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High-side current monitor operates at high voltage

Greg Sutterlin and Brian Whitaker, Maxim Integrated Products, Sunnyvale, CA
R3 bias current is 500 A, but he simplest technique 100m the zener diodes di/dt for measuring current in FROM SUPPLY (100 TO 250V) slope goes negative below an actuator or a motor is 300 A, a condition that to monitor the ground curcan introduce noise or rent with a resistive element 1 RS+ V+ 8 even oscillation. The minbetween the load and the IC1 2 RS PG 7 imum specified bias300 ground. Because the device MAX4172 D1 3 NC OUT 6 to 500 Asets the maxand its associated electronics 24V ZENER imum value of R1, and the share a ground potential, 4 NC GND 5 Q1 maximum allowed power you need to amplify only the 300V PNP ZETEX dissipation for R1 and D1 ground-current signal. This FMMT597 Q2 combined sets the miniapproach, however, does not 300V PNP mum value for R1. Thus, detect device short circuits ZETEX FMMT597 for supply rails of 100 to to ground, which can over250V, a reasonable R1 valload the high-side drive cirOUTPUT R1 ue is 150 to 225 k150 cuitry. To avoid such poten(10 mV/mA) 150k 17.5V FULL-SCALE R2 k in this case. tial fault conditions, you 10k Q1 and R1 form a shunt should use a high-side curregulator. The design uses rent monitor to deFigure 1 Q1 because of its maxitect short circuits mum VCE rating of and similar faults that can This circuit enables a 36V current-monitoring IC to operate at 300V, high gain of occur following the current common-mode voltages as high as 130V. 100V/V at 1 mA, and its monitor. High-side current monitoring has advantages, but it finds voltage level, subject to limitations of the ability to handle 500 mW of power. Outlimited use because of the dearth of de- external components. (The components put current is proportional to the voltage difference, VSENSE, between RS and vices able to handle the high voltage lev- in Figure 1 can accommodate 130V.) els24V to many hundreds of volts The accuracy of the circuit is better RS: IOUTgmVSENSE, where VSENSE prevalent in the industry. Off-the-shelf than 1% for load currents greater than RSENSEILOAD. Transconductance for IC1 is devices can operate to 32 and 76V, but 30 mA. IC1s current-output stage allows 10 mA/V. If the maximum monitored even 76V is insufficient for many appli- easy implementation of the current mir- load current, ILOAD, is 4A, and RSENSE is10 cations. Figure 1 shows a simple way to ror needed for level-shifting the output m, then the maximum IOUT is 10 adapt a standard 32V device for use at any signal to ground. Thus, you can easily mA/V10 m4A400 A. Thus, IOUT monitor the ground-referenced signal by is proportional to ILOAD, and the maxiusing an A/D converter or a comparator. mum expected output is 400 A. For apThe circuit monitors load current in the plications of wide dynamic range in High-side current monitor operates presence of a 130V-dc common-mode which VSENSE can approach the absolute at high voltage................................................65 level. You must ensure that you do not vi- maximum rating of the differential pair, Digital potentiometers enable olate IC1s absolute maximum rating 700 mV, you should protect the sense programmable biquadratic filter................66 36V with respect to the ground pinfor pins by adding series resistors between High-current supply uses the RS, RS, and V pins. For that RSENSE and RS and between RSENSE and standard three-terminal regulator ............68 purpose, zener diode D1 limits the volt- RS. You should select the resistor valages between the V, RS, and GND ues to limit input currents to within 10 Synchronous flyback circuit provides pins to 24V. Thus, the typical voltage be- mA when the RS to RS difference is high-efficiency conversion............................70 tween these pins is 24V minus the VBE of 700 mV. Publish your Design Idea in EDN. See the Q1, or 23.3V. The zener-diode current for IOUT is now proportional to ILOAD, but, Whats Up section at www.edn.com. this circuit is approximately 700 A. for easy monitoring, you must levelNote that the manufacturers suggested shift it to ground by using the Q1-Q2

