Page 32 - EngineerIt July 2021

ELECTRONICS

operated out of phase to double the current capability. About the
The controller’s clock is set by a single resistor on the RT pin, with
the relative phase(s) of subnode(s) programmed through a resistor Author
divider on the RT pin. In the case shown in Figure 12, RT is grounded Atsuhiko Furukawa
to set the subnode to 180° phase shifted from the controller. joined Linear
Figure 13 shows the inductor current and output ripple current Technology (now
for a two-channel converter, as shown in Figure 12. In-phase part of Analog
performance is compared with dual, antiphase performance. Devices) in 2006.
Antiphase operation reduces output ripple current (via cancellation) He has provided
from 14 A peak-to-peak (single-phase) to six A peak-to-peak (dual- technical support for
phase) without additional external filters. various applications
to small and mid-
Conclusion size customers for
In summary, the LTC3310S is an efficient and tiny POL solution for over ten years. He
high current power systems feeding power hungry CPUs, SoCs transitioned to the
and FPGs. Its small footprint and optimised power efficiency result automotive segment
in low self-heat dissipation, enabling it to be placed very close to in 2017 and is now
loads. It can easily be paralleled for scaled-up power using multiple designing huge
LTC3310Ss in a multiphase solution. n (several kW) as
well as small safety
automotive applications. Atsuhiko is a marathon runner
Analog Devices (www.analog.com) is represented in South Africa
by Altron Arrow. For more information contact Conrad Coetzee at with his best record being three hours and three minutes.
ccoetzee@arrow.altech.co.za He can be reached at atsuhiko.furukawa@analog.com.

Figure 13: Comparing the inductor current and output current in two versions of a two-channel converter: (a) channels in-phase vs. (b) antiphase.

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