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MAX6956 Programming Guide

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55 views5 pages

MAX6956 Programming Guide

Uploaded by

Jonathan Jaeger
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Maxim > Design Support > Technical Documents > Application Notes > Digital Potentiometers > APP

4021
Maxim > Design Support > Technical Documents > Application Notes > Display Drivers > APP 4021
Maxim > Design Support > Technical Documents > Application Notes > Power-Supply Circuits > APP 4021

Keywords: MAX6956, MAX6957, MAX7300, MAX7301, MAX6946, constant-current LED drivers,


transition detection, driving RGB LEDs, push-pull output ports, 28 LED drive ports, max6956
programming, driving white LEDs

APPLICATION NOTE 4021

MAX6956 Programming Guide


By: Walter Chen, Principle Member of the Technical Staff, Applications
Mar 22, 2007

Abstract: This instructional guide provides detailed information on programming the MAX6956 LED
display driver and I/O expander. Programming tips for similar devices (the MAX6957, MAX7300, and
MAX7301) are also discussed.

Overview
The MAX6956 LED driver and I/O expander can provide and
maintain desired constant-current levels on all of its 20 or 28
(depending on the package type) LED drive ports without the use
of external current-limiting resistors. Sixteen constant-current levels
(from 1.5mA to 24mA) can be applied to all ports simultaneously or
Click here for an overview of the wireless
selected differently for each individual port. The MAX6956 not only components used in a typical radio
controls LED intensity levels, but also its port-matching accuracy transceiver.

makes their hues more consistent. In addition to being a constant-


current LED driver, the MAX6956 allows individual ports to be used
as input ports with transition-detection capability, or as push-pull output ports with a sinking current of
10mA and sourcing current of 4.5mA.

The MAX6957 is similar to the MAX6956, but it has an SPI™- instead of an I²C-compatible interface.
The MAX7300 is a general-purpose I/O (GPIO) port expander that is similar to the MAX6956, except
that it does not have the constant-current LED-drive capability. The MAX7301 is a GPIO port expander
similar to the MAX7300, but it has an SPI- instead of an I²C-compatible interface.

Figure 1 shows a simple application example that uses the MAX6956 to drive ten white and RGB LEDs
without requiring current-limiting resistors.

Page 1 of 5
Figure 1. Application circuit for the MAX6956.

MAX6956 Configuration Registers


The detailed operation of the MAX6956 is controlled by writing to its 89 registers. In addition to the four
registers (Global Current, Configuration, Transition Detection Mask, and Display Test) described in the
data sheet, the MAX6956 provides three additional groups of registers:
1. Port Configuration (0x09 to 0x0F)
There are two bits for each port in the Port Configuration register. These bits are used to define
each port as an LED driver, output port, or input port with/without a pullup resistor. There are 7 Port
Configuration registers corresponding to 28 ports.
2. Individual Current (0x12 to 0x1F)
There are four bits for each port in an Individual Current register. These bits are used to define the
desired constant-current level of an individual port. The minimum increment is 1/16 of the maximum
level set by the external resistor connected to the ISET pin.
3. Port I/O Value (0x20 to 0x5F)
There are 29 Port I/O Value registers corresponding to each individual port (port 31 has two
registers). There are 21 Port I/O Value registers that can be used to simultaneously define I/O
values for a group of 8 different ports. The rest of the Port I/O Value registers can be used to
simultaneously define a group of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 different ports.

MAX6956 I²C Commands


Below are I²C commands for setting all ports to half of the maximum constant-current level of 24mA
(based on a 39kΩ external resistor) at power-up. The I²C-device address of the MAX6956 is 0x80 when
both AD0 and AD1 pins are connected to ground. The I2CWrite routine issues a write command to a
MAX6956 register with a particular byte or a sequence of registers with multiple bytes by taking
advantage of the register-address autoincrement feature.

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I2CWrite(0x80, 0x02, 0x07); // Set a half global constant current
I2CWrite(0x80, 0x09, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00); // Set all
ports to LED drive mode
I2CWrite(0x80, 0x04, 0x01); // Set the shutdown/run bit of the configuration
register

As a reference checkpoint the binary equivalent of the write command to set the shutdown/run bit is also
listed below.

I2CWrite(0x80, 0x04, 0x01);


1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Below are I²C commands to set one port (P4 in this example) to the full constant-current level at power-
up.

I2CWrite(0x80, 0x12, 0x07); // Set a half port P4 constant current


I2CWrite(0x80, 0x09, 0xA8); // Set P4 to LED drive mode
I2CWrite(0x80, 0x04, 0x01); // Set the shutdown/run bit of the configuration
register

All ports are set to the logic input without a pullup resistor at power-up. Only the following I²C command
is needed to activate the MAX6956 to operate with all power-up defaults.

