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lt1970a 1 1970afa 2v/div 0v 1970a ta01b 100s/div current limit = 500ma v load , r load = 100 v load , r load = 10 v in , 5v/div typical application description 500ma power op amp with adjustable precision current limit the lt ? 1970a is a 500ma power op amp with precise externally controlled current limiting. separate control voltages program the sourcing and sinking current limit sense thresholds with 1% accuracy. output current may be boosted by adding external power transistors. the circuit operates with single or split power supplies from 5v to 36v total supply voltage. in normal opera- tion, the input stage supplies and the output stage sup- plies are connected (v cc to v + and v ee to v C ). to reduce power dissipation it is possible to power the output stage (v + , v C ) from independent, lower voltage rails. the amplifier is unity-gain stable with a 3.6mhz gain-bandwidth product and slews at 1.6v/s. the lt1970a can drive capacitive and inductive loads directly. open-collector status flags signal current limit circuit activation, as well as thermal shutdown of the amplifier. an enable logic input puts the amplifier into a low power, high impedance output state when pulled low. thermal shutdown and a 800ma fixed current limit protect the chip under fault conditions. the lt1970a is packaged in a 20-lead tssop package with a thermally conductive copper bottom plate to facilitate heat sinking. device power supply (dps) with 500ma adjustable current limit features applications n 500ma minimum output current n independent adjustment of source and sink current limits n 1% current limit accuracy n improved reactive load driving stability n operates with single or split supplies n shutdown/enable control input n open-collector status flags: sink current limit source current limit thermal shutdown n fail-safe current limit and thermal shutdown n 1.6v/s slew rate n 3.6mhz gain-bandwidth product n specified temperature range: C40c to 85c n available in a 20-lead tssop package n automatic test equipment n laboratory power supplies n motor drivers n thermoelectric cooler driver v cc common v ee v + en v C 10k 100pf vc src vc snk isnk isrc sense C sense sense + tsd i out out r cs 1 1/4w trace r 100m trace l 200nh 6k +in 20v lt1970a C5v 20v Cin load esr 0.1 4.7f 1970a ta01 v limit 0v to 5v v in v limit t 3 cs i out(max) = l , lt, ltc, ltm, linear technology and the linear logo are registered trademarks of linear technology corporation. all other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
lt1970a 2 1970afa absolute maximum ratings supply voltage (v cc to v ee ) ..................................... 36v positive high current supply (v + ) ................... v C to v cc negative high current supply(v C ) ....................v ee to v + ampli? er output (out) ..................................... v C to v + current sense pins (sense + , sense C , filter) ........................... v C to v + logic outputs ( isrc , isnk , tsd ) ....... common to v cc input voltage (Cin, +in) ............ v ee C 0.3v to v ee + 36v input current ......................................................... 10ma current control inputs (vc src , vc snk ) .............. common to common + 7v enable logic input .............................. common to v cc common ....................................................... v ee to v cc output short-circuit duration ......................... inde? nite operating temperature range (note 2).... C40c to 85c speci? ed temperature range (note 3) lt1970ac ................................................ 0c to 70c lt1970ai.............................................. C40c to 85c maximum junction temperature.......................... 150c storage temperature range ................... C65c to 150c lead temperature (soldering, 10 sec) .................. 