US DoE publishes final draft of new efficiency requirements for EPS and BCS

The US Department of Energy is proposing a number of amended and new regulations for External Power Supplies and Battery Charging Systems for consumer products.  If approved these new standards would become effective from July 2013.  Proposals of particular relevance to 1 to 50 W AC-DC EPS include:

• Creating three major EPS classes: class B for AC-DC ‘basic’; class C for ‘low voltage’ and class N for indirect operation. A class N EPS cannot operate a user device without a battery being present.
• Requiring higher average active EPS efficiency, η, and lower no-load power consumption (NLP) than the International Efficiency Marking Protocol Level V. For example: 12 V, 1 A PSU (‘class B’): η ≥ 83% & NLP ≤ 100 mW compared to 78% & 300 mW, respectively, for IEMP Level V.
• Making the applicable EPS efficiency dependent on the user device: eg lower η and higher NLP are proposed for EPS class N than for classes B or C. This is because the BCS, where a class N EPS is a part, is subject to separate regulations (see below).
• BCS requirements being expressed as maximum energy consumption in kWh/yr, E_MAX, which is a function of the battery energy E_BATT (= Ah x V_BATT).  Whereas the recently adopted California Energy Commission regulations require different metrics: ‘24hr charge & maintenance energy’ and ‘sum of maintenance and no-battery mode power’.

Click for further information on this programme or to download the draft proposal.

Categories / Cordless phones / Efficiency / Media tablets / Mobile phones / Networking products / No-load power / Standby /

CEC approves proposed amendments to BCS efficiency requirements

The California Energy Commission has finalised its efficiency specifications for Battery Charging Systems.  Key items include:

• Efficiency requirements for a typical mobile device BCS are twofold: 24hr charge and maintenance energy must not exceed (12 + 1.6E_b) Wh, and the sum of maintenance mode and no-battery mode power must not exceed (1 + 0.0021E_b) W, where E_b = Battery capacity in Wh;
• adoption of the DoE test method, approved in June 2011, for BCS with rated input power ≤ 2 kW; and
• confirmation that consumer products must comply by Feb 2013, whereas larger capacity ≥ 20 Wh systems have until Jan 2014 for compliance.

Click here or contact CamSemi for more information.

Categories / Cordless phones / Efficiency / Media tablets / Mobile phones / No-load power / Power factor / Standby /

EN 50563: EPS efficiency test method now approved

CENELEC has now approved a new European standard specifying measurement methods for EPS power consumption and reporting of results.  Key requirements for EN 50563:2011 include:

• specific tolerances on parameters;
• defined warm-up periods at full load and stability periods prior to each measurement;
• and reference to EN 50564 which supports EC regulation 1275/2008 for several items including mains PSU requirements and details of measurement technique.

Click here or contact CamSemi for more information.

Categories / Cordless phones / Efficiency / Media tablets / Mobile phones / Networking products / No-load power / Standby /

USB 3.0 Promoter Group plans new power delivery spec

The USB 3.0 Promoter Group has announced plans to create a new power delivery specification that will extend the capabilities and usages of cable bus power in USB applications.  V1.0 of the specification is due to be published in June 2012.

The new specification will be part of USB 3.0 but also be backward compatible with USB 2.0.  Key features include:

• a range of voltage and current profiles to deliver power up to 100 W;
• communication between devices for voltage and current profile-setting;
• the need for new cables for all but 5 V, 1.5 A (ie existing Battery Charging) operation; existing ID connector pins will identify new cables;
• support for stand-alone power supplies;
• and planned for DC power delivery as well as charging.

Please contact CamSemi for more details or click here to read the USB-IF press announcement.

Categories / Cordless phones / Efficiency / Media tablets / Mobile phones / Networking products / No-load power / Standby /

ITU L.1000 standard – version 2 - for mobile device adapters/chargers now pre-published

Version two of this influential standard for universal adapters and chargers for mobile devices has now been pre-published.  And it proposes two essential performance features for a new ‘target’ solution due to be implemented in 2014:

• I_RATED from 750 to 1500 mA (currently 500 to 1500 mA);
• and no-load power consumption of < 30 mW (now <150 mW).

Other key points are:

• common mode noise and ripple to conform to IEC 62684 (MoU standard);
• and a detachable cable should have USB type-A and micro-B plugs.

Contact CamSemi for more information.

Categories / Efficiency / EMI / Media tablets / Mobile phones / No-load power /