Multiprotocol transceiver simplifies industrial designs and supports legacy peripherals

Exar has expanded its family of single-chip RS-232/RS-485/RS-422 serial transceivers by adding the XR34350 which features a wide ±10V RS-232 driver output that supports a wider range of RS-232 peripherals. Similar to the industry leading SP339, the XR34350 includes integrated cable termination and four configuration modes that allow all three protocols to be used interchangeably over a single cable or connector with no additional switching components. The RS-232 mode provides three drivers and five receivers to support all eight signals required for the DB9 serial port (3TX/5RX), while RS-485/422 modes include both half and full duplex (1TX/1RX). The XR34350 operates from either a 3.3V or 5V supply, consumes only 2mA typical supply current, and offers a shutdown mode for low power (10µA) standby operation. The high speed drivers operate up to 20Mbps in RS-485/422 modes, and up to 1Mbps in RS-232 mode. All drivers can be slew limited to 250kbps in any mode to minimize electromagnetic interference (EMI), says the company. "The XR34350 simplifies customer designs," said Dale Wedel, VP of high-performance analog, Exar. "The wide driver output swing allows improved interoperability with older model bar code scanners, PS2 keyboards/mice, and other RS-232 peripherals." All bus pins are protected against severe ESD events up to ±15kV HBM (Human Body Model), ±15kV IEC-61000-4-2 Air Gap, and ±8kV IEC 61000-4-2 Contact Discharge, says the company.