TIDUEP0 May 2020
The Figure 12 shows a Webench design used to evaluate the TPS54218 with an output voltage of 3.3 V at 200mA. Webench Power Designer tool allows the user to simulate real time data for the product selected (efficiency, transient response, startup, etc.) and a capability to export Altium files to complete a board design.
For the ultrasound power supply design, the TPS54218 was selected to power the low voltage for the FPGA and the AFE5832LP. Since the size of the total solution was a concern, a module was considered. Comparing the difference between a power module and a dc/dc converter (internal inductor vs external inductor), the total system efficiency was evaluated. The DC/DC converter solution (TPS54218) allowed for more flexibility by increasing the inductor value, which led to an increase in efficiency (see Figure 14 in Power Measurement section).
When comparing how different inductor values effect the efficiency of a buck converter, the TPS54218 was evaluated with two different inductor values. In Figure 13, the TPS54218 efficiency was tested for two different inductor values (2.2uH vs 33uH) using a load generator. For light load conditions, the 33uH inductor had a much higher efficiency when compared to the 2.2uH solution. This is due to the AC conduction losses of the inductor which decrease the efficiency of the solution. Moving forward for the the low voltage power supply design, a 33uH inductor was chosen to improve the efficiency.
Figure 14 shows the 2 V supply output voltage ripple of the TPS54218. The measured Pk-Pk ripple was measured at 14.4mV. The remaining low voltage power supplies all had an output voltage ripple of less than 10m V.