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RC5052
18
P
D
m
= Maximum duty cycle for the DC/DC converter
(usually 95%).
Some margin should be maintained away from both L
min
and
L
max
. Adding margin by increasing L almost always adds
expense since all the variables are predetermined by system
performance except for C
o
, which must be increased to
increase L. Adding margin by decreasing L can be done by
purchasing capacitors with lower ESR. The RC5052 pro-
vides significant cost savings for the newer CPU systems
that typically run at high supply current.
RC5052 Short Circuit Current Characteristics
The RC5052 short circuit current characteristic includes a
hysteresis function that prevents the DC-DC converter from
oscillating in the event of a short circuit. The short circuit
limit is set with the R
S
resistor, as given by the formula
with I
Detect
≈
50μA, I
SC
the desired current limit, and R
DS,on
the high-side MOSFET’s on resistance. Remember to make
the R
S
large enough to include the effects of initial tolerance
and temperature variation on the MOSFET’s R
DS,on
. Alter-
nately, use of a sense resistor in series with the source of the
MOSFET, as shown in Figure 6, eliminates this source of
inaccuracy in the current limit. Note one addition of one
diode, which is necessary for proper operation of this circuit.
As an example, Figure 6 shows the typical characteristic of
the DC-DC converter circuit with an FDB6030L high-side
MOSFET (R
DS
= 20m
maximum at 25°C * 1.25 at 75°C =
25m
) and a 8.2K
R
S
.
Figure 6. RC5052 Short Circuit Characteristic
The converter exhibits a normal load regulation characteristic
until the voltage across the MOSFET exceeds the internal
short circuit threshold of 50μA * 8.2K
= 410mV, which
occurs at 410mV/25m
= 16.4A. (Note that this current limit
level can be as high as 410mV/15m
= 27A, if the MOSFET
has typical R
DS,on
rather than maximum, and is at 25°C. This
is the reason for using the external sense resistor.) At this point,
the internal comparator trips and signals the controller to reduce
the converter’s duty cycle to approximately 20%. This causes
a drastic reduction in the output voltage as the load regula-
tion collapses into the short circuit control mode. With a
40m
output short, the voltage is reduced to 16.4A * 40m
= 650mV. The output voltage does not return to its nominal
value until the output current is reduced to a value within the
safe operating range for the DC-DC converter.
Figure 7. Precision Current Sensing
Schottky Diode Selection
The application circuit of Figure 1 shows a Schottky diode,
D1, which is used as a free-wheeling diode to assure that the
body-diode in Q2 does not conduct when the upper MOS-
FET is turning off and the lower MOSFET is turning on. It is
undesirable for this diode to conduct because its high for-
ward voltage drop and long reverse recovery time degrades
efficiency, and so the Schottky provides a shunt path for the
current. Since this time duration is very short, the selection
criterion for the diode is that the forward voltage of the
Schottky at the output current should be less than the for-
ward voltage of the MOSFET’s body diode.
Output Filter Capacitors
The output bulk capacitors of a converter help determine its
output ripple voltage and its transient response. It has already
been seen in the section on selecting an inductor that the ESR
helps set the minimum inductance, and the capacitance value
helps set the maximum inductance. For most converters,
however, the number of capacitors required is determined by
the transient response and the output ripple voltage, and these
are determined by the ESR and not the capacitance value. That
is, in order to achieve the necessary ESR to meet the transient
and ripple requirements, the capacitance value required is
already very large.
The most commonly used choice for output bulk capacitors
is aluminum electrolytics, because of their low cost and low
ESR. The only type of aluminum capacitor used should be
those that have an ESR rated at 100kHz. Consult Application
Bulletin AB-14 for detailed information on output capacitor
selection.
R
S
I
SC
x *R
DS, on
I
Detect
=
V
O
Output Current (A)
0 5 10 15 20 25
0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
R
S
VFB
VOUT
R
SENSE
IFB