A loss of battery condition is a fault condition where the potential connected to the supply rail of the high-side switch is suddenly lost. This creates a scenario where an undefined potential sits between the input supply of the high-side switch and the output load attached. This can be caused by conditions such as a faulty upstream regulator or physically severed power connection. All of TI's smart high-side switches have built-in protection mechanisms that will immediately shut off the output of the high-side switch in a loss of battery condition. While the output of the high-side switch will be shut off to protect the switch and load itself, precautions must be taken to protect the upstream and downstream power path when driving inductive loads.