USB Power Delivery (USB PD) is a convenient way to power a variety of devices. Since a USB PD sink device could be connected to any PD source, sinks need to work safely and correctly with any source they might encounter.
The USBHub3c by Acroname is an industrial USB-C hub that can emulate any PD source up to 100 W per port to test PD sink capabilities.
Acroname’s USBHub3c industrial USB hub (with PD Logger add-on feature) can put attached Macs, iPads, and iPhones into DFU mode, allowing batch reflashing and reimaging. This tool is ideal for anyone who needs to manage a large number of Apple devices efficiently.
Among other properties, we can view:
If you haven't already, install HubTool, which is part of the Brainstem Dev Kit.
Power on the hub and connect one of the host ports to your computer
The USBHub3+ can set each of its downstream ports to several power modes to support a range of devices.
The supported modes are part of BC1.2 USB charging specification:
Acroname's USBHub3c Pro plus the right add-on software features becomes a comprehensive USB power delivery (USB-PD) testing rig. Build out your in-house USB-PD test lab and know what your devices are doing with complete control! Interactively debug or automate USB-PD validation testing. Read enough?
The USBHub3+ can also independently enable and disable Voltage and Data:
We'll be working interactively using the Brainstem API in a Python console so you can see the results line-by-line.
Among other properties, using the USBHub3+ we can view:
Per-port Voltage
Per-port Current
Input Voltage
Input Current
Each port on USBHub3+ can operate in High Speed or Super Speed modes. There are three ways to view the speed of a connected port
Front panel LED
HubTool virtual LED
Brainstem API
By default, the USBHub3+ will automatically switch to upstream host 0 if available. This enables simple peripheral device sharing, where a dedicated PC could be connected to the host "Up 1" port, and an occasional user could connect a laptop to "Up 0" and gain access to the peripherals.