June 2009 - Bidirectional Power Manager Provides Efficient Charging and Automatic USB On-The-Go with a Single Inductor

L DESIGN IDEAS
Bidirectional Power Manager Provides
Efficient Charging and Automatic USB
On-The-Go with a Single Inductor
Bidirectional Switching Power
Imagine that your car won’t start—the Path for USB On-The-Go
by Sauparna Das
Introduction
5.5
The LTC4160 contains a bidirectional
switching regulator between VBUS
and VOUT. When power is applied to
VBUS,the switching regulator acts as
a step down converter and provides
power to the application and battery
charger (Figure 1). The switching
regulator includes a precision average
input current limit with multiple settings. Two of the settings correspond to
the USB 100mA and 500mA limits.
The bidirectional switching
regulator is able to power a
portable system and charge
its battery or provide a 5V
output for USB On-The-Go
using a single inductor.
The voltage on VOUT is approximately 300mV above the battery when the
switcher is not in input current limit
and the battery voltage is above 3.3V.
This technique, known as Bat-Track
output control, provides very efficient
charging, which minimizes loss and
heat and eases thermal constraints.
For battery voltages below 3.3V, VOUT
regulates to 3.6V when the switcher
USB
ON-THE-GO
VOUT = BAT = 3.8V
5.0
VBUS (V)
3.5
0
100
IVBUS = 500mA
USB 2.0 SPECIFICATIONS
REQUIRE THAT HIGH
POWER DEVICES NOT
OPERATE IN THIS REGION
VOUT
10µF
200 300 400 500
VBUS CURRENT (mA)
6.2k
OPTIONAL
OVERVOLTAGE
PROTECTION
600
700
BAT
OVSENS
CLPROG
0.1µF
PROG
3.01k
1k
VBUS CURRENT
500
OVGATE
4.0
3.0
SW
LTC4160/
LTC4160-1
10µF
4.5
750
SYSTEM
LOAD
3.3µH
VBUS
USB
VBUS = 4.75V
is not in input current limit. This
instant-on feature provides power to
the system even when the battery is
completely discharged.
Power to the application is always
prioritized over charging the battery. If
the combined system load and charge
current exceed the current available at
the input, the battery charger reduces
its charge current to maintain power
to the application. If the load alone
exceeds the input current limit, then
additional current is supplied by the
battery via the ideal diode(s).
For USB On-The-Go applications,
the bidirectional switching regulator
steps up the voltage on VOUT to produce
5V on VBUS. In this mode the switching regulator is capable of delivering
at least 500mA. Power to VOUT comes
from the battery via the ideal diode(s).
A precision output current limit circuit, similar to the one in step-down
mode, prevents a load on VBUS from
drawing more than 680 mA (Figure 1).
The switching regulator also features
true output disconnect which prevents
body diode conduction of the PMOS
switch. This allows VBUS to go to zero
volts during a short circuit condition
or while shut down, drawing zero current from the battery. When VOUT is ≥
3.2V, the LTC4160 allows a portable
Li-Ion
+
CURRENT (mA)
battery is dead, the kids are getting
fussy, you’re stranded in the middle
of nowhere, and your cell phone won’t
turn on because you forgot to charge it.
What do you do now? Fortunately, you
remember that your new camera is in
the car, and it has a fully charged battery. Even better, this camera supports
USB On-The-Go using a bidirectional
power manager. You connect a USB
micro-AB cable between the cell phone
and camera and instantly start charging your phone. The phone powers up
and you’re able to call for help.
The LTC4160 is a versatile, high
efficiency power manager and battery
charger that incorporates a bidirectional switching regulator, full featured
battery charger, an ideal diode (with a
controller for an optional external ideal
diode), and an optional overvoltage
protection circuit. The bidirectional
switching regulator is able to power a
portable system and charge its battery
or provide a 5V output for USB OnThe-Go using a single inductor (Figure
1). This reduces component count and
board space, key attributes for a power
management IC in today’s feature rich
portable devices. In shutdown, the
part only draws 8µA of current, thus
maximizing battery life.
250
BATTERY CURRENT
(CHARGING)
0
VBUS = 5V
BAT = 3.8V
5x MODE
–250
BATTERY CURRENT
(DISCHARGING)
–500
0
200
600
800
400
LOAD CURRENT (mA)
1000
Figure 1. The LTC4160 provides bidirectional power transfer. Left plot: VBUS voltage vs VBUS current in On-The-Go mode. Right plot: battery and VBUS
currents vs load current when input power is available.
28
Linear Technology Magazine • June 2009
DESIGN IDEAS L
product to meet the specification for
a high power USB device by maintaining VBUS above 4.75V for currents up
to 500mA.
