The TPS1685x can detect and report certain
conditions which are indicative of a failure of the power path FET. If undetected or
unreported, these conditions can compromise system performance by not providing
power to the load correctly or by not providing the necessary level of protection.
After a FET failure is detected, the TPS1685x tries to turn off the internal FET by
pulling the gate low and asserts the FLT pin.
- D-S short: D-S short can result in a
constant uncontrolled power delivery path formed from source to load, either due
to a board assembly defect or due to internal FET failure. This condition is
detected at start-up by checking if VIN-OUT < VDSFLT
before the FET is turned ON. If yes, the device engages the internal output
discharge to try and discharge the output. If the VOUT does not
discharge below VFB within a certain allowed interval, the device
asserts the FLT pin.
- G-D short: The TPS1685x detects this kind
of FET failure at all times by checking if the gate voltage is close to
VIN even when the internal control logic is trying to hold the
FET in OFF condition.
- G-S short: The TPS1685x detects this kind
of FET failure during start-up by checking if the FET G-S voltage fails to reach
the necessary overdrive voltage within a certain timeout period
(tSU_TMR) after the gate driver is turned ON. While in
steady-state, if the G-S voltage becomes low before the controller logic has
signaled to the gate driver to turn off the FET, this action is latched as a
fault.