Looking for off-the-shelf 3.3 <--> 5v level shifter

[Steven Hirsch]

This is driving me nuts... Some months ago I tripped over a company who made
a multi-line level shifter designed for the I/O DIP headers on the Digilent
Spartan 3 board. Unfortunately, I lost the link and cannot seem to turn it up
in a Google search. There's a lot of information on chips capable of doing
this, but I'm looking for a finished product to use in hobby pursuits.

Is this ringing a bell with anyone on the news group?

Steve

 

[Muzaffer Kal]

On Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:23:31 -0500, Steven Hirsch &lt;snhirsch@gmail.com&gt;
wrote:

This is driving me nuts... Some months ago I tripped over a company who made
a multi-line level shifter designed for the I/O DIP headers on the Digilent
Spartan 3 board. Unfortunately, I lost the link and cannot seem to turn it up
in a Google search. There's a lot of information on chips capable of doing
this, but I'm looking for a finished product to use in hobby pursuits.

Is this ringing a bell with anyone on the news group?

How about this?
http://datasheets.maxim-ic.com/en/ds/MAX3000E-MAX3012.pdf
--
Muzaffer Kal

DSPIA INC.
ASIC/FPGA Design Services

http://www.dspia.com

 

[Muzaffer Kal]

On Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:23:31 -0500, Steven Hirsch &lt;snhirsch@gmail.com&gt;
wrote:

This is driving me nuts... Some months ago I tripped over a company who made
a multi-line level shifter designed for the I/O DIP headers on the Digilent
Spartan 3 board. Unfortunately, I lost the link and cannot seem to turn it up
in a Google search. There's a lot of information on chips capable of doing
this, but I'm looking for a finished product to use in hobby pursuits.

Is this ringing a bell with anyone on the news group?

Or this: http://www.nxp.com/documents/data_sheet/74LVC4245A.pdf ?

Try "level shifter" on digikey.
--
Muzaffer Kal

DSPIA INC.
ASIC/FPGA Design Services

http://www.dspia.com

 

[Steven Hirsch]

On 02/06/2011 04:52 PM, Muzaffer Kal wrote:

On Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:23:31 -0500, Steven Hirsch&lt;snhirsch@gmail.com
wrote:

This is driving me nuts... Some months ago I tripped over a company who made
a multi-line level shifter designed for the I/O DIP headers on the Digilent
Spartan 3 board. Unfortunately, I lost the link and cannot seem to turn it up
in a Google search. There's a lot of information on chips capable of doing
this, but I'm looking for a finished product to use in hobby pursuits.

Is this ringing a bell with anyone on the news group?

Or this: http://www.nxp.com/documents/data_sheet/74LVC4245A.pdf ?

Try "level shifter" on digikey.

I do thank you for your answer, but I thought I was clear that I'm looking for
a finished product - NOT a chip. The unit I spotted was a PCB roughly the
size of the Digilent board. It plugged directly into the female header on the
FPGA board.

I've spent yet another fun-filled 1/2 hour on Google trying to turn up the
unit I remember seeing - no luck. It was not a Digilent product, that I do
remember. I fear it may have been from a small firm that doesn't rise
anywhere near the top of Google search or ones that perhaps has gone out of
business...

Steve

 

[Muzaffer Kal]

On Sun, 06 Feb 2011 17:11:53 -0500, Steven Hirsch &lt;snhirsch@gmail.com&gt;
wrote:

On 02/06/2011 04:52 PM, Muzaffer Kal wrote:
On Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:23:31 -0500, Steven Hirsch&lt;snhirsch@gmail.com
wrote:

This is driving me nuts... Some months ago I tripped over a company who made
a multi-line level shifter designed for the I/O DIP headers on the Digilent
Spartan 3 board. Unfortunately, I lost the link and cannot seem to turn it up
in a Google search. There's a lot of information on chips capable of doing
this, but I'm looking for a finished product to use in hobby pursuits.

Is this ringing a bell with anyone on the news group?

Or this: http://www.nxp.com/documents/data_sheet/74LVC4245A.pdf ?

Try "level shifter" on digikey.

I do thank you for your answer, but I thought I was clear that I'm looking for
a finished product - NOT a chip. The unit I spotted was a PCB roughly the
size of the Digilent board. It plugged directly into the female header on the
FPGA board.

I've spent yet another fun-filled 1/2 hour on Google trying to turn up the
unit I remember seeing - no luck. It was not a Digilent product, that I do
remember. I fear it may have been from a small firm that doesn't rise
anywhere near the top of Google search or ones that perhaps has gone out of
business...