300c (note 1) symbol parameter conditions min typ max units power op amp characteristics v os input offset voltage 0c < t a < 70c C40c < t a < 85c l l 200 600 1000 1300 v v v input offset voltage drift (note 4) l C10 C4 10 v/c i os input offset current v cm = 0v l C100 100 na i b input bias current v cm = 0v l C600 C160 na input noise voltage 0.1hz to 10hz 3 v p-p electrical characteristics the l denotes the specifications which apply over the full operating temperature range, otherwise specifications are at t a = 25c. see test circuit for standard test conditions. pin configuration fe package 20-lead plastic tssop 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 top view 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 v ee v C out sense + filter sense C v cc Cin +in v ee v ee v + tsd isnk isrc enable common vc src vc snk v ee + C 21 t jmax = 150c, ja = 40c/w (note 8) exposed pad (pin 21) is connected to v ee order information lead free finish tape and reel part marking* package description specified temperature range lt1970acfe#pbf lt1970acfe#trpbf lt1970afe 20-lead plastic tssop 0c to 70c lt1970aife#pbf lt1970aife#trpbf lt1970afe 20-lead plastic tssop C40c to 85c consult ltc marketing for parts specified with wider operating temperature ranges. *the temperature grade is identified by a la bel on the shipping container. consult ltc marketing for information on non-standard lead based finish parts. for more information on lead free part marking, go to: http://www.linear.com/leadfree/ for more information on tape and reel specifications, go to: http://www.linear.com/tapeandreel/ lt1970a 3 1970afa electrical characteristics the l denotes the specifications which apply over the full operating temperature range, otherwise specifications are at t a = 25c. see test circuit for standard test conditions. symbol parameter conditions min typ max units e n input noise voltage density 1khz 15 nv/ hz i n input noise current density 1khz 3 pa/ hz r in input resistance common mode differential mode 500 100 k k c in input capacitance pin 8 and pin 9 to ground 6 pf v cm input voltage range typical guaranteed by cmrr test l C14.5 C12.0 13.6 12.0 v v cmrr common mode rejection ratio C12v < v cm < 12v l 92 105 db psrr power supply rejection ratio v ee = v C = C5v, v cc = v + = 3v to 30v v ee = v C = C5v, v cc = 30v, v + = 2.5v to 30v v ee = v C = C3v to C 30v, v cc = v + = 5v v ee = C30v, v C = C2.5v to C30v, v cc = v + = 5v l l l l 90 110 90 110 100 130 100 130 db db db db a vol large-signal voltage gain r l = 1k, C12.5v < v out < 12.5v l 100 75 150 v/mv v/mv r l = 100, C12.5v < v out < 12.5v l 80 40 120 v/mv v/mv r l = 10, C5v < v out < 5v, v + = C v C = 8v l 20 5 45 v/mv v/mv v ol output sat voltage low v ol = v out C v C r l = 100, v cc = v + = 15v, v ee = v C = C15v r l = 10, v cc = C v ee = 15v, v + = Cv C = 5v l 1.9 0.8 2.5 v v v oh output sat voltage high v oh = v + C v out r l = 100, v cc = v + = 15v, v ee = v C = C15v r l = 10, v cc = C v ee = 15v, v + = Cv C = 5v l 1.7 1.0 2.3 v v i sc output short-circuit current output low, r sense = 0 output high, r sense = 0 500 C1000 800 C800 1200 C500 ma ma sr slew rate C10v < v out < 10v, r l = 1k 0.7 1.6 v/s fpbw full power bandwidth v out = 10v peak (note 5) 11 khz gbw gain-bandwidth product f = 10khz 3.6 mhz t s settling time 0.01%, v out = 0v to 10v, a v = C1, r l = 1k 8 s current sense characteristics v sense(min) minimum current sense voltage vc src = vc snk = 0v l 0.1 0.1 47 10 mv mv v sense(4%) current sense voltage 4% of full scale vc src = vc snk = 0.2v l 15 20 25 mv v sense(10%) current sense voltage 10% of full scale vc src = vc snk = 0.5v l 45 50 55 mv v sense(fs) current sense voltage 100% of full scale vc src = vc snk = 5v l 495 480 500 500 505 520 mv mv i bi current limit control input bias current vc src , vc snk pins l C1 C0.2 0.1 a i sense C sense C input current 0v < (vc src , vc snk ) < 5v l C500 500 na i filter filter input current 0v < (vc src , vc snk ) < 5v l C500 500 na i sense + sense + input current vc src = vc snk = 0v vc src = 5v, vc snk = 0v vc src = 0v, vc snk = 5v vc src = vc snk = 5v l l l l C500 200 C300 C25 250 C250 500 300 C200 25 na a a a current sense change with output voltage vc src = vc snk = 5v, C12.5v < v out < 12.5v 0.1 % current sense change with supply voltage vc src = vc snk = 5v, 6v < (v cc , v + ) < 18v 2.5v < v + < 18v, v cc = 18v C18v < (v ee , v C ) < C2.5v C18v < v C < C2.5v, v ee = C18v 0.05 0.01 0.05 0.01 % % % % lt1970a 4 1970afa electrical characteristics the l denotes the specifications which apply over the full operating temperature range, otherwise