LM5085

Designing Non-Inverting Buck-Boost (Zeta) Converters with a Buck P-FET

Controller

Literature Number: SNVA608

POWER designer
Expert tips, tricks, and techniques for powerful designs
No. 130

Designing Non-Inverting Buck-Boost (Zeta)

Converters with a Buck P-FET Controller
By Vijay Choudhary, Applications Engineer and Robert Bell, Design Center Director

Introduction
Constant On-Time (COT) regulators provide a simple,
cost-effective way of implementing step-down buck
regulators with nearly fixed frequency, as shown in
Figure 1. COT regulators do not require loop
compensation and provide excellent transient
performance with minimum design effort. Nonsynchronous operation results in reduced switching
frequency at a very light load which delivers higher
efficiency than a comparable fixed frequency converter.
In many applications, the input voltage varies above
and below the required output voltage. Many articles
and application notes have shown how to configure
a buck regulator to work as an inverting or noninverting buck-boost regulator to accomplish the task.
However, most of these methods are based on PWM
buck controllers. While it is easy to configure the power

7V to 55V
Input
VIN
CIN
33 F
GND

LM5085
VIN

CBYP
1 F

VCC

stage from buck to buck-boost topology, the compensation design remains a challenge as the power stage
small signal model changes significantly. This means
that the compensation design must be done from
scratch. This approach also places limitations on the
achievable bandwidth. Since COT topology does not
require any compensation, significantly less effort is
required to get a non-inverting buck-boost circuit
working. This article explains how to use a COT
P-FET buck controller to design a non-inverting
buck-boost supply that achieves fast transient response
without requiring a control loop design, as shown
in Figure 2. Zeta converter implementation also has
the added advantage of short-circuit protection over
boost converters.

CVCC
0.47 F
CADJ

1000 pF

ADJ
RADJ
2.1 k

RT
90.9 k
RT

SHUTDOWN

ISEN
PGATE

RSEN
0.01
L1 15 H

D1
GND

R3
C1
66.5 k 3000 pF
C2
0.1 F

FB

Figure 1. LM5085 Buck Application Circuit

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VOUT

Q1
RFB2
10 k
RFB1
3.4 k

5V
COUT
100 F
GND

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Designing Zeta Converters with a Buck P-FET Controller

5V to 36V

LM5085

VIN

VIN

CBYP
1 F

CIN
33 F
GND

CADJ

1000 pF

ADJ
RADJ
3.0 k

RT1
200 k

RT
SHUTDOWN

VCC

CVCC
0.47 F

ISEN
PGATE

RT2
200 k

RSEN
0.05
Q1

D1

GND

FB

VOUT
10V

L2 47 H
CC

VOUT

L1 47 H

33 F

R3
C1
66.5 k 3300 pF
C2
0.1 F

RFB2
10 k
RFB1
1.4 k

COUT
100 F
GND

Figure 2. LM5085 Non-Inverting Buck-Boost (Inverse SEPIC or Zeta) Application Circuit

Operation of LM5085-Based Non-Inverting BuckBoost (Zeta) Converter

Zeta converter allows operation with VIN varying
below and above VOUT while proving short circuit
protection. The output capacitor has smaller ripple
because of the series inductor at the output.
Figure 3 shows the simplified diagram of a Zeta
converter. The coupling capacitor (CC) is charged to
VOUT in steady state. The blue lines show the
direction of current during TON (Q1 on) and the
dark red lines show the direction of current during
TOFF (D1 conducting). Continuous conduction
mode is assumed. Figure 4 shows the ideal voltage
waveforms for switch nodes (SW1, SW2) and ideal
current waveforms in the inductors (IL1, IL2), switch
(IQ1), and the coupling capacitor (ICC).
VIN
CIN

Figure 4. Zeta Converter Operating Waveforms

+
Q1
SW2
L2

CC

SW1

VOUT
L1

D1

COUT

Figure 3. Zeta Converter Operation (Switching Intervals)

(Blue: Q1 on, Red: Q1 off)

Figure 3 shows L1 and L2 coupled inductors.

