Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education

FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION


SUBJECT: DATA COMMUNICATION

Data communication report

USB-type C

Lecturer: M.Eng.Nguyen Van Phuc

Students of Group 8:

Nguyễn Khắc Sơn - 21119033

Nguyễn Thành Tài - 21161265

Bùi Ngọc Duy Tân - 21161266

Class ID: DACO430664E_22_2_02FIE

Ho Chi Minh City, April 2023

 TASK ASSIGNMENTS
Number Name Student’s ID Mission Assess

24 Nguyễn Khắc Sơn 21119033 Chapter 1 Good

25 Nguyễn Thành 21161265 Chapter 2; Good

Tài 3.2

26 Bùi Ngọc Duy 21161266 Chapter 3; Good

Tân Chapter 4
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 Table of contents
CHAPTER 1: DEFINITION AND HISTORY OF USB-TYPE C ......................1
1.1. What is USB Type C: .......................................................................................1
1.2. History of USB Type C : ...................................................................................1
CHAPTER 2: CHARACTERISTICS AND STRUCTURE OF USB-C ............2
2.1. USB-C’s characteristic .....................................................................................2
2.2. Structure ............................................................................................................3
2.3. Modes .................................................................................................................5
CHAPTER 3: APPLICATIONS AND RELEVANT INFORMATIONS ..........6
3.1. Applications. ......................................................................................................6
3.2. Reality of USB-C in current application.........................................................7
3.3. Comparations ....................................................................................................9
Chapter 4: CONCLUSION ...................................................................................11
 CHAPTER 1: DEFINITION AND HISTORY OF USB-TYPE C
1.1. What is USB Type C:
USB Type C or namely Universal Serial Bus Type C is the C-generation connection standard of
USB connection. Type C was used like type of digital audio / video / data connector / power. USB-
C is a 24-pin USB connector system with a rotationally symmetrical connector, make it convenient
to use.

Shape and construction of USB Type C

USB-C cables interconnect hosts and devices, replacing various other electrical cables and
connectors, including USB-A and USB-B, HDMI, DisplayPort, and 3.5 mm audio jacks. notable
feature of the USB-C connector is its rotational symmetry; a plug may be inserted into a receptacle
in either orientation.

1.2. History of USB Type C :

The USB Type-C Specification 1.0 was published by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), a
group of industry leaders within the consumer electronics community, such as Apple, Intel, Dell,
and Belkin. USB Type C was finalized in August 2014. Which the support and cooperation of
many manufacturers, USB Type C is more and more develop, USB-C will gradually replace
previous USB types, like USB-A, USB-B. USB has also received wide acceptance from the user
because of its convenience and advantage.

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 CHAPTER 2: CHARACTERISTICS AND STRUCTURE OF USB-C
2.1. USB-C’s characteristic
USB-C is a new standard of connection which offering high-speed data transfers using latest
transfer technology providing up to 10 Gb/s and handle up to current 5A and 100 W in power.
These features can make USB-C has become a truly new universal connection standard for modern
devices. One of its iconic features that it can be plug without the aware of the direction because of
the rotationally symmetric connector.
USB-C use a 24-pin connector with a size of 8.4×2.6 mm with its original rectangle except for the
round edges.

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 USB-C advantages:
⚫ Many types of cables which supports USB-C standard have been created including: USB 2.0,
USB 3.1 Gen 1, USB 3.1 Gen 2, and Thunderbolt 4. We focus on the data transfer rates in
order to differs between each versions of these type-C port. While old version provides less
data, its latest edition Thunderbolt 4 has the fastest data transfer rates of 40Gbps.
⚫ USB type C support fast charging also can be replaceable to many ports such as HDMI, USB,
VGA, Power, Display
⚫ With its small connector, USB type C has a highly appreciated design for such thin devices
ensure its aesthetics

USB type-C disadvantage:

Due to its brand new type of standard connection USB Type C has not yet been so popularized,
efforts have been made to include this new connection standard for future devices .

2.2. Structure

The pinout diagram of the USB C connector is shown in the figure below.

Since USB C is rotationally symmetric, the pin allocation for the male and female connectors
remains the same. The pinout description is listed in the table below.

(source: https://www.etechnophiles.com/usb-c-pinout-features/)

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VBUS and GND pins

GND pins are made in 2 pairs and both ends of the pinout (A1 - B12 and A12 - B1) . VBUS pins
transfer the electrical component such as like Voltage and allow power delivery with a voltage of
up to 20V, but the default voltage of VBUS is 5V.

While GND pins acts as the return path of the signal. USB Type-C could deliver a maximum
power of 100 W and maximum current of 5A.

D+ and D- pins

D+ and D- pins are used from USB 2.0 standards for high-speed data transmission. There are two
pairs of D+ and D- pins which are located at the center of the connector which transfer data from
the host to device.

TX and RX pins

TX and RX pins can transfer data and receive data.

There are two sets of RX differential pairs and two sets of TX differential pairs.

