19-1390; Rev 0; 10/98

Low-Profile, 3V, 120µA,

IrDA Infrared Transceiver
General Description Features

MAX3120
The MAX3120 IrDA 1.2-compatible infrared transceiver
♦ IrDA 1.2 Compatible: 2.4kbps to 115.2kbps
is optimized for battery-powered, space-constrained
applications. It consumes only 120µA while supporting ♦ +3V to +5.5V Single-Supply Operation
data rates up to 115kbps over a wide 3V to 5.5V oper-
ating range, and features a 10nA shutdown mode to ♦ Flexible Optics Selection and Layout
further extend battery life.
♦ 120µA Supply Current
The MAX3120 reduces the space required for IrDA
applications by requiring a minimum of external compo- ♦ 10nA Shutdown Supply Current
nents: photodiode, infrared LED, and current-setting
resistor. Optical components are external to allow maxi- ♦ 200mA, High-Current Infrared LED Drive
mum flexibility in PC board design. The MAX3120 is
available in 8-pin µMAX and SO packages. The µMAX
package consumes half the board space of an 8-pin
SO.
Ordering Information
PART TEMP. RANGE PIN-PACKAGE
MAX3120CUA 0°C to +70°C 8 µMAX
MAX3120CSA 0°C to +70°C 8 SO
Applications MAX3120EUA -40°C to +85°C 8 µMAX
IrDA Applications MAX3120ESA -40°C to +85°C 8 SO
Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)
Palmtop Computers
Cell Phones
Hand-Held Equipment
Peripherals Typical Operating Circuit

+3.3V

Pin Configuration VCC VCC SHDN

TOP VIEW CS LED

SCLK TX TXD LEDC
DIN
DOUT
MAX3100 MAX3120

TXD 1 8 RXD
VCC 2 7 LEDC RX RXD PINC
MAX3120
GND 3 6 PGND
PINC 4 5 SHDN
GND GND PGND
PIN
DIODE
µMAX/SO

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 Low-Profile, 3V, 120µA,
IrDA Infrared Transceiver
ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM RATINGS
MAX3120

(Referred to GND) Continuous Power Dissipation (TA = +70°C)

VCC ...........................................................................-0.3V to +6V µMAX (derate 4.1mW/°C above +70°C) ....................330mW
TXD, SHDN, LEDC ...................................................-0.3V to +6V SO (derate 5.88mW/°C above +70°C) .......................471mW
RXD ............................................................-0.3V to (VCC + 0.3V) Operating Temperature Ranges
PGND ....................................................................-0.1V to +0.1V MAX3120C_A....................................................0°C to +70°C
PINC....................................................................................10mA MAX3120E_A.................................................-40°C to +85°C
Continuous LEDC Current.................................................200mA Junction Temperature ......................................................+150°C
Repetitive Pulsed LEDC Current Storage Temperature Range .............................-65°C to +160°C
(<90µs, duty cycle <20%) ..........................................500mA Lead Temperature (soldering, 10sec) .............................+300°C

Stresses beyond those listed under “Absolute Maximum Ratings” may cause permanent damage to the device. These are stress ratings only, and functional
operation of the device at these or any other conditions beyond those indicated in the operational sections of the specifications is not implied. Exposure to
absolute maximum rating conditions for extended periods may affect device reliability.

ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS
(VCC = +3.0V to +5.5V, TA = TMIN to TMAX, unless otherwise noted. Typical values are at TA = +25°C and VCC = +3.3V.)
PARAMETER SYMBOL CONDITIONS MIN TYP MAX UNITS
DC CHARACTERISTICS
Supply Current ICC TA = +25°C, SHDN = VCC (Note 1) 120 200 µA
Shutdown Supply Current ICC(SHDN) TA = +25°C, SHDN = GND (Note 1) 0.01 1.0 µA
LOGIC INPUTS (TXD, SHDN)
Input Logic Threshold Low VIL 0.8 V
VCC = 3.3V 2.0
Input Logic Threshold High VIH V
VCC = 5.0V 2.4
Input Leakage Current ILEAK -1 1 µA
Input Capacitance CIN 2 pF
LOGIC OUTPUT (RXD)
VOL ISINK = 200µA 0.1 0.4
Output Voltage VCC - VCC - V
VOH ISOURCE = 100µA
0.5 0.05
Output Rise and Fall Time tr, tf CLOAD = 50pF 50 ns
IR RECEIVER
Supported Data Rates 2.4 115.2 kbps
Equivalent Input Noise Current INOISE (Note 2) 10 nARMS
Input Current Sensitivity (Note 3) 0.0002 6 mA
VCC = 3.3V 100
Ambient DC Current Rejection µA
VCC = 5.0V 375
Shutdown Time Delay until ICC < 1µA 10 µs
Delay until maximum IR receiver data rate is
Shutdown Disable Time 300 µs
valid
Data rate = 2.4kbps 1 90
IR Receiver Output Pulse Width µs
Data rate = 115.2kbps 1 8

