I²C Buffers Meet CompactPCI, AdvancedTCA Challenges

March 15, 2004

With the PCA951x family of Philips Semiconductors hot-swappable I2C bus buffers, designers can implement larger I2C systems to handle the maintenance and control functions required in CompactPCI (PICMG2.9) and AdvancedTCA...

Dave Bursky

With the PCA951x family of Philips Semiconductors hot-swappable I²C bus buffers, designers can implement larger I²C systems to handle the maintenance and control functions required in CompactPCI (PICMG2.9) and AdvancedTCA (PICMG3.X) architectures.

The five devices in the PCA951x family can also be used in normal I²C bus or SMBus applications to expand the number of devices that can connect to the I²C bus. When used on the CompactPCI cards, the PCA951x buffers permit the insertion and removal of the boards in an active I²C system without corrupting the data on the I²C bus. The circuits include precharge and idle detect capabilities that help minimize any glitches the card might cause when removed or inserted.

In lots of 10,000 units, the PCA951x devices cost $1.60 apiece.

Philips Semiconductorswww.semiconductors.philips.com

About the Author

Dave Bursky | Technologist

Dave Bursky, the founder of New Ideas in Communications, a publication website featuring the blog column Chipnastics – the Art and Science of Chip Design. He is also president of PRN Engineering, a technical writing and market consulting company. Prior to these organizations, he spent about a dozen years as a contributing editor to Chip Design magazine. Concurrent with Chip Design, he was also the technical editorial manager at Maxim Integrated Products, and prior to Maxim, Dave spent over 35 years working as an engineer for the U.S. Army Electronics Command and an editor with Electronic Design Magazine.