LTC1703IG#TRPBF Datasheet LTC1703CG#TRPBF, LTC1703IG#TRPBF, LTC1703CG#PBF | P13-P15

LTC1703

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is limited to 10%. The maximum duty cycle limit increases

linearly between 1V and 2.5V, reaching its final value of

90% when RUN/SS is above 2.5V. Somewhere before this

point, the feedback amplifier will assume control of the

loop and the output will come into regulation. When RUN/

SS rises to 0.5V below V

, the MIN feedback comparator

is enabled, and the LTC1703 is in full operation.

CURRENT LIMIT

The LTC1703 includes an onboard current limit circuit that

limits the maximum output current to a user-programmed

level. It works by sensing the voltage drop across QB

during the time that QB is on and comparing that voltage

to a user-programmed voltage at I

MAX

. Since QB looks like

a low value resistor during its on-time, the voltage drop

across it is proportional to the current flowing in it. In a

buck converter, the average current in the inductor is equal

to the output current. This current also flows through QB

during its on-time. Thus, by watching the voltage across

QB, the LTC1703 can monitor the output current.

Any time QB is on and the current flowing to the output is

reasonably large, the SW node at the drain of QB will be

somewhat negative with respect to PGND. The LTC1703

senses this voltage and inverts it to allow it to compare the

sensed voltage with a positive voltage at the I

MAX

pin. The

MAX

pin includes a trimmed 10µA pull-up, enabling the

user to set the voltage at I

MAX

with a single resistor, R

IMAX

to ground. The LTC1703 compares the two inputs and

begins limiting the output current when the magnitude of

the negative voltage at the SW pin is greater than the

voltage at I

MAX

The current limit detector is connected to an internal g

amplifier that pulls a current from the RUN/SS pin propor-

tional to the difference in voltage magnitudes between the

SW and I

MAX

pins. This current begins to discharge the

soft-start capacitor at RUN/SS, reducing the duty cycle

and controlling the output voltage until the output current

drops below the limit. The soft-start capacitor needs to

move a fair amount before it has any effect on the duty

cycle, adding a delay until the current limit takes effect

(Figure 4). This allows the LTC1703 to experience brief

overload conditions without affecting the output voltage

regulation. The delay also acts as a pole in the current limit

loop to enhance loop stability. Larger overloads cause the

soft-start capacitor to pull down quickly, protecting the

output components from damage. The current limit g

amplifier includes a clamp to prevent it from pulling RUN/

SS below 0.5V and shutting off the device.

Power MOSFET R

DS(ON)

varies from MOSFET to MOSFET,

limiting the accuracy obtainable from the LTC1703 current

limit loop. Additionally, ringing on the SW node due to

parasitics can add to the apparent current, causing the

loop to engage early. The LTC1703 current limit is

designed primarily as a disaster prevention, “no blow up”

circuit, and is not useful as a precision current regulator.

It should typically be set around 50% above the maximum

expected normal output current to prevent component

tolerances from encroaching on the normal current range.

See the Current Limit Programming section for advice on

choosing a value for R

IMAX

DISCONTINUOUS/Burst Mode OPERATION

Theory of operation

The LTC1703 switching logic has three modes of opera-

tion. Under heavy loads, it operates as a fully synchro-

nous, continuous conduction switching regulator. In this

mode of operation (“continuous” mode), the current in the

inductor flows in the positive direction (toward the output)

during the entire switching cycle, constantly supplying

current to the load. In this mode, the synchronous switch

(QB) is on whenever QT is off, so the current always flows

through a low impedance switch, minimizing voltage drop

and power loss. This is the most efficient mode of opera-

tion at heavy loads, where the resistive losses in the power

devices are the dominant loss term.

Continuous mode works efficiently when the load current

is greater than half of the ripple current in the inductor. In

a buck converter like the LTC1703, the average current in

the inductor (averaged over one switching cycle) is equal

to the load current. The ripple current is the difference

between the maximum and the minimum current during a

switching cycle (see Figure 5a). The ripple current

depends on inductor value, clock frequency and output

voltage, but is constant regardless of load as long as the

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LTC1703

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LTC1703 remains in continuous mode. See the Inductor

Selection section for a detailed description of ripple

current.

As the output load current decreases in continuous mode,

the average current in the inductor will reach a point where

it drops below half the ripple current. At this point, the

current in the inductor will reverse during a portion of the

switching cycle, or begin to flow from the output back to

the input. This does not adversely affect regulation, but

does cause additional losses as a portion of the inductor

current flows back and forth through the resistive power

switches, giving away a little more power each time and

lowering the efficiency. There are some benefits to allow-

ing this reverse current flow: the circuit will maintain

regulation even if the load current drops below zero (the

load supplies current to the LTC1703) and the output

ripple voltage and frequency remain constant at all loads,

easing filtering requirements. Circuits that take advantage

of this behavior can force the LTC1703 to operate in

continuous mode at all loads by tying the FCB (Force

Continuous Bar) pin to ground.

Discontinuous Mode

To minimize the efficiency loss due to reverse current flow

at light loads, the LTC1703 switches to a second mode of

operation: discontinuous mode (Figure 5b). In discontinu-

ous mode, the LTC1703 detects when the inductor current

approaches zero and turns off QB for the remainder of the

switch cycle. During this time, the voltage at the SW pin

will float about V

OUT

, the voltage across the inductor will

be zero, and the inductor current remains zero until the

next switching cycle begins and QT turns on again. This

prevents current from flowing backwards in QB, eliminat-

ing that power loss term. It also reduces the ripple current

in the inductor as the output current approaches zero.

