Electronic Design

  
Reprints     Printer-Friendly    Email this Article    RSS        Font Size     What's This?


[Ideas For Design]
Read Temperature With One Digital Output And One Digital Input

Jerry Steele  |   ED Online ID #1576  |   March 4, 2002


Before the MAX6629/30/31/32 series of temperature sensors were available, all digital-output temperature sensors were I2C (alternatively called SMBus) sensors that had to be written to for addressing, before they were read. Prior SPI sensors also required writing. Because the MAX66xx series sensors are read-only, data can be obtained by simply clocking them. But there's one tiny complication—they use a chip-select line.

You can get around the need for an additional logic line to drive the chip-select line with the circuit shown in Figure 1. Only one digital output and one digital input are necessary to communicate with a MAX66xx device by simply clocking it to retrieve the digital data.

Normally, serial-interface temperature sensors require three interface lines: --CS, SO, and SCK, the functions of which are depicted in the timing diagram in Figure 2. If only two lines are available, Clock and Data, this circuit makes it possible to communicate with the device without a separate --CS line. This method requires that the "rest" or quiescent state of the clock be high, modifying the above timing diagram accordingly.

The circuit operates by generating a --CS signal from the clock. When the clock initially goes low, it pulls down the --CS line via Schottky diode D1. Set the time constant of R1 and C1 so that the --CS line rises to no higher than 0.3 × VCC between clock pulses. The resultant slow rise of --CS must be greater than 0.7 × VCC for at least 0.5 s between reads to let the devices perform temperature-to-digital conversions.


Reprints   Printer-Friendly  Email this Article  RSS    Font Size   What's This?


  • Engineers Rely On Internet For Product Info
  • Rochester Electronics Establishes New Design and Technology Group
  • Custom Sources Light Way To 22-nm IC Lithography
  • In EDA, A Year Of Mergers, Failed And Otherwise
  • Software Turns Scopes Into Vector RF Signal Analyzers
  • Couple’s $15 Million Gift Advances Rice Engineering Education
  • November 7, 2008
  • Startup Sets Sail For Speedier Spice Simulation
    1) Ten Top Design Skills For Tough Times
    (3377 views today)
    2) Ultracapacitors Branch Out Into Wider Markets
    (352 views today)
    3) Energy Harvester Perpetually Powers WIreless Sensors
    (351 views today)
    4) Build A Smart Battery Charger Using A Single-Transistor Circuit
    (322 views today)
    5) Technology Has Been Very Good To Obama, And He Plans To Reciprocate
    (194 views today)
    ALL TOP 20



    Reader Comments

    1. Datasheet says +/- 0.8 over this range, not +/- 0.4 2. Op amp has temp drift so if using a remote probe there will be error without means of compensation. 3. ADC ref is VDD so must be precision ref and drift corrected...which it is not. 4. 10bit ADC is 5/1024 is 4.88mV steps, not 20mV (8 bit)

    Anonymous -November 26, 2007

    POST YOUR COMMENTS HERE
    Name:

    Email:
    Your Comments:

    Enter the text from the image below


    Please refresh the page if you have trouble reading this text.

    Search Electronic Design
         
      
     
    Email Newsletter
    Sponsored By:
    Electronic Design UPDATE provides readers with late-breaking news, opinions from industry experts, and timely technology stories. It's a unique opportunity to get your product message in front of engineers, engineering managers, and corporate managers while they're reading about critical information online.

    Enter Email to Subscribe
      

    Electronic Design Europe Electronic Design China EEPN Power Electronics Auto Electronics Microwaves & RF
    Mobile Dev & Design Schematics Find Power Products Military Electronics EE Events Related Resources