FEATURES

RS-232 Bus-Pin ESD Protection Exceeds

±15 kV Using Human-Body Model (HBM)

Meets or Exceeds the Requirements of

TIA/EIA-232-F and ITU v.28 Standards

Operates With 3-V to 5.5-V VCC Supply

Operates up to 400 kbit/s

Five Drivers and Three Receivers

Auto-Powerdown Plus Feature Enables

Flexible Power-Down Mode

Low Standby Current . . . 1 mA Typical

External Capacitors . . . 4 ′ 0.1 mF

Accepts 5-V Logic Input With 3.3-V Supply

Always-Active Noninverting Receiver Output

(ROUT1B)

Alternative High-Speed Pin-Compatible

Device (1 Mbit/s) for SNx5C3238

ESD Protection for RS-232 Interface Pins

– ±15 kV – Human-Body Model (HBM)

– ±8 kV – IEC61000-4-2, Contact Discharge

– ±15 kV – IEC61000-4-2, Air-Gap Discharge

APPLICATIONS

Battery-Powered Systems

PDAs

Notebooks

Subnotebooks

Laptops

Palmtop PCs

Hand-Held Equipment

Modems

Printers

DESCRIPTION/ORDERING INFORMATION

The MAX3238E consists of five line drivers, three line receivers, and a dual charge-pump circuit with ±15-kV

ESD (HBM) protection on the driver output (DOUT) and receiver input (RIN) terminals. The device meets the

requirements of TIA/EIA-232-F and provides the electrical interface between notebook and subnotebook

computer applications. The charge pump and four small external capacitors allow operation from a single 3-V to

5.5-V supply. In addition, the device includes an always-active noninverting output (ROUT1B), which allows

applications using the ring indicator to transmit data while the device is powered down. This device operates at

data signaling rates up to 250 kbit/s and a maximum of 30-V/ms driver output slew rate.