Ok, I'll take a shot at these.  The terminology gets pretty confusing
sometimes.  As for the best place to look?  Probably an EE book.

-Sink current is how much current you can sink, or how much you can pass
through that portion of the circuit.

-Source current is how much current you can source, or how much current
that portion of the circuit can pony up.

-Open drain means that it goes straight to ground at some point.
Usually sooner than later.  :-) .  In other words, you would be able to
sink a larger amount of current through that portion of the chip than
one that had a specificed sink current.  TYPICALLY.

Someone jump in if I screwed anything up, but that should be pretty
accurate.


Shawn Wilton
Junior in CpE
MicroBiologist

Phone: (503) 881-2707
Email: shawn@black9.net

http://black9.net


techy fellow wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Am new to electronics, can someone kindly explain to me or direct me to somewhere I can do my own reading on the following commonly used terms for MCU;
>
> - Sink Current
> - Source Current
> - Open Drain
>
> Thanks in advance.
> Davis
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Friends.  Fun. Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger
>
> --
> http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us!
> email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body

--
http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us!
email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body