Description

The IS3710 is a chip that performs one job, does it extremely well, and is super easy to use (you don’t need any libraries — we love the KISS principle). It receives DMX frames and stores each DMX channel into its memory.

For more information download the Datasheet.

How it Works?

The chip has two ports:

• An I2C interface that connects to your microcontroller, FPGA, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, etc. This is where you retrieve the DMX data.
• A UART input that connects to your favorite RS485 transceiver. This is where the DMX data arrives from the RS485 transceiver.

The chip’s internal memory consists of 512 registers, mapped like this:

Register 1 → DMX Channel 1
Register 2 → DMX Channel 2
...
Register 512 → DMX Channel 512

Just read the channels you care about via I2C — and you’re good to go.

Advantages and Features

Firmware

• 🛠️ Forget about RDM protocol handling: No need to deal with frame parsing, timings, or UART interrupts

• ❌ No libraries needed: Just use standard I2C functions

• 🧠 Buffers all 512 DMX channels (a full DMX universe)

• ⚡ Perfect for heavily loaded CPUs or ISR-heavy applications

• 📝 Arduino, STM32, and Raspberry Pi examples available

• 🧪 Evaluation board available to make some tests

• ⏱️ Save firmware engineering time

Hardware

• 🔌 Save pins on your microcontroller: No need to sacrifice any UART pins as it uses I2C, a shared interface

• 🧘 Reduce the CPU load of your microcontroller

• 💾 Reduce Flash and RAM memory footprint

• ⚙️ Save microcontroller resources (UART, Timers, etc.)

• 🗂️ Schematic design examples available

Compatibility

• 🔄 Great for non-deterministic systems (like Raspberry Pi and single-board computers)

• 💡 Compatible with 5V I2C serial interfaces

• 🔋 Compatible with 5V RS485 transceivers

• 🏎️ Supports I2C speeds: 100kHz, 400kHz, and 1MHz

• 🖥️ Ideal for FPGA designs

Production

• 🧷 Easy-to-solder SO8N package

• 📦 Reels available for pick-and-place machines

Commercial

• 🚀 Speeds up development

• ⚙️ Faster prototyping

• 🏁 Shorter time-to-market