The Texas Instruments PCA9306DCTR is a single-circuit, two-channel bidirectional voltage-level translator designed for open-drain and push-pull applications.
Supply rails and translation range
The part does not require a separate bias supply — it uses the VCCA rail as the reference for the low-voltage side. A common pairing is 1.8 V VCCA with 3.3 V VCCB for FPGA-to-peripheral translation, or 3.3 V VCCA with 5 V VCCB for legacy 5 V logic. Because the translator is passive when the bus is idle (the pass-gate is off), quiescent current is negligible — the only draw is the pull-up resistors on each side.
Auto-direction sensing — no DIR pin needed
The auto-direction sensing means the PCA9306DCTR does not need a GPIO to steer data flow. The internal architecture detects which side is driving and enables the pass-gate accordingly. For a two-wire bus like I²C, this eliminates a control line and simplifies the firmware — the MCU just writes and reads the bus as usual. The output type is open-drain or push-pull, so it works with both wired-AND buses and standard push-pull interfaces.
The PCA9306DCTR is supplied in an 8-LSSOP / 8-MSOP package with a 2.80 mm body width. The supplier device package is SM8.