The 12-bit DAC63204W and 10-bit DAC53204W (DACx3204W) are a pin-compatible family of quad-channel, buffered, voltage-output and current-output, smart digital-to-analog converters (DACs). The DAC channels are independently configurable as voltage or current output. The DAC outputs change to Hi-Z when VDD is off. This feature is useful in voltage-margining applications. These smart DACs contain nonvolatile memory (NVM), an internal reference, automatically detectable SPI or I²C interface, PMBus-compatibility in I²C mode, force-sense output, and a general-purpose input. These devices support Hi-Z power-down modes by default, which can be configured to 10 kΩ-GND or 100 kΩ-GND using the NVM. The DACx3204W have a power-on-reset (POR) circuit that makes sure all the registers start with default or user-programmed settings using NVM. The DACx3204W operate with either an internal reference, external reference, or with a power supply as the reference, and provide a full-scale output of 1.8 V to 5.5 V.

The DACx3204W devices support I²C standard mode (100Kbps), fast mode (400Kbps), and fast mode plus (1Mbps). The I²C interface can be configured with four target addresses using the A0 pin. These devices also support specific PMBus commands such as turn on/off, margin high or low, and more. The SPI mode supports a three-wire interface by default with up to a 50-MHz SCLK input. The GPIO input can be configured as SDO in the NVM for SPI read capability. The GPIO input can alternatively be configured as the LDAC, PD, STATUS, FAULT-DUMP, RESET, or PROTECT function.

The DACx3204W also include digital slew rate control, and support standard waveform generation such as sine and cosine, triangular, 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. The force-sense outputs of the DAC channels can be used as programmable comparators. The comparator mode allows programmable hysteresis, latching comparator, window comparator, and fault-dump to the NVM. These features enable the DACx3204W to go beyond the limitations of a conventional DAC that depends on a processor to function. As a result of processor-less operation and the smart feature set, the DACx3204W are called smart DACs.