Nexperia announced the latest addition to its family of voltage level translators, the NXT4557GU and NXT4556UP. These devices enable seamless connectivity of next-generation low voltage mobile phone baseband processors with its subscribers’ identity module (SIM) cards. As processor geometries advance to single-digit nanometer nodes the core voltage of advanced SOCs continues to move lower thereby necessitating the need for voltage translators to connect the SOC to other standard process devices and I/O ports like legacy class B and Class C SIM cards.

The NXT4557GU and NXT4556UP dual-supply translators support voltage levels between 1.08 V and 1.98 V on the host processor side and 1.62 V to 3.6 V on the SIM card side. These operating ranges make these devices compliant with legacy Class B (3.0 V ± 10%) and Class C (1.8 V ± 10%) voltage levels while maintaining compatibility with the voltage levels which will be used by future SIM card interface standards (1.2 V ± 10%). The NXT4557GU and NXT4556UP both feature bidirectional IO and unidirectional RESET and clock channels and also a smart ONE-SHOT that enables very low channel propagation delays. These devices have a low operating current of 8µA with a standby current of only 1µA to help maximize the battery life of mobile devices. Integrated pull-up resistors help to further reduce power consumption in standby mode, while also lowering overall system BOM cost and space. The NXT4557GU features an enable (EN) pin and is housed in a leadless XQFN10 package while the NXT4556UP is auto-enabled and comes in an ultra-small WLCSP9 package with 0.35mm pitch.