specifications are at t a = 25c. see test circuit for standard test conditions. symbol parameter conditions min typ max units current sense bandwidth 2 mhz r csf resistance filter to sense C l 750 1000 1250 logic i/o characteristics logic output leakage isrc , isnk , tsd v = 15v l 1a logic low output level i = 5ma (note 6) l 0.2 0.4 v logic output current limit 25 ma v enable enable logic threshold l 0.8 1.9 2.5 v i enable enable pin bias current l C1 1 a i supply total supply current v cc , v + and v C , v ee connected l 713 ma i cc v cc supply current v cc , v + and v C , v ee separate l 37 ma i cc(stby) supply current disabled v cc , v + and v C , v ee connected, v enable 0.8v l 0.6 1.5 ma t on turn-on delay (note 7) 10 s t off turn-off delay (note 7) 10 s note 1: stresses beyond those listed under absolute maximum ratings may cause permanent damage to the device. exposure to any absolute maximum rating condition for extended periods may affect device reli- ability and lifetime. note 2: the lt1970ac is guaranteed functional over the operating tem- perature range of C 40c and 85c. note 3: the lt1970ac is guaranteed to meet specified performance from 0c to 70c. the lt1970ac is designed, characterized and expected to meet specified performance from C40c to 85c but is not tested or qa sampled at these temperatures. the lt1970ai is guaranteed to meet speci- fied performance from C40c to 85c. note 4: this parameter is not 100% tested. note 5: full power bandwidth is calculated from slew rate measurements: fpbw = sr/(2 ? ? v p ) note 6: the logic low output level of pin tsd is guaranteed by correlating the output level of pin isrc and pin isnk over temperature. note 7: turn-on and turn-off delay are measured from v enable crossing 1.6v to the out pin at 90% of normal output voltage. note 8: thermal resistance varies depending upon the amount of pc board metal attached to the device. if the maximum dissipation of the package is exceeded, the device will go into thermal shutdown and be protected. warm-up drift v io vs time input bias current vs v cm total supply current vs supply voltage typical performance characteristics time (100ms/div) 1970a g01 0v v os t n 7 % * 7 common mode input voltage (v) C15 C12 C9 C6 C3 0 3 6 9 12 15 input bias current (na) C100 C120 C140 C160 C180 C200 C220 C240 C260 1970a g02 v s = 15v Ci bias +i bias supply voltage (v) 0 C14 total supply current (ma) C10 C6 C2 14 6 4 8 10 18 1970a g03 10 2 C12 C8 C4 12 4 8 0 26 12 14 16 i cc + i v + i ee + i v C 25c 25c C55c C55c 125c 125c lt1970a 5 1970afa typical performance characteristics gain bandwidth vs supply voltage gain vs frequency gain vs frequency with c load output impedance disabled output impedance slew rate vs supply voltage supply current vs supply voltage open-loop gain and phase vs frequency phase margin vs supply voltage supply voltage (v) 246 0 supply current (ma) 0.5 1.5 2.0 2.5 14 16 18 4.5 i v + i v C 1870a g04 1.0 81012 20 3.0 3.5 4.0 t a = 25c v cc = v + = Cv ee = Cv C i vcc i vee frequency (hz) 100 1k 10 open-loop gain (db) phase margin (deg) 20 30 40 50 10k 100k 1m 10m 100m 1970a g05 0 C10 C20 C30 60 70 40 50 60 70 80 30 20 10 0 90 100 phase gain total supply voltage (v) 0 40 phase margin (deg) 42 46 48 50 60 54 8 16 20 36 1970a g06 44 56 58 52 412 24 28 32 a v = C1 r f = r g = 1k t a = 25c v out = v s /2 total supply voltage (v) 0 0 gain bandwidth (mhz) 1 3 4 5 8 16 20 36 1970a g07 2 412 24 28 32 a v = 100 frequency (hz) voltage gain (db) 10 C30 0 C10 C20 10k 1m 10m 1970a g08 C40 100k v s = 5v a v = 1 v s = 15v frequency (hz) voltage gain (db) 10 C30 0 C10 C20 10k 1m 10m 1970a g09 C40 100k 30nf 10nf 1nf 0nf v s = 15v a v = 1 frequency (hz) 1k 10k 0.001 output impedance () 0.1 100 100k 1m 10m 100m 1970a g10 0.01 1 10 v s = 15v a v = 100 a v = 1 a v = 10 frequency (hz) 1k 1 output impedance () 100 100k 600k 10k 100k 1m 10m 100m 1970a g11 10 1k 10k v s = 15v v enable = 0.8v supply voltage (v) 4 slew rate (v/s) 1.7 10 1970a g12 1.4 1.2 68 12 1.1 1.0 1.8 1.6 1.5 1.3 14 16 18 falling rising a v = C1 r f = r g = 1k t a = 25c lt1970a 6 1970afa typical performance characteristics small-signal response, a v = 1 small-signal response, a v = C 1 output overdriven % overshoot vs c load undistorted