SBOS863D March 2018 – November 2019 INA190
PRODUCTION DATA.
The accuracy of any current-sense amplifier is maximized by choosing the current-sense resistor to be as large as possible. A large sense resistor maximizes the differential input signal for a given amount of current flow and reduces the error contribution of the offset voltage. However, there are practical limits as to how large the current-sense resistor can be in a given application because of the resistor size and maximum allowable power dissipation. Equation 2 gives the maximum value for the current-sense resistor for a given power dissipation budget:
where
An additional limitation on the size of the current-sense resistor and device gain is due to the power-supply voltage, VS, and device swing-to-rail limitations. In order to make sure that the current-sense signal is properly passed to the output, both positive and negative output swing limitations must be examined. Equation 3 provides the maximum values of RSENSE and GAIN to keep the device from exceeding the positive swing limitation.
where
To avoid positive output swing limitations when selecting the value of RSENSE, there is always a trade-off between the value of the sense resistor and the gain of the device under consideration. If the sense resistor selected for the maximum power dissipation is too large, then it is possible to select a lower-gain device in order to avoid positive swing limitations.
The negative swing limitation places a limit on how small the sense resistor value can be for a given application. Equation 4 provides the limit on the minimum value of the sense resistor.
where
In addition to adjusting RSENSE and the device gain, the voltage applied to the REF pin can be slightly increased above GND to avoid negative swing limitations.