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Supertex inc.
www.supertex.com
Doc.# DSFP-HV7802
A062813
HV7802
Block Diagram
Application Information
General
The HV7802 high side current monitor IC features accurate
current sensing, small size, low component count, low power
consumption, exceptional input voltage range, ease of use
and low cost.
Typical use is measurement of line and load current for
purpose of overcurrent protection, metering and current
regulation.
High side current sensing, as opposed to ground referenced
or low side current sensing, is desirable or required when:
►The current to be measured does not ow in a circuit
associated with ground.
►The measurement at ground level can lead to ambiguity
due to changes in the grounding arrangement during
eld use.
►The introduction of a sense resistor in the system ground
is undesirable due to issues with safety, EMI, or signal
degradation caused by common impedance coupling.
Principle of Operation
The operational amplier forces the voltage across RA to
track VSENSE, therefore, VRA = VSENSE. Transconductance gain
is equal to (1/RA).
IRA ows from the OUT pin to low side circuitry. Current to
voltage conversion can be accomplished by a resistor, RB,
as shown in the block diagram, with a transimpedance gain
equal to RB.
Typically we would like to exploit the full current capability of
the transimpedance amplier. A RA of 5kΩ will provide this
current, assuming a full scale sense voltage of 500mV and a
full scale sense current of 100µA.
In a voltage output application, the output resistor RB is
determined by the desired overall voltage gain of (RB / RA).
For example, a RB of 10kΩ results in a voltage gain of two.
OUT Pin Loading Effects
Note that the output is not buffered having an output
impedance equal to RB. Loading of the output causes voltage
gain to drop and rise and fall time to increase.
For example, assume a gain of one, using RA = RB = 5kΩ. In
this case the load resistance should exceed 5MΩ in order to
limit the gain drop to 1 part in 1000.
Assuming an output resistance of 5kΩ, a capacitive load of
20pF results in a load pole with a time constant of 100ns,
not enough to materially affect the output rise and fall time
(about 700ns).
Sense Resistor Considerations
Limit the sense resistor voltage to 500mV during normal
operating conditions. Limit the power dissipation in the sense
resistor to suit the application; a high sense voltage benets
accuracy, but may result in high power dissipation as well.
Consider the use of Kelvin connections for applications where
considerable voltage drops may occur in the PCB traces.
A layout pattern, which minimizes voltage drops across the
sense lines is shown below.
RP
(Optional,
see text)
ISENSE
VSENSE
RSENSE
Bias
Circuits
HV7802
IN LOAD
GND OUT VOUT
RA
RB
RA
SENSE
IN LOAD RSENSE