Voltage level translator aims for memory cards

Texas Instruments says the AVCA406 is the industry's first voltage level translator specifically designed for memory card interfacing.

Texas Instruments says the AVCA406 is the industry's first voltage level translator specifically designed for memory card interfacing.

With the majority of memory cards in the market today operating with 3.3V logic levels and application processors providing multimedia features only supporting 1.8V I/Os, a voltage disparity problem arises.

The SN74AVCA406 eliminates this voltage mismatch by providing bidirectional voltage level translation between the processor and the card.

The AVCA406 can also be used to multiplex between two SD/SDIO cards, eg a wireless LAN card and an SD memory card.

The AVCA406 is fully compliant with memory card standards, including the recommended high-ESD protection rating by providing +15kV human body model, +/-15kV airgap discharge and +/-8kV contact discharge protection per IEC61000-4-2 on the card side.

This integrated ESD protection reduces required board space by eliminating the need for external ESD clamps.

The device provides configurable I/O switching levels with dual-supply pins operating over the full 1.4 to 3.6V power-supply range.

The SN74AVCA406GQC is offered in the 48-ball VFBGA (ball grid array) package.

The GQC package has dimensions of 4 x 4mm, with a 0.5mm ball pitch making it ideal for space-constrained portable applications.

The SN74AVCA406GQCR is currently available to sample.

Budgetary pricing for the devices is set at $1.94 in quantities of 1000.

The lead (Pb)-free version, SN74AVCA406ZQC is expected to release at the end of January.

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