Either of these two RX pairs and one TX pair can be used for the USB 3.0 / USB 3.1 protocol. A
multiplexer is required to correctly reroute the data on the differential pairs used along the cable.

USB 3.0/3.1 are eligible to support USB Type-C ports tandards however the minimum USB Type-
C feature set does not include USB 3.0/3.1. The RX/TX pairs are not used by the USB 3.0/3.1
connection but can be used by other USB Type-C functions such as Alternate Mode and the USB
Power Delivery protocol. These functions can even use all available RX/TX differential pairs.

CC

Channel configuration. The single pair of channel configuration pins determine plug orientation
detection, current distribution, cable attachment, and removal detection and also manages the
communication between Power Delivery and Alternate Mode.

CC1 and CC2 are used to establish and manage the Source-to-Sink connection.

The configuration contribute these following purposes.

• Detect attach of USB ports
• Resolve cable orientation and twist connections to establish USB data bus routing
• Establish data roles between two attached ports
• Discover and configure VBUS: USB Type-C Current modes or USB Power Delivery
• Configure VCONN
• Discover and configure optional Alternate and Accessory modes

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SBU

On high-speed protocols, such as DisplayPort, can be transported via the Type-C connector thanks
to the SBU wires, which are slower signal wires reserved for Alternate Mode use. Additionally,
they assist the Audio Accessory Mode.

The Alternate mode is an enhanced feature employed by USB 2.0. It incorporates third-party
protocols like DisplayPort and HDMI using USB C.

Picture below summarize all the function of these pin connection:

2.3. Modes

Audio Adapter Accessory Mode

A mechanism featuring a USB-C port has the capacity to facilitate the use of analog headsets by
virtue of an audio adapter incorporating a 3.5 mm jack, which confers upon it four conventional
analog audio links, namely: Left, Right, Microphone, and Ground. The audio adapter has the
potential to encompass a USB-C charge-through port, serving as an optional feature that facilitates
the charging of devices with a capacity of 500 mA. The engineering specification dictates that the
utilization of a 3.5 mm plug is mandatory for analog headsets, and the USB-C plug is not an
acceptable alternative. To clarify, it can be stated that headsets equipped with a USB-C plug ought
to consistently facilitate digital audio (with the inclusion of optional accessory mode functionality).

Analog signals are transmitted through the USB 2.0 interface via the utilization of differential
pairs, namely Dp and Dn, corresponding with Right and Left respectively. Additionally, two side-
band use pairs for Mic and GND are employed in the transmission of these signals. The indication
of the audio accessory's existence is conveyed via both the configuration channel and VCONN.

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Alternate Mode

An alternative mode entails the allocation of specific physical wires within a USB-C 3.1 cable
for the direct transmission of alternative data protocols between devices and hosts. The
functionality of transmitting data through alternate mode is enabled through the utilization of
four high-speed lanes, two side-band pins, and, exclusively for dock, detachable device, and
permanent cable applications, two USB 2.0 data pins, and one configuration pin. The
configuration of modes takes place via vendor-defined messages (VDM) which are transmitted
through the configuration channel.

CHAPTER 3: APPLICATIONS AND RELEVANT INFORMATIONS

3.1. Applications.
Basically USB-C is just a physical connection port, its highlight is that it can be eqipped with many
protocols tha allow to perform many different functions.

Since its release in 2014, USB-C has had many different versions, USB-C 1.0 is the first and the
most recetn it is USB-C 2.2 this version is mainly used to work USB4 2.0 protocol, but now this
standard is not yet widely available. The more popular and well-known versions are USB-c 2.0
and USB-C 2.1.
USB-C has been used for many USB standard like USB 3.0, USB 3.1 gen 1, USB 3.2 gen 1x2,
USB 3.2 gen 2x2…and the most prominent of which are the USB4 versions. USB4 are only
eqipped on USB-C, it allows data transfer with a maximum speed of 40Gbps and charging with
maximum capacity 240W (with PD protocol). In particular USB4 2.0 version reachs a data transfer
rate of 80Gbps.
In addition to the data transfer rate protocol mentioned above, USB-C is also eqipped with USB
Power delivery prorocol (PD) that allows users to charge their devices with high capacity and fast

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speed. Currently, there are many devices with USC-C connector that is integrated with USB PD
protoccol to make it convenient for safe and fast power supply.
One more protocol to mention is DisplayPort (DP), some USB-C standards support the DP
protocol to output high quality image signals, for example, the USB4 standard supports DP 1.4
and DP 2.0 that allows to output images and videos with 8K resolultion and 60Hz refresh rate.
In addtion, USB-C is also used as the only connection port of Thunderbolt technology, from the
generation of Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4 and now is Thunderbolt 5. Similar to the USB
standard, Thunderbolt can transmit data at high speed, and there are so many protocols such as
Power Delivery, DisplayPort, Pcle….Now this technology is very commonly used on high-

quality computers or laptops (Macbook (Apple), Zenbook (Asus)…) to provide the most optimal
experience for users.

