News & Events
Intersil's Dual Protocol Transceiver Family Features High Performance and Industry-Leading ESD Protection in Ultra-Small Packages

MILPITAS, CA, January 9, 2006 – Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), a world leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance analog solutions, has introduced a new family of single and dual port dual protocol transceivers featuring the industry’s highest ESD (electrostatic discharge) rating and best price/performance in a tiny, space saving, QFN package.

Intersil’s new family includes two dual port ICs, the ISL81334 and ISL41334 and the ISL81387 and ISL41387 single port devices. Each transceiver features 15kV (HBM) ESD protection in compact packages that provide designers with high flexibility for connecting either RS-232 or RS-485/RS-422 devices. All four versions operate on 5V supplies, provide data rates of 20Mbps, feature flow-through pinouts to simplify board layouts, and include 2.7V differential VOUT to provide optimal noise immunity in RS-485/422 networks. Applications include single board computers, factory automation systems, security networks, industrial and process control networks, point-of-sale equipment, gaming, and level transistors.

The ISL41334 and ISL41387 provide additional functionality, including lower speed and edge rate options for EMI (electromagnetic interference) sensitive designs, or to allow longer bus lengths. These devices also features a logic supply voltage pin (VL) that sets the VOH level of logic outputs and the switching points of logic inputs, to be compatible with another supply voltage in mixed voltage systems.

“Intersil’s new dual protocol transceiver family offers a full complement of features, configurations and capabilities for applications that require flexible serial interface configuration combined with high levels of ESD protection,” said Randy Pitts, marketing manager of Intersil’s Interface product family. “The combination of a 15kV HBM ESD rating and the board space savings of the QFN package makes this product an ideal solution for space-constrained high reliability applications.”

Performance and Protection
When any port on each of the devices is in RS-232 mode, an on-board charge pump generates compliant ±5V output levels. Each transceiver is RS-232 compliant with the Rx outputs handling up to ±25V and the Tx output handling ±8V. In RS-485 mode, each transceiver supports both the RS-485 and RS-422 differential communication standards. The RS-485 receiver features full failsafe operation so output remains high even if inputs are open or shorted. The RS-485 transmitter supports as many as three data rates; two are slew-rate limited. The charge pumps are disabled when both ports on the dual port ICs are in RS-485 mode, to save power, minimize noise and eliminate pump capacitors.

ISL81334, ISL41334, ISL81387, ISL41387 Key Features

• User-selectable RS-232 or RS-485 mode
• Single or dual port
• 20Mbps data rate in RS-485 mode
• Additional user-selectable RS-485 data rates in the QFN package
• Fast RS-232 data rate up to 650kbps
• Large, 2.7V differential VOUT for optimal noise immunity
• Loopback mode to facilitate board self-test
• Low current shutdown mode
• V Logic pin in the QFN package for mixed supply systems
• Flow-through pinouts to simplify layouts

Target Applications

• Single board computers
• Factory automation
• Security networks
• Industrial/process control networks
• Point-of-sale equipment
• Level transistors (e.g., RS-232 to RS-485)
• Gaming equipment, such as slot machines

About Intersil’s Interface Portfolio
This dual protocol family enhances the already broad portfolio of interface products. Intersil offers a wide range of RS-232 and RS-485/422 transceivers. The RS-232 family of devices operates off of 3.3V or 5V supplies, have many combinations of transmitter and receiver configurations, and are protected to IEC61000 ESD specification. The RS-485 family of devices comes in 3.3V or 5V supply operation, support full/half duplex modes, with many speed grades to chose from, and are protected to 15kV HBM ESD. To learn more, visit Intersil’s Interface Website at http://www.intersil.com/interface/.

Pricing and Availability
The ISL41334 and ISL41387 are available in 40-pin QFN packages, an innovative Intersil option that offers significant board area savings for space-constrained applications such as point-of-sale terminals. The ISL81334 and ISL81387 are available in 20-lead SSOP or SOIC packages. Prices for the single port ISL81387 and ISL41387 start at $4.60 each in 1,000-unit quantities; dual port versions of the ISL81334 and ISL41334 are priced at $5.27 each in 1,000-unit quantities. More information on the ISL41334 is available at http://www.intersil.com/cda/deviceinfo/0,1477,ISL41334,0.html, more information on the ISL41387 is available at http://www.intersil.com/cda/deviceinfo/0,1477,ISL41387,0.html, more information on the ISL81334 is available at http://www.intersil.com/cda/deviceinfo/0,1477,ISL81334,0.html and more information on the ISL81387 is available at http://www.intersil.com/cda/deviceinfo/0,1477,ISL81387,0.html. To view a broad range of application block diagrams, visit Intersil’s Application Design Center at http://www.intersil.com/apps.

Note to editors: To view a high-resolution downloadable photo of these products, visit Intersil’s photo room at: http://www.intersil.com/pressroom/photoarchives.asp. About Intersil
Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL) is a leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog semiconductors. The Company’s products address three of the industry’s fastest growing markets: flat panel displays, handhelds and power management. Intersil products include power management devices for battery management, hot-swap and hot-plug controllers,linear regulators, supervisory ICs, switching DC/ DC regulators and power MOSFET drivers; optical storage laser diode drivers; DSL line drivers; video and high performance operational amplifiers; data converters; interface ICs; analog switches and multiplexers; crosspoint switches; voice-over-IP devices; and ICs for military, space and rad-hard applications. For more information about Intersil or to find out how to become a member of our winning team, visit the Company’s web site and career page at www.intersil.com.