
ISL8510
LDO Current Limit
The ISL8510 monitors and controls the pass transistor ’s
gate voltage to limit output current. The current limit for LDO
is 700mA typical. The output can be shorted to ground
without damaging the part due to the current limit and
thermal protection features.
Undervoltage Protection
If the voltage detected on the buck regulator FB pin falls 15%
below the internal reference voltage, the undervoltage fault
condition flag is set. The fault protection circuitry checks the
overcurrent flag. If the overcurrent flag is set, the fault
monitor latches off the internal power MOSFET. The
regulator will not restart until either a POR restart or the
EN_PWM pin is cycled.
If the overcurrent flag is not set, an internal undervoltage
counter is set to 1. The fault controller continues to monitor
the FB pin for 4 clock cycles. If the fault condition persists,
the regulator is shutdown. The controller enters a recovery
mode similar to the overcurrent hiccup mode. No action is
taken for 4 soft-start cycles and the internal undervoltage
counter and fault condition flag are reset. A normal soft-start
cycle is attempted and normal operation continues if the fault
condition has cleared. If the undervoltage counter overflows
during soft-start, the converter is shut down and this hiccup
mode operation repeats.
Undervoltage protection only applies to the buck regulator
output; the LDO output does not have undervoltage
protection.
Thermal Overload Protection
Thermal overload protection limits total power dissipation in
the ISL8510. There are three sensors on the chip to monitor
the junction temperature of the internal LDO, PWM switching
power N-Channel MOSFET, and LDO pass transistors.
When the junction temperature (T J ) of any of the three
sensors exceeds +150°C, the thermal sensor sends a signal
to the fault monitor.
The fault monitor commands the buck regulator to shut down
and the LDO to turn off the pass transistor. The buck
regulator soft-starts and the LDO pass transistor turn on
again after the IC’s junction temperature cools by +20°C.
The buck regulator experiences hiccup mode operation and
the LDO a pulsed output during continuous thermal overload
conditions. For continuous operation, do not exceed the
+125°C junction temperature rating.
Low Dropout Regulator
The regulator consists of a 0.6V reference, error amplifier,
MOSFET driver, P-Channel pass transistor, and dual-mode
comparator. The voltage is set by means of an external
resistor divider on the FB_LDO pin. The 0.6V band gap
reference is connected to the error amplifier ’s inverting input.
The error amplifier compares this reference to the selected
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feedback voltage and amplifies the difference. The MOSFET
driver reads the error signal and applies the appropriate
drive to the P-Channel pass transistor. If the feedback
voltage is lower than the reference voltage, the pass
transistor gate is pulled lower, allowing more current to pass
and increasing the output voltage. If the feedback voltage is
higher than the reference voltage, the pass transistor gate is
driven higher, allowing less current to pass to the output.
Internal P-Channel Pass Transistor
The LDO regulator in the ISL8510 feature a typical 0.33 Ω
r DS(ON) P-Channel MOSFET pass transistor. This provides
several advantages over similar designs using PNP bipolar
pass transistors. The P-Channel MOSFET requires no base
drive, which reduces quiescent current considerably. PNP
based regulators waste considerable current in dropout
when the pass transistor saturates. They also use high base
drive currents under large loads. The ISL8510 does not have
these drawbacks.
Integrator Circuitry
The ISL8510 uses external compensation capacitors for
minimizing load and line regulation errors and for lowering
output noise. When the output voltage shifts due to varying
load current or input voltage, the integrator capacitor voltage
is raised or lowered to compensate for the systematic offset
at the error amplifier. Compensation is limited to ±5% to
minimize transient overshoot when the device goes out of
dropout, current limit, or thermal shutdown. Place a 33nF
capacitor to GND from CC1 and CC2.
Application Guidelines
Operating Frequency
The ISL8510 operates at a fixed switching frequency of
500kHz.
LDO Regulator Capacitor Selection
Capacitors are required at the ISL8510 LDO Regulators’
input and output for stable operation over the entire load
range and the full temperature range. Use a >1μF capacitor
at the input of LDO Regulator, VIN_LDO pin. The input
capacitor lowers the source impedance of the input supply.
Larger capacitor values and lower ESR provide better PSRR
and line transient response. The input capacitor must be
located at a distance of not more then 0.5 inches from the
VIN_LDO pin of the IC and returned to a clean analog
ground. Any good quality ceramic capacitor can be used as
an input capacitor.
The output capacitors used in LDO regulator are used to
provide dynamic load current. The amount of capacitance
and type of capacitor should be chosen with this criteria in
mind. The output capacitor selected must meet the
requirements of minimum amount of capacitance and ESR
for LDO. The ISL8510 is specifically designed to work with
small ceramic output capacitors. The output capacitor ’s ESR
affects stability and output noise. Use an output capacitor
FN6516.2
December 15, 2008