Any time the output voltage falls more
than a few percent (for example, when the input voltage falls below the output
voltage setpoint), the output voltage ramps up slowly during the recovery. Known as
recovery from dropout, this condition differs from soft start in three important
ways:
- The reference voltage is set to approximately 1% above what is
needed to achieve the output voltage setpoint. The reference voltage is not
started from zero.
- Hiccup is allowed only if output voltage is less than 40% of
the setpoint. As described in Section 7.3.11.3, the device
inhibits hiccup when operating in dropout.
- FPWM mode is allowed during recovery from dropout. If the
output voltage is suddenly pulled up by an external supply, the converter can
pull down on the output. Note that all the protections present during normal
operation are in place, protecting the device if the output gets shorted to a
high voltage or ground.
Despite being called recovery from
dropout, this feature is active whenever the output voltage drops to a few percent
lower than the output setpoint. This action primarily occurs under the following
conditions:
- Dropout: When there is insufficient input voltage to maintain
the desired output voltage
- Overcurrent: When there is an overcurrent event that is not
severe enough to trigger hiccup