MAX6952EV
General Description
The MAX6952 evaluation kit (EV kit) is an assembled
and tested PC board that demonstrates the MAX6952
SPITM-interfaced four-digit 5 x 7 matrix LED display dri-
ver. Two cascaded MAX6952s are used to drive eight
5 x 7 monocolor matrix displays. The EV kit is powered
by a user-supplied 2.7VDC to 5.5VDC power supply.
The SPI-compatible serial interface is connected to an
IBM- compatible PC parallel port for easy evaluation.
The EV kit can be reconfigured for interfacing to a
user's microcontroller for standalone operation.
Windows 95/98/2000-compatible software provides a
user-friendly interface to demonstrate the features of
the MAX6952 IC. The program is menu driven and
offers a graphic interface with control buttons.
Features
o 8-Character Red 5 x 7 Matrix Cathode-Row
Display
o SPI-Compatible Serial Interface
o Operates from a 2.7V to 5.5V Supply Range
o Reconfigurable for Standalone Operation with an
External Microcontroller
o Easy-to-Use Menu-Driven Software
o Windows 95/98/2000-Compatible Software
o Fully Assembled and Tested
Evaluates: MAX6952
MAX6952 Evaluation Kit
________________________________________________________________ Maxim Integrated Products
1
19-2344; Rev 1; 8/02
Component List
For pricing, delivery, and ordering information, please contact Maxim/Dallas Direct! at
1-888-629-4642, or visit Maxim's website at www.maxim-ic.com.
Ordering Information
PART
TEMP RANGE
IC PACKAGE
MAX6952EVKIT
0C to +70C
36 SSOP
DESIGNATION
QTY
DESCRIPTION
C1, C7, C9
3
47
F, 6.3V low-ESR POSCAPs (C)
Sanyo 6TPA47M
C2
1
1
F 20%, 10V X7R ceramic
capacitor (0805)
Taiyo Yuden LMK212BJ105MG
C3C6, C8,
C10
6
0.1
F 10%, 16V X7R ceramic
capacitors (0603)
Murata GRM39X7R104K016AD
D1D8
8
Red 0.7in 5 x 7 LED dot-matrix,
cathode-row displays
Fairchild GMC7175CA
D9, D10
2
200mA, 25V Schottky diodes
(SOT23)
Fairchild BAT54C
D11
1
200mA, 75V ultra-fast diode
(SOD-123)
Fairchild MMSD4148
J1
1
DB-25 male right-angle connector
J2
1
6-pin header
JU9
1
3-pin header
R1R4, R9, R10
6
10k
5% resistors (0805)
Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp.
SPI is a trademark of Motorola, Inc.
DESIGNATION
QTY
DESCRIPTION
R5, R6
2
61.9k
1% resistors (0805)
R7
1
1M
5% resistor (0805)
R8
1
680
5% resistor (0805)
EXT_CLK
1
BNC connector
U1, U2
2
MAX6952EAX (36-pin SSOPs)
U3
1
MAX1841EUB (10-pin
MAX)
U4, U6
2
MAX3370EXK (5-pin SC70s)
U5
1
U nb uffer ed hex i nver ter ( 14- p i n S O)
TI S N 74H C U 04D
Y1
1
4MHz ceramic resonator with
capacitors
Murata CSTCR4M00G53-R0
None
1
Shunt (JU9)
None
1
MAX6952 PC board
None
1
MAX6952 data sheet
None
1
MAX6952 EV kit data sheet
None
1
3.5in software diskette,
MAX6952 EV KIT
Evaluates: MAX6952
MAX6952 Evaluation Kit
2
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Quick Start
Required Equipment
Before beginning, the following equipment is needed:
Compatible PC running Windows 95/98/2000
Parallel printer port LPT1, LPT2, or LPT3 (25-pin fe-
male socket)
Standard 25-pin, straight-through, male-to-female
cable (6ft maximum printer extension cable) to connect
the computer's parallel port to the MAX6952 EV kit
DC power supply capable of supplying between
2.7V and 5.5V and at least 500mA of current
Procedure
Do not turn on the power until all connections are
made.
1) Connect the computer's parallel port to the MAX6952
EV kit. Use a straight-through 25-pin female-to-male
cable. The EV kit software uses a loopback connec-
tion to confirm that the correct port has been selected.
2) Use the INSTALL.EXE program to install the files and
create icons for them in the Windows 95/98/2000
Start menu. For Windows 2000, check to confirm that
you have the required administrator privilege.
3) Turn on the power supply and set it to 5V and turn it off.
4) Connect the power-supply positive terminal to the
V
CC
pad and negative terminal to the GND pad.
Turn on the power supply.
5) Start the MAX6952 program by opening its icon in
the Start menu.
6) Observe as the program automatically detects the
parallel port address of the MAX6952 EV kit and
starts the main program.
