Rock5B SBC: Voltage on the USB-C Power Delivery input. Rock5B+peripherals watts consumption

ROCK 5 Series
1

Hi forum!

Please explain what voltage will the Rock5B SBC negotiate on the USB-C Power Delivery protocol for its power supply?

USB-C PD chargers normally output 3 amps total at any voltage. For 20V, the cap may be 5 amps = 100W. At 5V, the cap is 3A meaning 15 watts. (Ref https://www.hypershop.com/products/hyperjuice-100w-usb-c-gan-charger etc.)

How many watts does the Rock5B SBC consume altogether?

A M.2 SSD can peak at 7 watts. A USB peripheral can consume is it 15 watts.

If the USBC PD is 5V and the SBC is <~10W, I guess 5V USBC PD can drive the SBC with one M.2 and no power hungry USB peripherals.

Remember the 12V voltage for USBC PD is out of spec and most chargers will not support it. Instead, 15V and 18-20V are the standardized higher voltages in the USBC PD protocol.

Could it be useful that the Rock5 automatically negotiates as high voltage as possible (20V / 15V) and then contains a voltage stepper to bring it down to the SBC’s needed level (5V) - this would allow it to consume as much as 100W total which would without problem feed both USB devices and 2-4x M.2 devices too. Or is this in the design spec already?

2

Yes, ROCK 5 will select the highest voltage first.

1 Like
3

@jack Thank you for clarifying. So then indeed the power supply has a 100W cap, really great.

Just curious, the way the Rock5B implements this, is it that it has a voltage stepper on the SBC? Because the RK3588 and various electronics operate at 5V or 3V isn’t it.

Ah also @jack just curious on full load, approx how many watts does the Rock5B take? I gather that in idle its consumption is low, approx 0.5W.

4

Would you mind explaining how I can get it to negotiate with PD?

5

I don’t get your question. ROCK 5B uses a fusb302 chip connects to the USB C port to communication with the power adapter.

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6

My unit reboots before it is able to negotiate the correct PD values resulting in an infinite bootloop. I’d like to know how I can have my unit take the power it needs and function as promised. It doesn’t work with any PD/QC3 power supply I’ve tried so far, despite the PD/QC3 support.

7

I’m using a regular 5V USBC with an SSD, and it doesnt get detected, only an USB key can get detected, guessing that 5V powering is not enuff, planning on getting a 12/15 volt power source…

8

How can I get my Rock5 to boot? Allnet sends me here. I tried every OS, many power supplies and cables, different storage media, different ways of flashing, and the promised PD just does not function.

9

Thanks for the info!

If I want to DIY a power supply for a Rock5B cluster of 5 boards, is there a chipset that I can use?

From what I am reading I can not just put 12volts on the USB-C and have it work without a handshake?

10

I want to DIY a power supply for a Rock5B cluster of 5 boards, shoud I just find car cigarette lighter adapters and hook them with a fuse to a 12volt gel cell?

Please give me Pros & Cons?

11

For clarity, does the Rock5B contain a voltage stepper, to step that voltage it gets from the USB-C Power Delivery which is either of 20V, 18-19V, 15V, 12V, 9V or 5V?

Does the fusb302 chip you referenced do voltage stepping too?


Just posted a separate thread about watt supply to the PCIe M.2 slots: Rock5B: PCIe power watts? (Total, and on the 12V and 3.3V)

@jack