USB-C PD Charger Output Profiles: How to Specify PDOs and PPS

A USB-C PD charger output profiles PDO specification is the one line in your RFQ that decides whether the charger you receive fast-charges your device or trickles it at 5 V. Most buyers write "65 W USB-C PD charger" and stop. The factory then picks a controller, loads a default profile table, and ships a product that is technically 65 W and practically useless for the tablet or handheld that only draws full current on a 9 V or 15 V rail — or on a programmable PPS rail the charger never advertised.

The wattage on the label is a ceiling. What the charger actually delivers is the list of Power Data Objects it advertises when a device plugs in, and that list is something you have to write down, item by item, before the supplier quotes. This article explains what a PDO is, which ones the standard forces a charger to carry at each wattage, where PPS fits, how the cable changes the answer, and how to turn all of that into a spec line a Shenzhen or Yichang power-supply plant can build to without guessing.

What a PDO actually is

When a USB-C device is plugged into a PD charger, the two negotiate over the CC wire. The charger (the source) sends a list of the outputs it can supply. Each entry in that list is a Power Data Object: a voltage and a maximum current, packed into a 32-bit message. The device (the sink) picks the one it wants, sends a request, and the charger switches its output to that rail.

Three points follow that matter for a spec:

• The device chooses, the charger offers. A charger advertising 5 V, 9 V, 15 V and 20 V lets a phone take 9 V/3 A while a laptop takes 20 V/3.25 A from the same port. One that only advertises 5 V and 20 V leaves the phone on 5 V.
• A PDO is a pair, not a number. 9 V/2 A is 18 W; 9 V/3 A is 27 W. Most sink firmware checks for a minimum current at each voltage before it commits to fast charging.
• Order matters. Fixed PDOs must be listed in ascending voltage order with 5 V first. A badly ordered table negotiates erratically with some devices and not at all with others — a firmware error that passes end-of-line test and surfaces in the field.

Fixed PDOs are a single voltage with a current limit. Augmented PDOs (APDOs) describe a programmable range; the common one is PPS — Programmable Power Supply — which lets the sink ask for any voltage in a stated window in 20 mV steps and any current in 50 mA steps. PPS is how modern phones run their fastest modes: the phone's charge IC steers the adapter voltage directly instead of bucking a fixed 9 V down inside the handset, keeping the heat in the adapter rather than the battery.

The power rules: what a charger must offer at each wattage

The USB-IF does not let a source advertise whatever it likes. For a PD 3.x source in the Standard Power Range (up to 100 W), the power rules define the minimum set of fixed PDOs a charger must carry once it claims a given wattage. Confirm the exact current figures against the current USB PD specification revision before you copy them into a contract; a supplier will hold you to the number you wrote.

Two things in that table catch buyers out.

First, the rules are cumulative downward. A 65 W charger must still offer 9 V/3 A and 15 V/3 A. Some low-cost designs advertise 5 V/3 A and 20 V/3.25 A and nothing between, because a two-rail design saves a few cents in the feedback network. A tablet that charges on 15 V then sits at 5 V. If you wrote "65 W PD" without the ladder, you have no contractual basis to reject it.

Second, anything above 100 W is Extended Power Range, introduced in PD 3.1. EPR needs an EPR-rated cable, an EPR-capable controller on both ends, and a different negotiation sequence. A "140 W" charger built on a PD 3.0 controller with a 28 V rail bolted on is a proprietary product that reaches 140 W only with that supplier's cable and a device speaking its dialect. Lexiang Power's page states a range from 1 W to 240 W; the top of that range is only meaningful if the PD revision behind it is written down, and it is not on the page — ask.

PPS: the line most RFQs leave blank

Fixed PDOs get a device charging. PPS gets it charging at the rate the phone maker advertises. A PPS APDO is specified as a voltage window and a current ceiling: 3.3–11 V at 3 A, 3.3–16 V at 3 A, 3.3–21 V at 3 A or 5 A. A phone that supports 25 W or 45 W fast charging typically requires a PPS rail with a specific minimum current in a specific window before it enters that mode. Without it the phone falls back to a fixed 9 V PDO at 15–18 W. The screen says "fast charging" either way; the difference is 35 minutes versus 70 to 80 %, and it ends up in a one-star review under your brand name.

Details that only show up once you have been through a PPS build:

• PPS current is a limit the charger enforces, not a number it advertises and forgets. The charger must current-limit in constant-current mode when the sink pulls to the ceiling and report that state. A design that trips over-current protection at the ceiling instead of regulating there disconnects and renegotiates in a loop — the most common PPS failure in pre-production samples, invisible on a basic USB tester, and only caught by an electronic load stepping through the window.
• 5 A needs an e-marked cable. Any cable carrying more than 3 A must contain a marker chip the charger reads before it offers the 5 A PDOs. A captive cable has it built in; a USB-C receptacle depends on whatever cable your customer plugs in. A receptacle-type "100 W" charger bundled with a 3 A cable delivers 60 W out of the box.
• Ripple is tighter under PPS. The phone uses the adapter as its charge regulator, so output ripple and load-transient response feed straight into the cell. Ask what ripple figure is tested across the PPS window, not only at the fixed rails.

For a laptop-class adapter with no phone use case, PPS is optional and can be traded for cost. For a phone or multi-port charger sold at retail, treat it as mandatory and specify window and current explicitly.

