[FAQ] TPL1401: What is the TPL1401 EEPROM used for?

The TPL1401 has the following programmable registers available in the nonvolatile memory (NVM/EEPROM) to save and recall all register settings. There is one register to control the general configuration settings of the TPL1401 including the device lock feature, power down mode, internal reference enable, and V_OUT gain. The second register stores the DPOT_POS, or wiper position, data. There are two registers available for user-programable information in the TPL1401 NVM. The NVM makes sure the settings are retained even after power cycling, allowing the device to work without a processor after initial programming.

Table 1 NVM Programmable Registers

As mentioned above, the general configuration register contains the device lock feature. The device lock feature prevents unintended writes to the TPL101’s registers. When the DEVICE_LOCK bit is set to 1, the device locks all of the registers. This will prevent accidental updates to the registers as well as accidental writes to the NVM. 

The user can program a version ID that corresponds to their specific configuration of the device in the available 2 bytes of user NVM of the TPL1401.

It is also possible to store configuration data for another device in the user memory registers as well. However, keep in mind that the TPL1401 operates as an I²C secondary receiver. The TPL1401 can act as a secondary transmitter, and the primary device reads from the TPL1401. In any case, the TPL1401 cannot generate the SCL signal, so the other device must have this capability in order to read configuration data that is stored in the TPL1401 NVM.

The TPL1401 can be found in many common applications:

You can find some additional information about the TPL1401 here:

You can find more information about precision DACs here: