The DS17285, DS17485, DS17885, DS17287, DS17487, and DS17887 real-time clocks (RTCs) are designed to be successors to the industry-standard DS12885 and DS12887. The DS17285, DS17485, and DS17885 (hereafter referred to as the DS17x85) provide a real-time clock/calendar, one time-of-day alarm, three maskable interrupts with a common interrupt output, a programmable square wave, and 114 bytes of battery-backed NV SRAM. The DS17x85 also incorporates a number of enhanced functions including a silicon serial number, power-on/off control circuitry, and 2K, 4K, or 8Kbytes of battery-backed NV SRAM. The DS17287, DS17487, and DS17887 (hereafter referred to as the DS17x87) integrate a quartz crystal and lithium energy source into a 24-pin encapsulated DIP package. The DS17x85 and DS17x87 power-control circuitry allows the system to be powered on by an external stimulus such as a keyboard or by a time-and-date (wake-up) alarm. The active-low PWR output pin is triggered by one or either of these events, and is used to turn on an external power supply. The active-low PWR pin is under software control, so that when a task is complete, the system power can then be shut down.

For all devices, the date at the end of the month is automatically adjusted for months with fewer than 31 days, including correction for leap years. It also operates in either 24-hour or 12-hour format with an AM/PM indicator. A precision temperature-compensated circuit monitors the status of V_CC. If a primary power failure is detected, the device automatically switches to a backup supply. A lithium coin cell battery can be connected to the V_BAT input pin on the DS17x85 to maintain time and date operation when primary power is absent. The DS17x85 and DS17x87 include a V_BAUX input used to power auxiliary functions such as active-low PWR control. The device is accessed through a multiplexed byte-wide interface.