output swing vs frequency full range current sense transfer curve slew rate vs temperature large-signal response, a v = 1 large-signal response, a v = C 1 temperature (c) C50 C25 0 slew rate (v/s) 1.0 2.5 0 50 75 1970a g13 0.5 2.0 1.5 25 100 125 v s = 15v falling rising 20s/div 1970a g14 0v 10v C10v 5v/div r l = 1k 20s/div r l = 1k c l = 1000pf 1970a g15 0v 10v C10v 5v/div 500ns/div 1970a g16 20mv/div r l = 1k 2s/div 1970a g17 20mv/div r l = 1k c l = 1000pf 200s/div 1970a g18 v out 5v/div 0v 0v v in 5v/div v s = 5v a v = 1 c load (pf) 10 0 overshoot (%) 40 50 60 100 1k 10k 1970a g19 30 20 10 v s = 15v a v = 1 a v = C1 frequency (hz) 100 0 output swing (v p-p ) 20 25 30 1k 10k 100k 1970a g20 15 10 5 v s = 15v a v = C5 1% thd v csnk = v csrc (v) 0 v sense (mv) 100 300 500 4 1970a g21 C100 C300 0 200 400 C200 C400 C500 1 2 3 5 sourcing current sinking current lt1970a 7 1970afa typical performance characteristics safe operating area output stage quiescent current vs supply voltage control stage quiescent current vs supply voltage supply current vs supply voltage in shutdown low level current sense transfer curve logic output level vs sink current (output low) maximum output current vs temperature v csnk = v csrc (mv) 0 v sense (mv) 5 15 25 200 1970a g22 C5 C15 0 10 20 C10 C20 C25 50 25 100 75 150 175 225 125 250 sourcing current sinking current sink current (ma) 0.001 0.4 logic output voltage (v) 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1970a g23 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0.9 1.0 v + = 15v v C = C15v 125c 25c C55c temperature (c) C75 output current (ma) 800 1200 125 1970a g24 400 0 C25 25 75 C50 0 50 100 1600 600 1000 200 1400 v + = 15v v C = C15v source sink supply voltage (v) 0 0 i out peak (ma) 200 400 600 800 10 20 30 40 1970a g25 1000 1200 515 25 35 i out at 10% duty cycle supply voltage (v) 0 output stage current (ma) C10 C6 C2 6 4 8 10 18 1970a g26 10 2 C8 C4 4 8 0 26 12 14 16 i v + i v C 25c 25c C55c C55c 125c 125c supply voltage (v) 0 supply current (ma) C5 C3 C1 3 4 8 10 18 1970a g27 5 1 C4 C2 2 4 0 26 12 14 16 i cc i ee 25c 25c C55c C55c 125c 125c supply voltage (v) 0 total supply current, i cc + i v + (a) 400 500 600 16 1970a g28 300 200 0 4 8 12 218 6 10 14 100 800 700 85c 25c C55c v enable = 0v lt1970a 8 1970afa pin functions v ee (pins 1, 10, 11, 20, 21): minus supply voltage. v ee connects to the substrate of the integrated circuit die, and therefore must always be the most negative voltage ap- plied to the part. decouple v ee to ground with a low esr capacitor. v ee may be a negative voltage or it may equal ground potential. any or all of the v ee pins may be used. unused v ee pins must remain open. v C (pin 2): output stage negative supply. v C may equal v ee or may be smaller in magnitude. only output stage current flows out of v C , all other current flows out of v ee . v C may be used to drive the base/gate of an external power device to boost the amplifiers output current to levels above the rated 500ma of the on-chip output devices. unless used to drive boost transistors, v C should be decoupled to ground with a low esr capacitor. out (pin 3): amplifier output. the out pin provides the force function as part of a kelvin sensed load connection. out is normally connected directly to an external load cur- rent sense resistor and the sense + pin. amplifier feedback is directly connected to the load and the other end of the current sense resistor. the load connection is also wired directly to the sense C pin to monitor the load current. the out pin is current limited to 800ma typical. this current limit protects the output transistor in the event that connections to the external sense resistor are opened or shorted which disables the precision current limit function. sense + (pin 4): positive current sense pin. this lead is normally connected to the driven end of the external sense resistor. sourcing current limit operation is activated when the voltage v sense (v sense + C v sense C) equals 1/10 of the programming control voltage at vc src (pin 13). sink- ing current limit operation is activated when the voltage v sense equals C1/10 of the programming control voltage at vc snk (pin 12). filter (pin 5): current sense filter