The MIC2588 and the MIC2594 are single-channel, negative-voltage hot swap controllers designed to address the need for safe insertion and removal of circuit boards into "live" high-voltage system backplanes, while using very few external components. The MIC2588 and the MIC2594 are each available in an 8-pin SOIC package and work in conjunction with an external N-Channel MOSFET for which the gate drive is controlled to provide inrush current limiting and output voltage slew-rate control. Overcurrent fault protection is also provided for which the overcurrent threshold is programmable. During an output overload condition, a constantcurrent regulation loop is engaged to ensure that the system power supply maintains regulation. If a fault condition exceeds a built-in 400s nuisance-trip delay, the MIC2588 and the MIC2594 will latch the circuit breaker's output off and will remain in the off state until reset by cycling either the UV/OFF pin or the power to the IC. A master Power-Good signal is provided to indicate that the output voltage of the soft-start circuit is within its valid output range. This signal can be used to enable one or more DC-DC converter modules. All support documentation can be found on Micrel's web site at www.micrel.com.