Why are the Si826x products drop-in upgrades for common opto-drivers? Because many of the problems with optos are solved! This slide will show how this works: Reliability: The core component of opto-drivers is an LED, which is negatively affected by age and forward current. This, along with other inherent aspects of optical technology, limits the lifetime of the devices. The Si826x drivers use only standard CMOS process technology, which is very stable over its lifetime and all environmental conditions. Lifetimes can be more than 10 times better than opto-drivers. Power: The internal LED used by optos requires a high forward current in order to keep the signal at a reliable level. In addition, output stages of optos are not optimized for power. The Si826x does not use an LED. The LED emulator provides great noise immunity while using forward current. Also, by using a standard CMOS process, the output stage can be optimized and quiescent current is greatly reduced. Immunity: The physical structure of the opto guarantees that the devices will exhibit large parasitic capacitance. That parasitic capacitance creates an inherent limit on the noise immunity spec. In contrast, the physical properties of the Si826x products ensure that the parasitic capacitance is very low so that CMTI performance can be increased by 75%. Timing: LED switching inherently limits optos and leads to large signal propagation delays. The CMOS isolation used in the Si826x isolators allows for very fast switching.