China Sets USB Interface Standard For Handsets

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China’s Ministry of Information Industry has announced that all handsets sold in China must include a USB interface for battery-charging and data-transmission.

The government hopes that this will help consumers save money as they will not need to purchase a new power adapter each time they purchase a new handset. Also, with USB as the power standard, devices such as notebook PCs can be used to charge phones.

The new regulation will be technically easy to implement as most handsets are built using ARM-based chipsets, which can easily integrate USB functionality into the specification.

A standard USB specification can supply 5V/500mA to a mobile device, which is adequate to charge a handset battery.

The additional components required to incorporate a USB interface include a current-protection circuit and power management controller. Additional materials should add less than US$2 to costs.

While most phones are currently shipped with a mobile adapter or a home base station adapter, the new regulations will allow vendors to include just a USB cable to connect the phone to a base station, PC or other USB supporting electronic device.

This will more than offset the cost of additional components. A simple USB cable is significantly less expensive than a wall adapter plug.

However, it is likely that vendors will continue including chargers with their phones as few consumers currently have a base station that supports a USB plug.

The timeline for the implementation of the new standard has not yet been announced.