Focusing on real life commercial applications, this thesis presents the theoretical and practical control requirements of an application board, which exploits flexible bidirectional DC-DC converters, to power up a unit of multi USB type-C ports. Emphasis is given in the power management between the connected devices since the power flow is bidirectional.
The USB type-C interface allows power management between the devices and offers the possibility of using the Li-ion batteries of the end-devices as a backup power source in case of a blackout or source failure. At the beginning of this research, the appropriate topology of the converter is defined based on the requirements of the application. The power stage and the system control is fully simulated to prove the application concept. The final stage is the design and implementation of the real application board to extract useful results regarding the viability and feasibility of producing such an integrated solution.
The results arising from the application board prove the real application use. This research topic is setting the foundations for a further research on future applications of the USB type-C interface, in commercial or domestic buildings which are powered by a DC network.