2 _______________________________________________________________________________________
 Low-Profile, 3V, 120µA,
IrDA Infrared Transceiver
ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS (continued)

MAX3120
(VCC = +3.0V to +5.5V, TA = TMIN to TMAX, unless otherwise noted. Typical values are at TA = +25°C and VCC = +3.3V.)
PARAMETER SYMBOL CONDITIONS MIN TYP MAX UNITS
IR TRANSMITTER
Transmitter Rise Time tr 10% to 90% of 200mA drive current 20 600 ns
Transmitter Fall Time tf 90% to 10% of 200mA drive current 20 600 ns
VCC = 3.3V 1.15 2.0
Transmitter Output Resistance IOUT = 200mA Ω
VCC = 5.0V 0.9 1.6
Off-Leakage Current 0.01 10 µA

Note 1: All supply current measurements are made under the following conditions: no load at all outputs, input voltages at GND or
VCC, no PIN diode input current.
Note 2: Equivalent input current noise is calculated by dividing the output noise of the transimpedance amplifier by the midband
transimpedance gain.
Note 3: Sensitivity is measured with an IrDA-compliant input signal, where the data rate is within the Supported Data Rate, rise/fall
times are less than 600ns, and pulse widths are between 1.41µs and 3/16 of the baud rate.

Typical Operating Characteristics

(TA = +25°C, unless otherwise noted.)
LED DRIVER SUPPLY CURRENT
ON-RESISTANCE vs. TEMPERATURE vs. TEMPERATURE
1.6 140
MAX3120 TOC01

MAX3120 TOC02
ILEDC = 100mA

1.4 130
SUPPLY CURRENT (µA)

VCC = 5V
VCC = 3.3V
1.2 120
RLEDC (Ω)

1.0 110 VCC = 3V

VCC = 5V
0.8 100

0.6 90
-40 -15 10 35 60 85 -40 -15 10 35 60 85
TEMPERATURE (°C) TEMPERATURE (°C)

SUPPLY CURRENT LEDC VOLTAGE

vs. SUPPLY VOLTAGE vs. LEDC CURRENT
135 600
MAX3120 toc04
MAX3120 TOC03

PULSED AT
130 500 20% DUTY CYCLE
SUPPLY CURRENT (µA)

125 400
VLEDC (mV)

VCC = 3.3V
120 300

115 200
VCC = 5V
110 100

105 0
3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
SUPPLY VOLTAGE (V) LEDC CURRENT (mA)

_______________________________________________________________________________________ 3
 Low-Profile, 3V, 120µA,
IrDA Infrared Transceiver
Typical Operating Characteristics (continued)
MAX3120

(TA = +25°C, unless otherwise noted.)

AMBIENT PHOTODIODE CURRENT REJECTION RXD OUTPUT PULSE WIDTH RXD OUTPUT PULSE WIDTH
vs. SUPPLY VOLTAGE vs. DISTANCE vs. DISTANCE
450 100 4.0

MAX3120 TOC07
MAX3120 TOC06
MAX3120 TOC05
TRANSMITTER POWER = 200mW/sr
400 INPUT PULSE WIDTH = 78µs
3.5
80 TEMIC BPV22NF
350
CURRENT REJECTION (µA)

RXD PULSE WIDTH (µs)

VCC = 3.3V
RXD PULSE WIDTH (µs)
300 3.0
60
250
2.5
200
40
150 2.0
TRANSMITTER POWER = 200mW/sr
100 20 INPUT PULSE WIDTH = 1.63µs
1.5
TEMIC BPV22NF
50
VCC = 3.3V
0 0 1.0
3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
SUPPLY VOLTAGE (V) DISTANCE (cm) DISTANCE (cm)
RXD OUTPUT RXD OUTPUT
vs. INFRARED INPUT vs. INFRARED INPUT
MAX3120 toc08 MAX3120 toc09

