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Exar Corporation 48720 Kato Road, Fremont CA, 94538 • 510-668-7017 • www.exar.com SP485R_100_072309
The SP485R is a low power RS-485 dif-
ferential transceiver. Similar to the SP485,
the SP485R contains a half-duplex driver
and receiver with tri-state control. However,
the SP485R is intended for increased con-
nections on a single bus compared to the
original RS-485 specifcation.
The RS-485 standard is ideal for multi-drop
applications where one bus can contain
many drivers and/or receivers.The RS-485
standard implementation allows up to 32
transceivers to be connected on to the data
bus. RS-485 is also specied for driving
higher speeds over long cable lengths of
up to 4000 feet. The SP485R exceeds the
standard by allowing up to 400 receivers to
share the bus
DRIVERS
The driver output complies with the RS-
485 electrical characteristics as specied
by the standard. The output swings from
0V to Vcc and maintains greater than +1.5V
with a 54Ω load attached between the two
outputs. In adhering to the RS-485 speci-
cation, the driver outputs inherently comply
with the RS-422 standard. With a load of
100Ω between the two outputs, the driver
can sustain at least +2.0V.
The driver contains an enable pin (DE) which
tri-states the output when DE is logic LOW.
The outputs during the tri-state condition are
at high impedance (>100kΩ). A logic HIGH
enables the driver for normal operation. The
driver can operate to at least 5Mbps.
RECEIVERS
The SP485R receiver has differential in-
puts with an input sensitivity of lower than
±200mV. As mentioned above, the RS-485
specication allows up to 32 transceivers on
the same bus. The SP485R allows over 400
transceivers on the same bus due to its high
impedance of at least 120kΩ. This higher
capacity allows more components to be at-
tached to the same bus without degrading
the signal quality. The drivers are still able to
drive an equivalent 54Ω from the 320
transceivers with an input impedance of at
least 120kΩ in parallel along with the two
125Ω cable termination resistors on each
end.
The receiver contains an enable pin (RE)
which enables the receiver when a logic LOW
is asserted. A logic HIGH will tri-state the
receiver output and the inputs will maintain
at least 120kΩ impedance. The reciever can
operate to at least 1Mbps
The receiver also contains a fail-safe
feature which outputs a logic HIGH when
the inputs are open as in a disconnected
cable.
DESCRIPTION