This application note describes the characteristics and features of a 65 W demonstration
board (EVL6566B-65W-QR), tailored to the specifications of a typical hi-end portable
computer power supply. The peculiarities of this design are the very high average efficiency
of about 90%, without synchronous rectification, and very low no-load consumption of 100
mW at 230 Vac. The result is that this converter is more than compliant with Energy Star
eligibility criteria (EPA rev. 2.0 EPS).
Figure 1.EVL6566B-65W-QR: 65 W adapter demonstration board
●Output voltage: 19 V @ 3.42 A continuous operation
●Mains harmonics: Acc. to EN61000-3-2 Class-D or JEITA-MITI Class-D
●Standby mains consumption: <100 mW @ 230 Vac
●Average efficiency: better than 89% without synchronous rectification
●EMI: according to EN55022-Class-B
●Safety: according to EN60950
●Dimensions: 58x121 mm, 25 mm maximum component height
●PCB: single side, 35 µm, CEM-1, Mixed PTH/SMT
1.1 Power stage
The Flyback converter implements the new ST dedicated current mode L6566B (U2)
controller operating in quasi-resonant mode and detecting the transformer demagnetization
through the ZCD (#11) pin.
R23 on the OSC (#13) pin sets the maximum switching frequency at about 165 kHz.
Because the maximum switching frequency is imposed, the converter operates in
discontinuous conduction mode during light load operation. The L6566B valley skipping
function is capable of turning-on the MOSFET in valley switching even in DCM, therefore
reducing switching losses.
The MOSFET is a standard 800 V, STF7NM80, housed in a TO-220FP package, needing
just a small heat sink. The transformer is a layer type, using a standard ferrite size EER28L,
designed according to EN60950 and manufactured by MAGNETICA.
The flyback reflected voltage is ~150 V, providing enough room for the leakage inductance
voltage spike with a still margin for reliability of the MOSFET. The D5 rectifier and the D4
Transil clamp the peak of the leakage inductance voltage spike at MOSFET turn-off. A small
capacitance in parallel with D4 smooth leakage inductance spikes, reducing EMI and Transil
dissipation.
The output rectifiers are two STPS20H100CFP dual centre tap Schottky diodes (D2 and D3)
in parallel, housed in TO-220FP. They have been selected according to the maximum
reverse voltage, forward voltage drop, and power dissipation. The snubber, made up of R5,
R7 and C12, dampens the oscillation produced by the diode capacitance and the leakage
inductance.
A small LC filter has been added on the output, filtering the high frequency ripple and
spikes.
D6, R4, R5, R8, R9, Q2 and Q3 implement an output voltage “fast discharge” circuit, quickly
discharging the output capacitors when the converter is turned off. It has been implemented
to quickly decrease the residual output voltage after the converter is turned off at no-load.
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Main characteristics and circuit descriptionAN3089
1.2 Startup
The L6566B flyback controller pin #1 (HV) is directly connected to the bulk capacitor, and at
startup an internal high voltage current source charges C9 until the L6566B turn-on voltage
threshold is reached, then the high voltage current source is automatically switched off. As
the IC starts switching it is initially supplied by the C9, then the transformer auxiliary winding
(pins 5-6) provides the voltage to power the IC.
Because the L6566B integrated HV startup circuit is turned off, and therefore not dissipative
during normal operation, it gives a significant contribution to power consumption reduction
when the power supply operates at light load.
1.3 Brown-out protection
Brown-out protection prevents the circuit from working with abnormal mains levels. It can be
easily achieved using the AC_OK controller pin (#16).
This feature is typically implemented sensing the bulk voltage through a resistor divider,
however on this board a different solution has been applied. The mains voltage is sensed
before the bridge rectifier. This has two main achievements: it is less dissipative and it
allows faster restart in case of latching, because there is no need to wait for the bulk
capacitor discharge.
