Datasheet

LT3486
10
3486fe
Duty Cycle
The duty cycle for a step-up converter is given by:
D
VVV
OUT
N
=
+
where:
V
OUT
= Output voltage
V
D
= Schottky forward voltage drop
V
CESAT
= Saturation voltage of the switch
V
IN
= Input battery voltage
The maximum duty cycle achievable for LT3486 is 96%
(typ) when running at 1MHz switching frequency. It in-
creases to 98% (typ) when run at 200kHz and drops to
90% (typ) at 2MHz. Always ensure that the converter is
not duty-cycle limited when powering the LEDs at a given
switching frequency.
Setting the Switching Frequency
The LT3486 uses a constant frequency architecture that
can be programmed over a 200kHz to 2.5MHz range
with a single external timing resistor from the R
T
pin to
ground. The nominal voltage on the R
T
pin is 0.54V, and the
current that flows into the timing resistor is used to charge
and discharge an internal oscillator capacitor. A graph for
selecting the value of R
T
for a given operating frequency
is shown in the Figure 5.
APPLICATIONS INFORMATION
Operating Frequency Selection
The choice of operating frequency is determined by sev-
eral factors. There is a trade-off between efficiency and
component size. Higher switching frequency allows the
use of smaller inductors albeit at the cost of increased
switching losses and decreased efficiency.
Another consideration is the maximum duty cycle achiev-
able. In certain applications the converter needs to operate
at the maximum duty cycle in order to light up the maximum
number of LEDs. The LT3486 has a fixed oscillator off-time
and a variable on-time. As a result, the maximum duty
cycle increases as the switching frequency is decreased.
The circuit of Figure 6a is operated with different values
of timing resistor (R
T
). R
T
is chosen so as to run the con-
verters at 800kHz (R
T
= 63.4k), 1.25MHz (R
T
= 39.1k) and
2MHz (R
T
= 21.5k). The CTRL pins are used to provide
dimming for the respective LED strings. The efficiency
comparison for different R
T
values is shown in Figure 6b.
OSCILLATOR FREQUENCY (kHz)
R
T
(kΩ)
1000
3486 G09
10
100
500 2500200015001000
0
Figure 5. Timing Resistor (R
T
) Value
Figure 6a. 5V to 8/8 White LEDs
REF
1.25V
25mA
25mA
OFF ON
8.06Ω8.06Ω
V
C1
V
C2
R
T
R
T
2.8k 2.8k
C
IN
: 10V, X7R
C
OUT1
, C
OUT2
: 35V, X5R
D1, D2: ZETEX ZHCS400
L1, L2: TOKO D53LC TYPE A
4.7nF 4.7nF
SW1 SW2V
IN
5V
D1 D2
L1
10µH
L2
10µH
C
IN
10µF
C
REF
0.1µF
C
OUT1
2.2µF
C
OUT2
2.2µF
LT3486
3486 F06a
OVP2
CTRL2
REF
PWM2
FB2
OVP1
CTRL1
SHDN
PWM1
FB1
GND