Try these:
http://www.sparkfun.com/products/8745
http://www.mikroe.com/eng/products/view/182/5v-3-3v-voltage-translator-board/
--
Muzaffer Kal

DSPIA INC.
ASIC/FPGA Design Services

http://www.dspia.com

 

[Steven Hirsch]

On 02/06/2011 05:25 PM, Muzaffer Kal wrote:

I do thank you for your answer, but I thought I was clear that I'm looking for
a finished product - NOT a chip. The unit I spotted was a PCB roughly the
size of the Digilent board. It plugged directly into the female header on the
FPGA board.

I've spent yet another fun-filled 1/2 hour on Google trying to turn up the
unit I remember seeing - no luck. It was not a Digilent product, that I do
remember. I fear it may have been from a small firm that doesn't rise
anywhere near the top of Google search or ones that perhaps has gone out of
business...

Try these:
http://www.sparkfun.com/products/8745
http://www.mikroe.com/eng/products/view/182/5v-3-3v-voltage-translator-board/

Thanks! That mikroe product is a bit closer to the unit I recall. I've seen
the little sparkfun boards before and if worse comes to worse, I'll put a
bunch of them together to handle wider busses.

Steve

 

[John Adair]

Steve

We have a 20 pin DIL module (0.3 inch wide) that does a 5V to 3.3V
level shift. Runs from 5V and basically an eight bit bus switch. I
don't think it is on our website currently and it should be. I'm
believe we do have stock of these but I will need to search our stock
room to confirm that. If that is what you were thinking of contact our
boardsales email and someone with do the hunting in the stock room.

John Adair
Enterpoint Ltd.

On Feb 6, 8:23 pm, Steven Hirsch &lt;snhir...@gmail.com&gt; wrote:

This is driving me nuts...  Some months ago I tripped over a company who made
a multi-line level shifter designed for the I/O DIP headers on the Digilent
Spartan 3 board.  Unfortunately, I lost the link and cannot seem to turn it up
in a Google search.  There's a lot of information on chips capable of doing
this, but I'm looking for a finished product to use in hobby pursuits.

Is this ringing a bell with anyone on the news group?

Steve

 

[Steven Hirsch]

On 02/07/2011 09:46 AM, John Adair wrote:

Steve

We have a 20 pin DIL module (0.3 inch wide) that does a 5V to 3.3V
level shift. Runs from 5V and basically an eight bit bus switch. I
don't think it is on our website currently and it should be. I'm
believe we do have stock of these but I will need to search our stock
room to confirm that. If that is what you were thinking of contact our
boardsales email and someone with do the hunting in the stock room.

And that's a finished product that's ready to plug in? I don't know where I'm
failing to communicate clearly, but I'm not looking for a fabrication adventure.

If I'm not able to turn up the product I remember (really p**ses me off that I
lost the link) I'll string together a bunch of the little level shifters from
SparkFun. Would have been great to have the one that was made to plug into
the Spartan 3.

Steve

 

[Steven Hirsch]

On 02/07/2011 06:08 PM, John Adair wrote:

Steve

The one I mentioned is just a bus switch module.If you want something
with a Spartan-3 and 5V tolerant I/O have a look at our Craignell1
family http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/component_replacements/craignell.html,
Craignell2 http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/component_replacements/craignell2.html,
or Drigmorn2 http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/drigmorn/drigmorn2.html.

We have 40 5V tolerant I/O on the Spartan-6 based Drigmorn3
http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/drigmorn/drigmorn3.html and Drigmorn4
http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/drigmorn/drigmorn4.html.

All of the above are designed to interface 5V logic over the relevant
interfaces. The Craignell parts also have pullup resistor to ensure 5V
CMOS compatibility. There optional pullup resistor sites on the
Drigmorn2-4 familiesfor the same purpose.

Thanks, John. Your stuff looks lovely, but too rich for my poor hobbyist's
blood. I own a Spartan 3 board already and was simply looking to interface
that with a single expansion board of some sort. I _know_ someone out there
offers a multi-line, bidirectional converter that's designed to plug directly
to the Spartan board. I've seen the bloody thing on the web with my own eyes,
yet cannot turn it up.

 

[John Adair]

Steve

The one I mentioned is just a bus switch module.If you want something
with a Spartan-3 and 5V tolerant I/O have a look at our Craignell1
family http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/component_replacements/craignell.html,
Craignell2 http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/component_replacements/craignell2.html,
or Drigmorn2 http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/drigmorn/drigmorn2.html.

We have 40 5V tolerant I/O on the Spartan-6 based Drigmorn3
http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/drigmorn/drigmorn3.html and Drigmorn4
http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/drigmorn/drigmorn4.html.

All of the above are designed to interface 5V logic over the relevant
interfaces. The Craignell parts also have pullup resistor to ensure 5V
CMOS compatibility. There optional pullup resistor sites on the
Drigmorn2-4 familiesfor the same purpose.

