LTC1645
APPLICATIO S I FOR ATIO
Switching Regulator Supply Sequencing
Figure 21 shows the LTC1645 sequencing two power
supplies, the lower of which is generated by the LTC1430A
switching regulator. Connecting the regulator’s FB pin
resistor divider (R1 and R2) to the other side of the pass
FET (Q1) allows the LTC1430A to compensate for the
voltage drop across RSENSE1 and Q1, assuring an accurate
voltage output. The spare comparator holds the LTC1645’s
ON pin low until the LTC1430A’s output is at least 3V, and
shuts both channels off if it drops below 3V. When the
ON/OFF signal is taken high to 5V (turn-on), the voltage at
the ON pin rises with an RC exponential characteristic,
reaching 0.8V first. This starts a timing cycle, and GATE1
begins to rise. GATE2 starts to ramp up after the ON pin
reaches 2V. As long as the timing cycle is shorter than the
time for the ON pin to rise from 0.8V to 2V, VOUT2 ramps
up after VOUT1. RESET goes high one timing cycle after
VOUT1 exceeds 3V. When the ON/OFF signal is brought
low, the voltage at the ON pin exponentially decays and
GATE2 ramps down before GATE1. RESET goes low as
soon as VOUT1 falls below 3V. Figure 22 shows the power-
up and power-down sequences of the circuit in Figure 21.
Switching Regulator Hot Swapping
High current switching regulators usually require large
bypass capacitors on both input and output for proper
operation. The application in Figure 23 controls the inrush
current to the LTC1649’s input bypass capacitors and
ramps the two output voltages up and down together. As
with the previous application, connecting the regulator’s
FB pin resistor divider to the other side of the output pass
FET (Q2) allows the LTC1649 to compensate for the
voltage drop across Q2, assuring an accurate voltage
output. The voltage at the LTC1645’s ON pin reaches 0.8V
when VIN exceeds 3V, and GATE1 begins to ramp up one
timing cycle later. As the regulator’s output rises, D2 pulls
the ON pin above 2V and GATE2 begins to rise, ramping
VOUT1 and VOUT2 up together. RESET goes high one timing
cycle after VOUT1 exceeds 3V and VOUT2 exceeds 2.35V.
Figure 24 shows the circuit in Figure 23 powering up.
Care should be taken connecting a switching regulator’s
FB or SENSE pins to a node other than its output. Depend-
ing on the regulator’s internal architecture, unusual be-
havior may occur as it tries in vain to raise the voltage at
ON
2V/DIV
VREGOUT
2V/DIV
VOUT1
2V/DIV
VOUT2
2V/DIV
RESET
5V/DIV
Figure 22. Switching Regulator Supply Sequencing
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