pin. this pin is normally not used and should be left open or shorted to the sense C pin. the filter pin can be used to adapt the response time of the current sense amplifiers with a 1nf to 100nf capacitor connected to the sense C input. an internal 1k resistor sets the filter time constant. sense C (pin 6): negative current sense pin. this pin is normally connected to the load end of the external sense resistor. sourcing current limit operation is activated when the voltage v sense (v sense + C v sense C) equals 1/10 of the programming control voltage at vc src (pin 13). sink- ing current limit operation is activated when the voltage v sense equals C1/10 of the programming control voltage at vc snk (pin 12). v cc (pin 7): positive supply voltage. all circuitry except the output transistors draw power from v cc . total supply voltage from v cc to v ee must be between 3.5v and 36v. v cc must always be greater than or equal to v + . v cc should always be decoupled to ground with a low esr capacitor. Cin (pin 8): inverting input of amplifier. Cin may be any voltage from v ee C 0.3v to v ee + 36v. Cin and +in remain high impedance at all times to prevent current flow into the inputs when current limit mode is active. care must be taken to ensure that Cin or +in can never go to a volt- age below v ee C 0.3v even during transient conditions or damage to the circuit may result. a schottky diode from v ee to Cin can provide clamping if other elements in the circuit can allow Cin to go below v ee . +in (pin 9): noninverting input of amplifier. +in may be any voltage from v ee C 0.3v to v ee + 36v. Cin and +in remain high impedance at all times to prevent current flow into the inputs when current limit mode is active. care must be taken to ensure that Cin or +in can never go to a volt- age below v ee C 0.3v even during transient conditions or damage to the circuit may result. a schottky diode from v ee to +in can provide clamping if other elements in the circuit can allow + in to go below v ee . lt1970a 9 1970afa pin functions vc snk (pin 12): sink current limit control voltage in- put. the current sink limit amplifier will activate when the sense voltage between sense + and sense C equals C1.0 ? v vcsnk /10. vc snk may be set between v common and v common + 6v. the transfer function between vc snk and v sense is linear except for very small input voltages at vc snk < 60mv. v sense limits at a minimum set point of 4mv typical to ensure that the sink and source limit amplifiers do not try to operate simultaneously. to force zero output current, the enable pin can be taken low. vc src (pin 13): source current limit control voltage input. the current source limit amplifier will activate when the sense voltage between sense + and sense C equals v vcsrc /10. vc src may be set between v common and v common + 6 v . the transfer function between vc src and v sense is linear except for very small input voltages at vc src < 60m v . v sense limits at a minimum set point of 4mv typical to ensure that the sink and source limit amplifiers do not try to operate simultaneously. to force zero output current, the enable pin can be taken low. common (pin 14): control and enable inputs and flag outputs are referenced to the common pin. common may be at any potential between v ee and v cc C 3 v . in typical applications, common is connected to ground. enable (pin 15): enable digital input control. when taken low this ttl-level digital input turns off the ampli- fier output and drops supply current to less than 1ma. use the enable pin to force zero output current. setting vc snk = vc src = 0v allows i out = 4mv/r sense to flow in or out of v out . isrc (pin 16): sourcing current limit digital output flag. isrc is an open-collector digital output. isrc pulls low whenever the sourcing current limit amplifier assumes control of the output. this pin can sink up to 10ma of current. the current limit flag is off when the source current limit is not active. isrc , isnk and tsd may be wired or together if desired. isrc may be left open if this function is not monitored. isnk (pin 17): sinking current limit digital output flag. isnk is an open-collector digital output. isnk pulls low whenever the sinking current limit