Automatic USB On-The-Go
When two On-The-Go devices are
connected, one is the A-device and
the other is the B-device, depending
on the orientation of the cable, which
has a micro-A and a micro-B plug.
The A-device provides power to the
B-device and starts as the host. MicroA/micro-B cables include an ID pin
in addition to the four standard pins
(VBUS, D–, D+, and GND)—the microA plug has its ID pin shorted to GND
while on the micro-B plug the ID pin
is floating. The impedance on the ID
pin allows the USB power manager to
determine whether it receives power
from an external device or whether it
should power up VBUS to provide power
to an external device.
Step-up mode can be enabled by
either the ENOTG pin or the ID pin.
The ENOTG pin can be connected to
a microcontroller. The ID pin, on the
other hand, is designed to be connected
directly to the ID pin of a micro-AB
receptacle. The pin is active low and
contains an internal 2.5µA pull up
current source. When the ID pin is
floating or a micro-B plug is connected
to the AB receptacle, the internal current source pulls ID up to the max of
VBUS, VOUT and BAT. When a micro-A
J1
MICRO-AB
M1
VBUS
D–
D+
R1
6.2k
plug is connected to the receptacle,
the short between ID and ground in
the micro-A plug overrides the pull-up
current source and pulls the ID pin
on the LTC4160 down to ground. This
activates the bidirectional switching
regulator in step-up mode and powers up VBUS. A complete application
schematic is shown in Figure 2.
TO USB
TRANSCEIVER
15
TO µC
16
5
C1, C3: TAYIO YUDEN JMK212BJ226MG
J1: HIROSE ZX62-AB-5PA
L1: COILCRAFT LPS4018-332LM
M1: FAIRCHILD FDN372S
M2: SILICONIX Si2333DS
R1: 1/10 WATT RESISTOR
VBUS POWERS UP WHEN ID PIN HAS
LESS THAN 10Ω TO GND
(MICRO-A PLUG CONNECTED)
VBUS
SW
VOUT
1
2
GND
The LTC4160 is a feature rich power
manager that is especially suited for
USB On-The-Go applications, enabling
bidirectional USB power transfer between portable devices. The part can
directly detect the impedance on the ID
pin of a micro-AB receptacle to automatically tell the internal bidirectional
switching regulator to provide a 5V
output on VBUS for USB On-The-Go.
The switching regulator can supply at
least 500mA and comes with a current limit of 680mA. In addition, the
LTC4160 can efficiently take power
from 5V inputs (USB, Wall adapter,
etc.) to power a portable application
and charge its battery using a single
inductor. Its unique switching architecture and Bat-Track output control
provides fast and efficient charging.
Furthermore, an optional overvoltage
protection circuit can provide protection against voltages of up to 68V on
the VBUS pin. The combination of bidirectional power transfer, automatic
USB On-The-Go functionality and high
voltage protection make the LTC4160
a must have for today’s high end portable devices. L
The LTC4160 also includes a battery charger featuring programmable
charge current (1.2A max), cell preconditioning with bad cell detection
and termination, CC-CV charging,
C/10 end of charge detection, safety
timer termination, automatic recharge
and a thermistor signal conditioner for
temperature qualified charging. For
the LTC4160, the nominal float voltage is 4.2V. The LTC4160-1 provides
a nominal float voltage of 4.1V.
The overvoltage protection circuit
can be used to protect the low voltage USB/Wall adapter input from the
inadvertent application of high voltage
or a failed wall adapter. This circuit
controls the gate of an external high
voltage N-channel MOSFET, and in
conjunction with an external 6.2k
resistor, can provide protection up
to 68V.
The LTC4160 includes an integrated
ideal diode and a controller for an
optional external ideal diode. This
provides a low loss power path from
13
ID
Conclusion
Other Features
USB
ON-THE-GO
C1
22µF
0805
the battery to VOUT when input power
is limited or unavailable. When input
power is removed, the ideal diode(s)
prevent VOUT from collapsing, with
only the output capacitor required for
the switching regulator.
7
6
19
IDGATE
OVGATE
BAT
OVSENS
ILIM0
GND
14
L1
3.3µH
SYSTEM
LOAD
12
10k
10
M2
11
21
+
Li-ion
C3
22µF
0805
10k
10k
LTC4160/LTC4160-1
ILIM1
ID
VBUSGD
ENCHARGER
ENOTG
CHRG
NTCBIAS
FAULT
NTC
CLPROG
20
C2
0.1µF
0402
PROG
17
8
3.01k
1k
LDO3V3
3
9
TO µC
4
18
RTC
1µF
Figure 2. LTC4160 with automatic USB On-The-Go
Linear Technology Magazine • June 2009
29