10 Things to Consider When Buying Subscriber Line Interface Circuit (SLIC chips)

28, Jul. 2025

 

SLIC Power-Supply Design - Analog Devices

Figure 1

Abstract

Integrated communication systems incorporate voice service with data service. Such systems use subscriber-line interface card (SLIC) functions to maintain compatibility with legacy equipment. The voltages required in these systems vary from country to country and depends on the particular application. This article discusses how to derive various voltages required in such systems using the MAX668 boost controller. Split feedback to improve cross-regulation is presented. An example of an isolated power supply is also presented.

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Subscriber-line interface cards (SLICs) provide the interface between the -service provider and the handset in your home. They operate in two main modes: On-hook refers to when the handset is idle and waiting for a signal indicating that someone wants to make a connection, and off-hook refers to when the handset is active and the user is trying to complete a connection. -system voltages are traditionally negative to prevent electromigration from eroding the installed copper wiring.

systems require certain special voltages that vary from application to application and country to country. This article presents circuits for deriving these voltages from commonly available supply voltages. Table 1 summarizes the input and output characteristics of the circuits.

Table 1. Inputs and Outputs Circuit
Input
Output 1
Output 2
Output 3
Figure 1
+4.5V to +5.5V
-48V at 300mA
- - Figure 2
+5.5V minimum input provided by a wall adapter
-24V at 150mA
-100V at 50mA
- Figure 3
+12V
-24V at 50mA
-100V at 50mA
- Figure 4
+12V
-24V at 400mA ±5%
-72V at 100mA ±5%
- Figure 5
+5V
Isolated +3.3V at 100mA
Isolated -24V at 100mA
Isolated -72V at 25mA

The on-hook voltage, which generates the ringer voltage, is typically -72V in the United States and as high as -150V in other countries. The ringer voltage, a 20Hz to 60Hz sinusoid, drives an electromechanical bell in the handset that can be located far from the central office (CO). The off-hook voltage is typically -48V in the United States, although some localized systems use -24V. This voltage powers the system during voice communications. The CO provides power for the system independently from the electric utility, allowing the to work during a power outage.

With advances in data-communication technology, companies are incorporating voice service with data service to provide integrated communication systems. Such systems require SLIC functions to maintain compatibility with legacy equipment. The following circuits demonstrate techniques for generating SLIC voltages from commonly available voltages. All of the circuits are based on a transformer flyback topology using a MAX668 boost controller. This topology achieves compact magnetics and flexible output voltages.

-48V Output from +5V Supply

The circuit in Figure 1 generates -48V at 300mA for customer premises equipment (CPE) or client-side equipment from a +4.5V minimum input. The input voltage also is the gate-drive voltage for the MAX668 (U1), limiting the input voltage to +5.5V (maximum). The MOSFET switch (Q1) presents more gate capacitance than the controller can drive efficiently; therefore, complementary emitter followers (Q2, Q3) buffer the gate-drive output.

Q1 is selected to switch 9A peak current with VGS = 3.8V (4.5 VIN-VBE). A snubber for the flyback voltage is not necessary, because the breakdown voltage of Q1 is nine times' the voltage reflected back from the secondary to primary transformer winding. R7 and C7 filter the current-sense signal to prevent false triggering caused by switching noise. The moderate switching frequency (165kHz) allows good efficiency with parts of moderate cost and performance.

The transformer (T1) is wound on a Coiltronics SG4 gapped core with AL = 75nH/T2. The primary winding is eight turns of #22AWG, so the primary inductance is 4.8µH. The secondary winding is 64 turns of #28AWG, making the turns ratio 1:8. The switch duty cycle is approximately 55%, which gives close to the optimal power transfer for a given magnetic volume.

A lower-cost fast-recovery diode (D1) is used instead of a Schottky diode, because the lower switching frequency minimizes the impact of the reverse-recovery time on the switching efficiency. Also, the high-output voltage minimizes the advantage of a lower forward-voltage diode. Because the output voltage is negative, the feedback must be inverted by an op amp (U2) to match the switching controller (U1). D2 protects the inverting input from being pulled negative. R3 and C5 provide the dominant pole for feedback-loop stability.

-24V and -100V Output from +5.5V Supply

The circuit in Figure 2 generates -24V at 150mA and -100V at 50mA for CPE from a +5.5V minimum input provided by a wall adapter. The MAX668 (U1) has an internal linear regulator that generates a +5V rail for the gate-drive voltage. The MOSFET (Q1) is selected to switch 7A peak current with VGS = 4.5V. Snubbing the flyback voltage is not necessary, because the leakage inductance is low and the breakdown voltage of Q1 is more than two times' the reflected output voltage. R5 in series with the gate of Q1 slows down the turn-on time to minimize the switching noise seen by the current-sense amp.

