Question from the Customer:
I am analyzing the USB signals and the USB Power Delivery of a board that is connected to a smartphone with a USB-C cable. I have the Beagle USB 480 Power Protocol Analyzer - Ultimate Edition. I am not sure if this device interfaces with USB-C – what are your recommendations?
Response from Technical Support:Thank you for your question! To help you get started, we have one question - which USB protocol version are you monitoring, USB 2.0 or 3.0? We offer various protocol analyzers that capture USB data – one being the Beagle USB 480 Power Protocol Analyzer - Ultimate Edition for USB 2.0 and the Beagle USB 5000 v2 SuperSpeed Protocol Analyzer – Ultimate Edition for USB 2.0 and 3.0. In general, for maximum flexibility and speed, we recommend the Beagle USB 5000 v2 analyzer.
Here is a quick comparison:
- The Beagle USB 480 Power Protocol Analyzer supports Low/Full/High-Speed USB 2.0 with USB capture rates up to 480 Mbps, and offers VBUS current and voltage monitoring.
- The Beagle USB 5000 v2 Super Speed Protocol Analyzer SuperSpeed/High-/Full-/Low-Speed USB captures rates up to 5 Gbps. Here is a video about using this advanced analyzer:
Type-C Adapter
Neither Beagle USB analyzer has a Type-C receptacle. However, USB adapters can be used for various interfaces such as C-to-B and A-C, which are available from many third-party sources. Here is an example:
There is one known limitation of using such adapters. Specific Type-C power and other negotiations will not be available. The connection will function as “standard legacy USB” – the VBUS will be 5V and "default current". Role swapping and other such attributes will not be available. However, this will not affect capturing USB data. Using a USB adapter will be the same for all Beagle USB protocol analyzers.
Capturing VBUS Measurements and USB Data
We have an article you may find useful - it shows examples of triggering and capturing VBUS voltage and current, as well as USB data. This article describes using our Data Center Software, which can be used with all our Beagle protocol analyzers - Using a Beagle USB Protocol Analyzer, How Do I Trigger and Capture VBUS Measurements and USB Data? Please note, the available software features of Data Center Software are related to the protocol analyzer being used.
We hope this answers your questions. Additional resources that you may find helpful include the following:
If you want more information, feel free to contact us with your questions, or request a demo that applies to your application.