RT8011/A
13
DS8011/A-02 March 2011 www.richtek.com
Efficiency Considerations
The efficiency of a switching regulator is equal to the output
power divided by the input power times 100%. It is often
useful to analyze individual losses to determine what is
limiting the efficiency and which change would produce
the most improvement. Ef ficiency ca n be expressed as :
Efficiency = 100% − (L1+ L2+ L3+ ...) where L1, L2, etc.
are the individual losses a s a percentage of in put power .
Although all dissipative elements in the circuit produce
losses, two main sources usually a ccount for most of the
losses: VDD quiescent current and I2R losses.
The VDD quiescent current loss dominates the eff iciency
loss at very low load currents whereas the I2R loss
dominates the efficiency loss at medium to high load
currents. In a typical efficiency plot, the efficiency curve
at very low load currents can be misleading since the
a ctual power lost is of no consequence.
1. The VDD quiescent current is due to two components :
the DC bia s current as given in the electrical characteristics
and the internal main switch and synchronous switch gate
charge currents. The gate charge current results from
switching the gate capacitance of the internal power
MOSFET switches. Each time the gate is switched from
high to low to high again, a packet of charge ΔQ moves
from VDD to ground. The resulting ΔQ/Δt is the current out
of VDD that is typically larger than the DC bias current. In
continuous mode, IGATECHG = f(QT+QB) where QT and QB
are the gate charges of the internal top and bottom
switches.
Both the DC bia s and gate charge losses are proportional
to VDD and thus the ir ef fects will be more pronounced at
higher supply voltages.
2. I2R losses are calculated from the resistances of the
internal switches, RSW and external inductor RL. In
continuous mode the average output current flowing
through inductor L is “chopped” between the main switch
a nd the synchronous switch. Thus, the series resista nce
looking into the LX pin is a function of both top and bottom
MOSFET RDS(ON) and the duty cycle (D) as follows :
RSW = RDS(ON)TOP x D + RDS(ON)BOT x (1"D) The RDS(ON)
for both the top and bottom MOSFETs can be obtained
from the Typical Performance Characteristics curves. Thus,
to obtain I2R losses, simply a dd RSW to RL a nd multi ply
the result by the square of the average output current.
Other losses including CIN and COUT ESR dissipative
losses and inductor core losses generally account for less
than 2% of the total loss.
Thermal Considerations
In most applications, the RT8011/A does not dissipate
much heat due to its high efficiency. But, in applications
where the RT8011/A is running at high ambient
temperature with low supply voltage and high duty cycles,
such as in dropout, the heat dissipated may exceed the
maximum junction temperature of the part. If the junction
temperature reaches approximately 150°C, both power
switches will be turned off a nd the SW node will become
high impeda nce. To avoid the RT8011/A from exceeding
the maximum junction temperature, the user will need to
do some thermal analysis. The goal of the thermal analysis
is to determine whether the power dissipated exceeds
the maximum junction temperature of the part. The
temperature rise is given by : TR = PD x θJA Where PD is
the power dissipated by the regulator and θJA is the thermal
resistance from the junction of the die to the ambient
temperature. The junction temperature, TJ, is given by :
TJ = TA + TR Where TA is the ambient temperature.
As an example, consider the RT8011/A in dropout at an
input voltage of 3.3V, a load current of 2A and an a mbient
temperature of 70°C. From the typical performance graph
of switch resistance, the RDS(ON) of the P-Channel switch
at 70°C is approximately 121mΩ. Therefore, power
dissipated by the part is :
PD = (ILOAD)2 (RDS(ON)) = (2A)2 (121mΩ) = 0.484W
For the DFN3x3 package, the θJA is 110°C/W. Thus the
junction temperature of the regulator is : TJ = 70°C +
(0.484W) (110°C/W) = 123.24°C Which is below the
maximum junction temperature of 125°C. Note that at
higher supply voltages, the junction temperature is lower
due to reduced switch resista nce (RDS(ON)).
Checking Tra n sient Re spon se
The regulator loop response can be checked by looking
at the load tra nsient response. Switching regulators ta ke
several cycles to respond to a step in load current. When
a load step occurs, VOUT immediately shifts by a n amount
equal to ΔILOAD(ESR), where ESR is the effective series