The DS1742 is a full-function, year 2000-compliant (Y2KC), real-time clock/calendar (RTC) and 2k x 8 nonvolatile static RAM. User access to all registers within the DS1742 is accomplished with a bytewide interface as shown in Figure 1. The RTC information and control bits reside in the eight uppermost RAM locations. The RTC registers contain century, year, month, date, day, hours, minutes, and seconds data in 24-hour BCD format. Corrections for the day of the month and leap year are made automatically.

The RTC clock registers are double-buffered to avoid access of incorrect data that can occur during clock update cycles. The double-buffered system also prevents time loss as the timekeeping countdown continues unabated by access to time register data. The DS1742 also contains its own power-fail circuitry, which deselects the device when the V_CC supply is in an out-of-tolerance condition. This feature prevents loss of data from unpredictable system operation brought on by low V_CC as errant access and update cycles are avoided.