If the input voltage is below 90 Vac, the startup of the circuit is inhibited, while the turn-off
voltage has been set at 80 Vac. The internal comparator has in fact a current hysteresis
allowing to set the converter turn-on and turn-off voltage independently. R19 sets the
relation between the comparator hysteresis and the actual voltage hysteresis.
C13, R20 and R21 set the discharging time constant of the AC_OK voltage. This value must
be dimensioned properly, taking two main points into account:
●The voltage must keep up during the mains missing cycle to avoid the converter
shutting down during mains dip.
●In the case of converter switch-off, the voltage must go down promptly to avoid an
operation with improper input voltage.
Basically, the ideal dimensioning would allow C13 to discharge slightly faster than the bulk
capacitor in the case of switch-off at nominal load.
1.4 Output regulation feedback loop
Output regulation is done by means of two control loops, voltage and current, working
alternatively. A dedicated control IC, the TSM1014 (U3), has been used. It integrates two
operational amplifiers (used as error amplifiers) and a precise voltage reference. The output
signal of the error amplifiers drives an SFH617A-4 (U1) optocoupler to achieve the required
insulation of the secondary side and modulate the COMP pin (#9) voltage of the L6566B.
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AN3089Main characteristics and circuit description
1.5 L6566B current mode control and voltage feed-forward
function
R16 senses the flyback MOSFET current and the signal is fed into the CS pin (#7)
connected to the PWM comparator. This signal is compared with the COMP pin (#9) signal,
which comes from the optocoupler.
The maximum power that the converter can deliver is set by a comparator limiting the peak
of the primary current, comparing the CS and an internal threshold (V
signal exceeds the threshold, the comparator limits the MOSFET duty cycle, hence the
output power is limited too.
As the maximum transferable power depends on both the primary peak current and the
input voltage, in order to keep the overload set point almost constant, which changes
according to the flyback input voltage, the L6566B implements a voltage feed-forward
function via a dedicated pin. Therefore, V
(#15) sensing the mains voltage through a resistor divider. A higher voltage causes a
smaller V
voltage.
On this board, VFF is implemented via the same circuit of brown-out, saving components
and reducing consumption at light load.
CS,MAX
so that the maximum power can be kept almost constant at any input
is modulated by the voltage on the VFF pin
CSX
). If the current
CSX
1.6 L6566B short-circuit protection
An internal comparator senses the COMP pin after the soft-start time: in case of short, the
COMP pin goes high, and the said comparator activates a current source that restarts
charging the soft-start capacitor from the initial 2 V level. If the voltage on this pin reaches 5
V, the L6566B stops the operation and enters into the so-called “Hiccup mode”. The L6566B
restarts with a startup sequence when the Vcc voltage drops below the Vcc restart level (5
V). Because of the long time needed by the Vcc capacitor to drop to 5 V, it results in an
increase of the duration of the no-load operation, therefore decreasing the power dissipation
and the stress of the power components. This sequence is repeated until the short is
removed, after that normal operation of the converter is automatically resumed.
A second protection, dedicated to protecting the circuit in the case of MOSFETs or output
diode short or transformer saturation, is implemented by another comparator on the CS pin
(#7). If the voltage on this pin exceeds the 1.5 V threshold, the IC immediately shuts down.
In this way a hiccup mode operation is still obtained, avoiding consequent failures due to the
power components overheating. To prevent spurious activation of the protection in the case
of temporary disturbances, for example during immunity tests, the comparator must be
triggered two consecutive times.
1.7 Overvoltage protection
The ZCD pin (#11) is connected to the auxiliary winding by a resistor divider. It implements
the OVP against feedback network failures. When the ZCD pin voltage exceeds 5 V four
consecutive times, the IC is shut down. This protection can be set as latch or auto-restart by
the user with no additional components. On the board it is set as latched. Therefore the
operations can be resumed after a mains recycling.
