Toshiba Releases Industry’s First High-Speed Communications Photocouplers that Can Operate from a 2.2V Supply

TOKYO—Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation (“Toshiba”) has released the industry’s first^[1] photocouplers for high-speed communications that can operate with a power supply as low as 2.2V. The two devices are the “TLP2312,” which delivers at typical data transfer rate of 5Mbps, and the 20Mbps “TLP2372.” Shipments start today.

The new products are designed to operate at low voltage, starting at 2.2V, so as to work with the lower voltages of the peripheral circuits, even when used in such low level voltage circuits as 2.5V LVCMOS. This approach eliminates the need for a separate power supply to drive the photocouplers, reducing the component count.

With a low threshold input current of 1.6mA (max), and low supply current of 0.5mA (max) in their -40℃ and +125℃ operating temperature range, the new photocouplers can be directly driven by microcontrollers, reducing power consumption.

The new photocouplers are housed in 5-pin SO6 package with a maximum height of 2.3mm, securing a low profile and bringing greater freedom to component layout on printed circuit boards.