Abstract: A resistive feedback network is often used to set the output voltage of a power supply. A mechanical potentiometer (pot)conveniently solves the problem of adjusting a power supply. For easier automatic calibration, a mechanical pot can be replaced witha digital pot. This application note presents a calibration solution that uses a digital pot, because digipots are smaller, do not movewith age or vibration, and can be recalibrated remotely. This proposed solution reduces the susceptibility of the system to thetolerance of the digital pot's end-to-end resistance, making the solution optimal fordesigners. This application note also explainssome of the equations required to calculate the resistor chain values and to use a digital pot in this way. A spreadsheet withstandard reisistor values is available for easy calculations.
Abstract: Uses the MAX641 switching controller and an external discrete charge pump to step up the input voltage. This circuitcan service low loads and is efficient when the output is two, three, four times the input voltage. Adding the MAX627 MOSdriver can further increase the output current capability.
Automotive batteries, industrial power supplies, distributedsupplies and wall transformers are all sources ofwide-ranging high voltage inputs. The easiest way to stepdown these sources is with a high voltage monolithicstep-down regulator that can directly accept a wide inputrange and produce a well-regulated output. The LT®3493accepts inputs from 3.6V to 36V and LT3481 acceptsinputs from 3.6V to 34V. Both provide excellent lineand load regulation and dynamic response. The LT3481offers a high effi ciency solution over a wide load range andkeeps the output ripple low during Burst Mode® operationwhile the LT3493 provides a tiny solution with minimalexternal components. The LT3493 operates at 750kHzand the LT3481 has adjustable frequency from 300kHzto 2.8MHz. High frequency operation enables the use ofsmall, low cost inductors and ceramic capacitors.
The LTC®3562 quad output step-down regulator is designedfor multicore handheld microprocessor applications thatoperate from a single Li-Ion battery. Its four monolithic, higheffi ciency buck regulators support Intel’s mobile CPU P-Stateand C-State energy saving operating modes. The outputvoltages are independently controllable via I2C, and eachoutput can be independently started and shut down. Designerscan choose from power saving pulse-skipping mode orBurst Mode® operation, or select low noise LDO mode. Thespace-saving LTC3562 is available in a 3mm × 3mm QFNpackage and requires few external components.
Avalanche photo diode (APD) receiver modules arewidely used in fi ber optic communication systems. AnAPD module contains the APD and a signal conditioningamplifi er, but is not completely self contained. It stillrequires signifi cant support circuitry including a highvoltage, low noise power supply and a precision currentmonitor to indicate the signal strength. The challenge issqueezing this support circuitry into applications withlimited board space. The LT®3482 addresses this challengeby integrating a monolithic DC/DC step-up converter andan accurate current monitor. The LT3482 can supportup to a 90V APD bias voltage, and the current monitorprovides better than 10% accuracy over four decades ofdynamic range (250nA to 2.5mA).
Many system designers need an easy way to producea negative 3.3V power supply. In systems that alreadyhave a transformer, one option is to swap out the existingtransformer with one that has an additional secondarywinding. The problem with this solution is that manysystems now use transformers that are standard, offthe-shelf components, and most designers want toavoid replacing a standard, qualifi ed transformer with acustom version. An easier alternative is to produce thelow negative voltage rail by stepping down an existingnegative rail. For example, if the system already employsan off-the-shelf transformer with two secondary windingsto produce ±12V, and a –3.3V rail is needed, a negativebuck converter can produce the –3.3V output from the–12V rail.
In a recent discussion with a system designer, the requirementfor his power supply was to regulate 1.5Vand deliver up to 40A of current to a load that consistedof four FPGAs. This is up to 60W of power that must bedelivered in a small area with the lowest height profi lepossible to allow a steady fl ow of air for cooling. Thepower supply had to be surface mountable and operateat high enough effi ciency to minimize heat dissipation.He also demanded the simplest possible solution so histime could be dedicated to the more complex tasks. Asidefrom precise electrical performance, this solution had toremovethe heat generated during DC to DC conversionquickly so that the circuit and the ICs in the vicinity do notoverheat. Such a solution requires an innovative designto meet these criteria:
The above title is not happenstance and was arrived at afterconsiderable deliberation. As a linear IC manufacturer, it isour goal to encourage users to design and build switchingregulators. A problem is that while everyone agrees thatworking switching regulators are a good thing, everyonealso agrees that they are difficult to get working. Switchingregulators, with their high efficiency and small size, areincreasingly desirable as overall package sizes shrink.Unfortunately, switching regulators are also one of themost difficult linear circuits to design. Mysterious modes,sudden, seemingly inexplicable failures, peculiar regulationcharacteristics and just plain explosions are commonoccurrences. Diodes conduct the wrong way. Things gethot that shouldn’t. Capacitors act like resistors, fusesdon’t blow and transistors do. The output is at ground, andthe ground terminal shows volts of noise.
The LTM8020, LTM8021, LTM8022 and LTM8023 μModule®regulators are complete easy-to-use encapsulated stepdownDC/DC regulators intended to take the pain and aggravationout of implementing a switching power supplyonto a system board. With a μModule regulator, you onlyneed an input cap, output cap and one or two resistorsto complete the design. As one might imagine, this highlevel of integration greatly simplifi es the task of printedcircuit board design, reducing the effort to four categories:component footprint generation, component placement,routing the nets, and thermal vias.
The P89LPC912/913/914 are single-chip microcontrollers in low-cost 14-pin packages, based on a high performance processor architecture that executes instructions in two to four clocks, six times the rate of standard 80C51 devices. Many system level functions have been incorporated into the P89LPC912/913/914 in order to reduce component count, board space, and system cost.
