Quick Charge

Quick Charge (QC) is a proprietary Qualcomm battery charging protocol used for managing power delivered over USB, mainly by communicating to the power supply and negotiating a voltage.

Quick Charge is supported by devices such as mobile phones which have Qualcomm SOCs, and by some chargers; both device and charger must support QC, otherwise QC charging is not attained. It charges batteries in devices faster than standard USB allows by increasing the output voltage supplied by the USB charger, while adopting techniques to prevent the battery damage caused by uncontrolled fast charging and regulating the incoming voltage internally.

Most chargers supporting Quick Charge 2.0 and later are wall adaptors, but it is implemented on some in-car chargers, and some power banks use it to both receive and deliver charge.

Quick Charge is also used by other manufacturers' proprietary rapid-charging systems.

Details

Quick Charge is a proprietary technology that allows for the charging of battery-powered devices, primarily mobile phones, at power levels exceeding the 5 volts at 2 amps, thus 10 watts allowed by basic USB standards —not considering the USB Power Delivery (USB PD) standard—while still maintaining compatibility to existing USB wires.

The elevated voltages allow for pushing higher amounts of power (wattage) through the cable's copper wires without further heating them up and risking heat damage, since heat in the wire is solely caused by the electrical current.

Another benefit of the elevated voltage, as described in Ohm's law § Other versions, is its improved ability to pass through longer USB cables due to its compensation of voltage drops from wires with higher resistances.

Numerous other companies have their own competing technologies, including MediaTek Pump Express and OPPO VOOC (licensed to OnePlus as Dash Charge), the latter of which elevates the current rather than the power supply voltage to reduce heat from internal voltage regulation, but relying on thicker USB wires to handle the current without overheating, as described in VOOC § Technology.[1]

Though not publicly documented, the protocol (e.g. voltage negotiations between device and charger) has been reverse-engineered.[2][3]

To use Quick Charge, both the host providing power and the device must support it. In 2012, the USB Implementers Forum announced that the USB Power Delivery (USB PD) standard had been finalized, allowing for devices to draw up to 100 watts of power over supported USB ports. This new technology was first used in a Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 prototype that charged from 1% to 100% in 17 minutes.[4]

Quick Charge 2.0 introduced an optional feature called Dual Charge (initially called Parallel Charging),[5] using two PMICs to split the power into 2 streams to reduce phone temperature.[6]

Quick Charge 3.0 introduced INOV (Intelligent Negotiation for Optimal Voltage), Battery Saver Technologies, HVDCP+, and optional Dual Charge+. INOV is an algorithm that determines the optimum power transfer while maximizing efficiency. Battery Saver Technologies aims to maintain at least 80% of the battery's original charge capacity after 500 charge cycles.[7] Qualcomm claims Quick Charge 3.0 is up to 4–6 °C cooler, 16% faster and 38% more efficient than Quick Charge 2.0, and that Quick Charge 3.0 with Dual Charge+ is up to 7–8 °C cooler, 27% faster and 45% more efficient than Quick Charge 2.0 with Dual Charge.[5]

Quick Charge 4 was announced in December 2016 alongside the Snapdragon 835. Quick Charge 4 includes HVDCP++, optional Dual Charge++, INOV 3.0, and Battery Saver Technologies 2. It is cross-compatible with both USB-C and USB PD specifications, supporting fallback to USB PD if either the charger or device is not compatible. However, Quick Charge 4 chargers are not backward compatible with Quick Charge. It also features additional safety measures to protect against over-voltage, over-current and overheating, as well as cable quality detection. Qualcomm claims Quick Charge 4 with Dual Charge++ is up to 5 °C cooler, 20% faster and 30% more efficient than Quick Charge 3.0 with Dual Charge+.[6]

Quick Charge 4+ was announced on June 1, 2017. It introduces Intelligent Thermal Balancing and Advanced Safety Features to eliminate hot spots and protect against overheating and short-circuit or damage to the USB-C connector. Dual Charge++ is mandatory, while in prior versions Dual Charge was optional. Unlike Quick Charge 4, Quick Charge 4+ is fully backward compatible with Quick Charge C 2.0 and 3.0 devices.[8][9]

