High-Speed Multi-Channel PLC Input Isolators

Widely deployed in harsh factory floor environments, PLCs must be robust and compact. Many PLC designs scale up to 128 channels and have multiple high-speed inputs. While optocouplers have provided the default isolation solution for decades, they present major challenges to PLC designers. Lacking high-speed capabilities, optos are not fast enough for high-performance PLC applications such as servo motor control. Optos also lack high noise immunity, and their performance degrades over time and temperature, posing reliability risks in high-temperature industrial applications. The Si838x family addresses these challenges for the first time by providing a flexible, high-speed, multi-channel bipolar isolation solution in a compact QSOP package with much longer service life and higher reliability than opto-based solutions.