SP233A Datasheet, PDF (4/13 Pages) Exar Corporation – Enhanced RS-232 Line Drivers/Receivers

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The SP233A, SP310A and SP312A devices
are a family of line driver and receiver pairs that
meet the EIA/TIA-232 and V.28 serial commu-
nication protocols. These devices are pin-to-pin
compatible with popular industry standards. The
SP233A, SP310A and SP312A devices offer a
120kbps data rate, 10V/μs slew rate and an on-
board charge pump that operates from a single
5V supply using 0.1μF ceramic capacitors. The
ESD tolerance has been improved on these de-
vices to +/-2kV Human Body Model.
DESCRIPTION
Receivers
The receivers convert EIA/TIA-232 signal levels
to TTL or CMOS logic output levels. Since the
input is usually from a transmission line, where
long cable length and system interference can
degrade the signal, the inputs have a typical
hysteresis margin of 500mV. This ensures that
the receiver is virtually immune to noisy trans-
mission lines. Should an input be left uncon-
nected, an internal 5kohm pull-down resistor to
ground will commit the output of the receiver to
a HIGH state.
The SP233A device provides internal charge
pump capacitors. The SP310A provides an ON/
OFF input that simultaneously disables the in-
ternal charge pump circuit and puts all transmit-
ter and receiver outputs into a high impedance
state. The SP312A is identical to the SP310 but
with seperate tri-state and shutdown inputs
Theory Of Operation
The SP233A, SP310A and SP312A devices are
made up of three basic circuit blocks: 1. Drivers,
2. Receivers, and 3. charge pump.
Drivers
The drivers are inverting level transmitters that
convert TTL or CMOS logic levels to EIA/TIA-
232 levels with an inverted sense relative to the
input logic levels. Typically, the driver output
voltage swing is +/-9V. Even under worst case
loading conditions of 3kOhms and 2500pF, the
driver output is guaranteed to be +/-5.0V mini-
mum, thus satisfying the RS-232 specification.
The driver outputs are protected against infinite
short-circuits to ground without degradation in
reliability.
The drivers can guarantee output data rates of
120kbps under worst case loading of 3k ohms
and 2500pF.
Charge pump
The charge pump is a patented design and
uses a unique approach compared to older
less efficiant designs. The charge pump re-
quires 4 external capacitors and uses a four
phase voltage shifting technique. The internal
power supply consists of a dual charge pump
that provides a driver output voltage swing of
+/-9V. The internal oscillator controls the four
phases of the voltage shifting. A description of
each phase follows:
Phase 1
Vss charge store and double: The positive ter-
minals of capacitors C1 and C2 are charged
from Vcc with their negative terminals initially
connected to ground. C1+ is then connected
to ground and the stored charge from C1- is
superimposed onto C2-. Since C2+ is still con-
nected to Vcc the voltage potential across C2
is now 2 x Vcc.
Phase 2
Vss transfer and invert: Phase two connects
the negative terminal of C2 to the Vss storage
capacitor and the positive terminal of C2 to
ground. This transfers the doubled and inverted
(V-) voltage onto C4. Meanwhile, capacitor C1
is charged from Vcc to prepare it for its next
phase.
The Slew rate of the driver output is internally
limited to 30V/ μs in order to meet the EIA stan-
dards (EIA-232F). Additionally, the driver out-
puts LOW to HIGH transition meets the mon-
tonic output requirements of the standard.
Phase 3
Vdd charge store and double: Phase three is
identical to the first phase. The positive termi-
nals of C1 and C2 are charged from Vcc with
their negative terminals initially connected to
ground. C1+ is then connected to ground and
the stored charge from C1- is superimposed
onto C2-. Since C2+ is still connected to Vcc
the voltage potential across capacitor C2 is
now 2 x Vcc.
Exar Corporation 48720 Kato Road, Fremont CA, 94538 • [phone] • Fax [phone] • www.exar.com SP233A,310A,312A_100_051308