Create an efficient voltage regulator with MIC24055 and TM4C129ENCPDT

Regulate and dominate your energy

Published Jul 30, 2023

Click board™

MIC24055 Click

Dev. board

Fusion for Tiva v8

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

TM4C129ENCPDT

Experience smooth and reliable voltage conversion with our buck switching regulator. Deliver up to 4.8V with this solution!

Hardware Overview

How does it work?

MIC24055 Click is based on the MIC24055, a synchronous buck regulator from Microchip, which works with the fixed switching frequency of 600kHz, featuring a unique adaptive on-time control architecture. This buck regulator accepts input voltages from 4.5V to 19V and outputs voltage from 1V to 4.8V. The buck regulator IC provides a full suite of safekeeping features to ensure the protection of the IC during fault conditions, such as the under-voltage lockout, internal soft-start to reduce inrush current, short-circuit protection, and thermal shutdown. MIC24055 click is capable of delivering up to 8A of continuous output current on its output connector. To set the desired output voltage, the MIC24055 relies on the feedback voltage of the FB

pin. For that purpose, the FB pin of the MIC24055 is connected to the MCP4921 DAC converter VOUT pin. The MCP4921 DAC uses the SPI interface, which can be programmed to output a specific voltage level to the FB pin of the buck regulator. That way, the output voltage of the buck regulator can be adjusted to the desired level. The buck regulator output voltage is also fed back to the AN pin of the click board through the voltage divider. This allows for checking the regulator's output voltage, so the software can adjust the level of the DAC output if needed. For the proper operation of the device, the input voltage needs to be greater than the set output voltage. Besides the AN pin, the Click board™ uses the SPI interface pins, the EN pin to enable the buck regulator chip, and the

INT pin, which is routed to the PG pin of the MIC24055 buck regulator. This open drain output pin is used to signalize the Power Good condition, which occurs when the output voltage level (VOUT) reaches 92% of its steady-state voltage level. This pin is supplied with the pull-up resistor, connected to the 3.3V rail. The Click board™ has two 18A connectors for an easy and secure connection between the input and output lines. This Click board™ can be operated only with a 3.3V logic voltage level. The board must perform appropriate logic voltage level conversion before using MCUs with different logic levels. Also, it comes equipped with a library containing functions and an example code that can be used, as a reference, for further development.

Features overview

Development board

Fusion for TIVA v8 is a development board specially designed for the needs of rapid development of embedded applications. It supports a wide range of microcontrollers, such as different 32-bit ARM® Cortex®-M based MCUs from Texas Instruments, regardless of their number of pins, and a broad set of unique functions, such as the first-ever embedded debugger/programmer over a WiFi network. The development board is well organized and designed so that the end-user has all the necessary elements, such as switches, buttons, indicators, connectors, and others, in one place. Thanks to innovative manufacturing technology, Fusion for TIVA v8 provides a fluid and immersive working experience, allowing access

anywhere and under any circumstances at any time. Each part of the Fusion for TIVA v8 development board contains the components necessary for the most efficient operation of the same board. An advanced integrated CODEGRIP programmer/debugger module offers many valuable programming/debugging options, including support for JTAG, SWD, and SWO Trace (Single Wire Output)), and seamless integration with the Mikroe software environment. Besides, it also includes a clean and regulated power supply module for the development board. It can use a wide range of external power sources, including a battery, an external 12V power supply, and a power source via the USB Type-C (USB-C) connector.

Communication options such as USB-UART, USB HOST/DEVICE, CAN (on the MCU card, if supported), and Ethernet is also included. In addition, it also has the well-established mikroBUS™ standard, a standardized socket for the MCU card (SiBRAIN standard), and two display options for the TFT board line of products and character-based LCD. Fusion for TIVA v8 is an integral part of the Mikroe ecosystem for rapid development. Natively supported by Mikroe software tools, it covers many aspects of prototyping and development thanks to a considerable number of different Click boards™ (over a thousand boards), the number of which is growing every day.

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

Type

8th Generation

Architecture

ARM Cortex-M4

MCU Memory (KB)

1024

Silicon Vendor

Texas Instruments

Pin count

128

RAM (Bytes)

262144

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

Analog Input

PD0

MIC24055 Enable

PK3

RST

SPI Chip Select

PH0

SPI Clock

PQ0

SCK

MISO

SPI Data IN

PQ2

MOSI

Power Supply

3.3V

Ground

GND

PWM

Power Good

PQ4

INT

SCL

SDA

Ground

GND

Take a closer look

Click board™ Schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

Fusion for PIC v8 front image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the Fusion for Tiva v8 as your development board.

