The SN65HVD178x devices are designed to survive overvoltage faults such as direct shorts to power supplies, mis-wiring faults, connector failures, cable crushes, and tool mis-applications. The devices are also robust to ESD events with high levels of protection to the human-body-model specification.

The SN65HVD178x devices combine a differential driver and a differential receiver, which operate from a single power supply. In the SN65HVD1782, the driver differential outputs and the receiver differential inputs are connected internally to form a bus port suitable for half-duplex (two-wire bus) communication. This port features a wide common-mode voltage range, making the devices suitable for multipoint applications over long cable runs. These devices are characterized from –40°C to 125°C. These devices are pin-compatible with the industry-standard SN75176 transceiver, making them drop-in upgrades in most systems.

These devices are fully compliant with ANSI TIA/EIA 485-A with a 5-V supply and can operate with a 3.3-V supply with reduced driver output voltage for low-power applications. For applications where operation is required over an extended common-mode voltage range, see the SN65HVD1785 (SLLS872) data sheet.