
Evaluate:
MAX9590
MAX9590 Evaluation Kit/Evaluation System
4
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Detailed Description of Software
The evaluation software’s main window is shown in
Figure 1.
I2C Address Setting
If the Auto Detect Address checkbox is checked, the
software automatically detects the I2C address of the
MAX9590. The MAX9590’s I2C slave address is dis-
played on the status bar of the software window and
the address pulldown menu. If an address is manually
selected in the address pulldown menu, then the soft-
ware probes the designated address and displays
appropriately. If no acknowledgement is received from
the EV kit, a pop-up window is opened and the user is
directed to properly set JU2 on the EV kit.
Upper and Lower DAC Reference Voltages
The upper and lower DAC reference voltages are gen-
erated by either an on-board resistor-divider network or
external references applied on the VREFU_H,
VREFU_L, VREFL_H, and VREFL_L pads. The actual
voltages on these four pads MUST be captured and
typed in the fields within the Reference Voltages (V)
group box for the calculated DAC output voltages
shown in the Upper DAC Channels/Lower DAC
Channels group boxes to be correct.
The transfer function for upper DAC channels is:
The transfer function for lower DAC channels is:
In both formulas, D is the decimal register value.
When the evaluation software is run for the first time,
the reference voltage values in the Reference
Voltages (V) group box are loaded from an initialization
file (REF.INI). The user should measure the actual volt-
age values on the VREFU_H, VREFU_L, VREFL_H, and
VREFL_L pads and type in the values in the appropri-
ate fields on the software main window. When the pro-
gram is closed, the reference voltages in the current
fields are logged in the initialization file, so the next time
when the program is run, the reference voltages are
loaded automatically.
Register Addressing Mode
The Standard and Register selections in the Register
Addressing Mode box set the MAX9590 operation
mode.
Output Bank Select
The Bank A, Bank B, and A, B Alternating selections
in the Output Bank Select box select the set of refer-
ence voltages buffered to the outputs, either bank A,
bank B, or alternating between bank A and bank B with
1 second hold time for each bank.
Change Register Values
Register values can be set in three different ways. First,
a user can move the slide bars and monitor the register
values and expected output voltages in the corre-
sponding fields. Second, a user can type in register
values directly. Last, a user can type in expected out-
put voltages and the software calculates and displays
the closest register values for the user.
When a register value is changed, the corresponding
field changes its color to red. A user should synchro-
nize the GUI fields and actual device registers by click-
ing either the Load button (in register mode) or the
Load All Values To Registers button (in standard
mode).
The Load All Reg Values From File button is used to
load all the register values and reference voltages from
a text file. The Save All Reg Values To File button is
used to save all the register values and reference volt-
ages on the current GUI to a text file.
Register read/write operations can take place regard-
less of the output bank setting; for example, the user
can change bank B registers when bank A is buffered
to the outputs.
Register Power-On Reset
Click the Register Power On Reset button to set all the
registers to the default power-on values. The MAX9590
cannot be set to high-impedance output mode by the
Register Power On Reset button.
Register Mode I2C Activity
The Register Mode I2C Activity group box is used for
the convenience of debugging in register mode. When
an individual register is written, the bits sent to the
MAX9590 through the I2C interface are displayed.
V
VREFL L
D
VREFL H
VREFL L
OUT =+
×
()
__
_
255
V
VREFU L
D
VREFU H
VREFU L
OUT =+
×
()
__
_
255