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PRODUCT SPECIFICATION
RC5042
13
PD
LOSS
2.19W
1.0W
0.65W
0.045W
1.35W
0.010W
0.37W
0.2W
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
5.815W
=
=
Efficiency
′
10
5.815
+
′
10
3.3
85%
~
=
\
Table 6. RC5042 Short Circuit Comparator
Threshold Voltage
When designing the external current sense circuitry, the
designer must pay careful attention to the output limitations
during normal operation and during a fault condition. If the
short circuit protection threshold current is set too low, the
DC-DC converter may not be able to continuously deliver the
maximum CPU load current. If the threshold level is too
high, the output driver may not be disabled at a safe limit and
the resulting power dissipation within the MOSFET(s) may
rise to destructive levels.
The design equation used to set the short circuit threshold
limit is as follows:
Where I
pk
and I
min
are peak ripple current
and
I
load, max
= maximum output load current.
The designer must also take into account the current
(I
PK
–I
min
), or the ripple current flowing through the induc-
tor under normal operation. Figure 7 illustrates the inductor
current waveform for the RC5042/42 DC-DC converter at
maximum load.
Figure 7. Typical DC-DC Converter
Inductor Current Waveform
The calculation of this ripple current is as follows:
Short Circuit Comparator
V
threshold
(mV)
120
100
140
Typical
Minimum
Maximum
R
SENSE
V
SC
I
SC
= Output short circuit current
=
I
SC
I
inductor
3
I
Load, max
I
-----------------------------
I
–
2
(
)
+
=
t
I
T=1/f
s
T
ON
T
OFF
I
LOAD
(Ipk-imin)/2
Ipk
Imin
I
---------------------------
I
–
2
(
)
V
-------------------------L
V
–
V
–
(
)
V
IN
V
D
+
+
(
)
V
SW
–
V
D
(
)
-V
′
=
Selecting the Inductor
The inductor is one of the most critical components to be
selected in the DC-DC converter application.. The critical
parameters are inductance (L), maximum DC current (Io) and
the coil resistance (R1). The inductor core material is a cru-
cial factor in determining the amount of current the inductor
will be able to withstand. As with all engineering designs,
tradeoffs exist between various types of core materials. In
general, Ferrites are popular due to their low cost, low EMI
properties and high frequency (>500KHz) characteristics.
Molypermalloy powder (MPP) materials exhibit good satura-
tion characteristics, low EMI and low hysteresis losses; how-
ever, they tend to be expensive and more effectively utilized
at operating frequencies below 400KHz. Another critical
parameter is the DC winding resistance of the inductor. This
value should typically be reduced as much as possible, as the
power loss in the DC resistance will degrade the efficiency of
the converter by the relationship: P
LOSS
= I
O
2
x R1. The
value of the inductor is a function of the oscillator duty cycle
(T
ON
) and the maximum inductor current (I
PK
). I
PK
can be
calculated from the relationship:
Where T
ON
is the maximum duty cycle and V
D
is the
forward voltage of diode DS1.
Then the inductor value can be calculated using the relation-
ship:
Where V
SW
(R
DSON
x I
O
) is the drain-to-source voltage of
M1 when it is switched on.
Implementing Short Circuit Protection
Intel currently requires all power supply manufacturers
to provide continuous protection against short circuit
conditions that may damage the CPU. To address this
requirement, Fairchild Semiconductor has implemented a
current sense methodology to disable the output drive signal
to the MOSFET(s) when an over current condition is
detected. The voltage drop created by the output current
flowing across a sense resistor is presented to one terminal of
an internal comparator with hysterisis. The other comparator
terminal has the threshold voltage, nominally of 120mV.
Table 6 states the limits for the comparator threshold of the
Switching Regulator:
I
PK
I
MIN
V
----------–
V
L
V
D
–
è
T
ON
+
=
L
V
----------–
V
–
V
O
–
I
PK
I
MIN
è
T
ON
=