On July 31, 2025, an important news came that the new industry standard IEC 63315 ED1 of USB-C PD 240W has entered the Enquiry stage and is scheduled to be officially released on July 31, 2026. It will completely replace the old standard IEC 62368-3 released in 2017.
Old Standard "Exit": Why was IEC 62368-3 replaced?
In 2017, Technical Group TC 108 of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) issued the IEC 62368-3:2017 standard, which combined the safety requirements of traditional communication lines (such as telephone lines) and emerging technologies (such as USB, POE and HDMI) to regulate them. However, with the rapid iteration of technology, the limitations of this standard are gradually exposed:
1. The scope of application is chaotic: the mixed requirements of old and new technologies make it difficult for manufacturers to define the boundary in practical application;
2. Unable to cope with high-power technology: Take USB PD 3.1 as an example. With the introduction of EPR(Extended Power Range) mode in USB PD 3.1, after the power is increased to 240W(48V), the traditional LPS/PS2 (Limited Power Source) requirement (< 100W) is no longer applicable.
3. Safety contradiction is prominent: IEC 62368-3 can't solve the safety contradiction under high power, such as the disconnection between the requirements of fire-proof enclosure and protocol management.
Therefore, not long after the release of IEC 62368-3:2017, both standard makers and users think that it does not need to be enforced, that is to say, this standard entered the discussion of being abolished at the early stage of release. As early as 2019, IEC TC 108 clearly proposed to split IEC 62368-3 into two new standards:
1. IEC 63315: Security requirements for emerging technologies such as USB, HDMI and PoE;
2. IEC 63316: Safety requirements for traditional telephone line RFT circuit technology.
The new standard "debut": the core breakthrough of IEC 63315
After six years, IEC 63315 finally completed the CDV voting recently, entered the Enquiry stage on July 31, 2025, and is scheduled to be officially released on July 31, 2026.
Interpretation of the key points of the new standard IEC 63315
The core innovation of IEC 63315 standard is to introduce Protocol Safeguard mechanism to replace the static power limitation of the old standard. The specific points are as follows:
Dynamic protocol guarantee: devices are required to adopt USB power delivery specification 3.1 and USB PD compliance test specifications, and explicitly accept the USB PD 3.1 protocol. However, whether the manufacturer's private protocols and other protocols meet the requirements of this standard may need to be tested before a conclusion can be drawn.
Influence of new standard on power supply terminal and power receiving terminal equipment
1. Power supply equipment (such as charger/external power supply, charging treasure) supporting output of > 100W needs to pass the protocol guarantee test to verify that it can safely and dynamically adjust the output power according to different power receiving equipment;
2. The power supply terminal equipment can remove redundant LPS/PS2 circuits, thus increasing the fault tolerance of the protocol chip;
3. If the equipment at the power receiving end supports the input of > 100W, it must adopt fireproof shell materials (such as V-0 flame retardant materials);
4. The old standard IEC 62368-3 certification will gradually become invalid in the near future;
5. Superimposed effect of EU Type-C mandatory regulation EU 2022/2380: Since December 2024, EU has made it mandatory for consumer electronics to adopt USB Type-C interface, and devices larger than 15W should support PD protocol. IEC 63315 will become a substantial safety threshold for high-power equipment to enter Europe;
6. The protocol guarantee test needs to increase the software and hardware collaborative verification, which will increase the cost a lot compared with the traditional safety test;
7. After the unified agreement guarantee, the private agreement market will face great challenges (such as the exclusive fast charging agreement of some notebook manufacturers);
8. Considering the release time of IEC 63315 plan, manufacturers should adjust their certification plans to cope with the global mandatory implementation measures that may be faced in 2026.
Manufacturer's response suggestion
1. Adjust the product certification plan in advance and give priority to the USB PD 3.1 protocol;
2. Test the flame retardant performance of the fireproof shell material in advance for the equipment at the power receiving end;
3. Pay attention to the details update of the final version of the standard, especially the testing requirements of private protocols.
Warm tips
There is still one year before the formal implementation on July 31, 2026. ZRLK suggested that relevant enterprises should seize the window period, arrange products as soon as possible, sort out the product matrix, evaluate the impact of switching between old and new standards, carry out protocol safeguard testing and certification preparation in advance, and actively adapt to the requirements of new standards in order to calmly cope with the changes in regulations. Our company has a professional technical team and rich experience in product testing, which can help enterprises enter the target market in compliance with regulations. If you need it, please feel free to contact us, and our engineers will serve you at the first time!
