LTC3729
21
3729fb
of increasingly 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!
4) Transition losses apply only to the topside MOSFET(s),
and only when operating at high input voltages (typically
20V or greater). Transition losses can be estimated from:
Transition Loss = (1.7) V
IN
2
I
O(MAX)
C
RSS
f
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
C
IN
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 capacitance having
a maximum of 10mΩ to 20mΩ of ESR. The LTC3729
PolyPhase architecture typically halves to quarters this
input 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 look‑
ing 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, V
OUT
shifts by an
amount equal to ∆I
LOAD(ESR)
, where ESR is the effective
series resistance of C
OUT
(∆I
LOAD
) also begins to charge or
discharge C
OUT
generating the feedback error signal that
forces the regulator to adapt to the current change and
return V
OUT
to its steady‑state value. During this recovery
time V
OUT
can be monitored for excessive overshoot or
ringing, which would indicate a stability problem. The
availability of the I
TH
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
APPLICATIONS INFORMATION
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 I
TH
external components shown
in the Figure 1 circuit will provide an adequate starting
point for most applications.
The I
TH
series R
C
‑C
C
filter sets the dominant pole‑zero
loop compensation. The values can be modified slightly
(from 0.2 to 5 times their suggested values) to maximize
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
feedback factor 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 I
TH
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 the bandwidth of the feedback loop, so this
signal cannot be used to determine phase margin. This
is why it is better to look at the Ith pin signal which is in
the feedback loop and is the filtered and compensated
control loop response. The gain of the loop will be in‑
creased by increasing R
C
and the bandwidth of the loop
will be increased by decreasing C
C
. If R
C
is increased by
the same factor that C
C
is decreased, the zero frequency
will be kept the same, thereby keeping the phase shift the
same in the most critical frequency range of the feedback
loop. The output voltage settling behavior is related to the
stability of the closed‑loop system and will demonstrate
the actual overall supply performance.
A second, more severe transient is caused by switching
in loads with large (>1µF) supply bypass capacitors. The
discharged bypass capacitors are effectively put in parallel
with C
OUT
, causing a rapid drop in V
OUT
. No regulator can
alter its delivery of current quickly enough to prevent this
sudden step change in output voltage if the load switch
resistance is low and it is driven quickly. If the ratio of
C
LOAD
to C
OUT
is greater than1:50, the switch rise time
should be controlled so that the load rise time is limited
to approximately 25 • C
LOAD
. Thus a 10µF capacitor would
require a 250µs rise time, limiting the charging current
to about 200mA.