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maximum VCE rating of 240V. The device in Figure 1 is rated at 300V. VOUT now equals IOUTR2. (The actual output current at Q2s collector is slightly less, because of Q2s base current.) At ILOAD4A, VOUT400 A10 k4V. You can accommodate designs with lower or higher operating voltages by properly selecting Q1, Q2, and the base resistor, R1.

current mirror. Q2s high gain forces the collector current to closely approximate the emitter current which, when you apply it to R2, produces a measurable voltage at VOUT. As with Q1, Q2 needs a

Digital potentiometers enable programmable biquadratic filter

Deborah Mancuso and Donald Schelle, Maxim Integrated Products, Sunnyvale, CA
f the many types of analog filters 100 available to designers, few allow easy 90 adjustments of the filter parameters. 80 The biquadratic, or biquad, filter is an ex70 ception, however.You can change that fil60 ters corner frequency (0), Q, and gain 50 (H) by adjusting the values of three resisTHD+N tors. For that purpose, the lowpass biquad (%) 40 circuit of Figure 1 includes three digital 30 potentiometers configured as variable re20 sistors in the feedback loops. Altering the 10 settings of these potentiometers changes 0 the filter characteristics. The circuit pro10 duces corner frequencies of 5.5 to 55 kHz; Q values of 0.055 to 5.5, depending on the selected corner frequency; and gain of 1 (a) to 100, also depending on the selected corner frequency. To tune the biFigure 2 quad filter, you set a corner fre-

0 SWITCHEDCAPACITORFILTER IC SWITCHEDCAPACITORFILTER IC

20

40

60 GAIN (dB) 80 BIQUAD BIQUAD 100

120
0 10 00 10 0 00 00 00 ,0 ,0 0, 00 10 0 10 1, FREQUENCY (Hz) 10 0 10 00 10 0 00 00 00 ,0 ,0 0, 00 10 0 10 1, FREQUENCY (Hz)

(b)

Noise (a) and low bandwidth (b) plague switched-capacitor filters. The biquad filter of Figure 1 maintains less than 1% THDN over the range 20 Hz to 200 kHz.
C3 15V 1 F 5V C4 1 F

Figure 1
R2 C7 15V 1 F 5V C8 1 F 1k 15V + C18 47 F 16V SCLK CSO DIN + C20 47 F 16V 15V R6 10k 15V 5V + C19 47 F 16V

C5 1 F

5V

15V

C6 1 F

6 10 VDD VCC 1 H SCLK 3 8 W IC2 CS 2 9 DIN L 7 GND VSS 4 5

SCLK CSF DIN

SCLK CSH DIN

10 6 VCC VDD 7 H 1 SCLK 8 3 CS IC W 3 2 9 DIN L C11 VSS 1 F 5 GND 4 MAX5438

R1 1k C1 1000 pF 15V C12 1 F 7 IC4 4 6 8 MAX437

6 10 VDD VCC 7 1 H SCLK 3 8 W IC1 CS 2 9 DIN L GND VSS 4 5

MAX5438 C10 1 F

15V

MAX5438 C9 1 F

C2 1000 pF

15V

C14 1 F R5 10k

C16 1 F

15V VIN

R3 1k

2 3 + 1

15V R 4 330k

2 3 1 +

7 IC5 6 8 MAX437 C15 1 F

7 IC6 6 8 MAX437 C17 1 F VOUT

3 + 1

C13 1 F 15V 15V

15V

Digital potentiometers adjust the corner frequency, Q, and gain for this biquad analog filter.

