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TelCom Semiconductors TC51 Voltage Detector
TelCom Semiconductor Announces Ultra-Small and Low Power CMOS
Voltage Detector with Output Delay at a Low Installed Cost

The manufacturer says . . .

Chipcenter's Paul McGoldrick says . . .

TelCom Semiconductor, Inc. announced the TC51, a very low power CMOS voltage detector with built-in delay. It is particularly well suited for battery powered applications because of its low power consumption and small SOT-23A-3 surface-mount packaging. The TC51 offers a significantly lower operating current than its closest competitor at 1uA and a precise detection threshold of +/- 2%.

The TelCom TC51 provides design flexibility by allowing the user to choose the reset single threshold setting that is best suited for their system power supply voltage. Each part is laser-trimmed to the desired threshold voltage, which can be specified from 1.6V to 6.0V in 0.1V steps. The standard built-in output delay for this device is 50msec � 200msec.

The device includes a comparator, a low-current high-precision reference, a laser-programmed voltage divider, a hysteresis circuit, and an output driver with digital delay timer. The TC51 continuously monitors its input supply for an out-of-tolerance condition. When such a condition is detected, the output immediately is driven and held low. The output returns to its high state after the input supply is within tolerance (200msec, max). The data sheet can be accessed at the company�s web site at: http://www.telcom-semi.com/datashts/TC51.pdf.

This is another continuing example of TelCom's aggressive approach to the market in the last months. The company is targeting significant markets that its larger competitors have looked at before but have not revisited with lower power products, presumably because of bigger opportunities they have noted elsewhere. That allows for a TelCom to move in and offer a modern product for that established application. With the exponential growth in portable products this kind of monitor is in the right place, at the right time, and at the right price. The 0.1-V steps from 1.6 to 6.0 V are ideal for the markets envisioned and the delay characteristic is in the industry-preferred range.

It is difficult to understand what TelCom's marketing position is going to be with the leveraged buyout at Motorola but there should be ample opportunity to push their cause; the only hiccup may be that all organizational changes inevitably cause delays and the market is generally intolerant of delays that cause production concerns for themselves. The TC51 is in production in, as noted, a SOT-23A-3 and is priced at $0.72 for 1000-piece lots.

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