John Adair
Enterpoint Ltd.

On Feb 7, 10:18 pm, Steven Hirsch &lt;snhir...@gmail.com&gt; wrote:

On 02/07/2011 09:46 AM, John Adair wrote:

Steve

We have a 20 pin DIL module (0.3 inch wide) that does a 5V to 3.3V
level shift. Runs from 5V and basically an eight bit bus switch. I
don't think it is on our website currently and it should be. I'm
believe we do have stock of these but I will need to search our stock
room to confirm that. If that is what you were thinking of contact our
boardsales email and someone with do the hunting in the stock room.

And that's a finished product that's ready to plug in?  I don't know where I'm
failing to communicate clearly, but I'm not looking for a fabrication adventure.

If I'm not able to turn up the product I remember (really p**ses me off that I
lost the link) I'll string together a bunch of the little level shifters from
SparkFun.  Would have been great to have the one that was made to plug into
the Spartan 3.

Steve

 

[Bill Garber]

"Steven Hirsch" &lt;snhirsch@gmail.com&gt; wrote in message news:1_qdnQHB6ZqYHs3QnZ2dnUVZ_u-dnZ2d@giganews.com...

On 02/07/2011 06:08 PM, John Adair wrote:
Steve

The one I mentioned is just a bus switch module.If you want something
with a Spartan-3 and 5V tolerant I/O have a look at our Craignell1
family http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/component_replacements/craignell.html,
Craignell2 http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/component_replacements/craignell2.html,
or Drigmorn2 http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/drigmorn/drigmorn2.html.

We have 40 5V tolerant I/O on the Spartan-6 based Drigmorn3
http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/drigmorn/drigmorn3.html and Drigmorn4
http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/drigmorn/drigmorn4.html.

All of the above are designed to interface 5V logic over the relevant
interfaces. The Craignell parts also have pullup resistor to ensure 5V
CMOS compatibility. There optional pullup resistor sites on the
Drigmorn2-4 familiesfor the same purpose.

Thanks, John. Your stuff looks lovely, but too rich for my poor hobbyist's
blood. I own a Spartan 3 board already and was simply looking to interface
that with a single expansion board of some sort. I _know_ someone out there
offers a multi-line, bidirectional converter that's designed to plug directly
to the Spartan board. I've seen the bloody thing on the web with my own eyes,
yet cannot turn it up.

Steven, already offered previously is this, with the
reverse direction in the panel to the left of the page.

http://www.mikroe.com/eng/products/view/182/5v-3-3v-voltage-translator-board/

They are $19.90 each, but, IMHO, they will do exactly
what you want, and can be used in other circuits that
you may decide to need them in. 8^)

Bill

 

[Steven Hirsch]

On 02/07/2011 08:41 PM, Bill Garber wrote:

Thanks, John. Your stuff looks lovely, but too rich for my poor hobbyist's
blood. I own a Spartan 3 board already and was simply looking to interface
that with a single expansion board of some sort. I _know_ someone out there
offers a multi-line, bidirectional converter that's designed to plug
directly to the Spartan board. I've seen the bloody thing on the web with my
own eyes, yet cannot turn it up.

Steven, already offered previously is this, with the reverse direction in the
panel to the left of the page.
http://www.mikroe.com/eng/products/view/182/5v-3-3v-voltage-translator-board/
They are $19.90 each, but, IMHO, they will do exactly what you want, and can
be used in other circuits that you may decide to need them in. 8^)

&lt;sigh..&gt; Yes, $19.95 with a modest $25 shipping charge, though hopefully that
charge would cover multiple units in a single shipment.

I have some thinking to do.

 

[Steven Hirsch]

On 02/07/2011 08:41 PM, Bill Garber wrote:

Steven, already offered previously is this, with the reverse direction in the
panel to the left of the page.
http://www.mikroe.com/eng/products/view/182/5v-3-3v-voltage-translator-board/

At the risk of appearing naive, what is the difference between those two
boards? Both have high and low voltage ports and both can be switched in
direction. Isn't the overall functionality thus identical?

 

[Bill Garber]

"Steven Hirsch" &lt;snhirsch@gmail.com&gt; wrote in message news:BrKdnZLU0fEjpczQnZ2dnUVZ_gednZ2d@giganews.com...

On 02/07/2011 08:41 PM, Bill Garber wrote:

Steven, already offered previously is this, with the
reverse direction in the panel to the left of the page.
http://www.mikroe.com/eng/products/view/182/5v-3-3v-voltage-translator-board/

At the risk of appearing naive, what is the difference between those
two boards? Both have high and low voltage ports and both can be
switched in direction. Isn't the overall functionality thus identical?