66 edn | July 22, 2004

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C1 R1 INPUT R3
_

R2

quency 0 in radians per second by adjusting digital potentiometer IC2 via the SPI interface. In the same fashion, set Q by adjusting IC1 and gain by adjusting IC3. Note that adjusting Q does not affect the corner-frequency setting, and a gain adjustment does not affect the settings of Q or the corner frequency. The three equations below demonstrate this orthogonal tuning for the biquad filter:

C2 R6 R4
_ +

R5

_ +

BP R10 R7 R8 NOTES: AP=ALLPASS. BP=BANDPASS. BS=BANDSTOP. HP=HIGHPASS. LP=LOWPASS. R9 BS AP

LP

_ +

HP

The standard biquad filter circuit produces lowpass and bandpass responses, and the addition of a fourth op amp produces a highpass response. Removing R10 and adjusting various component values produce a notch or bandstop response or an allpass response.

Figure 3

where RIC1, RIC2, and RIC3 are the input resistances of IC1, IC2, and IC3, respectively. The circuit in Figure 1 is substantially more complex than the switched-capacitor approach usually integrated into an IC, but the switching noise and low bandwidth of a switched-capacitor filter are unacceptable in many applications (Figure 2). A biquad filter offers better frequency and noise performance in ex-

change for more pc-board real estate. And, because monolithic switched-capacitor filters are usually expensive, the biquad circuit of Figure 1 may be a costcompetitive solution. Many filter applications require higher supply voltages, bipolar operation, or both, so the single 5V supply associated with most switched-capacitor filters may be inadequate for a giv-

en application.You can implement 15V voltage rails using digital potentiometers and high-voltage op amps, such as the MAX5438 and MAX437. The biquad filter is not limited to the lowpass response. You can implement highpass, bandpass, bandstop, and allpass filters by adding a fourth op amp to selected terminals of the original lowpass design (Figure 3).

High-current supply uses standard three-terminal regulator

I Hakki Cavdar, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey

oltage-regulator design three-terminal regulators. These VOUT for high output currents 78xx regulators each handle 1A and IC1 IC2 D2 D1 can be a critical and diffiare available in 5, 6, 8, 9, 10,12, 15, 78L12 78L12 VOUT VOUT VIN cult task. Although voltage reg18, and 24V versions. In Figure 1, IN OUT IN OUT ulators with 1A maximum outtwo 7812 regulators are connected COM COM C1 RL C2 put current are simple to design, in parallel. + C thanks to 78xx three-terminal The two 7812s operate indevoltage regulators, at output pendently, and each delivers a VCOM currents higher than 1A output, maximum of 1A. D1 and D2 separate and isolate the two regulators. problems arise. For high D Figure 1 The output voltage is the regulaoutput currents, voltage tors nominal output minus a regulators usually use parallelTwo 7812s connect in parallel to double the available output diode drop: VOUTVREGVD. The connected power transistors. current to 2A. output voltage of the regulators is The design of the operating points of these power transistors is a dif- power resistors dissipate high power, so the specified value if the COM pin conficult task, because the transistors need the design needs heat-sinking. This Design nects to ground (0V). To increase the critical power resistances at the collector Idea implements a simple voltage regula- output voltage of the circuit in Figure 1 and the emitter to set the dc operating tor that delivers high output current. The to the desired value, the COM pin must point. Both the power transistors and the basic idea is to parallel-connect multiple connect to a voltage point one diode drop
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68 edn | July 22, 2004

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VOUT IC1 78L12 D1 IC2 78L12 D2 IC20 78L12 D20 VOUT RL C20

above ground. C, C1, and C2 are filter caVOUT VOUT VIN IN OUT IN OUT IN OUT pacitors. Figure 2 shows a voltage reguCOM COM COM C2 C1 lator that uses 20 7812s and delivers 20A. + All the diodes are 1N4007 types. C C47,000 F, and all the numbered caVCOM pacitors have a value of 4700 F. The 7812s all connect to a heat sink D Figure 2 that a small fan ventilates. You can expand the concept of this Design Idea to hundreds of amperes. A total of 20 7812 regulators extend the capability of Figure 1s circuit to 20A.

