FT232H

Chip-in-Connector™ Family – FTDI FT232H

The following table summarizes our FTDI-based Chip-in-Connector™ products. Use the links in the table to go directly to the product you need.

Each Chip-in-Connector™ integrates the USB interface electronics directly into a compact Plug-of-Nails™ connector, eliminating the need for a programming/test header on the target PCB while dramatically shortening the signal path between the interface electronics and the target.

Our first Chip-in-Connector™ products are based on the FTDI FT232H, a high-speed USB interface IC supporting UART and FTDI’s MPSSE engine for synchronous serial interfaces including SPI, I²C and JTAG.

For detailed specifications and performance information, please see the FT232H datasheet.

See more information on ‘What is Chip-in-Connector™’ here.

Summary of FTDI Chip-in-Connector™ Products
Product Name VCC Max VCC Output I/O Logic Levels UART SPI I²C JTAG DTR + RTS
TC2030-CIC-FT232H-3V3

Buy “Legged” version
Buy “No Legs” version		 Hika 3.3 V 500 mA peak 3.3 V outputs / 5 V-tolerant inputs ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ —
TC2030-CIC-FT232H-5V

Buy “Legged” version
Buy “No Legs” version

 Noel 5 V 500 mA peak 3.3 V outputs / 5 V-tolerant inputs ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ —
TC2030-CIC-FT232H-3V3-DTR

Buy “Legged” version
Buy “No Legs” version

 Michi 3.3 V 500 mA peak 3.3 V outputs / 5 V-tolerant inputs ✓ ✓ ✓ — ✓
TC2030-CIC-FT232H-5V-DTR

Buy “Legged” version
Buy “No Legs” version

 Kanon 5 V 500 mA peak 3.3 V outputs / 5 V-tolerant inputs ✓ ✓ ✓ — ✓

Each product is available in both our Legged and No Legs Plug-of-Nails™ versions.

At a glance:
Hika: 3.3 V + JTAG
Noel: 5 V + JTAG
Michi: 3.3 V + DTR/RTS
Kanon: 5 V + DTR/RTS

Choosing a version

All four versions provide UART TX/RX and support SPI and I²C through the FT232H’s MPSSE interface.

The main choice, apart from VCC voltage, is whether your application needs CTS/TMS for JTAG or DTR and RTS for reset and boot-mode control.

Hika and Noel expose CTS/TMS on pin 2. Together with TCK, TDI and TDO, this provides the four MPSSE signals required for JTAG.

Michi and Kanon replace CTS/TMS on pin 2 with DTR while retaining RTS on pin 6. This provides both DTR and RTS, a combination widely used for automatic reset and boot-mode selection during serial programming. The ESP32 family, for example, commonly uses DTR and RTS to control its boot and reset signals automatically. DTR is also commonly used for automatic reset on Arduino-compatible designs.

Because TMS is not available on Michi and Kanon, the DTR versions do not support JTAG.

For VCC, choose Hika or Michi for 3.3 V, and Noel or Kanon for 5 V.

The interface signals themselves use 3.3 V logic outputs with 5 V-tolerant inputs on all four versions.

Plug-of-Nails™ compatibility

The TC2030-CIC-FT232H family uses our established TC2030 Plug-of-Nails™ footprint, making it footprint-compatible with existing PCB designs using the corresponding TC2030 connection.

This allows existing Tag-Connect users to move the USB interface electronics right to the target without necessarily changing the programming/test footprint on their PCB.

Both Legged and No Legs versions are available.