amplifier assumes control of the output. this pin can sink up to 10ma of current. the current limit flag is off when the source current limit is not active. isrc , isnk and tsd may be wired or together if desired. isnk may be left open if this function is not monitored. tsd (pin 18): thermal shutdown digital output flag. tsd is an open-collector digital output. tsd pulls low whenever the internal thermal shutdown circuit activates, typically at a die temperature of 160c. this pin can sink up to 10ma of output current. the tsd flag is off when the die tem- perature is within normal operating temperatures. isrc , isnk and tsd may be wired or together if desired. isnk may be left open if this function is not monitored. thermal shutdown activation should prompt the user to evaluate electrical loading or thermal environmental conditions. v + (pin 19): output stage positive supply. v + may equal v cc or may be smaller in magnitude. only output stage current flows through v + , all other current flows into v cc . v + may be used to drive the base/gate of an external power device to boost the amplifiers output current to levels above the rated 500ma of the on-chip output devices. unless used to drive boost transistors, v + should be decoupled to ground with a low esr capacitor. exposed pad (pin 21): the exposed backside of the pack- age is electrically connected to the v ee pins on the ic die. the package base should be soldered to a heat spreading pad on the pc board that is electrically connected to v ee . lt1970a 10 1970afa block diagram and test circuit applications information the lt1970a power op amp with precision controllable current limit is a flexible voltage and current source module. the drawing on the front page of this data sheet is representative of the basic application of the circuit, however many alternate uses are possible with proper understanding of the subcircuit capabilities. circuit description main operational amplifier subcircuit block gm1, the 1x unity-gain current buffer and output transistors q1 and q2 form a standard op- erational amplifier. this amplifier has 500ma current output capability and a 3.6mhz gain-bandwidth product. most applications of the lt1970a will use this op amp in the main signal path. all conventional op amp circuit configurations are supported. inverting, noninverting, filter, summation or nonlinear circuits may be implemented in a conventional manner. the output stage includes current limiting at 800ma to protect against fault conditions. the input stage has high differential breakdown of 36v minimum between Cin and +in. no current will flow at the inputs when differential input voltage is present. this feature is important when the precision current sense amplifiers i sink and i src become active. current limit amplifiers amplifier stages i sink and i src are very high transcon- ductance amplifier stages with independently controlled offset voltages. these amplifiers monitor the voltage between input pins sense + and sense C which usually sense the voltage across a small external current sense resistor. the transconductance amplifiers outputs con- nect to the same high impedance node as the main input stage gm1 amplifier. small voltage differences between sense + and sense C , smaller than the user set vc snk /10 3 19 7 9 8 17 16 18 15 12 13 C + C + C + i snk 1970atc r fil 1k r cs 1 r load 1k i src d2 d1 1 = q1 q2 4 5 6 2 gm1 enable common vc src vc src vc snk 5v 15v vc snk isrc isnk Cin v in r g 1k +in enable tsd 14 v cc v + 15v C15v out sense + filter sense C v C v ee 1, 10, 11, 20 10k 10k 10k r f 1k v src + C v snk + C + C lt1970a 11 1970afa applications information and vc src /10 in magnitude, cause the current limit ampli- fiers to decouple from the signal path. this is functionally indicated by diodes d1 and d2 in the block diagram. when the voltage v sense increases in magnitude sufficient to equal or overcome one of the offset voltages vc snk /10 or vc src /10, the appropriate current limit amplifier becomes active and because of its very high transconductance, takes control from the input stage, gm1. the output current is regulated to a value of i out = v sense /r sense = (vc src or vc snk )/(10 ? r sense ). the time required