Wide Input Voltage Range, High-Efficiency, Fault-Tolerant LED Driver
A8519 and
A8519-1
33
Allegro MicroSystems, LLC
955 Perimeter Road
Manchester, NH 03103-3353 U.S.A.
www.allegromicro.com
If the required minimum slope is larger than the calculated slope
compensation, the inductor value needs to be increased. Note that
the slope compensation value is in A/μs the 1 × 10-6 is constant
multiplier.
Step 4e: Determining the inductor current rating.
I = I + (1/2) × ΔI
L(min) IN(max)
= 1.25 AI = 1.06A+
L(min)
0.375 A
L
Step 5: To determine the resistor value for a switching frequency
refer to the graph in Figure 8. A 10 kW resistor will result in a
2 MHz switching frequency.
Step 6: Choosing the proper output Schottky diode. The diode
needs to be chosen for three characteristics when it is used in
LED lighting circuitry. The most obvious two are the current
rating of the diode and the reverse voltage rating. The reverse
voltage rating should be larger than the maximum output VOVP .
The peak current through the diode is:
= 1.25 AI = 1.06 +
D(pk)
0.375 A
2
I = I +
D(pk) IN(max)
I
L(used)
2
The other major factor in deciding the switching diode is the
reverse current characteristic of the diode. This characteristic
is especially important when PWM dimming is implemented.
During PWM off-time, the boost converter is not switching. This
results in a slow bleeding off of the output voltage due to leakage
currents. IR or reverse current can be a large contributor espe-
cially at high temperatures. The reverse current of the selected
diode varies between 1 and 100 µA. For higher efficiency, use
a small forward voltage drop diode. For lower high-frequency
noise, choose a small junction capacitor diode.
Step 7: Choosing the output capacitors. The output capacitors
need to be chosen such that they can provide filtering for both the
boost converter and for the PWM dimming function. The biggest
factor that contributes to the size of the output capacitor is PWM
dimming frequency and the PWM duty cycle. Another major
contributor is leakage current (ILK). This current is the combina-
tion of the OVP current sense as well as the reverse current of
the boost diode. In this design, the PWM dimming frequency is
200 Hz; the minimum duty cycle is 0.02%. Typically, the voltage
variation on the output during PWM dimming needs to be less
than 250 mV (VCOUT) so there is no audible hum.
C = I ×
OUT LK
(1–minimum dimming duty cycles)
PWM dimming frequency × V
COUT
The selected diode leakage current at a 150°C junction tem-
perature and 30 V output is 100 μA, and the maximum leakage
current through OVP pin is 1 μA. The total leakage current can be
calculated as follows:
ILK = ILKG(diode) + ILKG(ovp)
= 100 μA + 1 μA
= 101 μA
C = 101 µA ×
OUT
= 2 µF
(1 – 0.02)
200 Hz × 0.250 V
A capacitor larger than 2 µF should be selected. Due to degrada-
tion of capacitance at dc voltages, a 4.7 µF / 50 V capacitor is a
good choice.
Vendor Value Part Number
Murata 4.7 µF / 50 V GRM21BC18H475KE11K
It is also necessary to note that if a high dimming ratio of 5000:1
must be maintained at lower input voltages, then larger out-
put capacitors will be needed. 4 × 4.7 µF / 50 V / X6S / 0805
capacitors are chosen; 0805 size is selected to minimize possible
audible noise.
The RMS current through the capacitor is given by:
C = I ×
OUT(rms) OUT
D +
MAX
IL(used)
1 – DMAX
I × 12
IN(max)
C = 0.240 ×
OUT(rms) = 0.424 A
0.75 + 0.375
1.06 × 12
The output capacitor needs to have a current rating of at least
0.424 A. The capacitors selected in this design, 4 × 4.7 µF / 50 V
/ X6S / 0805, have a combined current rating of more than 3 A
current rating.