I2CWrite(0x80, 0x04, 0x01); // Set the shutdown/run bit of the configuration


register

MAX6957 SPI Commands


Any register of the MAX6957 can also be written to or read from by sending a 16-bit word consisting of
the register-address byte followed by the data byte through the SPI interface. The first bit of the address
byte determines if it is a write (0) or a read (1) command. All 16-bit words can be put together next to
each other.

Below are data bytes on the MAX6957 DIN input pin to set all ports to half of the maximum constant-
current level of 24mA. These commands are similar to those for the MAX6956, except the need to
specify the device address. For the SPI interface, a particular device is selected by setting the active-low
CS input pin low. There is no register-address autoincrement feature for the MAX6957.

0x02, 0x07; // Set a half global constant current


0x09, 0x00; // Set ports P4 through P7 to LED drive mode
0x0A, 0x00; // Set ports P8 through P11 to LED drive mode
0x0B, 0x00; // Set ports P12 through P15 to LED drive mode
0x0C, 0x00; // Set ports P16 through P19 to LED drive mode
0x0D, 0x00; // Set ports P20 through P23 to LED drive mode
0x0E, 0x00; // Set ports P24 through P27 to LED drive mode

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0x0F, 0x00; // Set ports P28 through P31 to LED drive mode
0x04, 0x01; // Set the shutdown/run bit of the configuration register

MAX7300/MAX7301 Configuration Registers


The MAX7300 and MAX7301 do not have constant-current LED-drive capability. Detailed operations are
controlled by writing to their 73 registers. In addition to the Configuration and Transition Detection Mask
registers, there are two other groups of registers:
1. Port Configuration (0x09 to 0x0F)
2. Port I/O Value (0x20 to 0x5F)

MAX7300 I²C Commands


All ports are set to the logic input without a pullup resistor at power-up. Below are I²C commands for
setting half of the ports, P14 through P23, as outputs at logic-level high and then bringing the chip into
operation from initial shutdown. The I²C device address of the MAX7300 is 0x80 when both AD0 and
AD1 pins are connected to ground.

I2CWrite(0x80, 0x0B, 0x5A, 0x55, 0x55); // Set P14 through P23 to


output
I2CWrite(0x80, 0x4E, 0xFF); // Set P14 through P21 to
logic high
I2CWrite(0x80, 0x56, 0x03); // Set P22 through P23 to
logic high
I2CWrite(0x80, 0x04, 0x01); // Set the shutdown/run bit

MAX7301 SPI Commands


Any register of the MAX7301 can be written to or read from by sending a 16-bit word consisting of the
register-address byte followed by the data byte through the SPI interface. The first bit of the address
byte determines if it is a write (0) or a read (1) command. All 16-bit words can be put together next to
each other.

Below are data bytes on the MAX7301 DIN input pin to set half of the ports, P14 through P23, as
outputs at logic-level high and then bring the chip into operation from initial shutdown. These commands
are similar to those for the MAX7300, except the need to specify the device address. For the SPI
interface, a particular device is selected by setting the active-low CS input pin low. There is no register-
address autoincrement feature for the MAX7300.

0x0B, 0x5A; // Set P14 and P15 to output


0x0C, 0x55; // Set P16 through P19 to output
0x0D, 0x55; // Set P20 through P23 to output
0x4E, 0xFF; // Set P14 through P21 to logic high
0x56, 0x03; // Set P22 and P23 to logic high
0x04, 0x01; // Set the shutdown/run bit

Page 4 of 5
Related Parts

MAX6946 10-Port, Constant-Current LED Driver and I/O Expander Free Samples  
with PWM Intensity Control

MAX6956 2-Wire-Interfaced, 2.5V to 5.5V, 20-Port or 28-Port LED Free Samples  


Display Driver and I/O Expander

MAX6957 4-Wire-Interfaced, 2.5V to 5.5V, 20-Port and 28-Port LED Free Samples  
Display Driver and I/O Expander

MAX7300 2-Wire-Interfaced, 2.5V to 5.5V, 20-Port or 28-Port I/O Free Samples  


Expander

MAX7301 4-Wire-Interfaced, 2.5V to 5.5V, 20-Port and 28-Port I/O Free Samples  
Expander

More Information
For Technical Support: http://www.maximintegrated.com/support
For Samples: http://www.maximintegrated.com/samples
Other Questions and Comments: http://www.maximintegrated.com/contact

Application Note 4021: http://www.maximintegrated.com/an4021


APPLICATION NOTE 4021, AN4021, AN 4021, APP4021, Appnote4021, Appnote 4021
Copyright © by Maxim Integrated Products
Additional Legal Notices: http://www.maximintegrated.com/legal

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