Coupled inductors may reduce the footprint of the
solution under some conditions but are not
necessary for the proper operation of a Zeta
converter. In applications where the VIN varies
much below VOUT, the current rating on inductor
L2 is significantly higher than the current rating

POWER designer
of output inductor L1. In such cases, it may be
easier to split the inductor in two and optimize
each one separately. For tightly coupled inductors,
the current ripple in the two windings may have
some mismatch because the ripple voltage across
the coupling capacitor appears across the small
leakage inductance.
Design Equations
In a Zeta converter, the input/output relationship
deduced by applying inductor voltage balanceis
given by:

VOUT =

D
V
1-D IN

D1During TON the voltage across diode D1 is:

VD1 = VIN + VOUT

which is the same as the voltage across Q1 in TOFF.
The average current through D1 is:

ID1(avg) = IOUT
Q1voltage rating of P-FET switch is:

VSW = VIN + VOUT

Q1average current is:

or

D=

VOUT
VIN + VOUT

ISW(avg) = D IOUT
1-D
however, the peak current through the switch is:

L1 and L2 are given by:

V T
L1 = L2 = IN ON
I
for uncoupled inductors and half as much for
coupled inductors. I is the desired ripple current
in L1 and L2 which is highest at the highest input
voltage. The peak current in L1 is given by:

IL1(peak) = IOUT + I
2
and the peak current in L2 is given by:

ISW(peak) = 1 IOUT + I
1-D
which is important because it affects the current
limit.
CCThe coupling capacitor handles the output
voltage in steady state. The ripple current is given by:

ICoup(rms) =

D I
1-D OUT

CINInput capacitor has the same ripple current

as the coupling capacitor.

IL2(peak) = D IOUT + I
1-D
2

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Designing Zeta Converters with a Buck P-FET Controller
Frequency of Operation
LM5085 is a COT controller optimized for buck
operation with inverse relationship between VIN and
TON. In continuous conduction mode (CCM), this
results in a nearly constant frequency operation as a
buck converter. The inverse relation-ship between
VIN and TON, however, does not result in constant
frequency operation when operating as a Zeta
converter. In a buck-boost configuration

D = TONf =

VOUT
VIN + VOUT

and, therefore, TON should be made proportional to

This is accomplished by connecting the RT pin to

VOUT and VIN with equal value resistors, as shown
in Figure 2. The resulting TON is calculated by
Equation 3 in the LM5085 datasheet with VIN
replaced by VIN+VOUT.
Performance
A Zeta converter was designed for input voltage
range 5V-36V and maximum load current of 600 mA
at 10V output. The complete schematic is shown in
Figure 2. The frequency and maximum available
IOUT variation with VIN are shown is Figure 5 and
6, and the efficiency for the IOUT and VIN design
range is shown in Figure 7.

1
VIN + VOUT
to achieve nearly constant frequency operation.

Frequency (kHz)

Frequency vs VIN
300
290
280
270
260
250
240
230
220
210
200
0

10

15

VIN (V)
Figure 5. Frequency vs. VIN in Zeta Conguration Based on LM5085

20

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Current Limit vs Input Voltage
3.00

Current Limit (A)

2.50
2.00
1.50
ILIM (Q1)

1.00

ILIM (OUT)

0.50
0.00
0

10

20

30

40

VIN (V)
Figure 6. Peak Currents (IQ1 and IOUT) Variation with VIN, VOUT = 10V

Efciency (%)

Efciency
95%
90%
85%
80%
75%
70%
65%
60%
55%
50%

VIN=6V
VIN=12V
VIN=18V
VIN=24V
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

IOUT (A)
Figure 7. Efciency of Zeta Converter, VOUT = 10V

Conclusion
A non-inverting buck-boost with 10V regulated
output voltage and 5-36V input voltage range
with up to 600mA of guaranteed output current
is presented based on the LM5085 COT P-FET
buck controller. The operating principle of a Zeta
converter is explained with the help of a simplified
schematic and waveforms. The design equations
and performance characteristics are also presented.
LM5085 allows design of a non-inverting buckboost converter based on a Zeta topology with

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minimum effort, low solution cost, short circuit

protection, and excellent transient response without
any loop compensation design.
References
LM5085 Datasheet
Application Note AN-1878
LM5085 Evaluation Board
LM(2)5085 Quick Start Calculator

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