| PoweredUSB | |
|---|---|
 Logo of the standard | |
| Status | Published |
| First published | 28 January 1998 (1998-01-28) |
| Latest version | 0.8g 2004 |
| Organization | www.PoweredUSB.org |
| Related standards | USB, viz. USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 |
| Domain | Power delivery |
| Website | www |
PoweredUSB, also known asRetail USB,USB PlusPower,USB +Power, andUSB Power Plus,[1] is an addition to theUniversal Serial Bus standard that allows for higher-power devices to obtain power through their USB host instead of requiring an independentpower supply or externalAC adapter. It is mostly used inpoint-of-sale equipment, such as receipt printers, touch screens andbarcode readers.
PoweredUSB, as a proprietary variant of USB, was developed and proposed byIBM, Berg Electronics (now a subsidiary ofAmphenol),NCR Corporation, andMicrosoft between 1998 and 1999, with the last revision (0.8g) issued in 2004. The specification is not endorsed by theUSB Implementers Forum (USB-IF).[2][3] IBM, who ownspatents to PoweredUSB,[4][5] charges a licensing fee to manufacturers for its use.[6]
PoweredUSB was licensed byHewlett-Packard,Toshiba,Epson,Fujitsu,Wincor-Nixdorf,Siemens, among others.[7]
PoweredUSB uses a more complex connector than standard USB, maintaining the standard connector of USB 1.x and USB 2.0 interface for data communications and adding a second connector for power. Physically, it is essentially two connectors stacked such that the bottom connector accepts a standard USB plug and the top connector takes a power plug.
The implementation allows a choice of three different voltages, providing power at 5 V (30 W), 12 V (72 W), 24 V (144 W) as well as a custom voltage. Some implementations provide 19 V or 25 V. The connectors are able to operate at up to 6 A (3 A per pin) peak, but according to the specification, hosts are required to provide a minimum sustainablerms current of 1.5 A at 5 V (7.5 W) or 12 V (18 W), or 2.3 A at 24 V (55.2 W), only.
For comparison, a standard USB 1.x and 2.0 hosts supplies 5 V at up to 0.5 A (2.5 W).[8]USB 3.0 supplies 5 V at up to 0.9 A (4.5 W)[9]: section 9.2.5.1 Power Budgeting whereas hosts conformant to theUSB Battery Charging Specification can deliver up to 1.5 A (7.5 W).[citation needed]
As each PoweredUSB plug provides one of three voltages, the plugs come keyed in three versions, so that they will only accept connections from devices requiring that version's voltage.[3] The connectors can be color-coded for different voltages: Gray (Pantone Cool Gray 1C) (sometimes also "nature" or yellow) for 5 V, blue-green (Pantone Teal 3262C) for 12 V, red (Pantone Red 032C) for 24 V/25 V and violet for 19 V; alternatively, any voltages higher than 5 V can be indicated by a black connector color.
The connectors, available from various manufacturers, provide an auto-locking facility to reduce the risk of accidental power failures. Special provisions forhot-plugging are recommended, but optional. The red 24 volt plugs should never be plugged in or removed with the unit powered on.
In 2012, the USB-IF released theUSB Power Delivery Specification (USB PD) as an optional part of the USB 2.0 and 3.x specifications. It defines features similar to those addressed by PoweredUSB, but without requiring the use of proprietary connectors.[original research?] Instead, the connectors defined in the USB 2.0 and 3.0 standards are continued to be used; higher currents require PD-aware USB-cables, though. USB hosts compliant with this USB specification can be requested by USB devices to provide alternative voltages (9, 15 and 20 V) and higher currents – up to 3 A at 5 V (for a power consumption of up to 15 W) and optionally up to 5 A at either 12 V (60 W) or 20 V (100 W).[10]