2V/div RXD 2V/div RXD

OUTPUT OUTPUT

INFRARED INFRARED
2V/div
2V/div INPUT INPUT

2µs/div 100µs/div
VCC = 3.3V, 115.2kbps AT 1cm DISTANCE, VCC = 3.3V, 2400bps AT 1cm DISTANCE,
TERMIC BPV22NF, TRANSMIT POWER 200mW/sr TERMIC BPV22NF, TRANSMIT POWER 200mW/sr

RXD OUTPUT RXD OUTPUT

vs. INFRARED INPUT vs. INFRARED INPUT
MAX3120 toc10 MAX3120 toc11

2V/div RXD 2V/div RXD

OUTPUT OUTPUT

INFRARED INFRARED
2V/div 2V/div
INPUT INPUT

2µs/div 100µs/div
VCC = 3.3V, 115.2kbps AT 10cm DISTANCE, VCC = 3.3V, 2400bps AT 10cm DISTANCE,
TERMIC BPV22NF, TRANSMIT POWER 200mW/sr TERMIC BPV22NF, TRANSMIT POWER 200mW/sr

4 _______________________________________________________________________________________
 Low-Profile, 3V, 120µA,
IrDA Infrared Transceiver
Typical Operating Characteristics (continued)

MAX3120
(TA = +25°C, unless otherwise noted.)
RXD OUTPUT RXD OUTPUT
vs. INFRARED INPUT vs. INFRARED INPUT
MAX3120 toc12 MAX3120 toc13

2V/div RXD 2V/div RXD

OUTPUT OUTPUT

INFRARED INFRARED
2V/div 2V/div
INPUT INPUT

2µs/div 100µs/div
VCC = 3.3V, 115.2kbps AT 1m DISTANCE, VCC = 3.3V, 2400bps AT 1m DISTANCE,
TERMIC BPV22NF, TRANSMIT POWER 200mW/sr TERMIC BPV22NF, TRANSMIT POWER 200mW/sr

Pin Description
PIN NAME FUNCTION
1 TXD IR Transmitter TTL/CMOS Data Input. High = LED on.
2 VCC Supply Voltage
3 GND Ground. Connect anode of PIN diode to GND. Connect GND to PGND.
4 PINC PIN Diode Cathode Input. Connect cathode of PIN diode to PINC.
5 SHDN Shutdown Input. Active low.
6 PGND Power Ground. Ground for IR LED driver. Connect PGND to GND.
7 LEDC LED Driver Output. Connect cathode of IR-emitting LED to LEDC.
8 RXD IR Receiver TTL/CMOS Data Output. Pulses low for IR input pulse.

Detailed Description Receiver

The MAX3120’s IR receiver amplifier reverse biases the
The MAX3120 is an IrDA 1.2-compatible infrared (IR)
PIN diode by approximately 1.2V, and the PIN diode
transceiver. By selecting appropriate external optical
converts pulses of IR light into pulses of current. The
components (see IR LED and PIN Photodiode Selection
input transimpedance (current-to-voltage) amplifier
section), the MAX3120 will operate at data rates of
then converts these current pulses into voltage pulses
2.4kbps to 115kbps at distances from 1cm to 1m.
of a useful magnitude. The MAX3120 filters the result-
Because of its low-noise design, the MAX3120
ing output voltage pulses to remove low-frequency
achieves a bit error rate (BER) below 10-8 at maximum
ambient light interference and high-frequency circuit
data rates when used with the appropriate external
noise. Finally, a high-speed comparator translates
components. On-chip filtering rejects out-of-band
these voltage pulses into usable CMOS output levels
ambient light signals that would otherwise interfere with
(Figure 1).
IR communication. Also included in the MAX3120 is
a high-power LED driver capable of sinking 200mA. It
can drive most available IR LEDs at IrDA speeds of
2.4kbps to 115kbps.

