LTC1929 LINER [Linear Technology], LTC1929 Datasheet - Page 20

• Manufacturer Part Number: LTC1929
• Description: 2-Phase, High Efficiency, Synchronous Step-Down Switching Regulator
• Manufacturer: LINER [Linear Technology]

LTC1929
APPLICATIO S I FOR ATIO
The diagram in Figure 9 illustrates all branch currents in a
2-phase switching regulator. It becomes very clear after
studying the current waveforms why it is critical to keep
the high-switching-current paths to a small physical size.
High electric and magnetic fields will radiate from these
“loops” just as radio stations transmit signals. The output
capacitor ground should return to the negative terminal of
the input capacitor and not share a common ground path
with any switched current paths. The left half of the circuit
gives rise to the “noise” generated by a switching regula-
tor. The ground terminations of the sychronous MOSFETs
and Schottky diodes should return to the bottom plate(s)
of the input capacitor(s) with a short isolated PC trace
since very high switched currents are present. A separate
isolated path from the bottom plate(s) of the input
capacitor(s) should be used to tie in the IC power ground
pin (PGND) and the signal ground pin (SGND). This
technique keeps inherent signals generated by high cur-
rent pulses from taking alternate current paths that have
finite impedances during the total period of the switching
regulator. External OPTI-LOOP compensation allows over-
compensation for PC layouts which are not optimized but
this is not the recommended design procedure.
Simplified Visual Explanation of How a 2-Phase
Controller Reduces Both Input and Output RMS Ripple
Current
A multiphase power supply significantly reduces the
amount of ripple current in both the input and output
capacitors. The RMS input ripple current is divided by, and
the effective ripple frequency is multiplied up by the
number of phases used (assuming that the input voltage
is greater than the number of phases used times the output
voltage). The output ripple amplitude is also reduced by,
and the effective ripple frequency is increased by the
number of phases used. Figure 10 graphically illustrates
the principle.
The worst-case RMS ripple current for a single stage
design peaks at twice the value of the output voltage . The
worst-case RMS ripple current for a two stage design
results in peaks at 1/4 and 3/4 of input voltage. When the
20
U
U
W
U
RMS current is calculated, higher effective duty factor
results and the peak current levels are divided as long as
the currents in each stage are balanced. Refer to Applica-
tion Note 19 for a detailed description of how to calculate
RMS current for the single stage switching regulator.
Figures 3 and 4 help to illustrate how the input and output
currents are reduced by using an additional phase. The
input current peaks drop in half and the frequency is
doubled for this 2-phase converter. The input capacity
requirement is thus reduced theoretically by a factor of
four! Ceramic input capacitors with their unbeatably low
ESR characteristics can be used.
Figure 4 illustrates the RMS input current drawn from the
input capacitance vs the duty cycle as determined by the
ratio of input and output voltage. The peak input RMS
current level of the single phase system is reduced by 50%
in a 2-phase solution due to the current splitting between
the two stages.
An interesting result of the 2-phase solution is that the V
which produces worst-case ripple current for the input
capacitor, V
duces zero input current ripple in the 2-phase design.
The output ripple current is reduced significantly when
compared to the single phase solution using the same
inductance value because the V
term from the stage that has its bottom MOSFET on
subtracts current from the (V
resulting from the stage which has its top MOSFET on. The
output ripple current is:
where D is duty factor.
The input and output ripple frequency is increased by the
number of stages used, reducing the output capacity
requirements. When V
as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, very low input and output
ripple currents result.
I
RIPPLE
OUT
2
V
= V
fL
OUT
IN
/2, in the single phase design pro-
IN
1 2
is approximately equal to 2(V
1 2
D
IN
D
- V
1
OUT
OUT
1
D
/L discharge current
)/L charging current
OUT
IN
)