AN2371
Application note
ST1S06
high frequency synchronous buck converter
Introduction
The ST1S06 is an adjustable current mode pulse width modulation (PWM) synchronous,
step down DC-DC converter with inhibit function. It is optimized for powering all low-voltage
applications and, generally, to replace the high current linear solution when the power
dissipation may cause overheating of the application environment.
It provides up to 1.5 A over an input voltage range of 2.5 V to 5.5 V. A high switching
frequency (1.5 MHz) enables the use of tiny surface-mount components (SMD). In addition
to the resistor divider used to set the output voltage value, only an inductor and two
capacitors are required. Moreover, low output ripple is guaranteed by the current mode
PWM topology and by the use of low series resistance (ESR) SMD ceramic capacitors.
The device is thermal protected and current limited to prevent damage due to accidental
short circuits. It is a complete 1.5 A switching regulator with its internal compensation
eliminating the need for additional components. The constant frequency, current mode,
PWM architecture and stable operation with ceramic capacitors results in a low, predictable
output ripple. To clamp the error amplifier reference voltage, this device includes a Soft Start
control block generating a voltage ramp.
The ST1S06 is available in 6L-DFN 3x3 package
Moreover, an on-chip power on reset of 50 = 100 µs ensures correct performance when
switching on the power supply. Other circuits fitted to the device protection are the Thermal
Shut down block which turn-off the regulator when the junction temperature exceeds 150°C
typically and the Cycle- by-cycle Current Limiting that provides protection against shorted
outputs. Being the ST1S06 an adjustable regulator, the output voltage is determined by an
external resistor divider. The desired value is given by the following equation:
Equation 1
R
V
OUTVFB
Due to the high switching frequency and peak current, it is important to optimize the
application environment by reducing the length of the PCB traces and placing all the
external component near the device. The chosen inductor must not saturate at the peak
current level. Moreover, its value can be selected keeping in account that a large inductor
value increases the efficiency at low output current and reduces output voltage ripple, while
a smaller inductor can be chosen when it is important to reduce the package size and the
total cost of the application.
Finally, the ST1S06 is designed to work properly with X5R or X7R SMD ceramic capacitors
both at the input and at the output. These types of capacitors, thanks to their very low series
resistance (ESR), minimize the output voltage ripple. Other low ESR capacitors values can
be used depending on application requirements without invalidating correct device
performance.
1
1
------ -+=
R
2
March 2008 Rev 2 1/12
www.st.com
Contents AN2371
Contents
1 Selecting components for your application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1 Input capacitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 Output capacitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3 Inductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2 Thermal considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3 Short-circuit protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4 Board usage recommendation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.1 External component selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.2 Inductor selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.3 Capacitors selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5 Bill of materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6 Revision history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2/12
AN2371 List of figures
List of figures
Figure 1. Simplified schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Figure 2. ST1S06 board picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Figure 3. Board layer - top layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Figure 4. Board layer - bottom layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Figure 5. ST1S06 application schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Figure 6. Efficiency vs. inductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Figure 7. Input voltage vs. output voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Figure 8. Efficiency vs. output current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Figure 9. Feedback voltage vs. temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Figure 10. Inhibit voltage vs. input voltage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Figure 11. Switching frequency vs. temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3/12
Selecting components for your application AN2371
1 Selecting components for your application
This section provides information to help you select the best-adapted components for your
application.
Figure 1. Simplified schematic
1.1 Input capacitor
The input capacitor must be able to support the maximum input operating voltage and the
maximum RMS input current.
Since step-down converters draw current from the input in pulses, the input current is
squared and the height of each pulse is equal to the output current. The input capacitor has
to absorb all this switching current that can be up to the load current divided by two (worst
case, with duty cycle of 50%).
For this reason, the quality of these capacitors must be very high to minimize the power
dissipation generated by the internal ESR, thus improving system reliability and efficiency.
The critical parameter is usually the RMS current rating that has to be higher than the RMS
input current. The maximum RMS input current (flowing through the input capacitor) is:
Equation 2
where η is the expected system efficiency, D is the duty cycle and I
This function reaches its maximum value at D = 0.5 and the equivalent RMS current is equal
to I
divided by 2 (considering η = 1).
O
I
RMSIO
D
2
2D
⋅
-----------------–
η
2
D
------ -+⋅=
η
the output DC current.
O
4/12
AN2371 Selecting components for your application
The maximum and minimum duty cycles are:
Equation 3
V
+
D
MAX
OUTVF
------------------------------------ -=
–
V
INMINVSW
Equation 4
V
+
OUTVF
--------------------------------------=
V
–
INMAXVSW
Where V
D
MIN
is the voltage drop across the internal NMOS and VSW the voltage drop across
F
the internal PDMOS. Considering the range DMIN to DMAX, it is possible to determine the
max IRMS following through the input capacitor.
