Multiplexers offer top ESD protection and signal-processing performance

Intersil has expanded its industry leading portfolio of radiation tolerant multiplexers with two new, single supply 5V devices. The 16-channel ISL71830SEH and 32-channel ISL71831SEH multiplexers join Intersil's widely adopted 30V multiplexers, which have been onboard nearly every satellite and space exploration mission, including NASA's Orion spacecraft flight test, says the company. The 5V multiplexers address the growing trend toward reduced system voltage rails. They provide data acquisition systems with the industry's best electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection, and deliver lower RON and input leakage for reduced power consumption and higher signal integrity. The 5V multiplexers also offer faster propagation delays, which significantly improve signal processing response time. The ISL71830SEH and ISL71831SEH deliver 2x better performance than the competition in the most demanding environments by leveraging Intersil's proprietary silicon on insulator process, which provides single event latch-up (SEL) robustness in heavy ion environments. The devices' enhanced 5kV ESD protection feature eliminates the need for costly external protection diodes on the input pins. In addition, both multiplexers have reduced RON of 120 Ohms and propagation delays of less than 100ns to increase the overall performance and accuracy of telemetry signals processed and multiplexed into an analog-to-digital converter's (ADC) input. The ISL71830SEH and ISL71831SEH offer over-voltage protection on a per-switch basis to maintain the continuous processing of hundreds of telemetry test points. If any input channel experiences an over-voltage condition, the remaining channels continue sending data to the ADC. Both multiplexers provide a "cold spare" redundant capability, allowing the connection of 2-3 additional unpowered multiplexers to a common data bus. This mission-critical feature is required for long duration space flights. The system automatically activates the backup multiplexer should a failure occur. "The ISL71830SEH and ISL71831SEH support our customers' lower 3.3V and 5V system voltage rails while offering more than twice the performance of competing solutions," said Philip Chesley, senior vice president, precision products, Intersil. "The new 16-channel and 32-channel devices meet the mission assurance needs of manned spacecraft and next-generation satellites."