LTC4242
15
4242f
Figure 5. Normal Power-Down Sequence
APPLICATIO S I FOR ATIO
U
U
U
Figure 6. Overcurrent Fault on 3.3V Output
Figure 7. Short-Circuit Fault on 3.3V Output
Thermal Shutdown
Each of the two internal switches for the 3.3V auxiliary
supplies is protected by an independent thermal shutdown
circuit. If the temperature of an internal switch reaches
150癈, the switch shuts down immediately and AUXFAULT
is latched low. All other power switches are not affected.
The switch is allowed to turn on again by recycling the
AUXON pin low then high with the temperature falling
below 120癈.
Overcurrent Fault
The LTC4242 features dual level glitch tolerant protection
against overcurrent faults for all the supplies. The sense
resistor (both internal and external) voltage drop is moni-
tored by an electronic circuit breaker (ECB) comparator
and an active current limit (ACL) ampli er. In the event that
a supplys current exceeds the ECB threshold, an internal
timer is started. If the supply is still overcurrent after 20祍,
the ECB trips and the MOSFET turns off immediately, as
shown in Figure 6.
During start-up, a supply output could be shorted to ground
in the worst case. The inrush current would be limited to
the ACL threshold, which is 2x the ECB threshold, and the
part will latch off after 20祍.
AUXOUTn
5V/DIV
12V
OUTn
5V/DIV
3V
OUTn
5V/DIV
PGOODn
5V/DIV
100ms/DIV
4242 F05
ENn
5V/DIV
3V
GATEn
5V/DIV
3V
OUTn
5V/DIV
I
LOAD
3A/DIV
5祍/DIV
4242 F06
FAULTn
5V/DIV
3V
GATEn
5V/DIV
3V
OUTn
5V/DIV
I
LOAD
10A/DIV
5祍/DIV
4242 F07
FAULTn
5V/DIV
During an output short circuit, the surge current must be
brought to a controlled level within the shortest amount of
time to protect the system. The LTC4242s active current
limit enters a high current protection mode that immediately
turns off the output MOSFET by pulling its gate-to-source
voltage to zero. Current in the output MOSFET drops from
tens of amps to zero in a few hundred nanoseconds. The
input voltage drops during the high current and then
spikes upwards due to lead parasitic inductances as the