REV. C
–14–
ADN8830
Inductor Selection
In addition to the external transistors, the PWM amplifier requires
an inductor and a capacitor at its output to filter the switched
output waveform. Proper inductor selection is important to
achieve the best efficiency. The duty cycle of the PWM sets the
OUT A output voltage and is
D
OUT A
V
DD
=
(22)
The average current through the inductor is equal to the TEC
current. The ripple current through the inductor,
I
L
, varies
with the duty cycle and is equal to
×
(
×
I
V
D
D
L
f
L
DD
CLK
=
×
)
1–
(23)
where
f
CLK
is the clock frequency as set by the resistor R
FREQ
at
Pin 26 or an external clock frequency. Refer to the Setting the
Switching Frequency section for more information. Selecting a
faster switching frequency or a larger value inductor will reduce
the ripple current through the inductor. The waveform of the
inductor current is shown in Figure 13.
TIME
I
TEC
I
I
L
1
f
CLK
T =
Figure 13. Current Waveform Through Inductor
It is important to select an inductor that can tolerate the maxi-
mum possible current that could pass through it. Most TECs
are specified with a maximum voltage and current for proper
and reliable operation. The maximum instantaneous inductor
current can be found as
I
I
I
L MAX
,
TEC MAX
,
L
.
=
+
×
0 5
(24)
where
I
L
can be found from Equation 23 with the appropriate
duty cycle calculated from Equation 22 with OUT A = V
TEC, MAX
.
Design Example 3
A TEC is specified with a maximum current of 1.5 A and maxi-
mum voltage of 2.5 V. The ADN8830 will be operating from a
3.3 V supply voltage with a 200 kHz clock and a 4.7
μ
H inductor.
The duty cycle of the PWM amplifier at 2.5 V is calculated to be
75.8%. Using Equation 23, the inductor ripple current is found
to be 664 mA. From Equation 24, the maximum inductor current
will be 1.82 A and should be considered when selecting the
inductor. Notice that increasing the clock frequency to 1 MHz would
reduce I
L, MAX
to 1.56 A.
Design Example 4
Using the same TEC as above, the ADN8830 will be powered
from 5.0 V instead. Here, the duty cycle is 50%, which happens
to be the worst-case duty cycle for inductor current ripple. Now
DIL equals 1.33 A with a 200 kHz clock, and I
L, MAX
is 2.83 A.
Reducing the inductor ripple current is another compelling
reason to operate the ADN8830 from a 3.3 V supply instead.
Table II lists some inductor manufacturers and part numbers
along with some key specifications. The column I
MAX
refers to the
maximum current at which the inductor is rated to remain linear.
Although higher currents can be pushed through the inductor,
efficiency and ripple voltage will be dramatically degraded.
This is by no means a complete list of manufacturers or inductors
that can be used in the application. More information on these
inductors is available at their websites. Note the trade-offs
between inductor height, maximum current, and series resistance.
Smaller inductors cannot handle as muèH current and therefore
require higher clock speeds to reduce their ripple current. They
also have higher series resistance, which can lower the overall
efficiency of the ADN8830.
PWM Output Filter Requirements
The switching of Q1 and Q2 creates a pulse width modulated
(PWM) square wave from 0 V to V
DD
. This square wave must
be filtered sufficiently to create a steady voltage that will drive
the TEC. The ripple voltage across the TEC is a function of the
inductor ripple current, the L-C filter cutoff frequency, and the
equivalent series resistance (ESR) of the filter capacitor. The
equivalent circuit for the PWM side is given in Figure 14.
Table II. Partial List of Inductors and Key Specifications
Inductance ( H)
I
MAX
(A)
1.1
1.59
3.9
1.5
1.32
7.5
5.4
2.7
8
4.5
R
S, TYP
(m )
200
55
48
90
56
12
18
80
32
86
Height (mm)
Part Number
Manufacturer
Website
4.7
4.7
4.7
4.7
4.7
4.7
4.7
*
10
15
47
1
2
2.8
3
3
4.5
5.2
2.8
8
7.1
LPO1704-472M
A918CY-4R7M
UP2.8B-4R7
DO1608C-472
CDRH4D28 4R7
892NAS-4R7M
DO3316P-472
UP2.8B-100
DO5022P-153HC
DO5022P-473
Coilcraft
Toko
Cooper
Coilcraft
Sumida
Toko
Coilcraft
Cooper
Coilcraft
Coilcraft
www.coilcraft.com
www.toko.com
www.cooperet.com
www.coilcraft.com
www.sumida.com
www.toko.com
www.coilcraft.com
www.cooperet.com
www.coilcraft.com
www.coilcraft.com
*
Recommend inductor in typical application circuit Figure 1.