Evaluates: MAX4374/MAX4375
Quick Start
Recommended Equipment
• MAX4374 EV kit
• 5V/10mA DC power supply
• 12V/1.5A DC power supply
• An electronic load capable of sinking 1.1A (e.g., HP
6060B)
• Two digital voltmeters
Procedure
The MAX4374 EV kit is fully assembled and tested.
Follow the steps below to verify the board operation.
Caution: Do not turn on power supply or the elec-
tronic load until all connections are completed.
1) Connect the positive terminal of the 5V supply to
the VCC pad. Connect the negative terminal of the
5V supply to the GND pad.
2) Connect the positive terminal of the 12V supply to
the VIN pad. Connect the negative terminal of the
12V supply to the GND pad.
3) Set the electronic load to sink 500mA.
4) Connect the electronic load’s positive terminal to
the LOAD pad and the negative terminal to the
GND pad.
5) Connect the first voltmeter across the OUT and GND
pads.
6) Connect the second voltmeter across the COUT2
and GND pads.
7) Turn on the power supplies.
8) Turn on the electronic load.
9) Verify that the OUT voltmeter reading is approximately
1.875V and the COUT2 voltmeter is approximately 0V.
10) Slowly increase the sink current to above 1A. When
the OUT voltage reaches approximately 3.75V, the
comparator output of the part trips the PMOS
switches and shuts off the load-current path.
11) Verify that the overcurrent circuitry shuts off the
load current.
12) Reset the current path by pressing the S1 pushbut-
ton after an overcurrent condition.
Detailed Description of Hardware
The MAX4374 evaluation kit (EV kit) provides a proven
design to evaluate the MAX4374 low-cost, micropower,
high-side current-sense supervisor that contains a high-
side current-sense amplifier, bandgap reference, and
comparator with latching output. This EV kit demon-
strates the MAX4374 in a 10-pin µMAX package. The
MAX4374 is also available in 14-pin SO, but that pack-
age is not compatible with this EV kit.
Measuring the Load Current
The load current is measured as a voltage drop
(VSENSE) across an external sense resistor. This volt-
age is then amplified by the current-sense amplifier and
presented as a voltage at its output pin (OUT). Like all
differential amplifiers, the output voltage has two com-
ponents of error, an offset error and a gain error. The
offset error affects accuracy at low VSENSE and the
gain error affects accuracy at large VSENSE. By mini-
mizing both offset and gain errors, accuracy can be
optimized over a wide dynamic range.
Output-Voltage Calculation
The MAX4374 EV kit is installed with a MAX4374FEUB+,
which has a gain of 50V/V. The current-sense resistor
(RSENSE) value is 0.075Ωwith ±1% tolerance. The VOUT
is given by:
VOUT =I
LOAD x RSENSE x AV
where AV is the gain and ILOAD is the current load applied
to the device. Note that AV for the MAX4374FEUB+ is
50V/V.
MAX4374 Evaluation Kit
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