ADP3110A
http://onsemi.com
5
APPLICATIONS INFORMATION
Theory of Operation
The ADP3110A are single phase MOSFET drivers
designed for driving two N−channel MOSFETs in a
synchronous buck converter topology. The ADP3110A will
operate from 5.0 V or 12 V, but have been optimized for high
current multi−phase buck regulators that convert 12 V rail
directly to the core voltage required by complex logic chips.
A single PWM input signal is all that is required to properly
drive the high−side and the low−side MOSFETs. Each driver
is capable of driving a 3 nF load at frequencies up to 1 MHz.
Low−Side Driver
The low−side driver is designed to drive a
ground−referenced low R
DS(on) N−Channel MOSFET. The
voltage rail for the low−side driver is internally connected to
the V
CC supply and PGND.
High−Side Driver
The high−side driver is designed to drive a floating low
R
DS(on) N−channel MOSFET. The gate voltage for the high
side driver is developed by a bootstrap circuit referenced to
Switch Node (SW) pin.
The bootstrap circuit is comprised of an external diode,
and an external bootstrap capacitor. When the ADP3110A
are starting up, the SW pin is at ground, so the bootstrap
capacitor will charge up to V
CC through the bootstrap diode
See Figure 4. When the PWM input goes high, the high−side
driver will begin to turn on the high−side MOSFET using the
stored charge of the bootstrap capacitor. As the high−side
MOSFET turns on, the SW pin will rise. When the high−side
MOSFET is fully on, the switch node will be at 12 V, and the
BST pin will be at 12 V plus the charge of the bootstrap
capacitor (approaching 24 V).
The bootstrap capacitor is recharged when the switch
node goes low during the next cycle.
Safety Timer and Overlap Protection Circuit
It is very important that MOSFETs in a synchronous buck
regulator do not both conduct at the same time. Excessive
shoot−through or cross conduction can damage the
MOSFETs, and even a small amount of cross conduction
will cause a decrease in the power conversion efficiency.
The ADP3110A prevent cross conduction by monitoring
the status of the external mosfets and applying the
appropriate amount of “dead−time” or the time between the
turn off of one MOSFET and the turn on of the other
MOSFET.
When the PWM input pin goes high, DRVL will go low
after a propagation delay (tpdlDRVL). The time it takes for
the low−side MOSFET to turn off (tfDRVL) is dependent on
the total charge on the low−side MOSFET gate. The
ADP3110A monitor the gate voltage of both MOSFETs and
the switchnode voltage to determine the conduction status of
the MOSFETs. Once the low−side MOSFET is turned off an
internal timer will delay (tpdhDRVH) the turn on of the
high−side MOSFET
Likewise, when the PWM input pin goes low, DRVH will
go low after the propagation delay (tpdDRVH). The time to
turn off the high−side MOSFET (tfDRVH) is dependent on
the total gate charge of the high−side MOSFET. A timer will
be triggered once the high−side mosfet has stopped
conducting, to delay (tpdhDRVL) the turn on of the
low−side MOSFET
Power Supply Decoupling
The ADP3110A can source and sink relatively large
currents to the gate pins of the external MOSFETs. In order
to maintain a constant and stable supply voltage (V
CC
) a low
ESR capacitor should be placed near the power and ground
pins. A 1 mF to 4.7 mF multi layer ceramic capacitor (MLCC)
is usually sufficient.
Input Pins
The PWM input and the Output Disable pins of the
ADP3110A have internal protection for Electro Static
Discharge (ESD), but in normal operation they present a
relatively high input impedance. If the PWM controller does
not have internal pulldown resistors, they should be added
externally to ensure that the driver outputs do not go high
before the controller has reached its under voltage lockout
threshold. The NCP5381 controller does include a passive
internal pull−down resistor on the drive−on output pin.
Bootstrap Circuit
The bootstrap circuit uses a charge storage capacitor
(C
BST) and the internal (or an external) diode. Selection of
these components can be done after the high−side MOSFET
has been chosen. The bootstrap capacitor must have a
voltage rating that is able to withstand twice the maximum
supply voltage. A minimum 50 V rating is recommended.
The capacitance is determined using the following equation:
C
BST
+
Q
GATE
DV
BST
where QGATE is the total gate charge of the high−side
MOSFET, and DV
BST is the voltage droop allowed on the
high−side MOSFET drive. For example, a NTD60N03 has
a total gate charge of about 30 nC. For an allowed droop of
300 mV, the required bootstrap capacitance is 100 nF. A
good quality ceramic capacitor should be used.
The bootstrap diode must be rated to withstand the
maximum supply voltage plus any peak ringing voltages
that may be present on SW. The average forward current can
be estimated by:
I
F(AVG)
+ Q
GATE
f
MAX
where fMAX is the maximum switching frequency of the
controller. The peak surge current rating should be checked
in−circuit, since this is dependent on the source impedance
of the 12 V supply and the ESR of C
BST.
