Low power bus powered functions draw all its power from the VBUS and cannot draw any more than one unit load. The USB specification defines a unit load as 100mA. Low power bus powered functions must also be designed to work down to a VBUS voltage of 4.40V and up to a maximum voltage of 5.25V measured at the upsteam plug of the device. For many 3.3V devices, LDO regulators are mandatory.

High power bus powered functions will draw all its power from the bus and cannot draw more than one unit load until it has been configured, after which it can then drain 5 unit loads (500mA Max) provided it asked for this in its descriptor. High power bus functions must be able to be detected and enumerated at a minimum 4.40V. When operating at a full unit load, a minimum VBUS of 4.75 V is specified with a maximum of 5.25V. Once again, these measurements are taken at the upstream plug.