LT3791-1

360W and 240W 24V Voltage

Regulators Using Parallel 60V
4-Switch Buck-Boost Controller
November 2012
2x and 3x Parallel 120W Voltage Regulators

Keith Szolusha
Senior Applications Engineer SPower
Milpitas, CA
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LT3791-1 2x Parallel 120W Voltage Regulators = 240W 24V 10A

240W 24V 10A Parallel Regulators Share Current Equally

constant current
constant voltage slave
master
Slave FB voltage is set to regulate 28V so that at 24VOUT, it runs in
LTC6240 gives a 200mV level-
constant current operation. The current that the slave provides is set by
shift from ISMON output (master)
ISMON output of the master to match the master current.
to CTRL input (slave)

© 2012 Linear Technology CONFIDENTIAL Keith Szolusha keith@linear.com November 2012

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LT3791-1 3x Parallel 120W Voltage Regulators = 360W 24V 15A

360W 24V 15A Parallel Regulators Use 120º 3-Phase Sync LTC6902
1x constant voltage master

INTVCC1

332k
LTC6240 gives a 200mV level-
shift from ISMON output (master) 2x constant current slaves
to CTRL input (slaves)
© 2012 Linear Technology CONFIDENTIAL Keith Szolusha keith@linear.com November 2012
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LT3791-1 Parallel 120W Voltage Regulators Efficiency

Single 24V 5A
240W 2x 120W 0 2 4 6 8 10
360W 3x 120W 0 3 6 9 12 15
LOAD CURRENT (A)

© 2012 Linear Technology CONFIDENTIAL Keith Szolusha keith@linear.com November 2012

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LT3791-1 2x Parallel 120W Voltage Regulators Sharing Current

5A to 10A Transient Response

VOUT
1V/DIV The parallel circuits share current well. The
IL2 master tells the slave how much current to
slave control as the master is controlling its own
5A/DIV output voltage.
IL1
master
5A/DIV

Startup to 100mA Load (Light Load)

VOUT
5V/DIV
VSS
1V/DIV Current during startup matches well, but
IL2 only the master can produce negative
slave current during an overshoot since the CTRL
5A/DIV input does not command negative current.
IL1
master
5A/DIV

© 2012 Linear Technology CONFIDENTIAL Keith Szolusha keith@linear.com November 2012

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LT3791-1 2x and 3x Parallel 120W Voltage Regulators Sharing Current

IL1 master
2A/DIV
10A load with 180º phase shift
IL2 slave
2A/DIV between 2x LT3791-1s

VOUT Switch phasing is provided by

10V/DIV CLKOUT output of master tied to
IOUT
SYNC input of slave.
5A/DIV

IL1 master
2A/DIV
IL2 slave1 15A load with 120º phase shift
2A/DIV between 3x LT3791-1s
IL2 slave2
2A/DIV Switch phasing is provided by
LTC6902 multiphase oscillator output
tied to all three SYNC inputs.

© 2012 Linear Technology CONFIDENTIAL Keith Szolusha keith@linear.com November 2012

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LT3791-1 2x Parallel 120W Voltage Regulators = 240W 24V 10A

How to make a parallel circuit with existing PCBs (LB3791-1XLA)

200mV level-shift on
master
ISMON of master to
master level-shift input of
constant voltage slave CTRL with
twisted SGND wire

slave
constant current

SYNC slave

CLKOUT master

do not connect
strong power GND SGND terminals
connections of different PCBs

Assemble two LT3791-1 PCBs in parallel for best results or make a new layout.

© 2012 Linear Technology CONFIDENTIAL Keith Szolusha keith@linear.com November 2012

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LT3791-1 3x Parallel 120W Voltage Regulators = 360W 24V 15A

How to make a parallel circuit with existing PCBs (LB3791-1XLA)

ISMON of master to level-shift
input of slave CTRL with
twisted SGND wire

120º 3-phase oscillator outputs to

all three SYNC inputs with
master twisted SGND wire
constant voltage

SYNC master

SYNC slave1
slave1
constant current

slave2
constant current
SYNC slave2

strong power GND

do not connect
connections SGND terminals
of different PCBs
Assemble three LT3791-1 PCBs in parallel for best results or make a new layout.
© 2012 Linear Technology CONFIDENTIAL Keith Szolusha keith@linear.com November 2012
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LT3791-1 Parallel 120W Voltage Regulators Control Loop Response Measurement

Measure the voltage loop of the master since it is regulating 24VOUT.

Measure the current loop of the slave since it is regulating constant current.
voltage loop bode plot
measurement setup
for master
IOUT VOUT
current loop bode plot
- + COUT1
CH1 - measurement setup
for slave
100Ω
Ω noise
inject ROUT IOUT VOUT

- CH2 + +
- + - COUT2
CH2

728kΩ
Ω
FB noise
40Ω
Ω inject
ISP
-
38.3kΩ
Ω CH1 + +
ISN

Look for Intranet article “LED Driver with High-Side Sense Resistor Control Loop
Response Measurement Using the Venable 350 (LT3796)” for reference.

© 2012 Linear Technology CONFIDENTIAL Keith Szolusha keith@linear.com November 2012