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The transformer (T1) is an off-the-shelf unit from Coiltronics that allows fast circuit development. A custom transformer can be designed and optimized for volume production. The primary inductance is 3.8µH, and the turns ratio is 1:1:3. This makes the duty cycle approximately 80% instead of 50% for optimal power transfer. The result is higher peak current compared with an optimized transformer.

The -24V output is fed back through the op-amp inverter (U2), regulating the output to ±1% directly. The -100V output uses the transformer-turns ratio for regulation. This works as long as the power output from the -100V supply is not significantly more than the power output from the fed-back voltage. The typical application does not require tight regulation of the -100V on-hook voltage, and so ±10% is sufficient.

-24V and -48V Output from +12V Supply

The circuit in Figure 3 generates -24V at 50mA and -48V at 100mA from a +12V nominal input. It demonstrates the optimal turns ratio for power transfer in the transformer. The primary to -24V secondary turn ratio is 1:2, and the primary to -48V secondary turns ratio is 1:4. Therefore, the switching regulator operates at 50% duty cycle. The -48V output is fed back to the controller for regulation. The -24V output is regulated to ±5% by the turns ratio and close coupling of the secondary windings.

-24V and -72V Output with Split Feedback from +12V Supply

The circuit in Figure 4 generates -24V at 400mA and -72V at 100mA from a +12V nominal input. Both outputs are regulated to ±5% under all combinations of line and load by splitting the feedback between the two outputs. The trade-off is to give up a little tolerance on the off-hook voltage for tighter tolerance on the on-hook voltage. The feedback ratios are based on the relative output powers. The -24V output delivers 4/7 of the maximum output power; thus, the feedback resistor is scaled to supply 4/7 of the current required for regulation. Similarly, the -72V output delivers 3/7 of the maximum output power, so the feedback resistor supplies 3/7 of the current required for regulation.

The transformer is a custom design for this application. The leakage inductance, which represents the imperfect coupling between the primary and secondary windings, is large enough to require snubbing of the primary flyback voltage to prevent breakdown of the switching transistor. R8 and C8 slow down the switch transition and dissipate some of the energy in the leakage inductance to limit the maximum flyback voltage. The Coiltronics Versa-Pac line of transformers is tri-filar wound for maximum coupling (meaning, three wires are wound in parallel), so leakage inductance is minimized. The trade-off is decreased flexibility in the turns ratio and lower isolation-voltage rating between the primary and secondary windings.

Isolated +3.3V, -24V, and -72V Output from +5V Supply

The circuit in Figure 5 generates isolated +3.3V at 100mA, -24V at 100mA, and -72V at 25mA from a nominal +5V input. Isolation is required when the input voltage is not isolated from the line (either electric utility or system power). The transformer isolates the +5V input from the output voltages. The +3.3V output is generated from an extra secondary winding. A linear post-regulator is required because of the wide voltage ratio between +3.3V and -24V used for feedback. The -72V output regulation is not critical and relies on the turns ratio and close coupling to the -24V secondary winding.

The isolated feedback from the -24V output is implemented with a shunt regulator and an optoisolator. The shunt regulator combines a voltage reference and an error amplifier to generate a current-error signal. The error current drives the photodiode in the optoisolator, which modulates and isolates the current in the phototransistor.

The optoisolator is selected for a nominally 100% current-transfer ratio at 10mA. The error current is converted to an error voltage through R4. R4 and C13 create a pole in the loop response that limits the loop bandwidth to 2.8kHz. The loop compensation must take into account the signal delay of the optoisolator as well as the additional gain of the shunt regulator combined with the error amp in the MAX668.

A similar version of this article appeared in the February 20, issue of TechOnLine magazine.



Interacing an MCU to line - EEVblog

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ali_asadzadeh

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Interacing an MCU to line
« on: July 13, , 07:56:59 am » Hi,
I want to know if we have an appnote or simple way of connecting a line to a MCU for detecting the caller ID,ring detection, getting Pushed buttons and send back and fort audio messages that are saved into an SD card, I can do all the stuff regarding ,recording and playback on an SD card, but I have no Idea or experience on connecting to the line. ASiDesigner, Stands for Application specific intelligent devices
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leeatljs

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Re: Interacing an MCU to line
« Reply #1 on: July 13, , 08:16:22 am » There is a microchip app note....
http://www.microchip.com/wwwAppNotes/AppNotes.aspx?appnote=en
is a starting point.  Doesn't cover ring detection or surge suppression but will get you started.

ali_asadzadeh

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Re: Interacing an MCU to line
« Reply #2 on: July 13, , 08:41:57 am » Thanks for the info, Also I have found that silicon lab has some parts for the job, like SI and Si, but they seems a bit complicated, do we have code for them or do we have a open source code for them? do we have anything simpler? ASiDesigner, Stands for Application specific intelligent devices
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ali_asadzadeh