Different types of capacitors can be considered:
● Electrolytic Capacitors. These are the most used because they are the least expensive
and are available with a wide range of RMS current ratings. The only drawback is that,
considering a requested ripple current rating, they are physically larger than other
capacitors.
● Ceramic Capacitors. If available for the requested value and voltage rating, these
capacitors have usually a higher RMS current rating for a given physical dimension
(due to the very low ESR). The drawback is the quite high cost.
● Tantalum Capacitor. Very good tantalum capacitors are coming available, with very low
ESR and small size. The only problem is that they occasionally can burn if subjected to
very high current during the charge. So, it is better to avoid using this type of capacitor
for the input filter of the device. In fact, they can be subject to high surge currents when
connected to the power supply.
1.2 Output capacitor
The output capacitor is very important to satisfy the output voltage ripple requirement. Using
a small inductor value is useful to reduce the size of the choke but increases the current
ripple. So, to reduce the output voltage ripple a low ESR capacitor is required.
1.3 Inductor
The inductor value is very important because it sets the ripple current flowing through output
capacitor. The ripple current is usually set to 20-40% of I
1.5 A. The approximate inductor value is obtained by the following formula:
Equation 5
Where t
For example, with V
µH. The peak current thought the inductor is given by:
Equation 6
is the ON time of the internal switch, given by D • T.
ON
= 3.3 V, VIN = 5 V and ∆IO = 0.45 A, the inductor value is about 2.8
OUT
VINV
----------------------------- -
L
I
–
I∆
PKIO
OUT
, that is 0.3-0.6 A with I
Omax
t
•=
ON
I∆
---- -+=
2
Omax
=
5/12
Thermal considerations AN2371
C
2 Thermal considerations
The dissipated power of the device is related to three different sources:
1. Switch losses due to the not negligible R
Equation 7
P
ON P–
R
DS on()P–
Equation 8
P
ON P–
R
DS on()P–
Where D is the duty cycle of the application. Note that the duty cycle is theoretically
given by the ratio between V
and Vin, but in practical is quite higher than this value
OUT
to compensate the losses of the overall application. Due to this reason, the switch
losses related to the R
increases compared with the ideal case.
DS(on)
2. Switch losses due to its turn-on and off. These are given by the following relation:
Equation 9
t
+()
ONtOFF
------------------------------- -
2
Where t
P
SWVINIOUT
and t
ON
OFF
⋅⋅ ⋅ ⋅⋅⋅=
are the overlap times of the voltage across the power switch and
the current flowing into it during the turn-on and turn-off phases. t
switching time.
3. Quiescent current losses
. These are equal to:
DS(on)
I2⋅
OUT
I2⋅
OUT
F
SWVIN
1D–()⋅=
= I
D⋅=
OUTtSWFSW
SW
is the equivalent
Equation 10
VINIQ⋅=
P
Q
Where I
R
DS(on)
0.16 Ω @ 150 °C. We can consider a value of 0.15 Ω. t
is the quiescent current. Example: VIN = 5 V, V
Q
= 3.3 V, Iout = 1.5 A
OUT
has a typical value of 0.12 Ω @ 25 °C and increases up to a maximum value of
is approximately 20 ns. IQ has
SW
a typical value of 1.5 mA @ Vin = 5V. The overall losses are:
Equation 11
P
TOTRDS on()P–
0.15 1.520.73 0.12 1.52⋅+ 10.73–()51.520109–1.5 10
2
I
⋅
DR
+ I
⋅⋅
OUT
DS on()N–
2
OUT
⋅⋅⋅ ⋅⋅ 51.5103–0.552 W≅⋅⋅++⋅⋅ ⋅=
1D–()⋅ VINI
⋅⋅⋅ VINIQ⋅ =++=
OUTtSWFSW
6
The junction temperature of device will be:
Equation 12
Where T
TJTARth
is the ambient temperature and Rth
A
J-A
P
⋅+=
JA–
TOT
is the thermal resistance junction to
ambient. Considering that the device in mounted on board with a good ground plane has a
thermal resistance junction to ambient (Rth
) of about 55 °C/W and considering an
J-A
ambient temperature of about 85°C.
Equation 13
85 0.552 55 115°
T
J
=⋅+=
6/12
AN2371 Short-circuit protection
3 Short-circuit protection
In Over-current Protection mode, when the peak current reaches the current limit, the device
reduces the t
and, in most of the applications, this is enough to limit the current to I
In any event, in case of a heavy short-circuit at the output (V
application conditions (V
peak could reach values higher than I
current ripple during the ON and OFF phases:
● ON phase
Equation 14
● OFF phase
Equation 15
to its minimum value. In these conditions, the duty cycle is strongly reduced
ON
=0 V) and depending on the
value and parasitic effect of external components), the current
cc
IL∆
I
∆
L
. This can be understood considering the inductor
LIM
– DCRLI )⋅–
V(
INVOUT
------------------------------------------------------------------ -
V
DVOUT
---------------------------------------------------------------- -
L
DCRLI⋅++()
L
OUT
t
⋅=
ON
t
⋅=
OFF
LIM
.
