It’s an exciting time to be at the forefront of technology. For the USB world, the new USB Type-C connector and Power Delivery protocol sparked great interest and created a lot of energy at the recent USB-IF Plug Fest and Developer Days in Taipei, Taiwan. I was lucky enough to represent Total Phase with our CEO Gil Ben-Dov at both events. During the week of the USB-IF Plug Fest, the Total Phase testing suite had non-stop activities – the room was filled with people who are working with the newest power delivery specs from 8am to 6pm everyday. It was fascinating to learn about the newest USB technology and see how Total Phase’s USB Power Delivery Analyzer provides insights into people’s USB projects.
Figure 1: USB Power Delivery AnalyzerEveryone we encountered was impressed by our USB Power Delivery Analyzer’s small footprint and affordable price tag. With the open source software Sigrock and Pulseview, the Power Delivery Analyzer was able to capture the power delivery trace and decode PD packets on the CC1 and CC2 lines of the device under test. We tested a variety of Type-C devices including hubs, E-Mark cables, monitors, laptops, and dual-role-port devices, and used a Macbook and Chromebook as our hosts. It was evident with the number of inquiries and level of buzz that the USB industry is heading in the direction of Type-C and Power Delivery, as people were very excited about the new protocol and our analyzer’s ability to show the Power Delivery negotiation.
Figure 2: Steven Chang, some customers and me testing USB Power Delivery with the Total Phase USB Power Delivery AnalyzerOne test case that was of particular interest was the use of a Type-C hub that could do video. The engineers came back to our suite three times with updated versions of their firmware in attempts to solve their problems – they told us their firmware engineers had been up 72 consecutive hours working on their product! With our Power Delivery Analyzer, we were able to show them that they were using a bad cable (comparing the volume of junk packets with our known good cable versus their cable) and easily provided the quickest way to visualize the problem.
It was my first time attending the USB-IF Plug Fest and it was definitely a very insightful experience that opened my eyes to the realm of USB technology. On top of learning all about Power Delivery, we had a great time in Taiwan, enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather and delicious local food.
Figure 3: Gil Ben-Dov with some stinky tofu at a night marketAdditional resources that you may find helpful include the following:
If you have questions about our USB Power Delivery Analyzer or other Total Phase products, feel free to email us at sales@totalphase.com, or if you already own one of our devices and have a technical question, please submit a request for technical support.