LTC3417A-2_15 Datasheet, PDF (15/20 Pages) Linear Technology – Dual Synchronous 1.5A/1A 4MHz Step-Down DC/DC Regulator

LTC3417A-2
APPLICATIONS INFORMATION
Although all dissipative elements in the circuit produce
losses, four main sources account for most of the losses
in LTC3417A-2 circuits: 1) LTC3417A-2 I_S current, 2)
switching losses, 3) I²R losses, 4) other losses.
1) The I_S current is the DC supply current given in the elec-
trical characteristics which excludes MOSFET driver and
control currents. I_S current results in a small (< 0.1%)
loss that increases with V_IN, even at no load.
2) The switching current is the sum of the MOSFET driver
and control currents. The MOSFET driver current re-
sults from switching the gate capacitance of the power
MOSFETs. Each time a MOSFET gate is switched from
low to high to low again, a packet of charge moves from
V_IN to ground. The resulting charge over the switching
period is a current out of V_IN that is typically much larger
than the DC bias current. The gate charge losses are
proportional to V_IN and thus their effects will be more
pronounced at higher supply voltages.
3) I²R losses are calculated from the DC resistances of the
internal switches, R_SW, and the external inductor, R_L. In
continuous mode, the average output current flowing
through inductor L is “chopped” between the internal
top and bottom switches. Thus, the series resistance
looking into the SW pin is a function of both top and
bottom MOSFET R_DS(ON) and the duty cycle (DC) as
follows:
R_SW = (R_DS(ON)TOP)(DC) + (R_DS(ON)BOT)(1 – DC)
The R_DS(ON) for both the top and bottom MOSFETs can be
obtained from the Typical Performance Characteristics
curves. Thus, to obtain I²R losses:
I²R losses = I_OUT2(R_SW + R_L)
where R_L is the resistance of the inductor.
4) Other “hidden” losses such as copper trace and internal
battery resistances can account for additional efficiency
degradations in portable systems. It is very important
to include these “system” level losses in the design
of a system. The internal battery and fuse resistance
losses can be minimized by making sure that C_IN has
adequate charge storage and very low ESR_COUT at
the switching frequency. Other losses including diode
conduction losses during dead-time and inductor core
losses generally account for less than 2% total additional
loss.
Thermal Considerations
The LTC3417A-2 requires the package Exposed Pad
(PGND2/GNDD pin) to be well soldered to the PC board.
This gives the DFN and TSSOP packages exceptional
thermal properties, compared to similar packages of this
size, making it difficult in normal operation to exceed the
maximum junction temperature of the part. In a majority
of applications, the LTC3417A-2 does not dissipate much
heat due to its high efficiency. However, in applications
where the LTC3417A-2 is running at high ambient tem-
perature with low supply voltage and high duty cycles,
such as in dropout, the heat dissipated may exceed the
maximum junction temperature of the part. If the junction
temperature reaches approximately 150°C, both switches
in both regulators will be turned off and the SW nodes will
become high impedance.
To prevent the LTC3417A-2 from exceeding its maximum
junction temperature, the user will need to do some thermal
analysis. The goal of the thermal analysis is to determine
whether the power dissipated exceeds the maximum
junction temperature of the part. The temperature rise is
given by:
T_RISE = P_D • θ_JA
where P_D is the power dissipated by the regulator and θ_JA
is the thermal resistance from the junction of the die to
the ambient temperature.
The junction temperature, T_J, is given by:
T_J = T_RISE + T_AMBIENT
As an example, consider the case when the LTC3417A-2
is in dropout in both regulators at an input voltage of 3.3V
with load currents of 1.5A and 1A. From the Typical Per-
formance Characteristics graph of Switch Resistance, the
R_DS(ON) resistance of the 1.5A P-channel switch is 0.09Ω
and the R_DS(ON) of the 1A P-channel switch is 0.163Ω.
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