Combining Buck-Boost Battery

Chargers and USB Type-C® Power

Delivery for Maximum Power
Density

Yipeng Su
Systems Engineer
Battery Management Systems
Texas Instrument
Buck-boost chargers deliver fast and cool charging for
portable electronics. When combined with USB Type-C™
Power Delivery (PD), universal charging is made possible.
materials (BOM) cost and keep the overall solution size

At a glance small.

VBUS 4 MOSFETs System

Buck Boost

1
Why universal charging
charger
charging U2

USB Type-C™ Connector

USB Type-C offers a realistic path to a universal Input Power Path Management and Current Sensing, U1

adapter for easy charging on the go. discharging

DC/DC converter
U3

2
Integrated components maximize CC1

power density
USB PD Controller Battery
U4
CC2

Chargers that come with integrated components

can help streamline overall solution size and Figure 1. Block diagram for a USB PD charging solution.
reduce bill of materials while delivering high
power. Why universal charging
One critical benefit of the widespread adoption of USB

3
Implementing buck-boost charging
Not all buck-boost chargers are the same, Type-C is a realistic path to a universal adapter and
and design engineers must choose carefully for corresponding e-waste reduction. Although the USB
portable electronic designs. Type-C connector is unified, adapter power ratings and
voltages still have large variations, including the legacy
5-V USB adapter and USB PD adapters capable of
The buck-boost charger has become increasingly providing a voltage range from 5 V to 20 V. In addition,
popular in recent years given its ability to charge a different portable devices might have different numbers
battery from nearly any input source, regardless of of cell batteries inside. These variabilities in input voltage
whether the input voltage is higher or lower than the and battery voltage require a buck-boost topology for
battery voltage. battery-charger integrated circuits (ICs).

Buck-boost charging has been widely used in personal Figure 1 shows a system block diagram for a USBPD
electronic devices compatible with USB Type-C™ Power charging solution. Through the CC1/CC2 pins, the USB
Delivery(USB PD) charging – because a fully integrated PD controller identifies the adapter. After handshaking
buck-boost charger that includes switching metal­ between the adapter and the USB PD controller, the
oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs), unit managing the charging power path turns on back­
current-sensing circuitry and narrow VDC (NVDC) power to-back MOSFETs to pass the adapter voltage from
path management can provide a fast charging solution VBUS to the input of the buck-boost charger. This unit
with high power density. A buck-boost charger also (U1) also has to provide overvoltage and overcurrent
integrates additional components in the USB PD protection by sensing the input voltage and current
charging system, such as load switches and DC/ DC through the sensing resistor. The buck-boost charger
converters, to streamline system design, reduce bill-of­ requires four switching MOSFETs to step the input

Combining Buck-Boost Battery Chargers and USB Type-C® Power Delivery for 2 May 2022
Maximum Power Density
voltage up or down in order to charge the different USB PD charging solution. First, the input current
battery voltages. In addition, the narrow VDC (NVDC) sensing is integrated into the charge. With this sensed
power path management and charging current sensing input current, the charger provides the input current
require one more MOSFET and another current-sensing regulation and input overcurrent protection to avoid
resistor at the charger’s output side. adapter overload. As part of the input overvoltage
and overcurrent protection circuit, the control logic and
On-the-go charging driving circuitry for the external back-to-back MOSFETs
In order to support the USB On-the-Go (OTG) are also integrated into the charger. These features make
specification,one DC/DC converter discharges the it possible to eliminate the unit that supports input
battery to build up a regulated voltage at VBUS and power-path management and input current sensing from
power external devices when the adapter is not present. the block diagram.
If the USB Type-C port requires fast role swap (FRS), Multiple input sources are a common trend in portable
the DC/DC converter has to be enabled and kept on devices. For example, the input source could be a USB
standby all the time, even if an adapter is plugged into adapter, conventional barrel-jack adapter, charging case
the USB Type-C port. When the adapter is disconnected, or solar power. The two drivers for the back-to-back
the back-to-back MOSFETs in the discharging power MOSFETs enable the charger to select the input voltage
path turn on, passing the U3 output voltage to VBUS from two different input sources.
and holding on the VBUS voltage. Keeping the DC/DC
The charger also integrates all four switching MOSFETs,
converter always on actually causes extra quiescent
the related control logic and the drivers. The battery FET
current loss for the entire system.
to manage the NVDC power path is integrated inside the
Other
input
charger. By sensing the charging current flowing through
USB-C VBUS
ACDRV2
PMID
the battery FET, you can eliminate the external sensing
input

ACDRV1 resistor at the charger’s output side.

SW1

Implementing the bidirectional operation of the four FETs’

SYS

buck-boost converter allows the charger to support OTG

SW2
mode itself. When the adapter is present, the charger
operates in forward charging mode with power flow from
BAT

VBUS to the battery.

