Transceiver Targets Battery-Powered Networks

For battery-powered RS-485/RS-422 networks, MAX3471 half-duplex transceiver uses only 1.6 µA supply current with a 2.5V to 5.5V supply voltage, which works with the lifetime of a lithium battery. The transceiver has true fail-safe operation, 1/8-unit-load input resistance, and internal circuits that prevent battery back-charging. The fail-safe operation provides a logic HIGH receiver output when the receiver inputs are open or shorted, which means the receiver output will be a logic HIGH even if all transmitters on a bus (terminated or unterminated) are disabled (high impedance).