Product category: Communications ICs (Wired)
News Release from: Intersil | Subject: ISL4238E
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 3 March 2003
Tiny RS232 transceiver
has miserly standby drain
Intersil's new ISL4238E serial interface IC offers high performance in an ultrasmall 5 x 5 x 0.9mm quad flat no-lead (QFN) package
It joins Intersil's Linearlink ISL424xE RS232 transceivers as the world's smallest, lowest-power, low-cost RS232 family. Its small size allows it to be built-into small handheld devices such as PDAs, digital cameras, and data cables etc. Applications include all portable and handheld battery-powered equipment in which space and power consumption are important.
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 3 March 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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At a mere 10nA, the powered-down chip current (ICC) has 100 times lower standby power dissipation than competing products.
This feature is important in portable battery-powered devices where the RS232 port is only used occasionally and thus spends most of its time in the powered-down mode.
The ISL4238 awakens automatically from this powered-down sleep mode.
"The ISL4238E was designed to meet five key requirements for new handheld device applications - small size, low power consumption, low cost, high performance and high reliability", said Mamoon Rashid, Director of Marketing for Intersil's Analogue Solutions Products.
The Intersil Linearlink ISL4238E complements the recently released ISL4243E transceiver.
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The new ISL4238E version has five transmitters (drivers) and three receivers and is optimised for DCE applications with full handshake capability and is intended to reside in small handheld devices such as PDAs, digital cameras, and data cables.
The ISL4243E is optimised for DTE applications such as notebook or desktop PCs and has three transmitters and five receivers to communicate with those of the ISL4238.
The two ICs complement each other from each end of the RS232 interface cable.
The transceiver's QFN package provides many benefits where space and power dissipation are important.
At a miniscule 5 x 5 x 0.9mm, the QFN near-chip-size package requires 60% less board space yet offers improved thermal performance over the TSSOP package it replaces.
A central land on the underside provides more efficient heat transfer to the circuit board along with small lands on the underside perimeter, which also provide circuit connection.
There are no leads to become bent during handling or assembly and special manufacturing equipment is not needed.
It also features: automatic power down when there is no activity on the RS232 pins to extend battery life; automatic awakening from powered-down sleep mode for instant use; compliance with EIA/TIA-232 and V.28/V.24 specifications, even at low VCC of 3.3V; +/-15 kV ESD protection (IEC61000-4-2 Air Gap and Human Body Model) on transmitter outputs and receiver inputs for reliability - safeguards against zaps that occur during the frequent connecting and disconnecting of the RS232 cable; and a 2.7 to 5.5V supply range.
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