for the current limit amplifiers to take control of the output is typically 4s. linear operation of the current limit sense amplifier occurs with the inputs sense + and sense C ranging be- tween v cc C 1.5v and v ee + 1.5 v . most applications will connect pins sense + and out together, with the load on the opposite side of the external sense resistor and pin sense C . feedback to the inverting input of gm1 should be connected from sense C to C in. ground side sensing of load current may be employed by connecting the load between pins out and sense + . pin sense C would be connected to ground in this instance. load current would be regulated in exactly the same way as the conventional connection. however, voltage mode accuracy would be degraded in this case due to the voltage across r sense . creative applications are possible where pins sense + and sense C monitor a parameter other than load current. the operating principle that at most one of the current limit stages may be active at one time, and that when active, the current limit stages take control of the output from gm1, can be used for many different signals. current limit threshold control buffers input pins vc snk and vc src are used to set the response thresholds of current limit amplifiers i sink and i src . each of these inputs may be independently driven by a voltage of 0v to 5v above the common reference pin. the 0v to 5v input voltage is attenuated by a factor of 10 and applied as an offset to the appropriate current limit amplifier. ac signals may be applied to these pins. the ac bandwidth from a v c pin to the output is typically 2mhz. for proper operation of the lt1970a, these control inputs cannot be left floating. for low v cc supply applications it is important to keep the maximum input control voltages, vc src and vc snk , at least 2.5v below the v cc potential. this ensures linear control of the current limit threshold. reducing the current limit sense resistor value allows high output current from a smaller control voltage which may be necessary if the v cc supply is only 5v. the transfer function from v c to the associated v os is linear from about 0.1v to 5v in, or 10mv to 500mv at the current limit amplifier inputs. an intentional nonlinear- ity is built into the transfer functions at low levels. this nonlinearity ensures that both the sink and source limit amplifiers cannot become active simultaneously. simul- taneous activation of the limit amplifiers could result in uncontrolled outputs. as shown in the typical performance characteristics curves, the control inputs have a hockey stick shape, to keep the minimum limit threshold at 4mv for each limit amplifier. figure 1 illustrates an interesting use of the current sense input pins. here the current limit control ampli- fiers are used to produce a symmetrically limited output voltage swing. instead of monitoring the output current, the output voltage is divided down by a factor of 20 and applied to the sense + input, with the sense C input grounded. when the threshold voltage between sense + and sense C (v clamp /10) is reached, the current limit stage takes control of the output and clamps it a level of 2 ? v clamp . with control inputs vc src and vc snk tied together, a single polarity input voltage sets the same + and C output limit voltage for symmetrical limiting. in this circuit the output will current limit at the built-in fail-safe level of typically 800ma. enable control the enable input pin puts the lt1970a into a low sup- ply current, high impedance output state. the enable pin responds to ttl threshold levels with respect to the common pin. pulling the enable pin low is the best way to force zero current at the output. setting vc snk = vc src = 0v allows the output current to remain as high as 4mv/r sense . lt1970a 12 1970afa applications information figure 2. using the enable pin vc src common v ee vc snk v C filter v + 12v en v cc isnk isrc sense C sense + tsd out +in 5v 0v 5v enable disable v in lt1970a C12v Cin r s 1 r l 10 1970a f02 r g 10k r f 10k en 10v/div 0v v out 1v/div 5s/div 0v v in = 0.5v v in = C0.5v in applications such as circuit testers (ate), it may be preferable to apply a predetermined test voltage with a preset current