SLUSCU1A May 2017 – May 2018
PRODUCTION DATA.
Four external N-channel MOSFETs are used for a synchronous switching battery charger. The gate drivers are internally integrated into the IC with 6 V of gate drive voltage. 30 V or higher voltage rating MOSFETs are preferred for 19 V - 20 V input voltage.
Figure-of-merit (FOM) is usually used for selecting proper MOSFET based on a tradeoff between the conduction loss and switching loss. For the top side MOSFET, FOM is defined as the product of a MOSFET's on-resistance, RDS(ON), and the gate-to-drain charge, QGD. For the bottom side MOSFET, FOM is defined as the product of the MOSFET's on-resistance, RDS(ON), and the total gate charge, QG.
The lower the FOM value, the lower the total power loss. Usually lower RDS(ON) has higher cost with the same package size.
The top-side MOSFET loss includes conduction loss and switching loss. It is a function of duty cycle (D=VOUT/VIN), charging current (ICHG), MOSFET's on-resistance (RDS(ON)), input voltage (VIN), switching frequency (fS), turn on time (ton) and turn off time (toff):
The first item represents the conduction loss. Usually MOSFET RDS(ON) increases by 50% with 100°C junction temperature rise. The second term represents the switching loss. The MOSFET turn-on and turn-off times are given by:
where Qsw is the switching charge, Ion is the turn-on gate driving current and Ioff is the turn-off gate driving current. If the switching charge is not given in MOSFET datasheet, it can be estimated by gate-to-drain charge (QGD) and gate-to-source charge (QGS):
Gate driving current can be estimated by REGN voltage (VREGN), MOSFET plateau voltage (Vplt), total turn-on gate resistance (Ron) and turn-off gate resistance (Roff) of the gate driver:
The conduction loss of the bottom-side MOSFET is calculated with the following equation when it operates in synchronous continuous conduction mode:
When charger operates in non-synchronous mode, the bottom-side MOSFET is off. As a result all the freewheeling current goes through the body-diode of the bottom-side MOSFET. The body diode power loss depends on its forward voltage drop (VF), non-synchronous mode charging current (INONSYNC), and duty cycle (D).
The maximum charging current in non-synchronous mode can be up to 0.25 A for a 10-mΩ charging current sensing resistor or 0.5 A if battery voltage is below 2.5 V. The minimum duty cycle happens at lowest battery voltage. Choose the bottom-side MOSFET with either an internal Schottky or body diode capable of carrying the maximum non-synchronous mode charging current.