation board for up to 100W PPS USB Power Sinking Devices (PSD) that helps developers accelerate new designs and supports certification of the end product.
It combines ST’s Nucleo-G071RB and X-Nucleo-USBPDM1 development boards. The Nucleo-G071RB features the STM32G0 general-purpose microcontroller to integrate a USB Type-C Power Delivery controller on-chip, enabling greater system integration as well as the possibility to support new application use cases. The X-Nucleo-USBPDM1 board contains ST’s TCPP01-M12 companion chip for port protection.
Moreover, customers can leverage the powerful tools and software of the STM32 ecosystem to complete their projects quickly and easily. Applications already using a microcontroller with legacy 5V USB charging can be updated to USB Type-C with only a small number of external components.
“Using our USB-IF-certified development board, customers can now quickly add all of the USB-C benefits and reuse a solid platform for certification of their own board, contributing to a safe and reliable USB Type-C and USB PD ecosystem,” said Ricardo de Sa Earp, Group Vice President, Microcontrollers Division General Manager, STMicroelectronics.
“The unmatched capabilities of USB PD over USB Type-C cables and connectors is driving rapid innovation in a variety of USB charging applications and markets,” said Jeff Ravencraft, USB-IF President and COO. “Inventive solutions, such as ST’s new evaluation board, are vital to support the continued growth of USB-IF-certified USB PD and USB Type-C devices that consumers can rely on.”
The Nucleo-G071RB and X-Nucleo-USBPDM1 are available now from the website of STMicroelectronics or distributors.
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