What are the biggest differences between USB PD3.1, PD3.0 and PD2.0?

Recently, the USB-IF Association released the latest USB PD3.1 fast charging standard, which increased the charging power from the original 100W to 240W and supported a maximum voltage output of 48V. It received widespread attention and sparked heated discussions in the industry.

From a literal point of view, USB PD3.1 can only be regarded as a minor version update of USB PD3.0, but from the perspective of power, it is a qualitative leap. What are the differences between USB PD3.1 and previous versions? Let's take a look today.
|

USB PD2.0

The USB PD2.0 fast charging standard was released in August 2014. It not only stipulates that the USB Type-C interface is the only standard interface, but also gives this interface more functions, such as charging, data transmission, audio broadcasting, etc. In terms of charging, USB PD2.0 defines support for 5V3A, 9V3A, 12V3A, 15V3A, 20V5A output, and the maximum charging power reaches 100W.

However, at that time, the Micro USB interface was still popular, and the mobile phone market was basically divided up by private fast charging protocols such as QC, AFC, FCP, and PE, making it difficult for USB PD fast charging to be popularized. This situation continued until 2015, when Apple released the industry's first New MacBook equipped with the USB PD2.0 fast charging standard, and USB PD fast charging officially opened the road to popularization in the consumer power supply field.

 

In short, from the perspective of charging parameters, USB PD3.0 and USB PD2.0 have not changed. They still support 5V3A, 9V3A, 12V3A, 15V3A, and 20V5A outputs, with a maximum power of 100W. However, this update did not improve the chaotic situation of fast charging standards in the mobile phone market. The fast charging standards are still independent and incompatible.

USB PD3.0 PPS

In order to change the situation of fragmentation of fast charging protocols in the mobile phone market, the USB-IF Association released an important update to the USB PD3.0 standard in February 2017, adding programmable power supply PPS on the basis of the USB PD3.0 standard.

 

PPS is a type of Power Supply supported in USB PD3.0. It is a power supply that can achieve voltage and current regulation using the USB PD protocol output. The PPS specification integrates the current high voltage and low current and low voltage and high current charging modes. The voltage amplitude is also reduced to 20mV, which is only one-tenth of the QC3.0 standard at the time, and the regulation is more precise.

In addition, the USB-IF Association has reached a consensus with TUV Rheinland Telecommunications Laboratory to unify the fast charging technology with the PPS fast charging standard. At present, PPS fast charging has become a fast charging standard with a very high occupancy rate in the Android mobile phone camp. With the built-in charge pump of the mobile phone, it can achieve efficient and high-power fast charging. Models of many brands such as Xiaomi, Samsung, and Meizu are all using it.
 

The USB PD3.1 fast charging specification divides power into two ranges: standard power range (SPR) and extended power range (EPR). The standard power range is the mainstream USB PD3.0 PPS fast charging standard on the market, and the maximum charging power remains unchanged at 100W; the newly added 28V, 36V, and 48V voltages belong to the extended power range, and the maximum output current corresponding to the three voltages is 5A, and the maximum output power can reach 240W.

In addition to the three new fixed voltages, the USB PD3.1 standard also adds three sets of adjustable voltage levels (AVS) in the extended power range, namely 15V-28V 5A, 15V-36V 5A, and 15V-48V 5A. The minimum voltage regulation step of AVS is 0.1V, and it continues to use the constant power limiting mode based on PDP.
 

Summary

The USB PD fast charging standard has been developed for nearly ten years, and has undergone many iconic iterations. Among them, USB PD2.0 is a fast charging standard that is truly mass-produced and commercialized, and it also lays the foundation for the realization of USB PD fast charging unification. USB PD3.0 is more about updating the protocol identification function, and the charging specifications have not changed.

The USB PD3.0 PPS fast charging standard adds a programmable voltage level bit, achieving compatibility with most private fast charging protocols, and has become the most widely used fast charging standard in the Android mobile phone market.

USB PD3.1 mainly expands the scope of application of the USB PD fast charging standard. In addition to consumer products such as mobile phones and laptops, it can also be used in monitors, servers, power tools, security POE power supply and other fields, realizing the vision of "everything can be charged".