2007-2011 Microchip Technology Inc.
DS22035D-page 19
TC1270A/70AN/71A
4.0
DEVICE OPERATION
4.1
General Description
For many of today’s microcontroller applications, care
must be taken to prevent low-power conditions that can
cause many different system problems. The most
common causes are brown-out conditions, where the
system supply drops below the operating level
momentarily. The second most common cause is when
a
slowly
decaying
power
supply
causes
the
microcontroller to begin executing instructions without
sufficient voltage to sustain volatile memory (RAM),
thus producing indeterminate results.
The TC127XA family (TC1270A, TC1270AN and
TC1271A)
are
cost-effective
voltage
supervisor
devices designed to keep a microcontroller in Reset
until the system voltage has reached and stabilized at
the proper level for reliable system operation. These
devices also operate as protection from brown-out
conditions when the system supply voltage drops
below a safe operating level.
A Manual Reset input (MR pin) is provided. This allows
a push button switch to be directly connected to the
TC127XA device, and is suitable for use as a push
button Reset. This allows the system to easily be reset
from the external control of the push button switch. No
external components are required.
The Reset pin (RST or RST) will be forced active, if any
of the following occur:
During device power-up
VDD goes below the device threshold voltage
The Manual Reset input (MR) goes low
Figure 4-1 shows a high level block diagram of the
devices. The device can be described with three
functional blocks. These are:
Voltage detect circuit
Manual Reset with glitch filter circuit
Reset generator circuit
The Reset generator circuit controls the Reset delay
time of the Reset output signal.
There are three Reset Delay Timer options. Depending
on the option, the Reset signal (RST/RST pin) will be
held active for a minimum of 1.09 ms, 17.5 ms, or
140 ms.
The TC1271A has an active-high RST output while the
TC1270A and TC1270AN have an active-low RST
output.
The TC1270A and TC1271A have a push-pull output
driver, while the TC1270AN has an open-drain output.
Figure 4-2 shows a typical circuit for a push-pull device
and
Figure 4-3 shows a typical circuit for an open-drain
device.
FIGURE 4-1:
TC127XA High Level Block
Diagram.
FIGURE 4-2:
Typical Push-Pull
Application Circuit.
FIGURE 4-3:
Typical Open-Drain
Application Circuit.
The TC1270A and TC1271A devices are available in a
4-Pin
SOT-143
package
(to
maintain
footprint
compatibility with the TC1270, TC1271, TCM811 and
TCM812 devices) and a SOT-23-5 package. The
TC1270AN is only available in the SOT-23-5 package.
Low supply current makes these devices suitable for
battery-powered applications.
Device specific block diagrams are presented in
VDD
MR
RST
Voltage
Detect
Reset
Circuit
Manual Reset
with Glitch
Filter Circuit
Generator
Circuit
or
VRST
MRRST
Push
Button
MR
VSS
VDD
Reset Input
TC1270A/1A
VDD
0.1 F
RST
or
RST
Push
Button
MR
VSS
VDD
RST
Reset Input
TC1270AN
VDD
0.1 F