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Power Delivery and Type-C Cables Work Together – How Do I Measure and Evaluate Both?
Rena Ayeras

Question from the Customer:

I have an evaluation to run for a customer that includes both power and resistance measurements. Here’s what I know I can do so far – what do I need to add to this setup?

I am using the USB Power Delivery Analyzer with the Data Center Software to check CC status between a USB Type-C Device and USB Type-C AC Adapter.

What do I need to add to my set up to check the CC1/CC2 hardware connection, such as Rd/Rp measurements?

Response from Technical Support:

Thanks for your question! For this evaluation, we recommend using both the USB Power Delivery Analyzer and the Advanced Cable Tester.

Why Use the USB Power Delivery Analyzer and Advanced Cable Tester v2 Together

The USB Power Delivery Analyzer acts as a pass through of signals through CC1 and CC2. It is able to monitor the PD traffic between a Type-C Source and Type-C Sink.  The Advanced Cable Tester v2 can check Rp/Rd values of the cable. This way, you can monitor and collect all the data you need for the evaluation for your customer.

What the USB Power Delivery Analyzer Provides for Power Measurement

The hardware capabilities of the USB Power Delivery Analyzer include:

  • Sniffing Power Delivery (PD) traffic on Control Channel (CC) lines
  • Transparent interposing on a USB Type-C connection
  • Monitor VBUS and VCONN voltages and currents
  • Injecting PD packets on CC1 or CC2 lines

Here is a video about using the USB Power Delivery Analyzer:

 

 

How the Advanced Cable Tester v2 Completes the Evaluation

The Advanced Cable Tester v2 can measure Rp/Rd/Ra, as well as other important cable traits such as continuity, E-marker accuracy, signal integrity, DCR of individual ground and power pins as well as the DCR for power and ground wires of the entire cable.

The Advanced Cable Tester v2 can not only test UBB Type-C cables, it can also be used for legacy cables including USB 3.1 Standard-A and USB 3.1 Micro-B connectors. For more information, watch our video on testing cables using the the Advanced Cable Tester v2:

 

 

Additional resources that you may find helpful include the following:

We hope this answers your question. Need more information? You can contact us at sales@totalphase.com. You can also request a demo that applies to your application.

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