The USB moves on: type-C power delivery

USBPD (USB Power Delivery) extends the power supply range from the conventional 15 watts to up to 100 watts, enables larger devices such as laptops and TVs to be powered via USB. To help engineers develop USBPD functionality on devices with the new USB-C connector, Rohm has announced USBPD transmitter/receiver evaluation boards. Type-C Power Delivery connectors and leads are rated at up to 20 V and 5 A, permitting power hungry apparatus to be powered over their USB lead. And, much like Apple’s Lightening connector, the Type-C connector is reversible for convenience. The series of evaluation kits dubbed BM92AxxMWV-EVK-01 use a Rohm USBPD controller chip that supports USB Type-C Rev 1.1 and USBPD Rev 2.0. The initial launch comprises six boards, with a mix of receiver and transmitter types which can be combined to evaluate Power Delivery at different power levels.

Apple is renowned for its innovative products, they were the first to introduce a computer without a disk drive and they are not afraid to upset the apple cart with radical designs. Who can forget the one-button mouse or those unconventional interfaces? Maybe with the dropping of the MagSafe connector on their new MacBooks you think they have taken a step too far? But wait, help is at hand…