LTC1709 View Datasheet(PDF) - Linear Technology
Part Name
Description
MFG CO.
LTC1709
Linear Technology
'LTC1709' PDF : 28 Pages View PDF
LTC1709
APPLICATIO S I FOR ATIO
and output power level. The combined effects of increas-
ingly lower output voltages and higher currents required
by high performance digital systems is not doubling but
quadrupling the importance of loss terms in the switching
regulator system!
2) Transition losses apply only to the topside MOSFET(s),
and are significant only when operating at high input
voltages (typically 12V or greater). Transition losses can
be estimated from:
Transition Loss = (1.7) VIN2 IO(MAX) CRSS f
3) INTVCC current is the sum of the MOSFET driver and
control currents. The MOSFET driver current results from
switching the gate capacitance of the power MOSFETs.
Each time a MOSFET gate is switched from low to high to
low again, a packet of charge dQ moves from INTVCC to
ground. The resulting dQ/dt is a current out of INTVCC that
is typically much larger than the control circuit current. In
continuous mode, IGATECHG = (QT + QB), where QT and QB
are the gate charges of the topside and bottom side
MOSFETs.
Supplying INTVCC power through the EXTVCC switch input
from an output-derived source will scale the VIN current
required for the driver and control circuits by the ratio
(Duty Factor)/(Efficiency). For example, in a 20V to 5V
application, 10mA of INTVCC current results in approxi-
mately 3mA of VIN current. This reduces the mid-current
loss from 10% or more (if the driver was powered directly
from VIN) to only a few percent.
4) The VIN current has two components: the first is the
DC supply current given in the Electrical Characteristics
table, which excludes MOSFET driver and control cur-
rents; the second is the current drawn from the differential
amplifier output. VIN current typically results in a small
(<0.1%) loss.
Other “hidden” losses such as copper trace and internal
battery resistances can account for an additional 5% to
10% efficiency degradation in portable systems. It is very
important to include these “system” level losses in the
design of a system. The internal battery and input fuse
resistance losses can be minimized by making sure that
CIN has adequate charge storage and a very low ESR at the
switching frequency. A 50W supply will typically require a
minimum of 200µF to 300µF of output capacitance having
a maximum of 10mΩ to 20mΩ of ESR. The LTC1709
2-phase architecture typically halves the input and output
capacitance requirement over competing solutions. Other
losses including Schottky conduction losses during dead-
time and inductor core losses generally account for less
than 2% total additional loss.
Checking Transient Response
The regulator loop response can be checked by looking at
the load transient response. Switching regulators take
several cycles to respond to a step in DC (resistive) load
current. When a load step occurs, VOUT shifts by an
amount equal to ∆ILOAD(ESR), where ESR is the effective
series resistance of COUT • (∆ILOAD) also begins to charge
or discharge COUT generating the feedback error signal
that forces the regulator to adapt to the current change and
return VOUT to its steady-state value. During this recovery
time VOUT can be monitored for excessive overshoot or
ringing, which would indicate a stability problem. The
availability of the ITH pin not only allows optimization of
control loop behavior but also provides a DC coupled and
AC filtered closed loop response test point. The DC step,
rise time, and settling at this test point truly reflects the
closed loop response. Assuming a predominantly second
order system, phase margin and/or damping factor can be
estimated using the percentage of overshoot seen at this
pin. The bandwidth can also be estimated by examining
the rise time at the pin. The ITH external components
shown in the Figure 1 circuit will provide an adequate
starting point for most applications.
The ITH series RC-CC filter sets the dominant pole-zero
loop compensation. The values can be modified slightly
(from 0.2 to 5 times their suggested values) to optimize
transient response once the final PC layout is done and the
particular output capacitor type and value have been
determined. The output capacitors need to be decided
upon because the various types and values determine the
loop gain and phase. An output current pulse of 20% to
80% of full-load current having a rise time of <2µs will
produce output voltage and ITH pin waveforms that will
give a sense of the overall loop stability without breaking
the feedback loop. The initial output voltage step resulting
from the step change in output current may not be within
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