3.2. Reality of USB-C in current application

In recent years, there has been a noticeable upward trend in the expand of electronic devices
featuring USB-C sockets, such as motherboards, notebooks, tablet computers, smartphones, hard
disk drives, and USB hubs. This trend has become increasingly prevalent since 2014. The
preliminary integration of USB-C was restricted by the expensiveness associated with USB-C
cables and the more widely use of Micro-USB chargers.

Power issue with cables

A considerable number of cables claim to support of USB-C, in actuality, fail to conform to the
prescribed standards. Utilizing these cables may lead to potential repercussions in terms of harm
inflicted upon the connected devices. There have been documented instances of laptops becoming
damaged as a result of utilizing cables that do not conform to required specifications.
Certain USB-C cables that are non-compliant possess a USB-C connector on one end and either a
legacy USB-A plug or a Micro-B receptacle on the other that inconsistently terminate the
Configuration Channel (CC) with a 10 kΩ pullup to VBUS as opposed to the mandated 56 kΩ
pullup specified by the standards. Such non-compliance causes devices connected to the cable to
inaccurately estimate the amount of power they are authorized to draw from the cable. Cables

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having this issue are insufficient to peform function when working with particular products,
namely those associated with Apple and Google, and may potentially engender harm to power
sources including charging devices, hubs, or USB ports connected to personal computers.

https://wccftech.com/macbook-survives-disables-all-usb-ports-to-prevent-damage-after-attached-
usb-c-cable-started-to-smoke/
Compatibility with audio adapter
On electronic devices that have excluded the 3.5 mm audio jack, it is plausible to utilize the USB-
C port as a means of establishing wired connectivity with accessories such as headphones.
When you use USB-C headphones or adapter, digital sound goes through the USB-C port. The
headphones or adapter do the conversion work, not the phone itself. The quality of the sound
depends on the device's DAC (digital-to-analog converter) that is in the headphones or adapter.
Adapters with a special tool inside called a DAC work with almost any device that makes sound
in digital or regular ways. They follow certain rules for how they connect and work with other
devices.

There are things called active adapters that you can use to connect your computer or phone to a
speaker or headphones. Some examples of these are USB sound cards and DACs that you can plug
into your computer's USB port, and USB-C to headphone adapters made by companies like Apple
and Samsung. You don't need any special software or drivers to use them.

If you use USB-C headphones or an adapter that doesn't need power, the sound travels through the
USB-C port in a different way. The conversion by the DAC and amplifier is done on the phone,
not the headphones or adapter. They just let the signal go through. The better the phone's DAC,
the better the sound will be. Adapters that don't have a special converter are only good for devices
that send out sound in an old-fashioned way following the Audio Adapter Accessory Mode.

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https://www.soundguys.com/usb-audio-explained-18563/

Regulations for compatibility

In 2021, the European Commission suggested using USB-C for all chargers. On October 4, 2022,
the European Parliament decided to approve a new law called Radio Equipment Directive
2021/0291. 602 people voted in favor, 13 were against, and 8 didn't vote. The law says that from
2024, all phones, tablets, and cameras sold in Europe must have a USB-C port. These rules will
apply to laptops in the year 2026 before spring.

3.3. Comparations
- Compare to MicroUSB:

+ the first point that creates the advantage of USB-C is its hardware design that allows users to
conveniently connect without paying attention to the right or wrong plug direction, this is
completely impossible on MicroUSB. This design also gives USB-C much improved durability
compared to MicroUSB.

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+ in term of data transfer speeds, USB-C has a much higher speed with the most recent USB
standard allowing it to transfer at speeds of up to 80Gbps, this figure is much higher than the
maximum speed of 4.8Gbps on MicroUSB.
+ power transmission capacity is also a great advantages for USB-C compared to MicroUSB, can
charge devices with a maximum capacity of 240W with PD protocol, while on MicroUSB is only
9W.
With all its strengths, USB-C has gradually replaced MicroUSB on the market today.
- Compare to Lightning on Iphone:

Although not as durable as Lightning, but in terms of performance Lightning is not capable of
comparing with USB-C when it only owns the USB20 standard while USB-C can already support
USB4 2.0, on the otherhand USB-C is more versatile than Lightning because it can connect to
many different devices that use USB-C port, while Lightning is only available on Iphone of Apple.

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 Chapter 4: CONCLUSION
USB-C is a port with a lot of potential, can support many different protocols creating diversity in
its function. Along with the development of technology, big technology cooperation always try to
cooperate in reseach to improve and upgrade their technologies, in which USB-C is the
commnication port they choose as the common connection port, because of its convenience and
high adaptability. With such advantages, USB-C has been and will be even more developed in the
future, promising to bring users the best technology experience.

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 REFERENCES
- Thunderbolt, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)
- USB-C , wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB-C
- USB4, USB-IF, https://usb.org/
- What is USB-C, insider, https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/what-is-usb-c
- USB-C, Ugreen, https://blog.ugreen.com/usb-c-vs-lightning-port/

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