AN3050 Application note STBP120 overvoltage protection device 1 Introduction In order to reduce the power consumption, size and cost of electronic devices, most semiconductor components are manufactured using a “low voltage” process resulting in a maximum operating voltage of 7 V or even less. Any overvoltage causes an excessive power dissipation on the chip quickly leading to damage, or even electrical breakdown. Portable electronic devices, such as cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players, digital cameras, etc. are normally powered from a Li-Ion or Li-Pol battery pack, which is recharged by an internal charger controller supplied by an external AC adapter, USB hub, etc. The failure of this adapter or accidental usage of another adapter with a higher voltage can damage the charger controller and lead to overvoltage on the battery, which may be very dangerous for the device and potentially even for the user. To avoid this, some type of protective device is absolutely necessary. One well known solution is a device known as a Transil™. It can be understood as a Zener diode, capable of withstanding high power dissipation. Although Transils are easy to use and relatively inexpensive, their threshold voltage is not very accurate and is dependent upon the current flowing through the Transil. For heavy overload, the voltage on the Transil can still be too large and, in addition, the high power dissipation can lead to high junction temperature, and in extreme cases the Transil and surrounding circuit board can be damaged. For this reason, there is often a fuse connected between the supply connector and Transil to break the circuit in case of extreme overload. Other, modern and safe devices, are integrated circuits known as “Overvoltage Protection” (OVP) devices. The OVP device can be understood as a “firewall” between the application and the external world represented by the power supply (AC adapter, USB, etc.), allowing only the correct voltage to reach the application and preventing malfunction or damage resulting from the use of an illegal or broken power supply. It contains a voltage comparator and either a driver for external Power MOSFET, or even the Power MOSFET itself. In the event of overvoltage, the comparator turns off the MOSFET, disconnecting the application from the power supply. No excessive power dissipation is generated during overvoltage. The first member of the STMicroelectronics™ OVP devices family is the STBP120, which will be described in this application note. November 2009 Doc ID 16207 Rev 1 1/18 www.st.com Contents AN3050 Contents 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 3 Application circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4 Powering peripherals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 5 STBP120 highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 6 STBP120 versus Transil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 7 Compatibility of STBP120 with other OVP devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 8 PCB layout recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 9 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 10 Revision history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 2/18 Doc ID 16207 Rev 1 AN3050 List of tables List of tables Table 1. Table 2. Key benefits of STBP120 device over Transils. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Document revision history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Doc ID 16207 Rev 1 3/18 List of figures AN3050 List of figures Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 3. Figure 4. Figure 5. Figure 6. Figure 7. Figure 8. Figure 9. Figure 10. 4/18 STBP120 block diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Typical application circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . STBP120 turn-off delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Startup into overvoltage condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Startup delays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Typical STBP120 soft-start performance, CLoad = 22 µF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Typical STBP120 soft-start performance, CLoad = 47 µF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Typical STBP120 soft-start performance, CLoad = 100 µF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pin to pin compatibility of the STBP120 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Example of PCB layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Doc ID 16207 Rev 1 .....5 .....6 .....8 .....9 . . . . 10 . . . . 11 . . . . 12 . . . . 12 . . . . 15 . . . . 16 AN3050 Description 2 Description The STBP120 provides robust protection for positive input voltage up to +28 V and is capable of supporting current up to 2 A using a built-in low RDS(on) N-channel MOSFET and charge pump. The overvoltage thresholds currently available are 5.375 V, 5.50 V, 5.90 V and 6.02 V. As additional protection, the STBP120 also monitors its own junction temperature and turns off the internal MOSFET if the temperature exceeds the specified threshold. The STBP120 is equipped with the undervoltage lockout function preventing unreliable operation of the protected application for low input voltage. The STBP120 device can be controlled (enabled / disabled) by the microcontroller and provides status information (input overvoltage, input undervoltage, thermal shutdown) to the microcontroller. The STBP120 requires only one external component (1 µF input capacitor improving the ESD immunity and stability under input transients conditions), other components are optional (see Figure 2). It is offered in a small, RoHS compliant 10-lead TDFN package of 2.5 x 2 mm dimensions. For more details, please refer to the STBP120 datasheet available on www.st.com. Figure 1. STBP120 block diagram OUT IN ESD protection Core negative protection SUPPLY REGULATOR OSCILLATOR CHARGE PUMP MOSFET DRIVER OFF VCC VREF VOLTAGE REFERENCE COUNTERS Input overvoltage CONTROL LOGIC Input undervoltage FLT MCU INTERFACE EN Temperature Thermal shutdown detector ESD protection GND Doc ID 16207 Rev 1 ESD protection AM00306 5/18 Application circuit AN3050 3 Application circuit Figure 2. Typical application circuit AC adapter SYSTEM CONNECTOR OR PERIPHERAL SUPPLY CURRENT DC-DC CHARGING CURRENT C1 1 µF IN OUT STBP120 C2 1 µF EN CHARGER IC ENABLE POWERED PERIPHERALS RFLT FLT EN BATTERY PACK SUPPLY CIRCUITS RPU CONTROLLER REN GND APPLICATION AM00314a As shown above, the right place for the OVP device is just after the system supply connector (see Figure 2). The input capacitor C1 plays an important role for improving the OVP functionality under fast transients caused by hot insertion / disconnection of power supply, ESD events, etc. For fast overvoltage transients, this capacitor acts initially as a short-circuit requiring some current to be charged, thus making the transients slower. It also acts as a reservoir of energy in case of fast undervoltage transients caused by the supply cable impedance when the current drawn by the application increases, preventing the input voltage from falling below the undervoltage threshold and cutting off the power. After the OVP device, there is usually the charge controller IC managing proper charging and protection of the battery back. Normally a set of supply circuits are present to convert the battery pack voltage to the voltage levels necessary for particular parts of the application. A connection of STBP120 status output (FLT) and enable input (EN) to the application controller is also shown on Figure 2. The open-drain FLT output is connected by an external pull-up resistor RPU to the controller supply voltage. The resistors RFLT and REN are optional. They increase the safety of the controller in case of extreme voltage or current condition, leading to possible damage of the STBP120, limiting the current flowing to the controller I/O ports to a safe value (the absolute maximum voltage on the STBP120 is 30 V). 6/18 Doc ID 16207 Rev 1 AN3050 4 Powering peripherals Powering peripherals In many applications, it is desirable to power external peripherals attached to the system connector. Proper voltage for these peripheral devices is usually generated by a DC/DC converter supplied by the battery (see Figure 2). This converter is enabled by the controller when power for the peripheral is requested. The output of the converter is connected to the output of the OVP device. In the internal structure of STBP120 MOSFET, a diode (called reverse diode or body diode) between OUT and IN is present. This diode allows the convertor output voltage (decreased by the diode forward voltage drop, ca. 0.6 V) to appear at the STBP120 input. If this voltage is higher than the STBP120 undervoltage (UVLO) threshold, the MOSFET is turned on and the voltage drop across the STBP120 is reduced to a very small value, given by the STBP120 RDS(on) and peripheral current consumption. Note: For safety reasons, the charger IC used should NOT allow the reverse current (i.e. it should NOT contain the body diode between its output and input) to prevent the battery pack voltage from appearing on the system connector. Doc ID 16207 Rev 1 7/18 STBP120 highlights 5 AN3050 STBP120 highlights The most important function of the OVP device is to disconnect the application from the power supply as fast as possible to avoid damage to the application components. The STBP120 will disconnect the load in typically less than 1.5 µs after the input voltage exceeds the overvoltage threshold. Figure 3. STBP120 turn-off delay Input voltage Output voltage 8/18 Doc ID 16207 Rev 1 AN3050 STBP120 highlights Overvoltage protection is especially necessary in order to avoid damage in the event of inadvertently connecting an illegal power supply (with higher than specified voltage) to the application. In this case, the OVP device must block the excessive input voltage even during its own power-up period. As illustrated on Figure 4, STBP120 correctly performs this task. In addition, it provides the status information to the microcontroller as soon as the input voltage exceeds the 1.2 V. Figure 4. Startup into overvoltage condition Input voltage FLT output voltage Output voltage Doc ID 16207 Rev 1 9/18 STBP120 highlights AN3050 During a hot insertion of the power supply connector to the application, a transient is generated due to the supply cable inductance, capacitance and resistance. For this reason, the STBP120 has a built-in 50 ms startup delay to let the input voltage to stabilize before the MOSFET is turned on to continue power-on of the application. After this, an additional 50 ms delay is inserted to let the application properly start before the FLT output sends an “OK” (SeeFigure 5) signal to the application microcontroller. Figure 5. 