Transceivers look to boost data speeds.

This article presents information related to interface components that have their share of leading-edge glamour devices and less-discussed but consistently useful transceivers. Driver and receivers for RS-485 and RS-422 are in the latter category. Never as fast as low-voltage differential-signaling (LVDS) devices, never as consumer savvy as 1394, never as addressable as CAN bus nodes, RS-485 transceivers nonetheless support a variety of data communication and control applications. Based on eeProductCenter announcements over the past year, RS-485 transceivers are almost as popular as LVDS devices. But companies with analog engineers-Intersil, Maxim, Fairchild Semiconductor Corp., Sipex Corp. and even Texas Instruments Inc. are adding features and functions, including low-voltage operation (3.3 V), elevated data rates etc.