The Calogic LP2950 and LP2951 are low power voltage
regulators. These devices are an excellent choice for use in
battery-powered applications such as cordless telephones,
radio control systems, and portable computers. The LP2950
and LP2951 features very low quiescent current and very low
dropout volt age (Typ. 50mV at light load and 380mV at 100mA).
This includes a tight initial tolerance of 0.5% typ., extremely
good load and line regula tion 0.05% typ. and very low output
temperature coefficient, making the LP2950/LP2951 useful
as a low-power voltage reference.
The error flag output feature is used as power-on reset for
warning of a low output voltage, due to falling voltage input of
batteries. Another feature is the logic-compatible shutdown
input which enables the regulator to be switched on and off.
The LP2950 is offered in a 3-pin TO-92 package compatible
with other 5V , 3.0V, 3.3V regulators. The LP2951 is als o availabl e
in 8-pin plastic and SO- 8.
The regulator output voltage may be pin-strapped for 5V, 3V
or 3.3 volts or programmed from 1.24 volt to 29 volts with an
external pair of resistors. Use of AS’s design, processing and
testing techniques make our LP2950 and LP2951 superior
over similar product s.
ORDERING INFORMATION
P ARTPACKAGETEMPERATURE RANG E
Note 1: Output or reference voltage temperature coefficients defined as the worst case voltage change divided by the total temperature range.
Note 2: Unless otherwise specified all limits guaranteed for T
versions are feedback tied to 5V tap and output tied to output Sense (V
= 25oC, VIN = 6V, IL=100µA and CL = 1µF. Additional conditions for the 8-pin
J
= 5V) and V
OUT
SHUTDOWN
≤ 0.8V.
Note 3: Regulation is measured at constant junction temperature, using pulse testing with a low duty cycle. Changes in output voltage due to
heating effects are covered under the specification for thermal regulation.
o
Note 4: Line regulation for the LP2951 is tested at 150
C for IL = 1mA. For IL = 100µA and TJ = 125oC, line regulatio n is guara nte ed by desig n to
0.2%. See typical performance characteristics for line regulation versus temperature and load current.
Note 5: Dropout voltage is defined as the input to output differential at which the output voltage drops 100mV below its nominal value measured
at 1V differential at very low values of programmed output voltage, the minimum input supply voltage of 2V (2.3V over temperature) must be
taken input account.
Note 6: V
REF
≤ (VIN - 1V), 2.3 ≤ VIN ≤ 30V, 100µA ≤ IL ≤ 100mA, TJ ≤ T
OUT
JMAX
.
≤ V
Note 7: Comparator thresholds are expressed in terms of a voltage differential at the feedback terminal below the nominal reference voltage
measured at 6V input. To express these thresholds in term s of outp ut vo lta ge chan ge , mu ltip l y by the erro r amp lifier gain = V
(R1+R2)/R2. For example, at a programmed output voltage of 5V, the error output is guaranteed to go low when the output drops by 95mV x
5V/1.235 = 384mV. Thresho lds remain consta nt as a percent of V
OUT
as V
is varied, with the dropout warning occurring at typically 5% below
• The stability of the LP2950/LP2951 requires a 1.0µF or
greater capacitor between output and ground. Oscillation
could occur without this capacitor. Most types of tantalum
or aluminum electrolytic are acceptable. For operations
below -25
many aluminum types have electrolytes that freeze at about
-30
frequency about 500kHz are the m ost imp orta nt param eter s
in the value of the capacitor. The capacitors value may be
increased without limit .
• At lower values of output current, less output capacitance is
required for stability. For currents below 10mA the value of
the capacitor can be reduced to 0.33µF and 0.1µF for 1mA.
More output capacitance is needed for the 8-pin version at
voltages below 5V since it runs the error amplifier at lower
gain.
• At worst case 3.3µF or greater must be used for the
condition of 100mA load at 1.23V output.
• The LP2950, unlike other low dropout regulators will remain
stable and in regulation with no load in addition to the
internal voltage divider. This feature is especially important
in applications l ike CMOS RAM keep-alive ci rcuits. When
setting the output voltage of the LP2951 version with
external resistors, a minimum load of 1µA is recommended.