The LTC1703 detects that the inductor current has reached

zero by monitoring the voltage at the SW pin while QB is

on. Since QB acts like a resistor, SW should ideally be right

at 0V when the inductor current reaches zero. In reality, the

SW node will ring to some degree immediately after it is

switched to ground by QB, causing some uncertainty as to

the actual moment the average current in QB goes to zero.

The LTC1703 minimizes this effect by ignoring the SW

node for a fixed 50ns after QB turns on when the ringing

Figure 5a. Continuous Mode

Figure 5b. Discontinuous Mode

is most severe, and by including a few millivolts offset in

the comparator that monitors the SW node. Despite these

precautions, some combinations of inductor and layout

parasitics can cause the LTC1703 to enter discontinuous

mode erratically. In many cases, the time that QB turns off

will correspond to a peak in the ringing waveform at the

SW pin (Figure 6). This erratic operation isn’t pretty, but

retains much of the efficiency benefit of discontinuous

mode and maintains regulation at all times.

TIME

RIPPLE

AVERAGE

INDUCTOR CURRENT

1703 F05a

TIME

RIPPLE

AVERAGE

INDUCTOR CURRENT

1703 F05b

Figure 6. Ringing at SW Causes Discontinuous

Comparator to Trip Early

TIME

50ns

BLANK

TIME

DISCONTINUOUS

COMPARATOR

TURNS OFF BG

1703 F06

TIME

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LTC1703

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Burst Mode Operation

Discontinuous mode removes a loss term due to resistive

drop in QB, but the LTC1703 is still switching QT and QB

on and off once a cycle. Each time an external MOSFET is

turned on, the internal driver must charge its gate to V

Each time it is turned off, that charge is lost to ground. At

the high switching frequencies that the LTC1703 operates

at, the charge lost to the gates can add up to tens of

milliamps from V

. As the load current continues to drop,

this quickly become the dominant power loss term, reduc-

ing efficiency once again.

Once again, the LTC1703 switches to a new mode to

minimize efficiency loss: Burst Mode operation. As the

circuit goes deeper and deeper into discontinuous mode,

the total time QT and QB are on reduces. However, the ratio

of the time that QT is on to the time that QB is on must

remain constant for the output to stay in regulation. An

internal timer circuit forces QT to stay on for at least 10%

of a normal switching cycle. When the load drops to the

point that the output requires less than 10% on-time at QT,

the output voltage will begin to rise. The LTC1703 senses

this rise and shuts both QT and QB off completely, skip-

ping several switching cycles until the output falls back

into range. It then resumes switching in discontinuous

mode with QT at 10% duty cycle and the burst sequence

repeats. The total deviation from the regulated output is

within the 1.5% regulation tolerance of the LTC1703.

In Burst Mode operation, both resistive loss and switching

loss are minimized while keeping the output in regulation.

The ripple current will be set by the 10% QT on-time and

the input supply voltage and is the lowest of all three

operating modes. As the load current falls to zero in Burst

Mode operation, the most significant loss term becomes

the 3mA quiescent current drawn by each side of the

LTC1703—usually much less than the minimum load

current in a typical low voltage logic system. Burst Mode

operation maximizes efficiency at low load currents, but

can cause low frequency ripple in the output voltage as the

cycle-skipping circuitry switches on and off.

FCB Pin

In some circumstances, it is desirable to control or disable

discontinuous and Burst Mode operations. The FCB (Force

Continuous Bar) pin allows the user to do this. When the

FCB pin is high, the LTC1703 is allowed to enter discon-

tinuous and Burst Mode operations at either side as

required. If FCB is taken low, discontinuous and Burst

Mode operations are disabled and both sides of the

LTC1703 run in continuous mode regardless of load. This

does not affect output regulation but does reduce effi-

ciency at low output currents. The FCB pin threshold is

specified at 0.8V ±50mV, and includes 20mV of hyster-

esis, allowing it to be used as a precision small-signal

comparator.

Paralleling Outputs

Synchronous regulators (like the LTC1703) are known for

their bullheadedness when their outputs are paralleled

with other regulators. In particular, a synchronous regu-

lator paralleled with another regulator whose output is

slightly higher (perhaps just by millivolts) will happily sink

amps of current attempting to pull its own output back

down to what it thinks is the right value.

The LTC1703 discontinuous mode allows it to be paral-

leled with another regulator without fighting. A typical

system might use the LTC1703 as a primary regulator and

a small LDO as a backup regulator to keep SRAM alive

when the main power is off. When the LTC1703 is shut

down (by pulling RUN/SS to ground), both QT and QB turn

off and the output goes into a high impedance state,

allowing the smaller regulator to support the output volt-

age. However, if the LTC1703 is powered back up in

continuous mode, it will begin a soft-start cycle with a low

duty cycle, pulling the output down and corrupting the

data stored in SRAM. The solution is to tie FCB high,

allowing the device to start in discontinuous mode. Any

reverse current flow in QB will trip the discontinuous mode

circuitry, preventing the LTC1703 from pulling down the

output.

OVERVOLTAGE FAULT

The LTC1703 includes a single overvoltage fault flag for

both channels: FAULT. FAULT is an open-drain output

with an internal 10µA pull-up. If either FB pin rises more

than 15% above the nominal 800mV value for more than

25µs, the overvoltage comparator will trip, setting an

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LTC1703IG#TRPBF

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Description:

Switching Voltage Regulators 2x 550kHz Sync 2-PhSw Reg Cntr w/ 5-B VI

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LTC1703IG#TRPBF

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