© 2015 Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation www.fairchildsemi.com
FAN23SV06A • Rev. 1.0 14
FAN23SV06AMPX/ FAN23SV06PAMPX — 6 A Synchronous Buck Regulator
To reduce VOUT ripple and achieve a smoother ramp of
the output voltage, tON is modulated during soft-start. tON
starts at 50% of the steady-state on-time (PWM Mode)
and ramps up to 100% gradually.
During normal operation, the SS voltage is clamped to
400 mV above the FB voltage. The clamp voltage drops
to 40 mV during an overload condition to allow the
converter to recover using the soft-start ramp once the
overload condition is removed. On-time modulation
during SS is disabled when an overload condition exists.
To maintain a monotonic soft-start ramp, the regulator is
forced into PFM Mode during soft-start. The minimum
frequency clamp is disabled during soft-start.
The nominal startup time is programmable through an
internal current source charging the external soft-start
capacitor CSS:
where:
External soft-start programming capacitor;
Internal soft-start charging current source,
10 A;
For example; for 1 ms startup time, CSS=15 nF.
The soft-start option can be used for ratiometric tracking.
When EN is LOW, the soft-start capacitor is discharged.
Startup on Pre-Bias
FAN23SV06A allows the regulator to start on a pre-bias
output, VOUT, and ensures VOUT is not discharged during
the soft-start operation. To guarantee no glitches on
VOUT at the beginning of the soft-start ramp, LS is
disabled until the first positive-going edge of the PWM
signal. The regulator is forced into PFM Mode during
soft-start to ensure the inductor current remains
positive, reducing the possibility of discharging the
output voltage. FAN23SV06PA does not support startup
with prebias on output.
Internal Linear Regulator
The FAN23SV06A includes a linear regulator to
facilitate single-supply operation for self-biased
applications. PVCC is the linear regulator output and
supplies power to the internal gate drivers. The PVCC
pin should be bypassed with a 2.2 µF ceramic
capacitor. The device can operate from a 5 V rail if the
VIN, PVIN, and PVCC pins are connected together to
bypass the internal linear regulator.
VCC Bias Supply and UVLO
The VCC rail supplies power to the controller. It is
generally connected to the PVCC rail through a low-
pass filter of a 10 resistor and 0.1 µF capacitor to
minimize any noise sources from the driver supply.
An Under-Voltage Lockout (UVLO) circuit monitors the
VCC voltage to ensure proper operation. Once the VCC
voltage is above the UVLO threshold, the part begins
operation after an initialization routine of 50 µs. There is
no UVLO circuitry on either the PVCC or VIN rails.
Pulse Frequency Modulation (PFM)
One of the key benefits of using a constant on-time
modulation scheme is the seamless transitions in and
out of Pulse Frequency Modulation (PFM) Mode. The
PWM signal is not slave to a fixed oscillator and,
therefore, can operate at any frequency below the target
steady-state frequency. By reducing the frequency
during light-load conditions, efficiency can be
significantly improved. If the PFM operation with
associated frequency reduction is not desired, select the
FAN23SV06PA with Forced PWM Mode.
The FAN23SV06A provides a Zero-Crossing Detector
(ZCD) circuit to identify when the current in the inductor
reverses direction. To improve efficiency at light load,
the LS MOSFET is turned off around the zero crossing
to eliminate negative current in the inductor. For
predictable operation entering PFM mode the controller
waits for nine consecutive zero crossings before
allowing the LS MOSFET to turn off in the
FAN23SV06A.
In PFM Mode, fSW varies or modulates proportionally to
the load; as load decreases, fSW also decreases. The
switching frequency, while the regulator is operating in
PFM, can be expressed as:
where L is inductance and IOUT is output load current.
Minimum Frequency Clamp
To maintain a switching frequency above the audible
range, the FAN23SV06A clamps the switching
frequency to a minimum value of 18 kHz. The LS
MOSFET is turned on to discharge the output and
trigger a new PWM cycle. The minimum frequency
clamp is disabled during soft-start.
Protection Features
The converter output is monitored and protected against
over-current, over-voltage, under-voltage, and high-
temperature conditions.
Over-Current Protection (OCP)
The FAN23SV06A uses current information through the
LS to implement valley-current limiting. While an OC
event is detected, the HS is prevented from turning on
and the LS is kept on until the current falls below the
user-defined set point. Once the current is below the set
point, the HS is allowed to turn on.
During an OC event, the output voltage may droop if the
load current is greater than the current the converter is
providing. If the output voltage drops below the UV
threshold, an overload condition is triggered. During an
overload condition, the SS clamp voltage is reduced to
40 mV and the on-time is fixed at the steady-state
duration. By the nature of the control method; as VOUT
drops, the switching frequency is lower due to the
reduced rate of inductor current decay during the off-time.
The ILIM pin has an open-detection circuit to provide
protection against operation without a current limit.