0620 Mw St Micro Usb If Dev Board Figure 5efa4ebea97df

USB-IF-Certified Development Board Extends USB Fast Charging over USB-C to Embedded Applications

June 29, 2020

Development board promotes reuse and reliable interoperability for existing USB-C fast chargers and cables with USB Power Delivery support.

David Maliniak

Related To: STMicroelectronics

USB Power Delivery (USB PD) technology underpins a universal fast-charging ecosystem that is rapidly expanding as products such as mobile handsets gain ever-larger batteries. The latest USB PD chargers can have power ratings up to 100 W and can optimize charging by dynamically adjusting current and voltage thanks to the USB Programmable Power Supply (PPS) feature of USB PD. A huge diversity of products such as smart speakers, power tools, wearables, robots, gaming controllers, power banks, and drones—traditionally recharged at 5 V through older USB micro-B or proprietary connectors—can now leverage this ecosystem to benefit from the advantages and interoperability of USB-C technology while charging faster.

To support this migration, STMicroelectronics now offers a USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF)- certified evaluation board for up to 100 W PPS USB Power Sinking Devices (PSD). With it, developers can accelerate new designs and support certification of end products.

The certified device (USB-IF TID: 3036) combines ST’s Nucleo-G071RB and X-Nucleo-USBPDM1 development boards. The Nucleo-G071RB features an STM32G0 microcontroller, the industry’s first 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.

The STM32G0 MCU and TCPP01-M12 enable an efficient and economical two-chip solution capable of controlling and protecting the USB PD capable USB Type-C port as well as hosting the embedded application.

The TCPP01-M12 companion high-voltage analog front end integrates a charge pump to control the gate of an external power switch, which lets designers choose from economical N-channel MOSFETs that have lower RDS(on) than P-channel alternatives. There is also a low-power mode that draws 0 nA when no cable is attached, enabling longer battery runtime.

The protection features built into the TCPP01-M12 include adjustable 5-V to 22-V overvoltage protection on VBUS, short-to-VBUS protection on configuration channel pins, dead-battery management, and IEC 61000-4-2 ESD protection up to ±8 kV on VBUS and CC lines. The TCPP01-M12’s QFN12 package occupies 80% less board space than a discrete implementation.

The Nucleo-G071RB ($10.32) and X-Nucleo-USBPDM1 ($23.50) are available now from st.com or distributors.

STMicroelectronics, www.st.com

About the Author

David Maliniak | Executive Editor, Microwaves & RF

I am Executive Editor of Microwaves & RF, an all-digital publication that broadly covers all aspects of wireless communications. More particularly, we're keeping a close eye on technologies in the consumer-oriented 5G, 6G, IoT, M2M, and V2X markets, in which much of the wireless market's growth will occur in this decade and beyond. I work with a great team of editors to provide engineers, developers, and technical managers with interesting and useful articles and videos on a regular basis. Check out our free newsletters to see the latest content.

You can send press releases for new products for possible coverage on the website. I am also interested in receiving contributed articles for publishing on our website. Use our contributor's packet, in which you'll find an article template and lots more useful information on how to properly prepare content for us, and send to me along with a signed release form.

About me:

In his long career in the B2B electronics-industry media, David Maliniak has held editorial roles as both generalist and specialist. As Components Editor and, later, as Editor in Chief of EE Product News, David gained breadth of experience in covering the industry at large. In serving as EDA/Test and Measurement Technology Editor at Electronic Design, he developed deep insight into those complex areas of technology. Most recently, David worked in technical marketing communications at Teledyne LeCroy, leaving to rejoin the EOEM B2B publishing world in January 2020. David earned a B.A. in journalism at New York University.