I'm Thinking About Ending Enrollment for the Onsemi Type-C Interface Detection Solution EVB FUSB302BGEVB

I think most of us don't really need this board, so this is probably why there isn't interest in this roadtest.  It has to be a motivation for the effort and time we spend for a roadtest, and I don't see it for this board.

Hi Randy - Speaking for myself, I'm not sure I even understand what the purpose of this board is. Rather than risk being a complete failure at submitting an application or being complete dodo at testing this board, I often times hold back waiting for the next bigger better thing to come along. 

The Road Test list and E14 project list are nearly exhausted, so there has got to be something really cool waiting in the wings. 

I have 4 roadtests lined up this month.. Should be something for you.

Hi. I have not time reply to your email yet, so I will "reply" publicly. I personally do not have a use case for it. USB PD is complex topic, and I will need to learn a lot. Additionally, I am not very interested in using this device because. Chip is in WLP package which is very hard to solder. Even I spend time with learning it, I will most probably never use it in hobby projects just because it is hard to solder. Possibly, I will be able to reuse experiences in commercial projects but currently my job does not require it. Additionally, in recent years, many MCU vendors integrated such interface directly to their MCUs and need for dedicated external chip reduces. Since single-chip solution (MCU) usually offers lower cost, less PCB space, less external passives, and so on, so use case of dedicated chip is questionable nowadays, I think.

I had a quick read through the roadtest enrollment description, while asking myself the question about whether I can find reasons to do it. I stopped and pondered about what was noted in bold, namely "The FUSB302 targets system designers looking to implement a DRP/DFP/UFP USB Type-C connector with low amount of programmability. "

I had to search online to learn more about these specifics and found this primer, which helped provide context: https://www.ti.com/lit/wp/slyy109b/slyy109b.pdf

What caught my attention in that primer was Figure 1.

Using that as my reference, it seems this EVB would be targeted mainly at those looking to develop computer/mobile phone peripherals.

This is not me, I'm afraid.

It is a niche product - as BigG said its mostly targeted to people developing phones or tablet. It might be interesting for other devices needing power from USB-C, but when you are a hobbyist there are way simpler solutions (since it just does cable detection, but no power handling).

OTOH: there were 7 people on the RT page which answered the poll with "I'm interested", and only 3 applied. I wonder where the missing 4 are now...

This one is tough for me because I'm not entirely clear what the FUSB302B chip does and how you would make use of this evaluation board.

I am familiar with USB-C PD protocol. I have looked at other chips that provide a PHY connection to the CC lines to help with neogtiation. I get the impression that might be what the FUSB302B does from its datasheet, which is of interest to me. I am trying to find the best solutions for implementing proper PD communication.

However.

When I read the manual and related information for the evaluation board, I was baffled by what the chip does. I'm struggling to understand how it would get used in design, and I'm scratching my head about why you need any of the capabilities of the EVB and its associated software. For example, I get the impression that the EVB might actually be more helpful to someone writing PD drivers and not to someone implementing this chip into a design. (Which is definitely not me.)

For me, if the chip/board does what I THINK it does, then it might be interesting to look at. However, the confusing information provided by onsemi makes it uninteresting to me. 

I sort of understand what the board does but I cannot think of an application where I would need or use it.  USB-C in my life is faster charging, a more reliable connector and another cable I have to carry.

I think it would be interesting - especially in case of recent premiere of Raspberry Pi 5 that is using PD capable power supply, with addition to some non-standard power levels, so maybe it could be used to investigate it (I have planned to apply if I wasn't selected for other roadtest - they all look interesting lately)... It seems to have i2c break-out so the chip can be possibly directly interfaced in addition to PIC MCU that is providing bridge to the provided application. 

I'm one of the missing ones. I expressed my interest on the RT page as well. However, I'm currently in a stage of trying to clear off some time and go on a hiatus to focus on taking a breather from work and helping with family, so I don't have time nor a steady location to perform a RoadTest from.

This board would mainly appeal to anyone who wants to work on signalling for the USB-C CC lines, perhaps to build dual-role-device type products which charge the connected phone/tablet quickly with USB-C PD while hosting data for a USB SSD/HDD/etc. Or if they want to investigate custom PDO profiles, perhaps probe different chargers for different behaviours, analyse eMarker chips perhaps ...

Yes, you're likely to have to write your own drivers or code to maximise the possibilities, but this chip should already be supported by some popular PD libraries - e.g. https://github.com/graycatlabs/usb-c-arduino and https://github.com/kcl93/fusb302_arduino

- Gough