• I f there is more than 10 inches of wire between the input
and the AC fi lter capacitor or if a battery is used as the input
then a 1µA tantalum or aluminum electrolytic capacitor
should be placed from the input to the ground.
• Instability can occur if there is a stray capacitance to the
LP2951 feedback terminal (pin 7). This could cause more
problems when using a higher value of external resistors to
set the output voltage. This problem can be eliminated by
adding a 100pF capacitor between output and feedback
and increasing the ou tput capacitor to at least 3.3 µF.
ERROR DETECTION COMPARAT O R OUTPUT
The Comparator produces a logic low output whenever the
LP2951 output falls out of regulatio n by mo re than ar ou nd 5% .
This occurs at approximately 60mV offset divided by the
1.235 reference voltage. This trip level remains 5% below
normal regardless of the programmed output voltage of the
regulator. Figure 1 shows the timing diagram depicting the
ERROR signal and the regulator output voltage as the
LP2951 input is ramped up and down. The ERROR signal
becomes low at around 1.3V input, and goes high around 5V
input (in put v oltage at which V
dropout voltage is load dependent, the input voltage trip point
(around 5V) will vary w ith the load cur rent . The outpu t vo ltag e
trip point (app rox. 4.75V) does no t vary with load.
o
C a solid tantalum is recommended since the
o
C. The ESR of about 5Ω or less and resonant
= 4.75). Sinc e the LP2951’s
OUT
CORPORATION
The error comparator has an open-collector output which
requires an external pullup resistor. Depending on the sy stem
requirements the resistor may be returned to 5V output or
other supply voltage. In determining the value of this resistor,
note that the output is rated to sink 400µA, this value adds to
battery drain in a low battery condition. Suggested values
range from 100K to 1MΩ. If the output is unused this resistor
is not required.
PROGRAMMING THE OUTPUT VOLTAGE OF LP2951
The LP2951 may be pin-strapped for 5V using its internal
voltage divider by tying Pin 1 (outpu t) to Pin 2 (sense) and Pin
7 (feedback) to Pin 6 (5V Tap). Also, i t may be programmed
for any output voltage between its 1.235V reference and its
30V maximum rating. As seen in Figure 2, an external pair of
resistors is requir ed.
Refer to the equation below for the program ming of the out put
voltage:
V
The V
REF
= V
OUT
is 1.235 and IFB is the feedback bias current,
× (1 + R1\R2) + IFBR
REF
1
nominally -20nA. The minimum recomme nded load curren t of
1µA forces an upper limit of 1.2MΩ on value of R
is presented the I
produces an error of typically 2% in V
FB
. If no load
2
OUT
which may be eliminate d at room te m per at ur e by trim m ing R1.
To improve the accuracy choose the value of R2 = 100k this
reduces the error by 0.17% and increases the resistor
program current by 12µA. Since the LP2951 typically draws
60µA at no l oad with Pin 2 open-circuited this is a small price
to pay .
REDUCING OUTPUT NOISE
It may be an advantage to reduce the AC noise present at the
output. One way is to reduce the regulator bandwidth by
increasing the size of the output capacitor. This is the only
way that noise can be reduced on the lead 3 of LP2950, but is
relatively inefficient, as increasing the capacitor from 1µF to
220µF only decreases the noise from 430µV to 160µVrms for
a 100kHz bandwidth at 5V output .
Noise could also be reduced fourfold by a bypass capacitor
across R
, since it reduces the high frequency gain from 4 to
1
unity.
C
≅ 1/2πR1 × 200Hz
BYPASS
or choose 0.01µF. When doing this, the output capacit or m ust
be increased to 3.3µF to maintain stability. These changes
reduce the output noise from 430µV to 100µVrms for a
100kHz bandwidth at 5V output. With the bypass capacitor
added, noise no longer scales with output voltage so that
improveme nt s are m ore dr amat ic at hig her voltages .