8.4.9 Converter Operation

The synchronous buck PWM converter uses a fixed frequency voltage mode control scheme and internal type III compensation network. The LC output filter gives a characteristic resonant frequency

Equation 1.

The resonant frequency fo is used to determine the compensation to ensure there is sufficient phase margin and gain margin for the target bandwidth. The LC output filter should be selected to give a resonant frequency of 10–20 kHz nominal for the best performance. Suggest component value as charge current of 750kHz default switching frequency is shown in Table 1.

Ceramic capacitors show a dc-bias effect. This effect reduces the effective capacitance when a dc-bias voltage is applied across a ceramic capacitor, as on the output capacitor of a charger. The effect may lead to a significant capacitance drop, especially for high output voltages and small capacitor packages. See the manufacturer's data sheet about the performance with a dc bias voltage applied. It may be necessary to choose a higher voltage rating or nominal capacitance value in order to get the required value at the operating point.

The BQ24725A has three loops of regulation: input current, charge current and charge voltage. The three loops are brought together internally at the error amplifier. The maximum voltage of the three loops appears at the output of the error amplifier EAO. An internal saw-tooth ramp is compared to the internal error control signal EAO (see Figure 10) to vary the duty-cycle of the converter. The ramp has offset of 200mV in order to allow 0% duty-cycle.

When the battery charge voltage approaches the input voltage, EAO signal is allowed to exceed the saw-tooth ramp peak in order to get a 100% duty-cycle. If voltage across BTST and PHASE pins falls below 4.3V, a refresh cycle starts and low-side n-channel power MOSFET is turned on to recharge the BTST capacitor. It can achieve duty cycle of up to 99.5%.