Datasheet

I
BOUNDARY
=
(V
IN
± V
OUT
) x D
2 x L x f
SW
LM20136
SNVS564B –JANUARY 2009–REVISED APRIL 2013 www.ti.com
Light Load Operation
The LM20136 offers increased efficiency when operating at light loads. Whenever the load current is reduced to
a point where the peak to peak inductor ripple current is greater than two times the load current, the part will
enter the diode emulation mode preventing significant negative inductor current. The point at which this occurs is
the critical conduction boundary and can be calculated by the following equation:
(1)
Several diagrams are shown in Figure 29 illustrating continuous conduction mode (CCM), discontinuous
conduction mode, and the boundary condition.
It can be seen that in diode emulation mode, whenever the inductor current reaches zero the SW node will
become high impedance. Ringing will occur on this pin as a result of the LC tank circuit formed by the inductor
and the parasitic capacitance at the node. If this ringing is of concern an additional RC snubber circuit can be
added from the switch node to ground.
At very light loads, usually below 100mA, several pulses may be skipped in between switching cycles, effectively
reducing the switching frequency and further improving light-load efficiency.
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