SLVSIU3 March 2026 TPS7A15C
PRODUCTION DATA
This design example is powered by a rechargeable battery that can be a building block in many portable applications. Noise-sensitive portable electronics require an efficient, small-size design for the power supply. Traditional LDOs are known for low efficiency in contrast to low-input, low-output voltage (LILO) LDOs, such as the TPS7A15C. Using a bias rail in the TPS7A15C allows the device to operate at a lower input voltage, thus reducing the voltage drop across the pass transistor and maximizing device efficiency. The low voltage drop allows the efficiency of the LDO to approximate that of a DC/DC converter. Equation 8 calculates the efficiency for this design.
Equation 8 reduces to Equation 9 because the design example load current is much greater than the quiescent current of the bias rail.
For this design example, the 0.9V output version (TPS7A15C09) is selected. A nominal 1.05V input supply comes from a DC/DC converter connected to the battery. Use a minimum 1.0μF input capacitor to minimize the effect of resistance and inductance between the 1.05V source and the LDO input. Use a minimum 2.2μF output capacitor for stability and good load transient response.
The dropout voltage (VDO) is less than 80mV maximum at a 0.9V output voltage and 400mA output current, so there are no dropout issues with a minimum input voltage of 1.0V and a maximum output current of 200mA. In addition, the TPS7A15C is designed to meet key specifications so long as the input voltage is at least 100mV greater than the output voltage.