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Main characteristics and circuit descriptionAN3089
1.8 Overtemperature protection
The R3 thermistor, connected to the L6566B DIS pin (#8), provides a thermal protection of
the flyback MOSFET (Q1). Therefore, in case of overheating, the flyback converter activity is
latched off. To maintain this state, an internal circuitry of the L6566B monitors the Vcc and
periodically reactivates the HV current source to supply the IC.
1.9 Burst mode operation
The L6566B implements a current mode control, thus it monitors the output power through
the COMP pin, which has a level proportional to the load. Therefore, when the voltage on
the COMP pin falls below an internal threshold, the controller is disabled and its
consumption reduced; normal operation restarts as soon as the COMP voltage rises again.
In this way a low consumption burst mode operation is obtained
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AN3089Main characteristics and circuit description
Figure 2.Electrical diagram
Doc ID 16493 Rev 19/25
Efficiency measurementAN3089
2 Efficiency measurement
Ta bl e 1 shows the no-load consumption and the overall efficiency, measured at the nominal
mains voltages. Average efficiency is about 90% at both mains levels. This value is much
higher than the 87% required by EPA rev2.0 external power supply limits.
Thanks to the L6566B valley skipping feature it has been possible to dimension the power
transformer parameters, optimizing efficiency at different loads and achieving an
outstanding result even without synchronous rectification.
Also at no-load the board performances are superior: maximum no-load consumption at
nominal mains voltage is below 100 mW; this value is significantly lower than the limit
imposed by the Energy Star program which is 500 mW. This has been obtained thanks to
the embedded solutions of the L6566B that allow the minimization of consumption at light
load and avoid adding additional discrete circuits that generally increase overall
consumption and component count (HV start-up, latching circuit). In addition, the peculiar
solution implemented for brown-out protection has a very low consumption of about 5 mW.
Table 1.Overall efficiency and no-load consumption
Light load efficiency measurement results are plotted in Figure 3. As shown, efficiency is
better than 60% even at half-watt input power.
Figure 3.Light load efficiency
90%
85%
80%
75%
70%
65%
Effi ci en cy [%]
60%
55%
50%
0.51.01.52.02.53.03.54.04.55.05.5
Pi n [ W]
230V-50 Hz
115V-60 Hz
10/25Doc ID 16493 Rev 1
AN3089Functional check
3 Functional check
Some flyback waveforms during steady state operation are reported here.
At nominal load conditions, in Figure 4 and Figure 5, it is possible to note that the ZCD
negative-going edge triggers MOSFET’s turn-on, allowing quasi-resonant operation.
Figure 4.Flyback stage waveforms at 115 V -
60 Hz – full load
Figure 5.Flyback stage waveforms at 230 V-
50 Hz – full load
CH1: Drain voltageCH2: CS pin voltageCH1: Drain voltageCH2: CS pin voltage
CH3: ZCD pinCH4: Bulk voltageCH3: ZCD pinCH4: Bulk voltage
Doc ID 16493 Rev 111/25
Functional checkAN3089
Figure 6 and Figure 7 show operation at light load.As already indicated, maximum
switching frequency has been set at 165 kHz. For this reason, the L6566B skips the first
valley signal on ZCD and switches on the MOSFET at the second negative-going edge.
Figure 6.Flyback stage waveforms at 115 V -
60 Hz – light load
Figure 7.Flyback stage waveforms at 230 V-
50 Hz – light load
CH1: Drain voltageCH2: CS pin voltageCH1: Drain voltageCH2: CS pin voltage
CH3: ZCD pinCH4: Bulk voltageCH3: ZCD pinCH4: Bulk voltage
3.1 Standby and no-load operation
In Figure 8 and Figure 9, some no-load waveforms are captured. As shown, the L6566B
works in burst mode. When the feedback voltage at the COMP pin falls below 2.65 V
(typical), the IC is disabled and its consumption is reduced. The chip is re-enabled as the
voltage on the COMP pin rises over this threshold again. Therefore, the residual
consumption of the PFC control circuitry is minimized to a negligible level.
