Multichannel bridge ICs that support USB Type-C and Power

29/10/2021

Embedded systems that need to be connected to a host computer platform require a universal communication standard. The Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a popular interface standard for enabling communication between an embedded system and a computing platform. Rapid USB adoption in embedded design has pushed developers to include quicker and more economical methods for USB connectivity.

An embedded designer has a variety of MCUs with a built-in USB peripheral interface from which to choose. However, it must be noted that MCUs equipped with an integrated USB feature may lack the memory size, peripherals, and GPIO needed for a particular embedded design specification.

Main Features

The benefits of using Bridge ICs include the following:

The entire USB protocol is managed on the chip. There is no requirement of USB-specific firmware programming.
The connection to a DCP (Dedicated Charging Port) USB port can be detected.
There are reduced needs for microcontroller resources. Any communication via SPI, UART, or I2C demands less resources compared to USB CDC device class implementation.
There are free drivers for Windows, Android, Mac OS-X, and Linux.
The USB/serial bridge connects microcontroller pins to the USB connector, implying that overvoltage or ESD spikes on the USB bus may damage the bridge in-lieu of the microcontroller. The small bridge chip is less expensive and simpler to replace than the microcontroller.

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