Micrel, Inc. MIC4680 Functional Description A higher feedback voltage increases the error amplifier output voltage. A higher error amplifier voltage (comparator inverting input) causes the comparator to detect only the peaks of the sawtooth, reducing the duty cycle of the comparator output. A lower feedback voltage increases the duty cycle. The MIC4680 uses a voltagemode control architecture. The MIC4680 is a variable duty cycle switch-mode regulator with an internal power switch. Refer to the block diagrams. Supply Voltage The MIC4680 operates from a +4V to +34V unregulated input. Highest efficiency operation is from a supply voltage around +15V. See the efficiency curves. Output Switching When the internal switch is on, an increasing current flows from the supply VIN, through external storage inductor L1, to output capacitor COUT and the load. Energy is stored in the inductor as the current increases with time. When the internal switch is turned off, the collapse of the magnetic field in L1 forces current to flow through fast recovery diode D1, charging COUT. Enable/Shutdown The shutdown (SHDN) input is TTL compatible. Ground the input if unused. A logic-low enables the regulator. A logic-high shuts down the internal regulator which reduces the current to typically 1.5µA when VSHDN = VIN = 12V and 30µA when VSHDN = 5V. See “Shutdown Input Behavior: Shutdown Hysteresis.” Feedback Fixed-voltage versions of the regulator have an internal resistive divider from the feedback (FB) pin. Connect FB directly to the output voltage. Adjustable versions require an external resistive voltage divider from the output voltage to ground, center tapped to the FB pin. See Figure 6b for recommended resistor values Output Capacitor External output capacitor COUT provides stabilization and reduces ripple. See “Bode Plots” for additional information. Return Paths During the on portion of the cycle, the output capacitor and load currents return to the supply ground. During the off portion of the cycle, current is being supplied to the output capacitor and load by storage inductor L1, which means that D1 is part of the high-current return path. Duty Cycle Control A fixed-gain error amplifier compares the feedback signal with a 1.23V bandgap voltage reference. The resulting error amplifier output voltage is compared to a 200kHz sawtooth waveform to produce a voltage controlled variable duty cycle output. March 2008 9 M9999-032808