Quick Charge 5 was announced on July 27, 2020.[10] With up to 100 W of power, on a mobile phone with a 4500 mAh battery, Qualcomm claims 50% charge in just 5 minutes. Qualcomm announced that this standard is cross-compatible with USB PD PPS programmable power supply, and that its technology can communicate with the charger when charging double cells and double the voltage and amperage out. For instance, a single battery requests 8.8 V of power. The dual cell can then ask the PPS charger to output 17.6 volts and split it in half to the two separate battery, pulling 5.6 amps total to achieve 100 watts. The first phone with this technology was the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra.[11]

Quick Charge for Wireless Power

On February 25, 2019 Qualcomm announced Quick Charge for Wireless Power. Quick Charge for Wireless Power falls back on the Qi standard by the Wireless Power Consortium if either the charger or device is not compatible.[12]

Versions
Technology Voltage Maximum New features Release date Notes
Current Power[lower-alpha 1]
Quick Charge 1.0 Up to 6.3 V[13] 2 A 10 W
  • AICL (Automatic Input Current Limit)
  • APSD (Automatic Power Source Detection)
 2013 Snapdragon 215, 600[14][15]
Quick Charge 2.0
  • Class A: 5 V, 9 V, 12 V
  • Class B: 5 V, 9 V, 12 V, 20 V[16]
 1.67 A, 2 A, or 3 A 18 W (9 V × 2 A)[17][lower-alpha 2]
  • HVDCP (High Voltage Dedicated Charging Port)
  • Dual Charge (optional)
 2014[lower-alpha 3] Snapdragon 200, 208, 210, 212, 400, 410, 412, 415, 425, 610, 615, 616, 800, 801, 805, 808, 810[19]
Quick Charge 3.0 3.6 V to 22 V[20] in 200 mV steps[16] 2.6 A or 4.6 A[20] 36 W (12 V × 3 A)
  • HVDCP+
  • Dual Charge+ (optional)
  • INOV 1.0 & 2.0
  • Battery Saver Technologies
 2016 Snapdragon 427, 430, 435, 450, 617, 620, 625, 626, 632, 650, 652, 653, 665, 820, 821[19]
Quick Charge 4
  • 3.6 V to 20 V in 20 mV steps via QC
  • 5 V, 9 V via USB PD[21]
  • 3 V to 21 V in 20 mV steps[22] via USB PD 3.0 PPS (Programmable Power Supply)
  • 2.6 A or 4.6 A via QC
  • 3 A via USB PD
  • 100 W (20 V × 5 A) via QC[17]
  • 27 W via USB PD
  • HVDCP++
  • Dual Charge++ (optional)
  • INOV 3.0
  • Battery Saver Technologies 2
  • USB PD compatible
 2017 Snapdragon 630, 636, 660, 710,[23][24] 835[25][26]
Quick Charge 4+
  • Dual Charge++ (mandatory)
  • Intelligent Thermal Balancing
  • Advanced Safety Features
 Snapdragon 670, 675, 720G, 712, 730, 730G, 845, 855, 865[27][28]
Quick Charge 5 >100 W
  • >100 W charging power
  • 100% in 15 minutes
  • Better thermal management (not more than 40 °C)
  • Dual Charge
 2020 Snapdragon 865, 865+

Other charging protocols

Quick Charge-based protocols

Note: These are compatible with Quick Charge-enabled chargers

Other proprietary protocols

Comparison to Pump Express

MediaTek Pump Express is the charging technology of Qualcomm's main chipset vendor competitor MediaTek.

The 2014 and 2015 versions of Pump Express, Pump Express Plus and Pump Express Plus 2.0, competing with Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 and 3.0 respectively, differ by communicating voltage requests to the charger using current modulation signals through the main USB power lanes (VBUS) rather than negotiating through the USB 2.0 data lanes.[31]

MediaTek Pump Express Plus (counterpart of Quick Charge 2.0) supports elevated voltage levels of 7, 9 and 12 volts, the first of which is not supported by Quick Charge 2.0.