Figure 8.No-load operation at 90 V-50 HzFigure 9.No-load operation at 265 V-50 Hz
In Figure 10 and Figure 11 the transitions from full load to no-load and vice versa, at
maximum input voltage, have been checked. The maximum input voltage has been chosen
because it is the most critical input voltage for transition: in fact, at no-load the burst pulses
have the lower repetition frequency and the Vcc may drop, causing restart cycles of the
controller. As shown, both transitions are clean and there isn’t any output voltage or Vcc dip.
In this demonstration board the overcurrent is managed by the TSM1014 (U3), a CC/CV
controller. Inside the IC there is a voltage reference and two Or-ed operational amplifiers,
one dedicated to act as the error amplifier of the voltage loop, and the second dedicated to
act as the error amplifier of the current loop. During normal operation the voltage feedback
loop is working, while in the case where the output current exceeds the programmed value,
the current loop error amplifier takes over, therefore keeping the output current constant.
In case of a dead-short, the current cannot be limited effectively by U5 because the output
voltage drops, and so it is un-powered, therefore the primary controller must manage the
failure condition.
In case of output short, there are two different possible situations which the controller must
handle: if the coupling between the secondary winding and the auxiliary winding is good, as
soon as the output voltage drops, the auxiliary voltage drops as well and the IC supply
voltage falls below the under voltage lock-out threshold, causing the L6566B to stop
switching. It remains in the off-state until the voltage on the Vcc pin decreases below the
Vcc
threshold (5 V), then, the HV startup turns on and charges the Vcc capacitor; as
restart
soon as the turn-on threshold is reached, the circuit restarts. If the short is still there, the
circuit just attempts to restart but it stops after a few milliseconds. Restart attempts are
repeated indefinitely until the short is removed. This provides a very low frequency hiccup
working mode (for this board 1 Hz), limiting the current flowing at the secondary side (less
than 1 Arms) preventing the power supply from overheating, which could destroy it.
In the case where the coupling between the auxiliary and secondary winding is poor, some
spikes on the auxiliary voltage may keep Vcc above the UVLO threshold for a period long
enough to damage the converter. In this case the L6566B detects a short-circuit by
Doc ID 16493 Rev 113/25
Functional checkAN3089
monitoring the control pins: in the case of a short, the COMP pin goes high, and an internal
comparator activates a current source that restarts charging the soft-start capacitor from the
initial 2 V level. If the voltage on this pin reaches 5 V, the L6566B stops the operation and it
restarts with a startup sequence when the Vcc voltage drops below the V
entering into the so-called “Hiccup mode”.
CCrestart
level (5 V),
Figure 12. Short-circuit at full
load and 230 Vac – 50 Hz
CH1: Gate voltageCH2: VccCH1: Drain voltageCH2: Vcc
CH3: SS pin voltageCH4: Output currentCH3: SS pin voltageCH4: Output current
In Figure 12 we can see that, in this case, the IC supply voltage drops to the UVLO
threshold (10 V), causing controller turn-off before the SS pin signal achieves the disable
threshold (5 V). This happens because the transformer leakage inductance is very low and
once the output voltage drops, the auxiliary voltage also immediately drops. Furthermore, in
the image we can note that during the SS voltage ramping up the transferred power is
limited.
Figure 13. Short-circuit detail at full
load and 230 Vac – 50 Hz
3.3 Overvoltage and open-loop protection
The L6566B OVP function monitors the voltage on the ZCD pin (#11) during the MOSFET’s
OFF-time, when the voltage generated by the auxiliary winding tracks the converter’s output
voltage. If the voltage on the pin exceeds an internal 5 V reference, an overvoltage condition
is assumed and the device is shut down. An internal current generator is activated which
sources 1 mA out of the VFF pin (#15). If the VFF voltage is allowed to reach 2 VBE over 5
V, the L6566B is latched off (Figure 14). As soon as the IC is latched, Vcc starts decreasing
until it reaches a value 0.5 V below the turn-on threshold. Then the HV startup circuit turns
on and begins to operate periodically in order to keep Vcc between VCCON and VCCON-
0.5V (Figure 15), maintaining the IC latched.