Synchronous flyback circuit provides high-efficiency conversion

Wayne Rewinkel, National Semiconductor, Phoenix, AZ
uck regulators are usually the first choice when you design nonisolated step-down regulators unless the ratio of VIN to VOUT is greater than 10, the input voltage is high, or both. Low duty cycle can be problematic for FET drivers and cause current-mode control loops to lose control. Efficiency can fall dramatically to 60 to 70% at low VOUT and current of only a few amps. The efficiency loss arises from switching losses, because the upper switch always sees full load current. Figure 1 presents a cir-

cuit that looks a little like a buck regulator and uses a buck controller but is actually a voltage-mode, synchronous flyback circuit. The application it targets needs 3.3V at 2A with an efficiency requirement of greater than 85% and an input-voltage range of 36 to 60V. This one appeared the most promising of several evaluated technologies because of efficiency and cost advantages over buck and asynchronous-flyback approaches. The LM2743 controller derives its power after start-up from the MMBTA06

transistor and 6.2V zener diode and from a bootstrap winding. Its EN (enable) input is a comparator for UVL (undervoltage lockout) to prevent start-up below 28V. The controller drives a synchronous switch that provides lower loss than a Schottky diode and uses the lower FETs on-resistance as the sense resistor for current limiting. The 150-k resistor at Pin 11 produces a switching frequency of 250 kHz. The flyback transformer, designed by Pulse Engineering (www.pulseengineering.com), is a lowVIN 36 TO 80V

Figure 1

1N4148

10 4 1 F

1N4148

1k 1 F

MMBTA06

1k 3 49.9k PA0791 LP NP=3 50 H 2 NS=1 5 9 10 NS=1 6 7

100 nF 100k

6.2V V PGD 7 ISEN 6 PWGD 5 V5 4 SGND LM2743MTC ON=1.08V EAO 8 0.1 F 150k 120 pF 300k 10k SS 9 FB 10 FREQ 11 EN 12 PGND 13 HG 14 3 PGND 2 LG 1 BOOT

3010

RSNP 100 Si4850 CSNP 100 pF RSNS 20 CSNS 470 pF Si4848

10 F 6V

LOUT 330 nH 1813 VOUT 3.3V, 2A 470 F 4V

1k

0.1 F 3k 4.53k

This synchronous flyback circuit provides high efficiency with wide input/output ratios.

70 edn | July 22, 2004

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5 0.90 cost unit that provides 50 H of primary inductance and a 3-to-1 turns ratio in a 13L15W11H-mm footprint. Its 34 0.80 to-1 turns ratio prevents the primary switch from seeing full output current, 3 0.70 v60 resulting in less switching loss than that v48 x x v30 of a buck regulator. The small LC filter at WATTS EFFICIENCY x x LOSS60 x x the output allows a single 10-F ceramx LOSS48 2 0.60 LOSS30 x x ic capacitor to handle the high rms ripple current, and a low-cost aluminum x x 1 0.50 capacitor also removes ripple and buffers x x x load transients. x x Figure 2 plots measured data at three 0 0.40 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 input voltages and several output curIOUT (A) rents for the circuit in Figure 1. EfF i g u r e 2 ficiency is displayed on the left for The circuit in Figure 1 provides more than 85% efficiency the three uppermost curves, and the three over a wide range of output currents. lower curves show total loss in watts measured by the scale on the right. VOUT is important. You obtain best perform- nous flyback circuit applies to a wider ripple measured 6 mV p-p at no load, ris- ance with four or more layers, separate power range; you can easily extend it to ing to 20 mV p-p at 4A. The rapid fall in power and ground planes, and short and multiple outputs by adding secondary efficiency at 3.5A comes from current wide gate-drive connections. Although windings. The additional outputs can use limiting. As with any switcher and espe- the circuit of Figure 1 targets use in a 7W, either diode rectifiers or additional FETs cially for flyback designs, pc-board layout single-output requirement, this synchro- driven from the low-gate driver.

72 edn | July 22, 2004

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