Quad DAC with EEPROM for portable apps

Microchip has developed the industry’s first 12bit Quad Digital-to-Analogue Converter (DAC) to include non-volatile EEPROM, enabling the DAC’s configuration to be loaded automatically during power-up. The low power of the device targets portable consumer applications such as personal media players, digital cameras and GPS devices as well as industrial and automotive.
The on-board EEPROM, coupled with an internal voltage reference, four-channel architecture and rail-to-rail precision output amplifier, enables the MCP4728 to significantly reduce the size and component cost in a variety of battery powered and power-constrained applications.
Through the integrated I2CM serial interface, designers can configure the MCP4728 input codes, configuration bits and I2C address bits. This configuration information is stored in the non-volatile EEPROM and therefore retained after power is removed, making it available immediately after power is reapplied and reconfiguring the DAC during power-up.
The architecture of the MCP4728 also allows each of the four channels to be individually shut down, reducing power consumption to as low as 40nA and helping designers to meet or exceed cost and size requirements while providing the resolution and low power consumption that today’s battery powered and power-constrained applications require. These include consumer (personal media players, digital cameras and GPS devices); medical; industrial; appliance, and automotive (LED lamps and alarm/security systems) devices.
The $15 MCP4728 Evaluation Board is available to help designers quickly evaluate the MCP4728 DAC in their applications, and the DAC is sampling now in a 10-pin MSOP package.