26
LTC3716
I
CIN
SW V
I
COUT
I
CIN
SW1 V
DUAL PHASESINGLE PHASE
SW2 V
I
COUT
RIPPLE
I
L1
I
L2
3216 F12
APPLICATIO S I FOR ATIO
WUU
U
of the input capacitor(s) with a short isolated PC trace
since very high switched currents are present. A separate
isolated path from the negative plate(s) of the input
capacitor(s) should be used to tie in the IC power ground
pin (PGND) and the signal ground pin (SGND). This
technique keeps inherent signals generated by high cur-
rent pulses from taking alternate current paths that have
finite impedances during the total period of the switching
regulator. External OPTI-LOOP compensation allows over-
compensation for PC layouts which are not optimized but
this is not the recommended design procedure.
Simplified Visual Explanation of How a 2-Phase
Controller Reduces Both Input and Output RMS Ripple
Current
A multiphase power supply significantly reduces the
amount of ripple current in both the input and output
capacitors. The RMS input ripple current is divided by, and
the effective ripple frequency is multiplied up by the
number of phases used (assuming that the input voltage
is greater than the number of phases used times the output
voltage). The output ripple amplitude is also reduced by,
and the effective ripple frequency is increased by the
number of phases used. Figure 12 graphically illustrates
the principle.
The worst-case RMS ripple current for a single stage
design peaks at an input voltage of twice the output
Figure 12. Single and 2-Phase Current Waveforms
voltage. The worst-case RMS ripple current for a two stage
design results in peak outputs of 1/4 and 3/4 of input
voltage. When the RMS current is calculated, higher
effective duty factor results and the peak current levels are
divided as long as the currents in each stage are balanced.
Refer to Application Note 19 for a detailed description of
how to calculate RMS current for the single stage switch-
ing regulator. Figures 3 and 4 illustrate how the input and
output currents are reduced by using an additional phase.
The input current peaks drop in half and the frequency is
doubled for this 2-phase converter. The input capacity
requirement is thus reduced theoretically by a factor of
four! Ceramic input capacitors with their unbeatably low
ESR characteristics can be used.
Figure 4 illustrates the RMS input current drawn from the
input capacitance vs the duty cycle as determined by the
ratio of input and output voltage. The peak input RMS
current level of the single phase system is reduced by 50%
in a 2-phase solution due to the current splitting between
the two stages.
An interesting result of the 2-phase solution is that the V
IN
which produces worst-case ripple current for the input
capacitor, V
OUT
= V
IN
/2, in the single phase design pro-
duces zero input current ripple in the 2-phase design.
The output ripple current is reduced significantly when
compared to the single phase solution using the same
inductance value because the V
OUT
/L discharge current
term from the stage that has its bottom MOSFET on
subtracts current from the (V
IN
– V
OUT
)/L charging current
resulting from the stage which has its top MOSFET on. The
output ripple current is:
∆I
V
fL
DD
D
RIPPLE
OUT
=
−−
()
−+
2
12 1
12 1
where D is duty factor.
The input and output ripple frequency is increased by the
number of stages used, reducing the output capacity
requirements. When V
IN
is approximately equal to 2(V
OUT
)
as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, very low input and output
ripple currents result.
