USB power offers relief from wall-wart mess

Consumers have been complaining about the proliferation of one-off ac-dc power adapters (aka wall-warts) for years. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has decreed that the USB port will be the default power adapter for all cell phones in China. I have heard rumors of this initiative for several months now, but haven’t been able to find a translation.

The current issue of EDN has an excellent article on designing battery chargers that rely on the USB port, and gives this translation of the scope of the Chinese government initiative: “This standard aims to reduce consumers’ handset costs, to provide interoperability of ac/dc-charging adapters, and to protect the environment by minimizing electronic waste. Under the new standard, compliant wall-mounted chargers provide a USB connector to ensure universal charging with all mobile phones. The standard also specifies safety and performance requirements that chargers and phones must meet.”

The article references this url for the source of the original document; here is the translated page via Google.

Cell phone adapters use relatively small amounts of power, but some products, such as back-up disk drives, use significant amounts of power, and sometimes exceed the USB power spec. Read the article for a better idea of the advantages and limitations of USB power. And expect that a something similar will become a worldwide de facto power charger standard.