Additionally, to improve immunity against temporary disturbances (needed for example in
case of immunity tests), an internal logic activates the protection after the OVP has been
detected for 4 consecutive switching cycles.
14/25Doc ID 16493 Rev 1
AN3089Functional check
Figure 14. Flyback open-loop – detail
at 230 V - 50 Hz - half load
CH1: V
voltageCH2: VccCH1: VFF voltageCH2: Vcc
FF
Figure 15. Flyback open-loop
at 230 V - 50 Hz - half load
CH3: ZCD voltageCH4: Output voltageCH3: ZCD voltageCH4: Output voltage
Doc ID 16493 Rev 115/25
Thermal mapAN3089
4 Thermal map
In order to check the design reliability, a thermal mapping by means of an IR camera was
done. In Figures 16 and 17 the thermal measurements of the board, component side, at
nominal input voltage are shown. Some pointers visible in the images have been placed
across key components or components showing high temperature. The ambient
temperature during both measurements was 27 °C.
Figure 16. Thermal map at 115 Vac – 60 Hz - Full load
Figure 17. Thermal map at 230 Vac – 50 Hz - Full load
Table 2.Thermal map reference points
PointReferenceDescription
A L1EMI filtering common mode choke
B D1Bridge rectifier
C D4Clamping transil
D Q1Flyback power MOSFET
E R2Input NTC
F T1Flyback power transformer
GD2Output diode
16/25Doc ID 16493 Rev 1
AN3089Conducted emission pre-compliance test
5 Conducted emission pre-compliance test
Figures 18 and 19 show the average measurement of the conducted noise at full load and
nominal mains voltages. The limits shown on the diagrams are EN55022 Class-Bs, which is
the most popular rule for domestic equipment and has more severe limits compared to
Class-A, dedicated to IT technology equipment. As shown in the diagrams, in all test
conditions the measurements are far below the limits.
Figure 18. CE average measurement at 115 Vac and full load
Figure 19. CE average measurement at 230 Vac and full load
Doc ID 16493 Rev 117/25
Bill of materialAN3089
6 Bill of material
Table 3.EVL6566B-65W-QR demonstration board: bill of material
Des. Part type/part valueDescriptionSupplierCase
C12N2Y1 - safety cap. DE1E3KX222MMurata12x4 mm p10 mm
1. Secondary windings are wound between primary A and primary B layers
2. Secondary windings A and B are in parallel
0.84 A
2.9 A
2.9 A
0.84 A
RMS
RMS
RMS
RMS
RMS
Number of
turns
Wire type
27G1 φ 30x0.1 mm
7G1 φ 90x0.1 mm
7G1 φ 90x0.1 mm
27G1 φ 30x0.1 mm
6 spacedG2 φ 0.25 mm
a. Measured between pins 2-1
b. Measured between pins 2-1 with secondary windings shorted
Doc ID 16493 Rev 121/25
Transformer specificationAN3089
Figure 21. Transformer winding diagram
Mechanical aspect and pin numbering
●Maximum height from PCB: 26 mm
●Coil former type: horizontal, 6+6 pins (pins 4, 11 and 12 removed)
●Pin distance: 5.08 mm
●Row distance: 30 mm
●External copper shield: not insulated, wound around the ferrite core and including the
coil former. Height is 12 mm.
22/25Doc ID 16493 Rev 1
AN3089Transformer specification
Figure 22. Transformer mechanical diagrams
Manufacturer
●MAGNETICA - Italy
●Transformer P/N: 1972.0005
Doc ID 16493 Rev 123/25
Revision historyAN3089
8 Revision history
Table 5.Document revision history
DateRevisionChanges
01-Jul-20101Initial release.
24/25Doc ID 16493 Rev 1
AN3089
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