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Re: Interacing an MCU to line
« Reply #3 on: July 14, , 09:51:15 am » I have also found TEA chip, it's super cheap! but I can not understand fully how to connect it, do you know any working example for this? ASiDesigner, Stands for Application specific intelligent devices
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Elf

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Re: Interacing an MCU to line
« Reply #4 on: July 15, , 08:18:16 am » This is actually multiple questions with some moderately complex answers; there is a lot of analog stuff going on with a line:
  • Ringing voltage is around 90VAC at 20Hz, superimposed on the line. For detecting ringing voltage alone you can find a lot of "ring detector" circuits around
  • Caller ID is Bell 202 (or regional alternative) modem tones between the first and second ring. Caller ID units are the "dem" (demodulator) part of a modem.
  • Touch Tones ("pushed buttons") are DTMF - a two tone signalling mechanism with some filtering requirements, e.g. so that someone's voice or white noise doesn't get detected as DTMF just because it happened to contain the two tones
  • Separating out transmit and receive audio on a 2-wire loop is the job of a hybrid, which can be either a special transformer, or implemented in integrated circuit

As far as your question about an open equivalent to something like the Si, well, there are certainly many circuit diagrams available out there for replicating the functionality of all of the above, mostly in analog form. I don't think there is anything you can do with just a microcontroller and software to directly connect to a POTS line. But the discrete parts involved would end up being more bulky, expensive, and complex than just buying an off-the-shelf "DAA" line interface like the Si.

If you want to know more, Understanding Electronics is sort of the canonical book. Just be warned that it will refer to a lot of out of date ICs. The following users thanked this post: ali_asadzadeh, Richard Crowley

ali_asadzadeh

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Re: Interacing an MCU to line
« Reply #5 on: July 15, , 01:14:46 pm » Thanks ELF, I'm an original Vampire so I need to know what's going on under the hood « Last Edit: July 15, , 01:17:12 pm by ali_asadzadeh » ASiDesigner, Stands for Application specific intelligent devices
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stj

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Re: Interacing an MCU to line
« Reply #6 on: July 15, , 10:55:19 pm » worth pointing out here that different country's have different standards.
so if your planning a product - research where you can sell it.
there are laws too - in the u.k. it needs to be approved or use an approved isolation tranbsformer. (rip them out of modems)

cdev

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Re: Interacing an MCU to line
« Reply #7 on: July 16, , 11:53:31 pm » You're looking for a modern modem. For a long time - since the s, many modems have supported voice as well as various kinds of standard line signalling.

You may have to dig a little bit, seems like many of the companies that developed those standards and software are no longer in business.

Modem functionality is now embedded in some computer sound cards too. « Last Edit: July 16, , 11:57:39 pm by cdev » "What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away."

MosherIV

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Re: Interacing an MCU to line
« Reply #8 on: July 17, , 12:05:24 am » Quote
You're looking for a modern modem. For a long time - since the s, many modems have supported voice as well as various kinds of standard line signalling.
Damn, you beat me to it 

It is un-wise to directly connect the io pins of microporcessor to the lines. The Ring Indicator can be as much as 70V AC (in the very early days this was used to drive a solenoid with a small hammer to ring the bells  )
There is an aweful lot of analogue circuitry. From my days working on a custom Fax card, the line to the car were connected through little isolation transformers.

I think this is just a home project - in which ase look around for discarded modem/fax cards and look for ones supported in Linux, then you can get the linux driver code for said card.

ali_asadzadeh

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Re: Interacing an MCU to line
« Reply #9 on: July 17, , 05:06:18 am » Thanks, But do you recommend chips  for these days? ASiDesigner, Stands for Application specific intelligent devices
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Richard Crowley

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Re: Interacing an MCU to line
« Reply #10 on: July 17, , 05:24:30 am » Since legacy analog lines are a dying technology, it should come as no surprise that most of the chips developed for that market are obsolete.

A search term that might be helpful is "subscriber line interface circuit" or "SLIC" For example Google turned up this:

https://www.microsemi.com/products/voice-line-circuits/voice-line-circuits

It has a few current products, and a long list of "Legacy Chip Sets (Not Recommended For New FXS Designs)"

You won't find any one product or solution to your wide variety of requirements.  As @Elf observed, your requests are all over the map and you will need to become your own integrator of various solutions for the different functions. The following users thanked this post: ali_asadzadeh

ali_asadzadeh

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Re: Interacing an MCU to line
« Reply #11 on: July 18, , 05:14:11 am » Thanks I have found RAT ring group for microchip, it's purely based on simple discrete transistors, so I think I should stick to that ASiDesigner, Stands for Application specific intelligent devices
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