17
Rev. 6/30/03
SP3223 +3.0V to +5.5V RS-232 Transceivers
Copyright 2003 Sipex Corporation
AUTO ON-LINE
Circuitry
The
SP3223
and
SP3243
devices have a patent
pending
AUTO ON-LINE
circuitry on board
that saves power in applications such as laptop
computers, palmtop (PDA) computers, and other
portable systems.
The
SP3223
and
SP3243
devices incorporate an
AUTO ON-LINE
circuit that automatically
enables itself when the external transmitters are
enabled and the cable is connected. Conversely,
the
AUTO ON-LINE
circuit also disables
most of the internal circuitry when the device is
not being used and goes into a standby mode
where the device typically draws 1
μ
A. This
function can also be externally controlled by the
ONLINE pin. When this pin is tied to a logic
LOW, the
AUTO ON-LINE
function is active.
Once active, the device is enabled until there is
no activity on the receiver inputs. The receiver
input typically sees at least
±
3V, which are
generated from the transmitters at the other end
of the cable with a
±
5V minimum. When the
external transmitters are disabled or the cable is
disconnected, the receiver inputs will be pulled
down by their internal 5k
resistors to ground.
When this occurs over a period of time, the
internal transmitters will be disabled and the
device goes into a shutdown or standy mode.
When ONLINE is HIGH, the
AUTO ON-LINE
mode is disabled.
The
AUTO ON-LINE
circuit has two stages:
1) Inactive Detection
2) Accumulated Delay
The first stage, shown in
Figure 23
, detects an
inactive input. A logic HIGH is asserted on
R
INACT if the cable is disconnected or the
external transmitters are disabled. Otherwise,
R
INACT will be at a logic LOW. This circuit
is duplicated for each of the other receivers.
The second stage of the
AUTO ON-LINE
circuitry, shown in
Figure 24
, processes all the
receiver's R
INACT signals with an accumu-
lated delay that disables the device to a 1
μ
A
supply current.
The STATUS pin goes to a logic LOW when the
cable is disconnected, the external transmitters
are disabled, or the SHUTDOWN pin is
invoked. The typical accumulated delay is
around 20
μ
s.
When the
SP3223
and
SP3243
drivers or inter-
nal charge pump are disabled, the supply current
is reduced to 1
μ
A. This can commonly occur in
hand-held or portable applications where the
RS-232 cable is disconnected or the RS-232
drivers of the connected peripheral are turned off.
The
AUTO ON-LINE
mode can be disabled
by the SHUTDOWN pin. If this pin is a logic
LOW,the
AUTO ON-LINE
function will not
operate regardless of the logic state of the
ONLINE pin.
Table 3
summarizes the logic of the
AUTO ON-LINE
operating modes. The truth
table logic of the
SP3223
and
SP3243
driver and
receiver outputs can be found in
Table 2.
The STATUS pin outputs a logic LOW signal
if the device is shutdown. This pin goes to a
logic HIGH when the external transmitters are
enabled and the cable is connected.
When the
SP3223
and
SP3243
devices
are shut down, the charge pumps are turned off.
V+ charge pump output decays to V
, the
V- output decays to GND. The decay time will
depend on the size of capacitors used for the
charge pump. Once in shutdown, the time
required to exit the shut down state and have
valid V+ and V- levels is typically 200
μ
s.
For easy programming, the STATUS can be
used to indicate DTR or a Ring Indicator signal.
Tying ONLINE and SHUTDOWN together
will bypass the
AUTO ON-LINE
circuitry so
this connection acts like a shutdown input pin.