USB 3.0 cables to deliver 100 watts of power

RE: USB 3.0 cables to deliver 100 watts of power

gervasi — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 05:58:27 GMT

It seems to me that power and ground are both grounds from an AC standpoint, and not an issue for EMI. The digital transients on the power lines would not increase. (If this were a project I were working on I'd knock on wood b/c EMI lends itself to famous last words.)

I think higher power is a great idea. I'm confident many devices could use the power.

5A is a lot if those are little 26-28 guage wires. At first I thought better to reduce the current and go to 48V, but I think some NEC or UL rules kick in at 35V; so it's probably right to stay at 24.

RE: USB 3.0 cables to deliver 100 watts of power

DAB — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 20:58:02 GMT

I think that there will be a lot of problems pushing that much current down the cables for any but short lengths.

I also worry about ground loops being formed between devices, especially with high frequency data. Unless the developers are very careful, they could generate a lot of EM interference with even short distances between devices.

I would caution all device manufactures to plan on an internal power source and limit any drain pulled from the main device to USB3 peripherals. Otherwise I think that we may create some nasty problems and fire hazards.

Just my opinion,

DAB