Figure 3. MAX669 Low-Voltage Bootstrapped Configuration
Bootstrapped Operation
With bootstrapped operation, the IC is powered from
the circuit output (V
OUT
). This improves efficiency
when the input voltage is low, since EXT drives the FET
with a higher gate voltage than would be available from
the low-voltage input. Higher gate voltage reduces the
FET on-resistance, increasing efficiency. Other (unde-
sirable) characteristics of bootstrapped operation are
increased IC operating power (since it has a higher
operating voltage) and reduced ability to start up with
high load current at low input voltages. If the input volt-
age range extends below 2.7V, then bootstrapped
operation with the MAX669 is the only option.
With V
CC
connected to V
OUT
, as in Figure 2, EXT volt-
age swing is 5V when V
CC
is 5.2V or more, and V
CC
-
0.2V when V
CC
is less than 5.2V. If the output voltage
does not exceed 5.5V, the on-chip regulator can be
disabled by connecting V
CC
to LDO (Figure 3). This
eliminates the LDO forward drop and supplies maxi-
mum gate drive to the external FET.
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