7
Date: 5/25/04
SP6231 500mA, 3.3V Linear Regulator
Copyright 2004 Sipex Corporation
V
OUT
3.3V
SP6231
GND
V
IN
V
AUX
V
SENSE
V
AUX
+3.3V
C5
2.2
μ
F
C4
10
μ
F
V
OUT
GND
C3
2.2
μ
F
V
IN
5V
GND
1
2
3
4
+5V
USB Connector
GND
LX
V
BATT
SHDN
J1
10
μ
H
V
OUT
SHDN
C2
100
μ
F
Schottky
Diode
D1
1
2
3
C1
100
μ
F
5
4
1
2
3
V
BATT
SP6641B
J3
1
2
3
6
5
4
SP6231 500mA, 3.3V CMOS LDO
with Auxiliary Backup
SP6641B Two Cell Boost
To prevent the device from entering thermal
shutdown, maximum power dissipation can not
be exceeded. Using the output voltage 3.3V and
an output current of 500mA, the maximum input
voltage can be determined. Ground pin current
can be taken from the electrical characteristics
table (I
GND
= 400
μ
A at I
OUT
= 500mA). The
maximum input voltage is determined as fol-
lows:
1754mW = (V
IN
- 3.3V) * 500mA + V
IN
* 0.4 mA
Solving for V
IN
, we get:
V
IN
= (1754mW + 1650mW) / 500.2mA
After calculations, we find that the maximum
input voltage of a 500mA application in a 3x3
MLP package, with a minimum footprint lay-
out, is 6.8V.
APPLICATION INFORMATION: continued
This application circuit is available as the evaluation board SP6231EB and is described in detail in the
SP6231 Evaluation Board Manual.
Portable Application Circuit: SP6231 and SP6641B
SP6231 with SP6641 in a Portable
Application
In a portable application, the power sources are
often switched between batteries and USB 5V
supplies. Utilizing USB power eliminates the
loading on the batteries when the device is
connected to computers, and thus can signifi-
cantly increase battery life. When the device is
powered by single or dual alkaline batteries, a
boost regulator, such as SP6641A/B, converts
the battery voltages to a regulated 3.3V.
SP6641A/B is packaged in a tiny SOT-23 pack-
age and requires less than 10
μ
A quiescent cur-
rent. When the output of SP6641A/B is con-
nected to SP6231 as an auxiliary supply, SP6231
will automatically disconnect its load when the
presence of USB power is detected. However,
when the portable device is disconnected from
USB, SP6231 seamlessly reconnects SP6641A/
B output to the load.