Software actively manages cable connections

SEGGER‘s emUSB-C PD is an embedded software library for managing the power delivery (PD) protocol. With emUSB-C PD, software can actively manage cable connections. This helps embedded system developers meet the requirement of an upcoming EU mandate. Devices sold in the EU, powered with less than 100 W, must have a USB Type-C charging port.

emUSB-C PD turns the cable into a smart connection, enabling the detection of the type of device connected, power supply capabilities, USB Host/Device software, and more.

Specifically, devices that have rechargeable batteries benefit from the extra power that can be delivered via USB-C cables, charging faster. Having the cable communicate its capabilities ensures that optimum power is delivered while staying within cable specifications.

“With emUSB-C PD comes the ability to ‘ask the cable’ for information,” says Dirk Akemann, Marketing Manager at SEGGER. “Questions like: ‘Which way does the current flow?’, ‘How much power can the cable handle?’, ‘What is the state of charge of the battery?’ can now be answered by the cable or the device at the far end. emUSB-C PD can be used with emUSB-Host and/or emUSB-Device or even with no USB stack at all. Maximum flexibility using one connection for everything!”

SEGGER’s USB-C PD stack is designed to work on any embedded system with a USB-C PD controller.  Divided into two layers, emUSB-C features an upper device-independent USB-C PD protocol layer and a target-dependent device driver layer.  SEGGER can provide immediate delivery of a complete solution, top to bottom, with support for devices from ST’s STM32H5xx and STM32U5xx device families; other device drivers are in preparation.