The SN74HC245 octal bus transceivers are designed for asynchronous two-way communication between data buses. The control-function implementation minimizes external timing requirements. The SN74HC245 devices allow data transmission from the A bus to the B bus or from the B bus to the A bus, depending on the logic level at the direction-control (DIR) input. The output-enable (OE) input can be used to disable the device so that the buses are effectively isolated. To ensure the high-impedance state during power up or power down, OE should be tied to VCC through a pullup resistor; the minimum value of the resistor is determined by the current-sinking capability of the driver.

The SN74HC245 devices have a wide operating VCC range from 2 V to 6 V with slower edge rates to minimize output ringing.