Hello. My name is Atul Patel, a product marketer on TI's standard logic team. In this brief video, I'll be introducing the SN74AXCH8T245, an 8-bit direction controlled level translator with bus hold functionality. The SN74AXCH8T245 was developed to help system designers implement up to 8 bits of level translation for data and control I/O between two device interfaces.

In today's complex systems with multiple operating voltage nodes, there is often a need to level shift I/O levels between devices that operate on different voltage nodes. The most common example is the communication between a processor and a peripheral device that operate on two different voltage nodes, such as 3.3 volts and 0.8 volts, as shown here.

The direction control level translator device in the example shown can level shift between the 3.3 volt I/O of the processor and the 0.8 volt I/O of the peripheral device, with the data direction being set by the direction pin of the level translator. In some application, the peripheral device resides on a plug-in board that is inserted into the system bus. In this type of implementation, a level translator with bus hold capability may be required as the bus hold capability allows the voltage translator to retain the last known output stake in the event of an input becoming Hi-Z.

This is especially useful in systems where the peripherals may power off intermittently, as in the case where the peripheral resides on a plug in board. In this example, the peripheral is unplugged, and in that case, the output of the processor is retained to the last known state, giving the processor a graceful way to handle the add-in board being unplugged from the system. Bus hold capable translators eliminate the need for external pull up and pull down resistors, saving cost and reducing board component count. Number of translators with bus hold capability can help system designers implement robust system interfaces.

The SN74AXCH8T245 is TI's latest 8-bit low voltage level translator with bus hold functionality that's capable of supporting any push-pull level translation requirement between 0.65 volt and 3.6 volt. In addition to bus hold functionality, the device supports minus 40 C to 125 C operating temperature range, up to 380 megabits per second of data rate operation, and 12 milliamps of current drive capability.

The SN74AXCH8T245 is a low power translator that is capable of supporting I/O voltages found on many of the latest processors, FPGs, and application-specific processing devices. The device is available in multiple different package options, including TSSOP and VQFN, making the device suitable for a wide variety of applications in industrial, communication, enterprise, and automotive market spaces, enabling level shifting implementations for standards such as SPI, UART, RMMI, as well as other push-pull I/O types. Multiple resources, such as evaluation modules, design guides, design files, and application notes are available to help you get started with the SN74AXCH8T245.

For more information on the new SN74AXCH8T245, please visit TI's product page at the link shown. Thank you for watching.