LTC1772
OPERATIO
up, the corresponding output current trip level follows,
allowing normal operation.
Comparator OVP guards against transient overshoots
> 7.5% by turning off the external P-channel power
MOSFET and keeping it off until the fault is removed.
Burst Mode Operation
The LTC1772 enters Burst Mode operation at low load
currents. In this mode, the peak current of the inductor is
set as if V
ITH
/RUN = 1V (at low duty cycles) even though
the voltage at the I
TH
/RUN pin is at a lower value. If the
inductor’s average current is greater than the load require-
ment, the voltage at the I
TH
/RUN pin will drop. When the
I
TH
/RUN voltage goes below 0.85V, the sleep signal goes
high, turning off the external MOSFET. The sleep signal
goes low when the I
TH
/RUN voltage goes above 0.925V
and the LTC1772 resumes normal operation. The next
oscillator cycle will turn the external MOSFET on and the
switching cycle repeats.
Dropout Operation
When the input supply voltage decreases towards the
output voltage, the rate of change of inductor current
during the ON cycle decreases. This reduction means that
the external P-channel MOSFET will remain on for more
than one oscillator cycle since the inductor current has not
ramped up to the threshold set by EAMP. Further reduc-
tion in input supply voltage will eventually cause the
P-channel MOSFET to be turned on 100%, i.e., DC. The
output voltage will then be determined by the input voltage
minus the voltage drop across the MOSFET, the sense
resistor and the inductor.
Undervoltage Lockout
To prevent operation of the P-channel MOSFET below safe
input voltage levels, an undervoltage lockout is incorpo-
rated into the LTC1772. When the input supply voltage
drops below approximately 2.0V, the P-channel MOSFET
and all circuitry is turned off except the undervoltage
block, which draws only several microamperes.
SF = I
OUT
/I
OUT(MAX)
(%)
U
(Refer to Functional Diagram)
Short-Circuit Protection
When the output is shorted to ground, the frequency of the
oscillator will be reduced to about 120kHz. This lower
frequency allows the inductor current to safely discharge,
thereby preventing current runaway. The oscillator’s fre-
quency will gradually increase to its designed rate when
the feedback voltage again approaches 0.8V.
Overvoltage Protection
As a further protection, the overvoltage comparator in the
LTC1772 will turn the external MOSFET off when the
feedback voltage has risen 7.5% above the reference
voltage of 0.8V. This comparator has a typical hysteresis
of 20mV.
Slope Compensation and Inductor’s Peak Current
The inductor’s peak current is determined by:
I
PK
=
10 R
SENSE
(
V
ITH
)
when the LTC1772 is operating below 40% duty cycle.
However, once the duty cycle exceeds 40%, slope com-
pensation begins and effectively reduces the peak induc-
tor current. The amount of reduction is given by the curves
in Figure 2.
110
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
DUTY CYCLE (%)
1772 F02
I
RIPPLE
= 0.4I
PK
AT 5% DUTY CYCLE
I
RIPPLE
= 0.2I
PK
AT 5% DUTY CYCLE
V
IN
= 4.2V
Figure 2. Maximum Output Current vs Duty Cycle
5
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