sburrow wrote:
speculatrix wrote:
But all the TXB family are a little limited on power output, I think.
Perhaps this is a newbie-style question but, where would you find that in the datasheet?
Attached is what I see on the datasheet, am I looking in the wrong place?
Those are the Absolute Maximum Ratings, which are the "don't go over these or you'll break it" limits. You wouldn't get close to them in normal operation (and note (1) makes that explicit: "These are stress ratings only, and functional operation of the device at these or any other conditions beyond those indicated under Section 6.3 is not implied.").
You'd normally find the output current under Electrical Characteristics, but I can't see anything there. That suggests to me that these chips aren't intended to supply any meaningful current - they're expecting to drive high impedance CMOS inputs.
And looking at the block diagram in section 8.2, that's confirmed: ignoring the driver that's controlled by the one-shot (used to get outputs to their final voltage quickly, then disengaged), in the steady state the output is in series with a 4K resistor. Drawing 50mA will give you a 200mV drop - assuming zero output impedance and full voltage swing on the driver, which isn't guaranteed.
It makes sense. There's no direction control, so the outputs have to be weak enough to be over-ridden by anything they're connected to.