NECTO Output Selection Step Image hardware assembly

In the advanced settings, pay special attention to the Redirect standard output field. By default, it is set to Application output as the method of displaying final results. To show results via a UART terminal, select the “UART” option in that field and click the “SAVE” button. You will be returned to the Compiler field, and now you can move on to the next step by pressing the “NEXT” button.

GNSS2 Click front image hardware assembly

SiBRAIN for PIC32MZ1024EFK144 front image hardware assembly

GNSS2 Click complete accessories setup image hardware assembly

Board mapper by product7 hardware assembly

NECTO Compiler Selection Step Image hardware assembly

Track your results in real time

Application Output

1. Application Output - In Debug mode, the 'Application Output' window enables real-time data monitoring, offering direct insight into execution results. Ensure proper data display by configuring the environment correctly using the provided tutorial.

2. UART Terminal - Use the UART Terminal to monitor data transmission via a USB to UART converter, allowing direct communication between the Click board™ and your development system. Configure the baud rate and other serial settings according to your project's requirements to ensure proper functionality. For step-by-step setup instructions, refer to the provided tutorial.

3. Plot Output - The Plot feature offers a powerful way to visualize real-time sensor data, enabling trend analysis, debugging, and comparison of multiple data points. To set it up correctly, follow the provided tutorial, which includes a step-by-step example of using the Plot feature to display Click board™ readings. To use the Plot feature in your code, use the function: plot(*insert_graph_name*, variable_name);. This is a general format, and it is up to the user to replace 'insert_graph_name' with the actual graph name and 'variable_name' with the parameter to be displayed.

Software Support

Library Description

This library contains API for MIC24055 Click driver.

Key functions:

mic24055_generic_transfer - Generic transfer function
mic24055_dac_output - Generic transfer function
mic24055_set_vout - Set output voltage

Open Source

Code example

The complete application code and a ready-to-use project are available through the NECTO Studio Package Manager for direct installation in the NECTO Studio. The application code can also be found on the MIKROE GitHub account.

/*!
 * \file 
 * \brief Mic24055 Click example
 * 
 * # Description
 * This application is the buck regulator.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 * 
 * ## Application Init 
 * Initializes Click driver.
 * 
 * ## Application Task  
 * Slowly alternates the Click output between two values.
 * 
 * \author MikroE Team
 *
 */
// ------------------------------------------------------------------- INCLUDES

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "mic24055.h"

// ------------------------------------------------------------------ VARIABLES

static mic24055_t mic24055;
static log_t logger;

// ------------------------------------------------------ APPLICATION FUNCTIONS

void application_init ( void )
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;
    mic24055_cfg_t cfg;

    /** 
     * Logger initialization.
     * Default baud rate: 115200
     * Default log level: LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG
     * @note If USB_UART_RX and USB_UART_TX 
     * are defined as HAL_PIN_NC, you will 
     * need to define them manually for log to work. 
     * See @b LOG_MAP_USB_UART macro definition for detailed explanation.
     */
    LOG_MAP_USB_UART( log_cfg );
    log_init( &logger, &log_cfg );
    log_info( &logger, "---- Application Init ----" );

    //  Click initialization.

    mic24055_cfg_setup( &cfg );
    MIC24055_MAP_MIKROBUS( cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    mic24055_init( &mic24055, &cfg );
}

void application_task ( void )
{
    mic24055_set_vout( &mic24055, 1500 );
    log_printf( &logger, "VOUT set to 1500mV \r\n" );
    log_printf( &logger, "-------------------------- \r\n" );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    mic24055_set_vout( &mic24055, 3300 );
    log_printf( &logger, "VOUT set to 3300mV \r\n" );
    log_printf( &logger, "-------------------------- \r\n" );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
}

int main ( void ) 
{
    /* Do not remove this line or clock might not be set correctly. */
    #ifdef PREINIT_SUPPORTED
    preinit();
    #endif
    
    application_init( );
    
    for ( ; ; ) 
    {
        application_task( );
    }

    return 0;
}

// ------------------------------------------------------------------------ END