Like its counterpart Quick Charge 3.0, Pump Express Plus 2.0 supports finer-grain voltage levels. Those of Pump Express Plus 2.0 are between 5 volts and 20 volts, with half a volt between each step (5.0V, 5.5V, 6.0V, …, 19.5V, 20.0V). However, the wider voltage range of Quick Charge 3.0 starts at 3.6 volts with 0.2 volts between each step and goes up to 22 volts (3.6V, 3.8V, 4.0V, …, 21.8V, 22V).[32][33]

Notes
  1. Some mobile phones deactivate fast charging during operation, and only activate fast charging during standby mode or power-off state.
  2. Because Quick Charge 3.0 power supplies are backwards-compatible with Quick Charge 2.0, Quick Charge 3.0 chargers are often able to deliver more power to Quick Charge 2.0 loads than Quick Charge 2.0 chargers, since Quick Charge 3.0 chargers support higher currents at the same voltages.
  3. The Galaxy Note 4, released in September 2014, was already equipped with Quick Charge 2.0.[18]
  4. Samsung's own 15W Quick Charge 2.0 mobile phone chargers only support 5 and 9 volts (at 2A and 1.67A respectively), not 12 volts (at which 1.25A is supported by some other 15W Quick Charge 2.0 chargers).[29][30]

References
  1. "How fast can a fast-charging phone charge if a fast-charging phone can charge really fast?". CNet. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
  2. Hackster.io guide: Custom voltage from Qualcomm Quick Charge powerbank.
  3. Hackaday guide: “Unlocking 12V Quick Charge On A USB Power Bank”
  4. Parikh, Prasham (2019-03-25). "This is the fastest phone charging technology in the world". EOTO Tech. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  5. Roach, Everett (September 2015). "Advancing charging technologies: Qualcomm® Quick Charge™" (PDF). Qualcomm.
  6. Humrick, Matt. "Qualcomm Announces Quick Charge 4: Supports USB Type-C Power Delivery". www.anandtech.com. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  7. "Introducing Quick Charge 3.0: next-generation fast charging technology". Qualcomm. 2015-09-14. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  8. "For fast charging, look for Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+ in your next mobile device". Qualcomm. 2017-06-01. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  9. "How can Quick Charge 4+ turbocharge your mobile device?". Qualcomm. 2018-02-23. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  10. https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2020/07/27/qualcomm-announces-worlds-fastest-commercial-charging-solution-quick-charge
  11. Russell, Brandon (12 August 2020). "The Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra is the first phone with Qualcomm's Quick Charge 5". xda-developers. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  12. "Qualcomm Announces Quick Charge for Wireless Power and Introduces Qi Interoperability". Qualcomm. 2019-02-24. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  13. Qualcomm.com: Qualcomm Quick Charge 1.0 Battery Charger ICs
  14. "Qualcomm Quick Charge 1.0: Less Time Charging, More Time Doing". Qualcomm. 2013-02-14. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  15. "Qualcomm's Quick Charge 2.0 technology explained". Android Authority. 2014-11-06. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  16. "What is Qualcomm Quick Charge?". Power Bank Expert. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  17. "What is Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0?". Belkin. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  18. "Galaxy Note 4: To use fast charging, what kind of charger should be used?" — Samsung.com
  19. "Compare Snapdragon Processors". Qualcomm. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  20. "Quick Charge 3.0 specs". Qualcomm.
  21. "Nubia Z17 by Nubia and PD6 by BatPower Compatibility". Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  22. "Fresco Logic to demonstrate the Industry's First USB-C PD3.0 Programmable Power Supply (PPS) Total Solution". Retrieved 2018-02-25.
  23. "Snapdragon 710 Mobile Platform Qualcomm". Qualcomm. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
  24. https://www.qualcomm.com/media/documents/files/snapdragon-710-product-brief.pdf
  25. "Qualcomm can charge your phone faster than you can read this story". CNET. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
  26. "Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform". Qualcomm. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
  27. "Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform | Qualcomm". Qualcomm. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
  28. https://www.qualcomm.com/media/documents/files/snapdragon-845-mobile-platform-product-brief.pdf
  29. "Samsung EP-TA20EWEU". Samsung de (in German). Retrieved 2020-11-08.
  30. "Voltcraft CQCP2400 operating instructions" (PDF) (User manual). Voltcraft. Output voltage/current 5 V/DC, max. 2400 mA or 9 V/DC, max. 1670 mA or12 V/DC, max. 1250 mA
  31. Mediatek Pump Express Introduction (2016)
  32. http://i.mediatek.com/hubfs/MtkSpecSheet_v2.pdf
  33. Pump Express Plus — MediaTek Technology White Paper (April 2015)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.