Table of contents/overview Voltage translation buying guide
Voltage Translation Buying Guide 2 2Q 2021 I Texas Instruments
Overview
Introduction ...................................................................3
Voltage translation portfolio ............................................4
Direction controlled translators
AXC family (0.65 V to 3.6 V) ..........................................5
AVC family (1.2 V to 3.6 V) .............................................6
LVC family (1.65 V to 5.5 V) ........................................... 7
Application specific ........................................................8
GTL/TTL translators ......................................................9
Auto bi-directional translators
LSF family (Passive FET).............................................. 10
TXB family (Buffer based) ............................................ 11
TXS family (Switch based) ........................................... 12
Application specific ..................................................... 13
Uni-directional translators
2N7001T (Dual-supply buffer translator) .......................14
AVC family (Dual-supply translator) ..............................15
AUP1T family (Single-supply logic) ...............................15
LVxT family (Single-supply logic) ...................................16
Additional resources
Over-voltage, TTL, and open-drain compatible devices ......
17
What class of voltage translator should I use?
Know your interface? Jump to our quick selection table.
Texas Instruments (TI) offers a wide range of voltage
translators to fit the needs for a system’s design. The
portfolio is broken into three main classes: direction
controlled, auto bi-directional, and uni-directional.
When to use a direction-controlled translator?
Direction-controlled translators are the most flexible, easy-
to-use, and offer the best signal integrity. They are best for
one-to-one communication between devices such as RGMII,
and with protocols featuring one controller that determines
when devices will transmit on the bus; such as in SPI and
UART. Search direction controlled on ti.com | Skip to the
direction-controlled overview.
When to use an auto bi-directional translator?
Some interfaces require that the I/O pins of each device
be open-drain or open-collector so that any device can
start to transmit on the bus. This is typically required for
multi-controller, multi-peripheral protocols; such as I
2
C and
SMBUS. Auto bi-directional voltage translators can ‘auto-
sense’ the intended direction of communication and operate
accordingly; however these translators are slower and have
less drive strength compared to other classes of translators.
Search auto bi-directional on ti.com | Skip to the auto-
directional overview.
When to use a uni-directional translator?
As their name suggested, uni-directional translators are best
when transmitted signals only need to go one direction.
Typical examples are reset signals and clock synchronization
signals. Search uni-directional on ti.com | Skip to the
uni-directional overview.
