2009 Microchip Technology Inc.
DS22003E-page 9
MCP3421
3.0
PIN DESCRIPTIONS
The descriptions of the pins are listed in
Table 3-1.
TABLE 3-1:
PIN FUNCTION TABLE
3.1
Analog Inputs (VIN+, VIN-)
VIN+ and VIN- are differential signal input pins. The
MCP3421 device accepts a fully differential analog
input signal which is connected on the VIN+ and VIN-
input pins. The differential voltage that is converted is
defined by VIN = (VIN+ - VIN-) where VIN+ is the voltage
applied at the VIN+ pin and VIN- is the voltage applied
at the VIN- pin. The user can also connect VIN
- pin to
VSS for a single-ended operation. See Figure 6-4 for differential and single-ended connection examples.
The input signal level is amplified by the programmable
gain amplifier (PGA) before the conversion. The
differential input voltage should not exceed an absolute
of (VREF/PGA) for accurate measurement, where VREF
is the internal reference voltage (2.048V) and PGA is
the PGA gain setting. The converter output code will
saturate if the input range exceeds (VREF/PGA).
The absolute voltage range on each of the differential
input pins is from VSS-0.3V to VDD+0.3V. Any voltage
above or below this range will cause leakage currents
through the Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) diodes at
the input pins. This ESD current can cause unexpected
performance of the device. The common mode of the
analog inputs should be chosen such that both the
differential analog input range and the absolute voltage
range on each pin are within the specified operating
range
defined
in
See
details of the input voltage range.
Figure 3-1 shows the input structure of the device. The
device uses a switched capacitor input stage at the
front end. CPIN is the package pin capacitance and
typically about 4 pF. D1 and D2 are the ESD diodes.
CSAMPLE is the differential input sampling capacitor.
3.2
Supply Voltage (VDD, VSS)
VDD is the power supply pin for the device. This pin
requires an appropriate bypass capacitor of about
0.1 F (ceramic) to ground. An additional 10 F
capacitor (tantalum) in parallel is also recommended
to further attenuate high frequency noise present in
some application boards. The supply voltage (VDD)
must be maintained in the 2.7V to 5.5V range for
specified operation.
VSS is the ground pin and the current return path of the
device. The user must connect the VSS pin to a ground
plane through a low impedance connection. If an
analog ground path is available in the application PCB
(printed circuit board), it is highly recommended that
the VSS pin be tied to the analog ground path or
isolated within an analog ground plane of the circuit
board.
3.3
Serial Clock Pin (SCL)
SCL is the serial clock pin of the I2C interface. The
MCP3421 acts only as a slave and the SCL pin
accepts only external serial clocks. The input data
from the Master device is shifted into the SDA pin on
the rising edges of the SCL clock and output from the
MCP3421 occurs at the falling edges of the SCL clock.
The SCL pin is an open-drain N-channel driver.
Therefore, it needs a pull-up resistor from the VDD line
to the SCL pin. Refer to
Interface communication.
MCP3421
Symbol
Description
1VIN+
Positive Differential Analog Input Pin
2VSS
Ground Pin
3SCL
Serial Clock Input Pin of the I2C Interface
4SDA
Bidirectional Serial Data Pin of the I2C Interface
5VDD
Positive Supply Voltage Pin
6VIN-
Negative Differential Analog Input Pin