Fresco Logic and STMicroelectronics will demonstrate a multiple port USB Power Delivery 3.0 design at 2017 Computex Taiwan. The demo is based on Fresco Logic's Panther Creek™ FL7101 USB Type-C™ Port Controller (TCPC) and the STM32 USB Type-C Port Manager (TCPM). This demo board configuration implements a USB-C TCPC for two ports. The design uses a microcontroller running FW code to implement the TCPM. The code complies with the "USB Type-C Port Controller Interface Specification" that was released as part of the USB 3.1 Specification.
FL7101 is a two-port TCPC compliant USB Power Delivery (PD) PHY IC that implements USB Type-C Configuration Channel (CC) interface and USB PD Physical layer functions. The STM32 is a MCU that implements a USB Type-C Port Manager (TCPM) and handles USB PD policy management for USB-C ports. The TCPM (Type-C Port Manger) is used to control the USB Type-C PD port function and behavior.
"The transition to USB Type-C is the most significant advancement for USB in 20 years. However, the industry is facing big hurdles during the technology transition from cost to system design complexity, to specification revisions and compliance development," said Tom Burton, Sr. VP of Engineering at Fresco Logic. "Fresco's collaboration with STM demonstrates a solution to simplify the system design by using TCPC and TCPM, especially for multiple USB-C ports. The PD policy management for all PD ports can be centralized and controlled by a single TCPM using the STM32. Together these features reduce software development and improve time-to-market while allowing customers to focus on their own value-added differentiators."
"The TCPC Specification provides a solution for USB Power Delivery management in multiple port applications to centralize the USB PD resources and policy," said Jeff Ravencraft, USB-IF President and COO. "We are encouraged to see two technology leaders, Fresco Logic and STMicroelectronics, team up to provide a solution that has been specifically designed and optimized to address system USB PD requirements for system OEMs/ODMs to easily implement Power Delivery function into their products."
