LTC3732
APPLICATIO S I FOR ATIO
bypassing close to the IC is necessary to supply the high
transient currents required by the MOSFET gate drivers
while keeping the 5V supply quiet enough so as not to
disturb the very small-signal high bandwidth of the current
comparators.
Topside MOSFET Driver Supply (CB, DB)
External bootstrap capacitors, CB, connected to the BOOST
pins, supply the gate drive voltages for the topside
MOSFETs. Capacitor CB in the Functional Diagram is
charged though diode DB from VCC when the SW pin is
low. When one of the topside MOSFETs turns on, the
driver places the CB voltage across the gate-source of the
desired MOSFET. This enhances the MOSFET and turns on
the topside switch. The switch node voltage, SW, rises to
VIN and the BOOST pin follows. With the topside MOSFET
on, the boost voltage is above the input supply (VBOOST =
VCC + VIN). The value of the boost capacitor CB needs to be
30 to 100 times that of the total input capacitance of the
topside MOSFET(s). The reverse breakdown of DB must be
greater than VIN(MAX).
Differential Amplifier
The IC has a true remote voltage sense capability. The
sensing connections should be returned from the load,
back to the differential amplifier’s inputs through a com-
mon, tightly coupled pair of PC traces. The differential
amplifier rejects common mode signals capacitively or
inductively radiated into the feedback PC traces as well as
ground loop disturbances. The differential amplifier out-
put signal is divided down through the VID DAC and is
compared with the internal, precision 0.6V voltage refer-
ence by the error amplifier.
The differential amplifier has a 0 to VCC common mode
input range and an output swing range of 0 to VCC – 1.2V.
The output uses an NPN emitter follower without any
internal pull-down current. A DC resistive load to ground
is required in order to sink current.
Output Voltage
The IC includes a digitally controlled 5-bit attenuator
producing output voltages as defined in Table 1. Output
voltages with 25mV increments are produced from 1.075V
to 1.850V.
Each VID digital input is pulled up to a logical high with an
internal 3µA. The input logic threshold is approximately
1.2V but the input circuit can withstand an input voltage of
up to 7V.
Table 1. VID Output Voltage Programming
CODE
VOUT
CODE
VOUT
B4 B3 B2 B1 B0
B4 B3 B2 B1 B0
1 0 0 0 0 1.450V 0 0 0 0 0 1.850V
1 0 0 0 1 1.425V 0 0 0 0 1 1.825V
1 0 0 1 0 1.400V 0 0 0 1 0 1.800V
1 0 0 1 1 1.375V 0 0 0 1 1 1.775V
1 0 1 0 0 1.350V 0 0 1 0 0 1.750V
1 0 1 0 1 1.325V 0 0 1 0 1 1.725V
1 0 1 1 0 1.300V 0 0 1 1 0 1.700V
1 0 1 1 1 1.275V 0 0 1 1 1 1.675V
1 1 0 0 0 1.250V 0 1 0 0 0 1.650V
1 1 0 0 1 1.225V 0 1 0 0 1 1.625V
1 1 0 1 0 1.200V 0 1 0 1 0 1.600V
1 1 0 1 1 1.175V 0 1 0 1 1 1.575V
1 1 1 0 0 1.150V 0 1 1 0 0 1.550V
1 1 1 0 1 1.125V 0 1 1 0 1 1.525V
1 1 1 1 0 1.100V 0 1 1 1 0 1.500V
1 1 1 1 1 1.075V 0 1 1 1 1 1.475V
Soft-Start/Run Function
The RUN/SS pin provides three functions: 1) ON/OFF, 2)
soft-start and 3) a defeatable short-circuit latch off timer.
Soft-start reduces the input power sources’ surge cur-
rents by gradually increasing the controller’s current limit
(proportional to an internal buffered and clamped VITH).
The latchoff timer prevents very short, extreme load
transients from tripping the overcurrent latch. A small
pull-up current (>5µA) supplied to the RUN/SS pin will
prevent the overcurrent latch from operating. A maximum
pullup current of 200µA is allowed into the RUN/SS pin
even though the voltage at the pin may exceed the absolute
maximum rating for the pin. This is because the current is
limited and an internal protection circuit is provided. The
following explanation describes how this function oper-
ates.
An internal 1.5µA current source charges up the CSS
capacitor. When the voltage on RUN/SS reaches 1.5V, the
3732f
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