Introduction To USB Power Delivery Over The USB Type-C™ Cable
Introduction To USB Power Delivery Over The USB Type-C™ Cable
INTRODUCTION
The USB Power Delivery revision 2.0 specification details how the Power Delivery (PD) protocol truly “unlocks” the
advanced features of the USB Type-C™ cable. Power Delivery protocol allows port-to-port communication that provides
mechanisms for: negotiating power roles, negotiating power sourcing and consumption levels, performing active cable
identification, exchanging vendor specific sideband messaging, and performing Alternate Mode negotiation allowing 3rd
party communication protocols to be routed onto the USB Type-C cable’s reconfigurable pins.
If you are not yet familiar with the USB Type-C, please refer to Application Note AN1953 “Introduction to USB Type-
C™” before reading this document.
SECTIONS
Section 1.0, General Information
Section 2.0, USB PD Protocol Layer
Section 3.0, PD Physical Layer
Section 4.0, Cable Identification
Section 5.0, Power and Data Negotiation
Section 6.0, Alternate Modes
REFERENCES
This document is an introduction to USB Power Delivery 2.0 and is not intended to be a replacement to the official spec-
ification. Consult the following specifications for technical details not described in this document.
• USB Type-C™ Specification
• USB Power Delivery 2.0 Specification
• USB 2.0 Specification
• USB 3.0 Specification
• USB 3.1 Specification
• USB Battery Charging BC1.2
GLOSSARY
DFP - “Downstream Facing Port”. A USB host-side port or hub downstream port.
UFP - “Upstream Facing Port”. A USB device-side port or hub upstream connection.
DRP - “Dual Role Port”. A USB port that may operate as either a DFP or a UFP.
Source - The provider of VBUS power in a USB connection.
Sink - The consumer of VBUS power in a USB connection.
USB PD - Abbreviation of USB Power Delivery.
SOP* - The Start of Frame field in a USB Power Delivery packet indicates the intended recipient of the packet.
VCONN - the dedicated power supply rail for cables and accessories.
USB-IF - USB Implementers Forum. A non-profit corporation found by the group of companies that developed USB.
Preamble SOP* Header Byte 0 Byte 1 Byte n-1 Byte n CRC EOP
2.1 Preamble
Every USB Power Delivery packet begins with a 64-bit sequence of alternating 0s and 1s. This preamble is used to train
the receiver and achieve lock.
SOP’
SOP’’
SOP
Note: SOP’ is assigned to one plug of the cable while SOP’’ is assigned to the other. The cable plugs cannot tell
which side that they are connected to, just that one end may respond to SOP’ addressed messages and
the other may respond SOP’’ addressed messages.
2.3 Header
Every USB Power Delivery message begins with a 16-bit header. The header contains basic information including the
length of the data to follow. The header may also be used as a standalone control message if the data length field is zero.
3.1 Transmitter
The transmitter performs the following:
1. Receive raw (non-encoded) packet data from protocol layer.
2. Calculate a CRC and append to end of data packet.
3. Encode the whole packet (with CRC) in 4b5b encoding.
4. Transmit the entire packet (preamble, SOP*, data payload, CRC, and EOP)
FIGURE 3: PD TRANSMITTER
Packet
From CRC 4b5b Transmitter To CC
Protocol Generator Encoder Wire
Layer
3.2 Receiver
The receiver performs the following:
1. Recovers clock from the packet preamble.
2. Detect SOP*
3. Decode from 4b5b to raw data (included CRC)
4. Detect EOP and validate CRC. If valid, delver packet to protocol layer. If invalid, flush data.
FIGURE 4: PD RECEIVER
CRC =
Good To
EOP Protocol
From CC SOP* 4b5b Detect Layer
Receiver CRC =
Wire Detect Decoder + Bad
CRC Check
Flush
Data
Before
Encoding
BMC
After the default power and data roles are designated upon USB Type-C connection between two port partners [refer
to Application Note (AN 1953) “Introduction to USB Type-C™” for further clarification], these additional power and data
negotiations may take place over USB PD protocol when both partners are USB PD-capable, and an explicit power con-
tract has been established between them.
To determine if the default Sink device is USB PD-capable, the default Source attempts to enter an explicit USB PD
power contract with the Sink as the following sequence describes:
1. The Source sends a Source_Capabilities USB PD message to the Sink which includes a menu of available
VBUS power supply options (the first option must be the 5 V default VBUS supply, but may also include up to 6
additional power options).
2. A USB PD-capable Sink will respond first with a GoodCaRC message to confirm proper receipt of the Source_-
Capabilities.
3. The Sink replies with a Request message indicating which of the power supply options it prefers to use.
Note: At this point in the transaction, the Source knows the Sink is USB PD-capable and continues with the
explicit contract negotiation.
4. The Source responds with a GoodCRC message and verifies the Request is valid.
5. The Source sends an Accept message to the Sink.
6. The Sink replies with GoodCRC
7. The Source transitions its power supply to the requested voltage level and current limit. When the power supply
is transitioned, the Source sends a PS_RDY (power supply ready) message to the Sink.
8. The Sink replies with GoodCRC and begins to sink power under the explicit contract’s voltage and current allo-
cation.
Note: This example describes the USB PD communications between port partners in terms of Source and Sink
because no Power Role Swap or Data Role Swap have previously occurred in the session and are there-
fore still in their default USB Type-C roles. Therefore we can equate the Source as the DFP, and the Sink
as the UFP.
GND TX2+ TX2- VBUS VCONN SBU2 VBUS RX1- RX1+ GND
B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 B11 B12
GND TX2+ TX2- VBUS VCONN SBU2 VBUS RX1- RX1+ GND
B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 B11 B12
GND DP1+ DP0- VBUS VCONN AUX- VBUS RX1- RX1+ GND
B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 B11 B12
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ISBN: 978-1-63277-649-5