limit to a test node simultaneously. the enable pin can be used to provide this gating action as shown in figure 2. while the lt1970a is disabled, the load is essentially floating and the input voltage and current limit control voltages can be set to produce the load test levels. enabling the lt1970a then drives the load. the lt1970a enables and disables in just a few microseconds. the actual enable and disable times at the load are a function of the load reactance. operating status flags the lt1970a has three digital output indicators; tsd , isrc and isnk . these outputs are open-collector drivers referred to the common pin. the outputs have 36v ca- pabilities and can sink in excess of 10ma. isrc and isnk indicate activation of the associated current limit amplifier. the tsd output indicates excessive die temperature has caused the circuit to enter thermal shutdown. the three digital outputs may be wire ord together, monitored individually or left open. these outputs do not affect circuit operation, but provide an indication of the present operational status of the chip. figure 1. symmetrical output voltage limiting vc src common v ee vc snk v C filter v + 12v en v cc isnk isrc sense C sense + tsd out +in r3 3k 80mv to 10v C80mv to C10v clamp reached output clamps at 2 w v clamp v clamp ov to 5v v in lt1970a C12v Cin r1 21.5k r l 1970a f01 r2 1.13k r f r g for slow varying output signals, the assertion of a low level at the current limit output flags occurs when the current limit threshold is reached. for fast moving signals where the lt1970a output is moving at the slew limit, typically 1.6v/s, the flag assertion can be somewhat premature at typically 75% of the actual current limit value. the operating status flags are designed to drive leds to provide a visual indication of current limit and thermal conditions. as such, the transition edges to and from the active low state are not particularly sharp and may exhibit some uncertainty. adding some positive feedback to the current limit control inputs helps to sharpen these transitions. with the values shown in figure 3, the current limit thresh- old is reduced by approximately 0.5% when either current limit status flag goes low. with sharp logic transitions, the status outputs can be used in a system control loop to take protective measures when a current limit condition is detected automatically. lt1970a 13 1970afa applications information figure 3. adding positive feedback to sharpen the transition edges of the current limit status flags vc src common v ee vc snk v C filter v + 12v i source flag when current limit is flagged, i limit treshold is reduced by 0.5% i sink flag en v cc isnk isrc sense C sense + tsd out +in v in lt1970a C12v Cin r s 1 r l 1970a f03 r g r f r2 100 r1 100 current limit control voltage (0.1v to 5v) r4 20k r3 20k the current limit status flag can also be used to produce a dramatic change in the current limit value of the ampli- fier. figure 4 illustrates a snap-back current limiting characteristic. in this circuit, a simple resistor network initially sets a high value of current limit (500ma). the circuit operates normally until the signal is large enough to enter current limit. when either current limit flag goes low, the current limit control voltage is reduced by a factor of 10. this then forces a low level of output current (50ma) until the signal is reduced in magnitude. when the load current drops below the lower level, the current limit is then restored to the higher value. this action is similar to a self resettable fuse that trips at dangerously high current levels and resets only when conditions are safe to do so. thermal management minimizing power dissipation the lt1970a can operate with up to 36v total supply volt- age with output currents up to 500ma. the amount of power dissipated in the chip could approach 18w under worst-case conditions. this amount of power will cause die temperature to rise until the circuit enters thermal figure 4. snap-back current limiting vc src common v ee vc snk v C filter v + 12v en v cc isnk isrc sense C sense + tsd out +in v in lt1970a C12v Cin r s 1 r l 1970a f04 r g 10k r f 10k r3 2.55k r2 39.2k r1 54.9k i max 500ma C500ma 50ma 0 i out i low v cc t 3 3 3 |