Philips Semiconductors
PIP201-12M
DC to DC converter powertrain
Preliminary data
Rev. 01 — 24 January 2002
11 of 20
9397 750 09032
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. 2002. All rights reserved.
The thermal resistance between the junction and the printed-circuit board is 5 K/W.
Therefore, the maximum printed-circuit board temperature (Tpcb(max)) is given by:
(2)
11.2 Advantages of an integrated driver
One problem in the design of low-voltage, high-current DC to DC converters using
discrete components, is stray inductance between the various circuit elements.
Stray inductance in the gate drive circuit increases the switching times of the
MOSFETs and causes high-frequency oscillation of the gate voltage.
Stray inductance in the high-current loop between VDDO and VSSO causes switching
losses and electromagnetic interference. In discrete designs, high-frequency electric
and magnetic elds radiate from PCB tracks and couple into adjacent circuits.
By integrating the power MOSFETs and their drive circuits into a single package,
stray inductance is virtually eliminated, resulting in a compact, efcient design.
In discrete designs, the delays in the MOSFET drivers must be long enough to
ensure no cross-conduction even when using the slowest MOSFETs. Use of an
integrated driver allows the propagation delays in the MOSFET drivers to be precisely
matched to the MOSFETs. This minimizes switching losses and eliminates
cross-conduction whilst allowing the circuit to operate at a higher frequency.
11.3 Switching frequency
A high operating frequency reduces the size and number of capacitors needed to
lter the output current, and also reduces the size of the output inductors. The
disadvantage is higher dissipation due to switching and MOSFET driver losses. For
example, doubling the operating frequency of the circuit in
Figure 11 from 500 kHz to
1 MHz would increase the power dissipation in each PIP201-12M from 2.7 W to
4.5 W, at an output current of 12.5 A in each PIP201-12M.
The maximum switching frequency is limited by thermal considerations, the
dissipation in the four PIP201-12M devices and the thermal resistance from junction
to ambient.
11.4 Thermal design
The PIP201-12M has three pads on its underside. These are designated PAD1, PAD2
and PAD3 (Figure 2). PAD1 is connected to VDDO, PAD2 is connected to VSSC and PAD3 is connected to VO. In addition to providing low inductance electrical
connections, these pads conduct heat away efciently from the MOSFETs and
control IC to the printed-circuit board. The thermal resistance from junction to
printed-circuit board is approximately 5 K/W. In order to take full advantage of the low
thermal resistance of this package, the printed-circuit board must be designed so that
heat is conducted away efciently from the package. This can be achieved by
maximizing the area of copper around each pad, and by incorporating thermal vias to
conduct the heat to inner and/or bottom layers of the printed-circuit board. An
example of a thermal via pattern is shown in
Figure 12. In a typical computer
T
pcb max
()
T
j max
()
P
tot
R
th j
pcb
–
()
×
–
127
2.7
5
×
–
95.5
°C
==
=