The 10-bit DAC53401-Q1 and 8-bit DAC43401-Q1 (DACx3401-Q1) are a pin-compatible family of automotive, buffered voltage-output, smart digital-to-analog converters (DACs). These smart DACs contain nonvolatile memory (NVM), an internal reference, a PMBus-compatible I²C interface, and a force-sense output. The DACx3401-Q1 operate with either an internal reference or with a power supply as the reference, and provide a full-scale output of 1.8 V to 5.5 V.

The devices communicate through an I²C interface and support I²C standard mode (100 kbps), fast mode (400 kbps), and fast mode plus (1 Mbps). These devices also support specific PMBus commands such as turn on/off, margin high or low, and more. The DACx3401-Q1 also include digital slew rate control, and support basic signal generation such as square, ramp, and sawtooth waveforms. These devices can generate pulse-width modulation (PWM) output with the combination of the triangular or sawtooth waveform and the FB pin. These features enable DACx3401-Q1 to go beyond the limitations of a conventional DAC that depends on a processor to function. Because of processor-less operation and the smart feature set, the DACx3401-Q1 are called smart DACs.

The DACx3401-Q1 devices have a power-on-reset (POR) circuit that makes sure all the registers start with default or user-programmed settings using NVM. The DAC output powers on in high-impedance mode (default); this setting can be programmed to 10kΩ-GND using NVM.