Where V
of the inductor. In short-circuit conditions, V
is the voltage drop across the internal NDMOS and DCRL is the series resistance
D
is negligible. So, during the t
OUT
, the voltage
OFF
applied to the inductor is very small and it can be that the current ripple in this phase does
not compensate for the current ripple during the t
easily measured through the inductor with V
OUT
. The maximum current peak can be
ON
= 0V (short-circuit) and VCC=Vinmax.
In case the application has to sustain the short-circuit condition for a long time, the external
components (mainly inductor and diode) must be selected based on this value.
7/12
Board usage recommendation AN2371
4 Board usage recommendation
The board shown in Figure 2, is provided with Kelvin connection, it means that for each pin
you have two lines available; one used to supply or sink current and the other one used to
perform the needed measurement.
Figure 2. ST1S06 board picture
Figure 3. Board layer - top layer Figure 4. Board layer - bottom layer
The ST1S06 inhibit pin does not have an internal pull-up, meaning that you cannot leave the
inhibit floating.
The board has available two inhibit pins. One is located on the right side of the board and
can be connected to GND or VIN by a jumper in order to turn-off or on the device.
The other inhibit pin, located on the top left of the board, can be used to supply the inhibit
pin with a voltage higher than 1.3 V to turn-on or lower than 0.4 V to turn-off the device.
8/12
AN2371 Board usage recommendation
4.1 External component selection
Figure 5 shows the typical application used to obtain an output voltage of 1.2 V.
Figure 5. ST1S06 application schematic
Vin
4
5
6
C1
4.7µF
VIN_A
VIN_SW
INH
ST1S06
3
SW
R2
50K
VFB
R1
25K
GND
21
L1
3.3µH
Vout=1.2V
C2
22µF
In order to obtain the needed output voltage, we must choose the resistor divider according
to the following formula:
Equation 16
R
V
OUT
V
FB
1
1
------ -+⋅=
R
2
with
V
FB
0.8 V=
The resistor divider used in Figure 5 represents a good compromise in terms of current
consumption and minimum output voltage. For output voltages close to the feedback
voltage, we suggest adding a very small capacitor in parallel with R
in the range of 10 pF.
1
As an alternative, we suggest increasing the current in the resistor divider while decreasing
the R
and R2 values.
1
4.2 Inductor selection
Due to the high (1.5 MHz) frequency it is possible to use very small inductor values. In our
board, we tested the device with an inductor in the 1 µH to 10 µH range with very good
efficiency performance (see below).
As the device can provide an operative output current of 1.5 A, we strongly recommend
using inductors able to manage at least 2.5 A.
9/12
Board usage recommendation AN2371
4.3 Capacitors selection
It is possible to use any X5R or X7R ceramic capacitor
– C1 = 4.7 µF (ceramic) or higher without limit
– C2 = 22 µF (ceramic) or higher. It is possible to use several capacitors in parallel in
order to reduce the equivalent series resistor and improve the ripple present in the
output voltage.
– C3 is not used in the board.
Figure 6. Efficiency vs. inductor Figure 7. Input voltage vs. output voltage
VIN=5 V, V
I
=1.5 A, C
OUT
Figure 8. Efficiency vs. output current Figure 9. Feedback voltage vs. temperature
VIN=3.3 V, V
L=3.3 µH, CIN=4.7 µF, C
=5 V, V
INH
OUT
=22 µF, CIN=4.7 µF
OUT
=1.2 V
OUT
OUT
=3.3 V,
=22 µF
R
LOAD
= 4.7 µF, C
C
IN
VIN=V
=5 V,
INH
I
=10 mA, L=3.3 H,
OUT
CIN=4.7 µF, C
=0.8 Ω, L=3.3 µH,
=22 µF
OUT
=22 µF
OUT
Figure 10. Inhibit voltage vs. input voltage Figure 11. Switching frequency vs.
ON
OFF
I
=1.5 A, L=3.3 µH
OUT
CIN=4.7 µF, C
OUT
=22 µF
10/12
temperature
VIN=V
INH
CIN=4.7 µF, C
=5 V, L=3.3 µH
=22 µF
OUT
AN2371 Bill of materials
5 Bill of materials
Table 1. BOM with most often used components
Name Value Material Brand P/N
C1 4.7 µF
C2 22 µF
C3 Not mounted
3.3 µH TDK RLF7030T-3R3M4R1
L
4.7 µH
6 Revision history
Table 2. Document revision history
Date Revision Changes
19-Jun-2006 1 Initial release.
20-Mar-2008 2
Ceramic TDK C3216X7R1C475K
Ceramic Murata GRM21BR71A255KA12L
Ceramic TDK C3225X7R1C226M
Ceramic Murata GRM32ER61C226KE20L
TDK RLF7030T-4R7M3R4
Coiltronix DR73-4R7
– Modified: Equation 12, 13, 15
– Modified: Figure 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
– Modified: Tabl e 1
11/12
AN2371
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