5

Functional Pin Descriptions

VCC (Pin 11)

Provide a well decoupled 5V bias supply for the IC to this

pin. This pin also provides the gate bias charge for the lower

MOSFET controlled by the PWM section of the IC, as well as

the base current drive for the linear regulators’ external

bipolar transistors. The voltage at this pin is monitored for

Power-On Reset (POR) purposes.

GND (Pin 5)

Signal ground for the IC. All voltage levels are measured with

respect to this pin.

PGND (Pin 9)

This is the power ground connection. Tie the synchronous

PWM converter’s lower MOSFET source to this pin.

BOOT (Pin 7)

Connect a suitable capacitor (0.47

µF recommended) from

this pin to PHASE. This bootstrap capacitor supplies UGATE

driver the energy necessary to turn and hold the upper

MOSFET on.

OCSET (Pin 12)

Connect a resistor from this pin to the drain of the upper

PWM MOSFET. This resistor, an internal 40

µA current

source (typical), and the upper MOSFET’s on-resistance set

the converter overcurrent trip point. An overcurrent trip

cycles the soft-start function.

The voltage at this pin is monitored for power-on reset (POR)

purposes and pulling this pin below 1.25V with an open

drain/collector device will shutdown the switching controller.

PHASE (Pin 6)

Connect the PHASE pin to the PWM converter’s upper

MOSFET source. This pin is used to monitor the voltage

drop across the upper MOSFET for overcurrent protection.

UGATE (Pin 8)

Connect UGATE pin to the PWM converter’s upper MOSFET

gate. This pin provides the gate drive for the upper MOSFET.

LGATE (Pin 10)

Connect LGATE to the PWM converter’s lower MOSFET

gate. This pin provides the gate drive for the lower MOSFET.

COMP and FB (Pins 4, 3)

COMP and FB are the available external pins of the PWM

converter error amplifier. The FB pin is the inverting input of the

error amplifier. Similarly, the COMP pin is the error amplifier

output. These pins are used to compensate the voltage-mode

control feedback loop of the synchronous PWM converter.

DRIVE2, 3, 4 (Pins 1, 15, 13)

Connect these pins to the base terminals of external bipolar

NPN transistors. These pins provide the base current drive

for the regulator pass transistors.

FB2, 3, 4 (Pins 2, 16, 14)

Connect the output of the corresponding linear regulators to

these pins through properly sized resistor dividers. The

voltage at these pins is regulated to 0.8V. These pins are

also monitored for undervoltage events.

Quickly pulling and holding any of these pins above 1.25V

(using diode-coupled logic devices) shuts off the respective

regulators. Releasing these pins from the pull-up voltage

initiates a soft-start sequence on the respective regulator.

Description

Operation

The ISL6432 monitors and precisely controls 4 output

voltage levels (Refer to Block and Simplified Power System

Diagrams, and Typical Application Schematic). The IC has a

synchronous PWM controller and three linear controllers.

The PWM controller drives 2 MOSFETs (Q1 and Q2) in a

synchronous-rectified buck converter configuration and

regulates the output voltage to a level programmed by a

resistor divider. The linear controllers are designed to

regulate three more of the communication chip set

voltages. All linear controllers are designed to employ

external NPN bipolar pass transistors.

Initialization

The ISL6432 automatically initializes upon receipt of input

power. Special sequencing of the input supplies is not

necessary. The Power-On Reset (POR) function continually

monitors the input bias supply voltage. The POR monitors

the bias voltage at the VCC pin. The POR function initiates

soft-start operation after the bias supply voltage exceeds its

POR threshold.

Soft-Start

The POR function initiates the soft-start sequence. The

PWM error amplifier reference input is clamped to a level

proportional to the soft-start voltage. As the soft-start voltage

slews up, the PWM comparator generates PHASE pulses of

increasing width that charge the output capacitor(s).

Similarly, all linear regulators’ reference inputs are clamped

to a voltage proportional to the soft-start voltage. The ramp-

up of the internal soft-start function provides a controlled

output voltage rise.

Overcurrent Protection

All outputs are protected against excessive overcurrents.

The PWM controller uses the upper MOSFET’s

against shorted output. All linear controllers monitor their

respective FB pins for undervoltage events to protect against

excessive currents.

A sustained overload (undervoltage on linears or overcurrent

on the PWM) on any output results in an independent

shutdown of the respective output, followed by subsequent

individual re-start attempts performed at an interval equivalent

to 3 soft-start intervals. Figure 1 describes the protection

feature. At time T0, an overcurrent event sensed across the

internal soft-start initiates a number of soft-start cycles. After a

ISL6432