Multi-port chargers: the budget is shared, and the spec has to say how

A multi-port charger has a PDO list per port, and those lists change with what is plugged into the other ports; most designs briefly interrupt one port to renegotiate when a second device connects. "65 W dual-port" without an allocation table lets the factory build any of these:

All three are "65 W dual-port"; only one charges a laptop and a phone at full speed together. Write the allocation table into the spec, state whether a second plug-in may interrupt the first port (a tablet running a point-of-sale app cannot tolerate the reset), and state what any USB-A port advertises — plain 5 V/2.4 A, or a legacy fast-charge protocol.

How the plug, the cable and the market change the ladder

USB PD is one standard; the surrounding parts are not.

• Captive cable versus receptacle. A captive cable fixes the cable rating and removes the e-marker question, but becomes a strain-relief and flex-life item you must test. A receptacle pushes the cable choice to the end user and makes your "100 W" claim conditional. Either is fine; the spec has to pick.
• Plug region changes the housing, not the ladder. A PD charger for North American, European, British and Australian outlets shares the electronics and swaps the AC plug body. Lexiang Power's page states that its housing tooling is shared across the PD range so a private-label variant does not need new mould investment — useful to a multi-region brand, and also a question: ask which plug bodies are tooled at the wattage tier you want, because a shared housing at 30 W does not imply one at 140 W.
• Safety files are per model and per rail configuration. A charger certified with a 20 V/3.25 A top rail is, for safety-file purposes, a different model from the same housing with a 28 V rail added. Certification is a requirement you write into the order, never a property to assume: a UL or ETL listing against UL 62368-1 for North America; a CE declaration on EN 62368-1 plus EMC and RoHS for the EU; the same standard under the UK's own conformity marking with a BS 1363 plug for Britain. Ask for the certificate for your exact model, check the issuing body, holder name and expiry, and confirm which of the supplier's legal entities appears on it. The procedure for checking a supplier's CE and FCC paperwork applies unchanged.
• DoE Level VI and ErP. External power supplies sold in the United States must meet DoE Level VI efficiency and no-load limits; in the EU, ErP Tier 2 under the Ecodesign regulation. Write both in as requirements and ask for the efficiency test report per model.

The controller question

Inside every PD charger is a protocol controller, standalone or integrated into the primary-side controller. It decides the PDO table's flexibility, whether PPS exists at all, whether firmware can be re-flashed for a private-label variant, and whether the part is available in volume six months out. The controller market has seen the same allocation swings as every other power-management IC category sourced through China, and a charger quoted on one controller and built on a substitute is a different product with a different PDO table.

The fact basis for Lexiang Power does not name its controller families or whether the buyer specifies them. Ask:

1. Which PD revision the controller supports (2.0, 3.0, 3.1 with EPR) and whether PPS is on the standard firmware or a paid configuration.
2. Whether the PDO table is buyer-configurable and whether the factory will supply a table dump from the production firmware for your golden sample.
3. Whether a second-source controller is qualified for the same housing, and whether a change of controller triggers a new safety file.
4. Whether the controller is USB-IF certified and, if a USB-IF logo matters to your retail packaging, under whose vendor ID.

Writing the spec line: a checklist

Copy this into your RFQ; it fits on half a page. The general spec-sheet method covers the surrounding sections; this is the PD block only.

1. Total rated power and PD revision. "65 W, USB PD 3.1 SPR" or "140 W, USB PD 3.1 EPR". Never "PD compatible".
2. Fixed PDO ladder, one line per rail, voltage and current both stated. 5 V/3 A, 9 V/3 A, 15 V/3 A, 20 V/3.25 A.
3. PPS APDO(s), with window and current. 3.3–11 V/3 A, 3.3–21 V/3.25 A. State "none" if you do not want it, so the factory does not add it and then charge for the controller upgrade.
4. EPR rails and AVS window if above 100 W, with the cable requirement spelled out.
5. Port count and allocation table for every combination of ports in use, and whether renegotiation on plug-in is permitted to interrupt an active port.
6. Cable type: captive with stated length and gauge, or receptacle; if receptacle, the e-marked cable that ships in the box, if any.
7. Legacy protocol support on USB-A ports, or "5 V/2.4 A only".
8. Ripple and load-transient limits at each fixed rail and across the PPS window.
9. Compliance requirements by market, written as requirements: safety standard and mark, EMC, RoHS, efficiency level, plug standard.
10. Test evidence you want with the sample: PD analyser log showing the advertised PDO list, an electronic-load sweep across each rail and the PPS window, and a thermal image at full load after 30 minutes.

What to ask the supplier next

Get written answers to these and attach them to the purchase order:

• Which PD revisions and which PPS windows are on the standard firmware for each wattage tier, and which cost extra.
• The default PDO table per tier as a table dump from production firmware, not a marketing sheet.
• Which controller families are used, whether a second source is qualified, and whether a controller change re-opens the safety file.
• Whether the housing you are quoted is already tooled for every plug region you need at that wattage, and what a new plug body costs if not.
• Which legal entity will appear on the certificate, the invoice and the contract.
• MOQ, sampling lead time and volume lead time, in writing — the CMH page for this supplier lists all three as "contact via CMH", which means they are negotiated, not published.

Lexiang Power is a reasonable place to run that list: a Shenzhen-fronted, Yichang-built power-supply maker with a stated range from 1 W to 240 W, USB-C PD chargers for phones, tablets and laptops, and a shared housing platform across its PD range. None of that says which PDOs its 65 W unit advertises, and the factory profile does not claim to. Send the spec block, ask for the firmware table and analyser log with the sample, and judge what comes back.