The boost converter is protected against potentially damaging conditions such as overvoltage and short circuits.
- Short-Circuit Protection
The boost converter integrates a short-circuit protection circuit to prevent the inductor or the rectifier diode from overheating when the output rail is shorted to GND. If the boost output is shorted to GND and the voltage on SWO drops below VIN - 0.5 V, the boost converter shuts down and the input-to-output isolation is turned-off. Only when the SWO voltage drops below 2 V typically, the switch turns on again and limits the current to 200 mA typically (start-up behavior). The soft-start capacitor is also discharged to ground. - Overvoltage Protection
The boost converter integrates an overvoltage protection. If the output voltage VDD exceeds the OVP threshold of 20.3 V typically , the boost converter stops switching. The output voltage will drop down by the hysteresis and the boost converter will autonomously recover and switch again.
Note: The boost converter stops switching while the positive charge pump is in a short circuit condition. This condition is not latched and the boost converter autonomously resumes normal operation once the short circuit condition has been removed from the positive charge pump.