7) Header J2 is provided to monitor the parallel port
pins supplying the CLK_P, CS_P, DIN_P, DOUT_P
(5V signals), and loopback signals. The CS, DIN,
CLK, DOUT, and BLINK pads on the EV kit's left side
are VCC level-shifted signals from the MAX1841 and
MAX3370 level translators, respectively. Both signal
locations can be used for monitoring.
Note: An uninstall program is included with the soft-
ware. Click on the UNINSTALL icon to remove the EV
kit software from the hard drive.
Detailed Description
of Software
Note: Words in boldface are user-selectable features in
the software.
Software Startup
A mouse or the Tab key is used to navigate between
items on the Main display window. Upon starting the
program, the MAX6952 EV kit display is programmed to
initialize in Normal mode, display eight digits, blink at
the Slow Rate with an 8/16 (50% duty cycle) display
intensity, and display the contents of the initialized
MAX6952 SRAM Plane P0 and P1 contents. The User
RAM characters are blank. The MAX6952 EV kit eight-
digit 5 x 7 matrix LED display should alternate between
MAX6952 and ->EV KIT. The number of digits dis-
played is fixed at eight digits, four digits per MAX6952.
Main Window Display Controls
The Display Mode radio buttons determine the mode of
operation of the MAX6952 EV kit. Clicking on the
Shutdown radio button puts the MAX6952 drivers into
shutdown mode. The display is blank and the EV kit
draws the least amount of current in this mode.
Selecting the Normal radio button places the MAX6952
EV kit in the normal mode of operation. The Test radio
button puts the MAX6952 EV kit in test mode. All eight
digits of the 5 x 7 LED matrix display on the MAX6952
EV kit are illuminated with a 50% duty cycle (8/16).
Component Suppliers
SUPPLIER
PHONE
FAX
WEBSITE
Fairchild
888-522-5372
Contact Local Office
www.fairchildsemi.com
Murata
770-436-1300
770-436-3030
www.murata.com
Sanyo
619-661-6835
619-661-1055
www.sanyovideo.com
Taiyo Yuden
800-348-2496
847-925-0899
www.t-yuden.com
TDK
847-803-6100
847-390-4405
www.component.tdk.com
Note: Please indicate that you are using the MAX6952 when contacting these manufacturers.
To change the blink rate, click on one of the Blink Rate
radio buttons. Once selected, the Blink Rate can be
adjusted by using the up-down arrows on the key-
board. The red ON caption on the left side of each
plane indicates which plane is currently displayed on
the EV kit hardware. Intensity of the MAX6952 EV kit
LEDs can be adjusted by using the mouse to move the
Intensity Control track bar. Once selected, the
Intensity Control can be adjusted with the left-right
arrows on the keyboard.
Evaluates: MAX6952
MAX6952 Evaluation Kit
_______________________________________________________________________________________
3
Figure 1. MAX6952 Evaluation Software's Main Window Controls the Display, Intensity, Blink Rate, and Character Code of Each 5 x 7
LED Matrix Digit
Figure 2. MAX6952 Evaluation Software User RAM Window Determines the Shape of the 24 User-Definable Characters
Evaluates: MAX6952
Both SRAM Data Planes P0 and P1 are displayed on
the computer monitor eight-digit 5 x 7 LED matrix and
are updated when a new hexadecimal digit value is
entered above the digit in the edit box. The program
keeps track of data written to all registers in the
MAX6952 hardware. To clear the MAX6952 P0 and P1
Plane registers, click on the Clear Planes button and
both planes are set to the blank ASCII character, hexa-
decimal value 20. Note that the EV kit is still in Normal
display mode although all of the 5 x 7 LED matrix seg-
ments are off.
Figure 1 shows the evaluation software's Main window.
Pulldown Menus and Saving Data
All available functions, except for altering a digit's
value, can be changed using the Pulldown menus. A
reset function is also provided in the View|Reset menu
to reinitialize the program and hardware.*
Pressing the Save Data button saves all the current
registers, P0 and P1 planes, and user-definable char-
acter data to the MAX6952.ini file. The Restore Data
button retrieves the saved registers, P0 and P1 planes,
user-definable characters data, and sends them to the
MAX6952 EV kit hardware. The Main window and User
RAM window are also restored to the saved condition.
User RAM Interface
Clicking on the User RAM button brings up the User
RAM display window (Figure 2), allowing the user to
configure all 24 user-definable characters RAM00
RAM23. Clicking on the desired digit's dot illuminates
the segment and automatically updates both
MAX6952's user RAM in the EV kit with the new pattern
for that particular character. Entering the hexadecimal
value of a user-defined character in the Main window's
plane P0 or P1 edit box displays the user-defined char-
acter. For example, entering 00 displays the character
designed at RAM00 in the user RAM window. The EV
kit's appropriate digit is also updated with the character.
