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Voltage reference takes digital control onboard

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Mar 18, 2004

The X60250 is a fully integrated digitally adjustable voltage reference that combines a temperature compensated bandgap voltage reference with a nonvolatile digitally controlled potentiometer.

The X60250 is a fully integrated digitally adjustable voltage reference that combines a temperature compensated bandgap voltage reference with a nonvolatile digitally controlled potentiometer (DCP) to provide a precision adjustable reference with a range of 0.0 to 1.25V.

By integrating a precision 8bit voltage reference with the ability to perform in-circuit adjustment, the X60250 offers several advantages over discrete solutions for manufacturing, calibration, tuning or trimming applications.

The device saves manufacturing costs and increases system reliability.

Not only does the X60250 eliminate the need for a microcontroller and associated code for adjustment, it can also help systems to maintain high levels of performance by adjusting for aging, drift and temperature without any hardware changes.

The reference voltage is changed by addressing the 256-tap DCP via a bidirectional two-wire serial bus.

The reference voltage setting is retained in the internal nonvolatile memory when power is disconnected and the power-on-recall circuit restores the X60250 to the stored voltage on power-up.

The serial bus also functions as the data transfer port for address read functions.

An additional 100kohm resistor, matched to the 100kohm DCP, is included to increase resolution of the output voltage without sacrificing accuracy.

The nonvolatile programmability of the X60250 is a key component in low-voltage systems requiring gain, bias and reference voltage calibrations such as data acquisition systems, linear voltage regulators, DC/DC convertors and motor controllers.

Target applications include data acquisition systems requiring preconfigured reference voltage levels, signal-conditioning circuits to set zero offset and span correction for sensors, process control adjustments requiring parameter retention, and bias voltages for power amplifier gain.

Xicor will be offering an evaluation kit and software support for this product.

Production samples are available in 8-pin TSSOPs.