LM25037, LM25037-Q1

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SNVS572E – JULY 2008 – REVISED JANUARY 2016

Feature Description (continued)

7.3.5 Cycle-By-Cycle Current Limit

The CS pin is to be driven by a signal representative of the transformer primary current. The current sense signal

can be generated by using a sense resistor or a current sense transformer. If the voltage sensed at the CS pin

exceeds 0.255 V, the current sense comparator terminates the output driver pulse. If the high current condition

persists, the controller operates in a cycle-by-cycle current limit mode with duty cycle determined by the current

sense comparator instead of the PWM comparator. Cycle-by-cycle current limiting may eventually trigger the

hiccup mode restart cycle; depending on the configuration of the RES pin (see Overload Protection Timer). To

suppress noise, TI recommends connecting a small R-C filter to the CS pin and placing it near the controller. An

internal 21-

Ω MOSFET discharges the external current sense filter capacitor at the conclusion of every cycle.

The discharge MOSFET remains on for an additional 65 ns after either OUTA or OUTB driver switches high to

blank leading edge transients in the current sensing circuit. Discharging the CS pin filter each cycle and blanking

leading edge spikes reduces the filtering requirements and improves the current sense response time. The

current sense comparator is very fast and may respond to short duration noise pulses. Layout considerations are

critical for the current sense filter and sense resistor. The capacitor associated with the CS filter must be placed

very close to the device and connected directly to the CS and AGND pins. If a sense resistor located in the

source of the main MOSFET switch is used for current sensing, a low inductance type of resistor is required.

When designing with a current sense resistor, all the noise sensitive, low power ground connections should be

connected together near the AGND pin, and a single connection should be made to the power ground (sense

resistor ground point).

7.3.6 Overload Protection Timer

The LM25037 provides a current limit restart timer to disable the outputs and force a delayed restart (hiccup

mode) if a current limit condition is repeatedly sensed. The number of cycle-by-cycle current limit events required

to trigger the restart is programmed by the external capacitor at the RES pin. During each PWM cycle, the

LM25037 either sources to or sinks current from the RES pin capacitor. If no current limit is detected during a

cycle, a 8-µA discharge current sink is enabled to pull the RES pin towards ground. If a current limit is detected,

the 8 µA sink current is disabled and an 18-µA current source causes the voltage at the RES pin to gradually

increase. The LM25037 protects the converter with cycle-by-cycle current limiting while the voltage at RES pin

increases. If the RES voltage reaches the 2-V threshold, the following restart sequence occurs (also see

Figure 12):

•

The RES capacitor and SS capacitors are fully discharged.

•

The soft-start current source is reduced from 100 µA to 1 µA.

•

The SS capacitor voltage slowly increases. When the SS voltage reaches

≊1 V, the PWM comparator will

produce the first narrow output pulse. After the first pulse occurs, the SS source current reverts to the normal

100-µA level. The SS voltage increases at its normal rate, gradually increasing the duty cycle of the output

drivers.

•

If the overload condition persists after restart, cycle-by-cycle current limiting will begin to increase the voltage

on the RES capacitor again, repeating the hiccup mode sequence.

•

If the overload condition no longer exists after restart, the RES pin will be held at ground by the 8-µA current

sink and normal operation resumes.

The overload timer function is very versatile and can be configured for the following modes of protection:

1. Cycle-by-cycle only: The hiccup mode can be completely disabled by connecting a 0-k

Ω to 50-kΩ resistor

from the RES pin to AGND. In this configuration, the cycle-by-cycle protection will limit the output current

indefinitely and no hiccup sequences will occur.

2. Hiccup only: The timer can be configured for immediate activation of a hiccup sequence upon detection of

an overload by leaving the RES pin open circuit. In this configuration, the first detection of current limit

condition by the CS pin comparator will initiate a hiccup cycle with SS capacitor fully discharged and a

delayed restart.

3. Delayed Hiccup: Connecting a capacitor to the RES pin provides a programmed interval of cycle-by-cycle

limiting before initiating a hiccup mode restart, as previously described. The dual advantages of this

configuration are that a short term overload will not cause a hiccup mode restart but during extended

overload conditions, the average dissipation of the power converter will be very low.

4. Externally Controlled Hiccup: The RES pin can also be used as an input. By externally driving the pin to a

level greater than the 2-V hiccup threshold, the controller will be forced into the delayed restart sequence.

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Product Folder Links: LM25037 LM25037-Q1