
Principles of Operation and Application Tips
TSM1015
5/10
3 Principles of Operation and Application Tips
3.1 Voltage control
The voltage loop is controlled via a first transconductance operational amplifier, the resistor bridge R1,
R2, and the optocoupler which is directly connected to the output.
The relation between the values of R1 and R2 should be chosen as written in
Equation 1.
R1 = R2 x VRef / (Vout - VRef)
Equation 1
Where Vout is the desired output voltage.
To avoid the discharge of the load, the resistor bridge R1, R2 should be highly resistive. For this type of
application, a total value of 100K
(or more) would be appropriate for the resistors R1 and R2.
As an example, with R2 = 100K
, Vout = 4.10V, Vref = 1.25V, then R1 = 41.9K.
Note that if the low drop diode should be inserted between the load and the voltage regulation resistor
bridge to avoid current flowing from the load through the resistor bridge, this drop should be taken into
account in the above calculations by replacing Vout by (Vout + Vdrop).
3.2 Current control
The current loop is controlled via the second trans-conductance operational amplifier, the sense resistor
Rsense, and the optocoupler.
Vsense threshold is achieved externally by a resistor bridge tied to the Vref voltage reference. Its middle
point is tied to the positive input of the current control operational amplifier, and its foot is to be connected
to lower potential point of the sense resistor as shown on the following figure. The resistors of this bridge
are matched to provide the best precision possible.
The control equation verifies:
Rsense x llim = Vsense
Equation 2
Vsense = R5*Vref/(R4+R5)
llim = R5*Vref/(R4+R5)*Rsense
Equation 2’
where Ilim is the desired limited current, and Vsense is the threshold voltage for the current control loop.
Note that the Rsense resistor should be chosen taking into account the maximum dissipation (Plim)
through it during full load operation.
Plim = Vsense x llim
Equation 3
Therefore, for most adapter and battery charger applications, a quarter-watt, or half-watt resistor to make
the current sensing function is sufficient.
The current sinking outputs of the two trans-connuctance operational amplifiers are common (to the
output of the IC). This makes an ORing function which ensures that whenever the current or the voltage
reaches too high values, the optocoupler is activated.
The relation between the controlled current and the controlled output voltage can be described with a
square characteristic as shown in the following V/I output-power graph.