New USB 3.0 Specification Outpowers Thunderbolt

The USB 3.0 Promoter Group is announcing that it is creating a new power delivery specification which will significantly extend the capabilities and usages of cable bus power in USB applications. The new specification will enable delivery of more power via the familiar USB connectors and cables, and will coexist with the USB Battery Charging 1.2 specification and existing USB bus-powered applications.

Key characteristics of the forthcoming USB Power Delivery solution include:
● Compatible with existing cables and connectors
● Enables voltage and current values to be negotiated over the USB power
pins
● Enables higher voltage and current in order to deliver power up to 100W
● Switchable source of power delivery without changing cable direction
● Coexists with USB Battery Charging 1.2 and works equally well with both
USB 2.0 and USB 3.0

"Building on the rapidly increasing industry momentum for using USB bus power to charge a broad range of mobile devices, the new USB Power Delivery specification extends USB's cable power delivery capabilities beyond simple battery charging," said Brad Saunders, USB 3.0 Promoter Group Chairman. "For example, charging the battery of a notebook PC, or simply powering that notebook PC while actively using the USB data connection, would be possible. Conceivably, a notebook PC could rely solely on a USB connection for its source of power."


The USB Power Delivery specification is targeted for industry review during the final quarter of this year. Further information regarding the specification and plans for a pre-release industry review will be provided at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), September 13-15, 2011 in San Francisco, California.

For comparison, the current USB 3.0 specifications offers only 4.5 watts of power and Apple's new Thunderbolt connection offers 10 watts.

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