Digital potentiometer ICs reduce power and are more cost-effective
30 July 2003Analogue, Mixed Signal, LSI
Access Control & Identity Management
Products & Solutions
Catalyst Semiconductor's new quad and dual digitally programmable potentiometer (DPP) integrated circuits are designed to replace mechanical potentiometers. The quad CAT5241 and dual CAT5221 digital potentiometer ICs have 64 wiper positions. The linear-taper, nonvolatile DPP ICs are controlled over a 400 kHz, 2-wire interface.
The CAT5241 and CAT5221 give engineers a low cost, low power alternative to other industry parts. Standby power is 5 mW maximum at 5 V, ideally suited for battery powered equipment. The devices operate from a single power supply voltage that can range from 2,5 to 6,0 V. Maximum wiper resistance is a low 150 Ω at 5 V operation, and maximum wiper resistance is 300 Ω at 3 V operation.
Target applications for digitally programmable potentiometer ICs include fibre-optic transceiver modules, RF amplifier bias and protection circuits, digital and film cameras, LCD display brightness and contrast control, transducer calibration and programmable power supplies. Multiple pots per package, mean DPP solutions are lower cost and easier to mount on PCBs than mechanical potentiometers.
Digital potentiometers allow traditional analog functions to be adjusted, trimmed or controlled digitally. This makes them a more efficient means of automating the control, calibration and manufacturing of electronic systems than mechanical potentiometers. They also have the advantage of being much more tolerant of hazardous system environments.
The CAT5241 and CAT5221, quad and dual DPP ICs, have 64 tap positions each or 6-bit resolution. Tap positions can be stored in embedded EEPROM and automatically recalled upon power up. Each potentiometer is controlled from an independent 6-bit digital control register and its associated four independent EEPROM registers. Nonvolatile registers and each wiper control register can be written and read directly. Tap settings stored in the nonvolatile registers can be transferred to the wiper control registers independently or globally for faster system control operations. Four device address pins allow as many as 16 devices or a maximum of 64 pots to share a common 2-wire bus for maximum system efficiency.
The 64-tap quad CAT5241 and dual CAT5221 are available in 20-lead SOIC packages. Four resistance options, 2,5, 10, 50 and 100 kΩ, are offered.
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