10.2.2.2 4-Wire Kelvin Connections

Current flowing through a PCB trace produces an IR voltage drop, and with longer traces, this drop can reach several millivolts or more, introducing a considerable error into the output voltage of the reference. A 1-in long, 5-mm wide trace of 1-oz copper has a resistance of approximately 100 mΩ at room temperature; at a load current of 10 mA, this can introduce a full millivolt of error. In an ideal board layout, the reference must be mounted as close as possible to the load to minimize the length of the output traces, and, therefore, the error introduced by voltage drop. However, in applications where this is not possible or convenient, force and sense connections (sometimes referred to as Kelvin sensing connections) are provided as a means of minimizing the IR drop and improving accuracy.

Kelvin connections work by providing a set of high impedance voltage-sensing lines to the output and ground nodes. Because very little current flows through these connections, the IR drop across their traces is negligible, and the output and ground voltage information can be obtain with minimum IR drop error.

It is always advantageous to use Kelvin connections whenever possible. However, in applications where the IR drop is negligible or an extra set of traces cannot be routed to the load, the force and sense pins for both V_OUT and GND can simply be tied together, and the device can be used in the same fashion as a normal 3-terminal reference (as shown in Figure 19).