10/18 Startup delays Doc ID 16207 Rev 1 AN3050 STBP120 highlights Usually, there are some large decoupling capacitors connected to the application supply rails. To avoid instability caused by the power supply current limiter when attempting to charge these capacitors, it is useful to equip the OVP device with a soft-start circuit, limiting this inrush current. The STBP120 implements a soft-start by turning the MOSFET on slowly. This is done by limiting the current charging the MOSFET gate capacitance. This simple approach provides very good results for load capacitance up to 47 µF. Its performance is illustrated in Figure 6, Figure 7 and Figure 8, where various load capacitors were connected in parallel with the load resistor of 5 Ω, providing a steady current of 1 A. Figure 6. Typical STBP120 soft-start performance, CLoad = 22 µF Input voltage Output voltage Input current FLT output voltage Doc ID 16207 Rev 1 11/18 STBP120 highlights Figure 7. AN3050 Typical STBP120 soft-start performance, CLoad = 47 µF Input voltage Output voltage Input current FLT output voltage Figure 8. Typical STBP120 soft-start performance, CLoad = 100 µF Input voltage Output voltage Input current FLT output voltage 12/18 Doc ID 16207 Rev 1 AN3050 STBP120 highlights The soft-start circuit is very useful for USB-powered applications due to USB power limitations. The USB specification allows a maximum inrush current equivalent to a value generated by a 10 µF capacitor directly connected between VBUS and GND rails. The STBP120 softstart feature allows an even larger capacitor value to be connected to the STBP120 output, providing better decoupling and higher reservoir of energy to cover possible current peaks, without affecting this requirement. Maximum capacitance proven with a standard 2 m USB cable is 100 µF. Higher capacitance can lead to a oscillation due to USB cable impedance and the capacitor inrush current, leading the input voltage to drop below the UVLO threshold during the start-up. The input capacitor value can be 1 - 10 µF. Doc ID 16207 Rev 1 13/18 STBP120 versus Transil 6 AN3050 STBP120 versus Transil Transils are well-known and very useful protection devices for ESD events and overvoltage transients. As mentioned in the Section 1, they can be understood as high-speed, highpower Zener diodes. Based on manufacturing process, they can achieve very high impulse durability making them ideal for protecting e.g. AC or phone lines, or very low capacitance making them ideal for protecting sensitive data and high frequency lines. On the other hand, these devices are not very suitable for protection against steady-state overvoltage on supply lines generated e.g. by connecting an illegal AC adaptor to the application supply input, because the steady-state overvoltage generates high power dissipation on the Transil. Following table shows the key benefits of STBP120 device over Transils. Table 1. Key benefits of STBP120 device over Transils Transil device Widely dependent on current, Overvoltage threshold accuracy temperature, time and process and stability variations 14/18 STBP120 device As good as ± 2.3% Power dissipation when active Potentially extremely high in overvoltage Almost zero (output is safely disconnected) Undervoltage lockout Not available 3.25 V typ. Thermal protection Not available 145 °C typ. Status indication Not available FLT output Enable input Not available EN input Doc ID 16207 Rev 1 AN3050 7 Compatibility of STBP120 with other OVP devices Compatibility of STBP120 with other OVP devices The STBP120 is compatible with other the well known and widely used OVP devices. The STBP120 provides the customer with the following benefits: ● Both exposed thermal pads are electrically isolated. This allows both pads to be connected to the PCB ground plane, leading to better thermal conductivity. ● The device is equipped with a thermal shutdown feature, improving the overall application safety. Figure 9. Pin to pin compatibility of the STBP120 STBP120(1) Competitor device IN 1 GND 2 FLAG 3 IN 4 IN 5 PAD1 GND PAD2 IN 10 EN NC 1 9 NC GND 2 8 NC FLT 3 7 OUT IN 4 6 OUT IN 5 (Top view) PAD1 NC/GND PAD2 NC/GND 10 EN 9 NC 8 NC 7 OUT 6 OUT (Top view) AM00623a 1. STBP120 Pin 1, PAD1 and PAD2 are not internally connected and may be tied to IN or GND. Doc ID 16207 Rev 1 15/18 PCB layout recommendations 8 AN3050 PCB layout recommendations ● This device is intended as a protection device to the application from overvoltage. It must be ensured that the clearances between PCB tracks satisfy the high voltage design rules. ● Input capacitor, C1, should be located as close as possible to the STBP120 device. It should be a Low-ESR ceramic capacitor. Also the protective resistors RFLT, REN (if used) should be located close to the STBP120. ● For good thermal performance, it is recommended to connect the STBP120 exposed thermal pads with the PCB ground plane. In most designs, this requires thermal vias between the copper pads on PCB and the ground plane. Figure 10. Example of PCB layout 9 Conclusion The STBP120 device significantly increases the safety of portable electronic devices powered (or recharged) from an external power supply by implementing fast and reliable protection from input overvoltage. In addition it allows the system to power external peripherals through the system connector thanks to its reverse current capability. The STBP120 is pin to pin compatible with frequently used devices and outperforms their safety level using the thermal shutdown protection. 16/18 Doc ID 16207 Rev 1 AN3050 10 Revision history Revision history Table 2. Document revision history Date Revision 18-Nov-2009 1 Changes Initial release. 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