I2C Bus
BATP
Host BQ2579x Battery
Host
Control
BATN
GND

Figure 2. Example of a fully integrated buck-boost charger.

Integrated components maximize power

density
As described so far, the USB PD charging solution
involves multiple external devices, including control units,
MOSFETs and sensing resistors, which have not been
optimized in terms of solution size and BOM cost.

The fully integrated buck-boost charger shown in

Figure 2 can simplify the system-level design of a

Combining Buck-Boost Battery Chargers and USB Type-C® Power Delivery for 3 May 2022
Maximum Power Density
 ACFET1 RBFET1
VBUS PMID Power Accessories voltage, and achieves FRS by itself. When the adapter
USB1

is unplugged, the sources to power the system and

SW1

accessories can switch from the adapter to the battery

SYS Power System seamlessly, making it possible to eliminate the DC/DC
converter for OTG mode and FRS from the block
SW2
diagram.
BAT

Figure 4 shows the tested waveforms of the charger

I2C Bus
BATP backup mode for FRS. A 9-V adapter is connected at
USB1 as the input power. VBUS is shorted to the adapter
Host
Battery
Host

by turning on ACFET1-
Control

GND

RBFET1. Assume that there is a 1-A accessory current at

Figure 3. USB Type-C™ FRS realized by single buck-boost PMID and a 1-A charging current at BAT. When the 9-V
charger. adapter voltage (VAC) is gone, the PMID and VBUS can
still be regulated at 5 V to continuously power the 1-A
When the adapter is disconnected, the power flow
PMID load.
reverses from the battery to VBUS. The OTG mode
output voltage at VBUS covers the full USB PD voltage
range, from 2.8 V to 22 V with a 10-mV programmable
step size, which is compatible with the USB PD 3.0
specification.

In order to support FRS for the USB Type-C port,

this integrated buck-boost charger implements a novel
backup mode. In this context, backup mode refers to
an ultra-fast transition for the buck-boost charger from
forward charging mode to reverse OTG mode without the
bus voltage crashing.

Looking at the application diagram in Figure 3, the

adapter connects at the USB port, powering the system Figure 4. Buck-boost charger FRS from VBUS sink to VBUS
and charging the battery through the buck- boost power source.

stage. At the same time, the adapter could power

Implementing buck-boost charging
accessories from the charger’s PMID output. When the
adapter is disconnected, the battery’s internal FET can All of the features described so far, which help simplify

still power the system; however, the accessories at PMID the system-level design of a USB PD charging solution,

might lose power. have been implemented in TI’s BQ25790 and BQ25798
buck-boost chargers. These devices support one cell in
With backup mode enabled, the charger is able to
series (1s) to 4s battery charging from a 3.6-V to 24-V
monitor the VBUS voltage; the VBUS voltage dropping
input voltage, which covers the full USB PD input voltage
lower than the preset threshold indicates the adapter’s
range.
removal. Once it detects a removal, the charger shifts
from forward charging mode to OTG mode with minimal
delay time, discharges the battery to regulate the VBUS

Combining Buck-Boost Battery Chargers and USB Type-C® Power Delivery for 4 May 2022
Maximum Power Density
The BQ25790 and BQ25798 include: References
• A dual-input power multiplexer for input source • Texas Instruments: BQ25790 I2C Controlled, 1-4 Cell, 5-A

power-path management and selection. Buck-Boost Battery Charger with Dual-Input Selector and
USB PD 3.0 OTG Output Data Sheet
• USB battery charging 1.2 and high-voltage dedicated
charging port adapter detection. • Texas Instruments: BQ25790EVM (BMS027) Evaluation

• Input current-sensing, regulation and protection Module User's Guide

circuits. • Texas Instruments: BQ25798 I2C Controlled, 1- to 4-Cell,

• Four switching MOSFETs for the buck-boost 5-A Buck-Boost Battery Charger with Dual-InputSelector,

converter. MPPT for Solar Panels and Fast Backup Mode Data Sheet

• One battery MOSFET for NVDC power-path

management and charging the current sensor.
• A 16-bit analog-to-digital converter for monitoring and
optimizing system performance.
• USB Type-C OTG and FRS operations.

These features are available in a 2.9-mm-by-3.3- mm

wafer chip-scale package or a 4-mm-by-4- mm quad
flat no-lead package. The total charging solution is
capable of delivering 45 W of power, with around 100
W/in2(150mV/mm2) of power density, which is two times
more than competitive devices.

Conclusion
Buck-boost chargers benefit small, portable electronics
because they deliver a faster charge and come with
integrated components to maximize power density, keep
the overall design footprint small and reduce BOM. When
combined with a USB Type-C PD adapter, buck-boost
chargers can deliver quick charging on-the-go for an
improved and more convenient user experience.

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