_______________________________________________________________________________________ 5
 Low-Profile, 3V, 120µA,
IrDA Infrared Transceiver
MAX3120

RXD TXD LEDC IPIN = (4µW/cm2 )(0.075cm2 )(1.8)(0.95)2 (0.6A/W)

= 291nA

PGND The first term (4µW/cm2) is the minimum guaranteed

irradiance in the ±15° angular range. The second term
(0.075cm2) is the effective sensitive area of the PIN
BANDPASS PINC
FILTER - diode. The factor of 1.8 accounts for the efficiency
+ increase due to the spherical lens. The first 0.95 factor
normalizes the sensitivity to the 875nm wavelength,
BIAS while the second 0.95 factor adjusts for decreased
GND
MAX3120 receiver efficiency at ±15° off-axis. The last term,
1.2V
0.6A/W, is the sensitivity of the PIN diode. In this exam-
SHDN VCC ple, the Temic BPV22NF is an appropriate selection.
The final important factor in selecting a PIN diode is
effective diode capacitance. It is important to keep this
Figure 1. Functional Diagram
capacitance below 70pF at 1.2V reverse bias. Higher
Transmitter input capacitance can compromise system noise per-
The MAX3120’s IR transmitter consists of a high-power formance by increasing the noise gain of the input tran-
MOS switch, capable of quickly switching 200mA with simpedance amplifier.
less than 2Ω of on-resistance. Internal buffering keeps
the input capacitance of the TXD pin extremely low to Powering the IR LED
ease the input drive requirement. Connect an IR LED in Set the current in the IR LED using an external resistor.
series with a current-setting resistor to select the appro- Consult the IR LED manufacturer’s data sheet to select
priate IR output power (see the Powering the IR LED a forward current that will meet IrDA specifications dis-
section). Note that the transmitter does not have an cussed in the IR LED and PIN Photodiode Selection
automatic shutoff circuit, so pay special attention to com- section. Look up the drop across the LED (VLED) and
ponent power dissipation in high-duty-cycle transmit the drop across the MAX3120 LED driver (see Typical
schemes. Operating Characteristics - VLEDC) and choose the cur-
rent-setting resistor based on the following equation:
Applications Information
VCC - VLED - VLEDC
IR LED and PIN Photodiode Selection RSET =
ISET
The IrDA specification calls for an IR transmitter with a
peak wavelength between 850nm and 900nm. Within a
Using the Hewlett Packard HSDL-4220 IR LED as an
±15° half-cone-angle, the output intensity of the IR LED
example, VCC = 5V, ISET = 100mA, and VLED = 1.67V,
must be between 40mW/sr and 500mW/sr. Outside a
therefore:
±30° half-cone-angle, the output intensity of the IR LED
must fall below 40mW/sr. The optical rise and fall times VLEDC = 0.08V
of the IR LED must be less than 600ns. Based on these RSET = 32.5Ω
system requirements, the Hewlett Packard HSDL-4220
or the Temic TSHF5400 IR LEDs are two appropriate
choices.
Appropriate PIN photodiode selection is extremely
important to system performance. The PIN diode must
generate at least 200nA (minimum sensitivity of the
MAX3120) of current when aimed ±15° off-axis with an
incident irradiance of 4µW/cm2. Use the following equa-
tion to determine if the Temic BPV22NF meets these
requirements:
6 _______________________________________________________________________________________
 Low-Profile, 3V, 120µA,
IrDA Infrared Transceiver
Power-dissipation requirements of the MAX3120, IR Layout Considerations

MAX3120
LED, and RSET must be met based on maximum duty The MAX3120 requires careful layout techniques to mini-
cycle and output current requirements. mize parasitic signal coupling to the PINC input. Keep
the lead length between the photodiode and PINC as
MAX3120 Power Dissipation = ISET · VLEDC · Duty Cycle short as possible. Be sure to keep PC board traces to
IR LED Power Dissipation = ISET · VLED · Duty Cycle the PIN diode separate from other noisy traces. To mini-
mize coupling, run the AGND trace adjacent to the PINC
RSET Power Dissipation = ISET2 · RSET · Duty Cycle
trace on both sides. To prevent oscillation, avoid routing
Power-Supply Noise Rejection the RXD signal near the PINC signal. Connect the anode
Because of the extremely sensitive nature of photodi- of the PIN diode, the GND pin, and the supply bypass
ode amplifiers, it is important to maintain a quiet supply capacitor pin in a star-ground connection. Connect
voltage. Use a separate analog supply voltage where PGND and GND together. Reduce the output trace
possible. Place a 1µF ceramic bypass capacitor as length from RXD as much as possible to minimize cou-
close to the VCC pin as possible. In especially noisy pling back to the input via parasitic capacitance.
systems, connect a small (10Ω) resistor in series with
VCC, in addition to the normal bypass capacitor. Chip Information
TRANSISTOR COUNT: 256

Package Information

_______________________________________________________________________________________ 7
 Low-Profile, 3V, 120µA,
IrDA Infrared Transceiver
Package Information (continued)
MAX3120

SOICN.EPS

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