NXP PCA9600 Daughter Card

Introduction
Contents
Uses

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Introduction

The NXP PCA9600 Daughter Card demonstrates the true buffer functionality of the NXP PCA9600 to extend the I2C-bus' (and derivatives') capacitance beyond the 400pF specification maximum.

The NXP PCA9600 Daughter Card separates the bidirectional I2C-bus signals into unidirectional components transmitting the SDA and SCL signals via balanced transmission lines (twisted pairs). The Tx and Rx signals may be directly connected to provide a bidirectional signal with I2C-bus Fm+ compatibility.

Highlights

Easy-to-use daughter card adapts easily to the test environment
On-board RJ-45 connectors for fast connection
1MHz Fast-mode Plus (Fm+) I2C-bus serial interface
Compliant with I2C-bus Fast-mode (400KHz) and Standard-mode (100KHz)
Up to 15V operation
Loading up to 4,000pF on dual-ended side, 400pF on single-ended side
Interfaces with opto-couplers to provide opto-isolation between I2C-bus nodes up to 1MHz

Contents

The PCA9600 Daughter Card has a PCA9600PW device, a 4-position DIP switch bus configuration, and RJ-45 jacks for easy set-up. The card also features un-populated protection circuit sites for additional ESD protection if the user deems them necessary.

Uses

The PCA9600 Daughter Card can be used with the Windows-based NXP I2C Demonstration Board 2005-1 Kit, the microcontroller-based NXP Industrial Reference Design (IRD) Platform, or standalone in the user's application.

The daughter card is designed primarily to demonstrate the capability of driving long-distance, high-voltage, low-impedance. or high capacitance I2C buses. The TX/TY outputs have 60mA sink capability which make it possible to have close to 1MHz operation over 20 meters of wire. In addition, the board has an external power pin to evaluate long distance communications at up to 15V.

The PCA9600 Daughter Card also demonstrates the use of normal I2C-bus devices on Fm+ buses. For example, it can extend the drive capability of the I2C Demonstration Board 2005-1 Kit from 3mA to 30mA allowing the user to connect more boards over long wires when creating an evaluation system. Conversely, the daughter card can also be used to buffer normal slaves on buses with higher drive.

RJ-45 jacks are set-up to demonstrate high-speed transmission using a unidirectional signal path allowing to drive longer cables at higher speeds. A unidirectional signal path can be used to minimize time-of-flight delays. Splitting the Tx and Rx signals requires four pairs of cables for the SDA and SCL signals (e.g., SDA Tx and GND, SDA Rx and supply/GND, SCL Tx and GND, SCL Rx and supply/GND).

With the addition of external circuits, the PCA9600 Daughter Card can be used to evaluate high-speed differential signals with generic LSTTL differential line drivers, or to multiplex multiple signals using LVDS serializers/deserializers, or for galvanic isolation using opto couplers.

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