The 2-wire serial interface accepts standard System Management Bus (SMBusTM) commands such as Write Byte, Read Byte, Send Byte, and Receive Byte to read the temperature data and program the alarm thresholds and conversion rate. The MAX6657/MAX6658/ MAX6659 can function autonomously with a programmable conversion rate, which allows the control of supply current and temperature update rate to match system needs. For conversion rates of 4Hz or less, the temperature is represented in extended mode as 10 bits + sign with a resolution of 0.125C. When the conversion rate is faster than 4Hz, output data is 7 bits + sign with a resolution of 1C. The MAX6657/ MAX6658/MAX6659 also include an SMBus timeout feature to enhance system reliability.