Digital potentiometers (digipots)

In LED applications, smart digital-to-analog converters (DACs) provide high integration and increased precision, while eliminating software design burdens.

Smart DACs enable you to:

• Control LED drivers using their integrated pulse-width modulation capabilities.
• Tune LEDs directly, and use the exposed feedback pin to adjust for thermal foldback and additional errors.
• Use digital slew-rate control to enhance the user experience, with fade-in and fade-out control that's friendly to human eyes.
• Ensure autonomy through user- and factory-programmable nonvolatile memory.

In voltage scaling and margining applications, smart digital-to-analog converters (DACs) offer high performance and smaller sizes, as well as low cost.

Here are some of the features of smart DACs:

• High-Z output by default or upon power down, eliminating the need to perform power-cycle sequencing.
• Glitch-free voltage scaling, with configurable digital slew-rate control.
• Failure management, with a programmable general-purpose input to turn off the device or bring it to a safe level.
• Integrated user- and factory-programmable nonvolatile memory, achieving autonomy and predictability from software.

In laser diode analog power-control applications, the high levels of integration and small package sizes of smart digital-to-analog converters (DACs) minimize design costs and enable implementations without software.

A smart DAC allows designers to:

• Increase precision by using the exposed feedback pin for closed-loop control.
• Decrease board size and cost, with an integrated precision reference, buffer and configurable toggle general-purpose input/output.
• Increase autonomy by using factory-programmable nonvolatile memory to store configurations and ensure predictable power up.
• Control laser current using the buffer comparator mode configuration.

In programmable comparator applications, smart digital-to-analog converters (DACs) enable you to transfer the control of important safety mechanisms from software to hardware and avoid the need to comply with software regulations and recertifications.

You can also:

• Adjust the threshold of the configurable comparator to any value within the limit range.
• Use the exposed feedback pin for programmable hysteresis configuration.
• Use the device as a latching comparator through the general-purpose input.
• Store all configurations in nonvolatile memory, facilitating software independence and predictable power up.

While digipots require software to generate pulse-width modulation (PWM), our smart digital-to-analog converter (DAC) portfolio can generate PWM and various duty cycles and frequencies without any software, or serve as a substitute for a 555 timer circuit.

Our smart DACs also have:

• A continuous waveform generator capable of producing square, sawtooth and triangular waves with digital slew rates. You can select a specific frequency and duty cycle for PWM.
• Adjustable voltage levels, enabling you to customize PWM to your needs.
• Nonvolatile memory to store configurations, providing autonomy from software and ensuring predictable power up.

Smart digital-to-analog converters (DACs) are an efficient way to program and control eFuses. Their high-performance and low-noise characteristics also enhance precision.

Our smart DACs enable designers to:

• Configure systems for troubleshooting without having to use software.
• Ensure predictable power up and achieve independence from boot-up systems and software through nonvolatile memory.