Synchronous buck IC improves transient responses
27 May 2014 
According to the company, it inherently provides improved transient response over traditional switching schemes through the use of a voltage feed-forward loop and frequency modulation during large signal load changes. The synchronous buck regulator IC delivers high currents (up to 8 A) using low “on” resistance internal switches. A set of diagnostic flags allows the host platform to react to different fault conditions. A fault output indicates when either the temperature is becoming unusually high, or a single point failure has occurred – such as the switching node shorted to ground or the timing resistor going open-circuit. A “power OK” output is also provided after a fixed delay to indicate when the output voltage is within regulation. The selectable pulse-by-pulse current limit avoids the need to oversize the inductor to cope with large fault currents. Typical applications include industrial, consumer and computer markets as well as servers and networking systems that require 5 or 12V input stepdown conversions at high output current. It is available in a 4 x 5mm, 28-contact QFN package with exposed pad for enhanced thermal performance.