Ok, I will do ALL of the work for you, if I have to. 8^)

I am just kidding, of course, you know me Steven. )

Yes, the manuals both say, at the bottom of page 2, that
both boards can be set up to operate in both directions.

As I said, I looked them over and I feel that this fills your needs
most admirably. Shop around, Sir, you can get them cheaper. )

Bill

 

[Steven Hirsch]

On 02/08/2011 09:23 AM, Bill Garber wrote:

"Steven Hirsch" &lt;snhirsch@gmail.com&gt; wrote in message
news:BrKdnZLU0fEjpczQnZ2dnUVZ_gednZ2d@giganews.com...
On 02/07/2011 08:41 PM, Bill Garber wrote:

Steven, already offered previously is this, with the reverse direction in
the panel to the left of the page.
http://www.mikroe.com/eng/products/view/182/5v-3-3v-voltage-translator-board/

At the risk of appearing naive, what is the difference between those two
boards? Both have high and low voltage ports and both can be switched in
direction. Isn't the overall functionality thus identical?

Ok, I will do ALL of the work for you, if I have to. 8^)
I am just kidding, of course, you know me Steven. )

Heh - I can take ribbing when it's due me..

Yes, the manuals both say, at the bottom of page 2, that both boards can be
set up to operate in both directions.
As I said, I looked them over and I feel that this fills your needs most
admirably.

Yes, but since they went to so much trouble to design two different products,
I cannot help but be curious as to why two distinct designs were necessary.
There must be something I'm overlooking... Inquiring minds want to know.

Shop around, Sir, you can get them cheaper. )

I will do so - hopefully they have an importer.

Steve

 

[Steven Hirsch]

On 02/08/2011 04:38 PM, wjc wrote:

Try this link:
http://www.gadgetfactory.net/index.php?main_page=index&amp;cPath=4

With some digilent cables and headers should be able to lash a setup
together.

Brilliant! That's a much less expensive answer than the Mikroelecktronik
gadgets. However, I'm a wee bit doubtful about their claim that a 3.3v output
would "drive most 5V logic levels". One application I have in mind is talking
to an IDE disk drive or a floppy drive. Would a device like this have enough
moxie to do that?

 

[wjc]

On Feb 8, 9:48 am, Steven Hirsch &lt;snhir...@gmail.com&gt; wrote:

On 02/08/2011 09:23 AM, Bill Garber wrote:



"Steven Hirsch" &lt;snhir...@gmail.com&gt; wrote in message
news:BrKdnZLU0fEjpczQnZ2dnUVZ_gednZ2d@giganews.com...
On 02/07/2011 08:41 PM, Bill Garber wrote:

Steven, already offered previously is this, with the reverse direction in
the panel to the left of the page.
http://www.mikroe.com/eng/products/view/182/5v-3-3v-voltage-translato....

At the risk of appearing naive, what is the difference between those two
boards? Both have high and low voltage ports and both can be switched in
direction. Isn't the overall functionality thus identical?

Ok, I will do ALL of the work for you, if I have to. 8^)
I am just kidding, of course, you know me Steven. )

Heh - I can take ribbing when it's due me..

Yes, the manuals both say, at the bottom of page 2, that both boards can be
set up to operate in both directions.
As I said, I looked them over and I feel that this fills your needs most
admirably.

Yes, but since they went to so much trouble to design two different products,
I cannot help but be curious as to why two distinct designs were necessary.
There must be something I'm overlooking...  Inquiring minds want to know.

Shop around, Sir, you can get them cheaper. )

I will do so - hopefully they have an importer.

Steve

Try this link:
http://www.gadgetfactory.net/index.php?main_page=index&amp;cPath=4

With some digilent cables and headers should be able to lash a setup
together.

 

[wjc]

On Feb 8, 2:27 pm, Steven Hirsch &lt;snhir...@gmail.com&gt; wrote:

On 02/08/2011 04:38 PM, wjc wrote:

Try this link:
http://www.gadgetfactory.net/index.php?main_page=index&amp;cPath=4

With some digilent cables and headers should be able to lash a setup
together.

Brilliant!  That's a much less expensive answer than the Mikroelecktronik
gadgets.  However, I'm a wee bit doubtful about their claim that a 3.3v output
would "drive most 5V logic levels".  One application I have in mind is talking
to an IDE disk drive or a floppy drive.  Would a device like this have enough
moxie to do that?

I don't know. Depends on your device, however the data sheet list max
at 120ma
per pin which is decent. The schematic, data sheet, etc is all open
source. Also
you may want to email gadget factory, they are good to replying to
emails and may
be able to give you some insight.