A Low-Power Hiccup-Mode Short-Circuit Protection Technique for DC-DC Boost Converter

Abstract

An improved low-power hiccup-mode technology for short-circuit protection is proposed in this paper, which can effectively suppress short-circuit currents and greatly minimize the power dissipation of hiccup mode. The circuit can start normally after the short circuit is recovered, and there is no voltage overshoot. At the same time, the proposed pre-charge circuit can effectively suppress the large initial inrush current in the pre-charge stage. These technologies are used in a Peak-Current-Mode-Control (PCMC) Pulse-Width-Modulation (PWM) DC-DC boost converter designed with a 0.35 standard CMOS process. Compared with the conventional structure, the post-simulation results show that the initial inrush current during the start-up phase in the proposed structure is reduced by about 90%. When the output short circuit occurs, the inductor current drops to approximately zero and the power dissipation of the converter is very low at this time. The converter repeatedly detects the state of the output load after a period of about 24 ms. Eventually, the converter will restart after the short circuit is recovered and there is no voltage overshoot.