APPLICATION NOTE
A V A I L A B L E
AN42 • AN44–48 • AN50 • AN52 • AN53 • AN71 • AN92
Terminal ꢁoltage ꢀꢁ, 100 Taps, Log Taper
X9C303
Digitally Controlled Potentiometer (XDCP™)
FEATURES
DESCRIPTION
• Solid-state potentiometer
• Three-wire serial interface
• 100 wiper tap points
—Wiper position stored in nonvolatile memory
and recalled on power-up
The Xicor X9C303 is a digitally controlled potentiome-
ter (XDCP). The device consists of a resistor array,
wiper switches, a control section, and nonvolatile
memory. The wiper position is controlled by a three-
wire interface.
• 99 resistive elements, log taper
—Temperature compensated
—End to end resistance, 1ꢀ5
—Terminal voltages, ꢀꢁ
The resistor array is composed of 99 resistive ele-
ments. Between each element and at either end are
tap points accessible to the wiper terminal. The posi-
tion of the wiper element is controlled by the CS, U/D,
and INC inputs. The position of the wiper can be
stored in nonvolatile memory and then be recalled
upon a subsequent power-up operation.
• Low power CMOS
—ꢁ
= ꢀꢁ
CC
—Active current, 3mA max.
—Standby current, 7ꢀ0µA max.
• High reliability
—Endurance, 100,000 data changes per bit
—Register data retention, 100 years
• X9C303, 32 kΩ
• Packages
—8-lead TSSOP
—8-lead SOIC
—8-pin DIP
The device can be used as a three-terminal potentio-
meter or as a two-terminal variable resistor in a wide
variety of applications ranging from control, to signal
processing, to parameter adjustment. Digitally-
controlled potentiometers provide three powerful appli-
cation advantages; (1) the variability and reliability of a
solid-state potentiometer, (2) the flexibility of com-
puter-based digital controls, and (3) the use of nonvol-
atile memory for potentiometer settings retention.
BLOCK DIAGRAM
U/D
INC
CS
7-Bit
Up/Down
Counter
99
98
97
96
R
V
H
H/
7-Bit
Nonvolatile
Memory
One
of
One-
Resistor
Array
Hundred
Decoder
Transfer
Gates
2
1
0
Store and
Recall
Control
Circuitry
V
V
CC
SS
R V
L/
L
R
V
W
W/
XDCP™ is a trademark of Xicor, Inc.
REV 1.1 4/27/01
Characteristics subject to change without notice. 1 of 10
www.xicor.com