Memory chip

The N84C163 is a complete memory and supervisory solution for microcontroller-based systems. EEPROM serial 16-Kb CPU supervisor with hardware memory write protection, system power supervisor with brown-out protection, and watchdog timer are integrated in a low-power CMOS process. The memory interface is implemented through the I²C bus. If a software or hardware failure causes the system to halt or "hang," a 1.6-second supervisory circuit returns the system to a known good state. The N84C163 supervisor monitors the dedicated WDI pin. The power monitoring circuit protects the memory and system controller and resets them during power-on/off and for brown-out conditions. Five reset threshold voltages support 5.0 V, 3.3 V, and 3.0 V systems. If the supply voltage is out of tolerance, the reset signal becomes asserted, preventing the system microcontroller, ASIC or peripherals from operating. The reset signal goes inactive typically 200 ms after the supply voltage exceeds the reset threshold level. Interfacing microcontrollers and other integrated circuits with active high and low reset signals is simple. Additionally, the reset pin can be used as a debounce input for push button manual reset capability. N84C163 memory has 16-byte pages. Additionally, hardware data protection is provided by a write-protect pin, WP, and a VCC sensing circuit that blocks writes to memory until VCC drops below the reset threshold or until VCC has not reached the reset threshold during power-up.