With power and communication on a single line, the MAX20340 eliminates the pins and discrete devices required for communication between a charging base and a low-voltage end product, such as wireless earbuds and other small wearable accessories. This simplifies the design process and saves up to 13 mm² per earbud compared to the closest competitive solution.
This ultra-small PLC chip minimizes the number of mechanical contact points for the load and communication interface, reducing cost, limiting points of failure, and increasing reliability. Furthermore, the MAX20340 incorporates automatic presence detection, enabling flexible design and eliminating unreliable and expensive alternatives such as mechanical pins or Hall effect sensors. The device is configured as a communication master or slave by a single external resistor. Multiple operating modes give designers the opportunity to minimize power consumption based on their application needs. Finally, the communication protocol is as simple as I2C read and write, with the MAX20340 managing all communication through the interface.
Key advantages
Smaller solution size: MAX20340 provides an 80 percent size reduction compared to the closest competitive solution; each MAX20340 PLC IC is only 1.84 mm2 and requires no large external components such as inductors.
Reliability: housing communication and power on the same line reduces potential points of failure and costs.
Ease of design: a simple mailbox communication scheme for read and write functions is managed through an I2C interface.
