An open-drain or open-collector output pin is driven by a single transistor, which pulls the pin to only one voltage (generally, to ground). When the output device is off, the pin is left floating (open, or hi-z). A common example is an n-channel transistor which pulls the signal to ground when the transistor is on or leaves it open when the transistor is off.


Open-drain refers to such a circuit implemented in FET technologies because the transistor’s drain terminal is connected to the output; open-collector means a bipolar transistor’s collector is performing the function.


When the Open-drain transistor is off, the signal line is free to be driven low by another device, it generally will be pulled up by a resistor. The resistor prevents an undefined, floating state.