Nothing says “toasty” like Arizona in August! This past August, we were back at the Microchip MASTERs Conference. The MASTERs Conference celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. It was my 2nd time here and it was just as fun and interesting as my first time.
New to the table this year was USB Type-C and Power Delivery (PD). Microchip hosted classes surrounding Power Delivery and also featured a PD demonstration at the MASTERs exhibition area. The demo featured a monitor/ TV that had a PD chip embedded and a laptop that had a USB Type-C port. The demo consisted of powering the monitor from the laptop via Type-C/PD and then doing a role swap to charge the laptop from the monitor.
The only thing missing from this demo was our USB Power Delivery Analyzer. If the USB Power Delivery Analyzer were tapped into the PD signals between the monitor and laptop, all of the PD data would have been displayed in an easy to read format with our Data Center Software. The USB Power Delivery Analyzer can non-intrusively monitor PD traffic on the CC1 and CC2 lines, capture PD power negotiation, data role swaps, alternate modes, as well as current/voltage on Vbus and Vconn.
While in town, we also spent time visiting some of our customers who were interested in learning more about our tools and seeing how we can support their projects. There was a lot of interest surrounding our new tool for USB Type-C, the Advanced Cable Tester. The Advanced Cable Tester is our latest tool for testing safety and performance parameters of Type-C cables. The danger of faulty USB Type-C cables has been big in the news lately (see USB Type-C Cable Fails (2)). The Advanced Cable Tester will be able to test Type-C cables for signal continuity, DC resistance, E-Marker accuracy, and signal integrity to help ensure dangerous USB Type-C cables don’t impact your world.
It’s always a good time meeting with our customers, both old and new, to hear how our tools can help them achieve their project deliverables. I look forward to attending next year (and of course to the superb Mexican cuisine in the area)!
Whether you are using OSH or proprietary devices Total Phase provides high performance, cost effective tools for the development, test and simulation. Please contact us at sales@totalphase.com if you would like to learn more about how our tools can make your projects easier.