To clear all 24 user-definable characters RAM00
RAM23, use the Clear All User RAM button. User RAM
in both MAX6952s on the EV kit is cleared. Clicking the
Exit User RAM button closes the User RAM display
window.
General-Purpose SPI Utility
There are two methods for communicating with the
MAX6952: through the Main window display or through
the general-purpose SPI utility using the View|SPI
Utility command. The utility configures the SPI parame-
ters such as clock polarity (CPOL), clock phase
(CPHA), and chip select (CS) polarity. The fields where
pin numbers are required apply to the pins of the paral-
lel port connector. When using the SPI utility, the Main
window display no longer keeps track of changes sent
to hardware. The SPI utility is preconfigured for the
proper setting of CPOL, CPHA, and CS. The EV kit and
PC program can be reinitialized to the startup screen
settings by using the View|Reset EV kit command.
The utility handles data as 8-bit hexadecimal bytes.
Data longer than 1 byte must be handled as multiple
bytes. Thus, for the MAX6952 EV kit, 16-bit words are
broken into two 8-bit bytes:
1) Click on the Bit-Banging Serial Interface tab and
set bits per byte to 8 (Figure 3).
2) Enter the command byte first and then the data byte.
3) To write data to the MAX6952 EV kit hardware, enter
the data into the Data bytes to be written field. The
data bytes must be hexadecimal and prefixed by 0x.
4) Separate each byte with a comma.
MAX6952 Evaluation Kit
4
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Figure 3. Parallel Port Diagnostic Window's Bit-Banging
Serial Interface Tab Provides Direct, Low-Level Access to
the MAX6952 Through the SPI Interface
*Active and inactive dot colors can be changed using the
View|Reset Matrix color menu.
5) Press the Send Now button to write the data to the
MAX6952 EV kit. For example, to set the MAX6952
EV kit's display intensity to 2/16 for digits 1, 2, 5, and
6, enter the command word 0x01 and data word
0x11 as: 0x01,0x11, 0x01,0x11 and click the Send
Now button. Multiple commands and data sets must
be sent to the EV kit since two MAX6952 ICs are
serially cascaded. Setting the repeat to 2 automati-
cally accomplishes this. Data received from the
MAX6952 ICs is displayed under the Data Bytes
received.
Detailed Description
of Hardware
The MAX6952 EV kit demonstrates two MAX6952 four-
digit 5 x 7 LED matrix display drivers cascaded togeth-
er driving eight red LED 5 x 7 matrix displays. The red
Evaluates: MAX6952
MAX6952 Evaluation Kit
_______________________________________________________________________________________
5
Figure 4. MAX6952 EV Kit Level-Translation Block Diagram
MAX6952
5V
5V SIDE
VCC VOLTAGE SIDE
VCC
MAX6952 EV KIT
2.7V TO 5.5V POWER SUPPLY
PC
PARALLEL
PORT
EIGHT 5
7 MATRIX DIGITS
MAX6952
MAX3370
MAX1841
Table 1. Standalone Mode
JUMPER
JUMPER,
PC BOARD TRACE
JUMPER FUNCTION
EV KIT MODE
JU1
Cut open
U6 level-translator BLINK signal
isolated from EV kit
Standalone, external controller connected to
BLINK pad
JU2
Cut open
U3 level-translator CLK signal isolated
from EV kit
Standalone, external controller connected to CLK
pad
JU3
Cut open
U3 level-translator CS signal isolated
from EV kit
Standalone, external controller connected to CS
pad
JU4
Cut open
U3 level-translator DIN signal isolated
from EV kit
Standalone, external controller connected to DIN
pad
JU5
Cut open
U3 level-translator VCC
pin isolated
U3 power disconnected
JU6
Cut open
U4 level-translator DOUT signal
isolated from EV kit
Standalone, external controller connected to
DOUT pad
JU7
Cut open
U4 level-translator VCC pin isolated
U4 power disconnected
JU8
Cut open
U6 level-translator VCC pin isolated
U6 power disconnected
Table 2. PC/Software Control Mode
JUMPER
JUMPER,
PC BOARD TRACE
JUMPER FUNCTION
EV KIT MODE
JU1
Shorted
U6 level translator provides BLINK signal
PC/software control through parallel port
JU2
Shorted
U3 level translator provides CLK signal
PC/software control through parallel port
JU3
Shorted
U3 level translator provides CS signal
PC/software control through parallel port
JU4
Shorted
U3 level translator provides DIN signal
PC/software control through parallel port
JU5
Shorted
U3 level translator powered from VCC rail
U3 power connected
JU6
Shorted
U4 level translator provides DOUT signal
PC/software control through parallel port
JU7
Shorted
U4 level translator powered from VCC rail
U4 power connected
JU8
Shorted
U6 level translator powered from VCC rail
U6 power connected
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