Limit currents/voltages to safe levels during fault conditions with TPS259631 and STM32F411RE
Safeguarding performance, enhancing efficiency
Published Oct 10, 2023
Click board™
eFuse 2 Click
Dev Board
UNI-DS v8
Compiler
NECTO Studio
MCU
STM32F411RE
Our eFuse device is engineered to revolutionize power management, providing precision control over load voltage and load current to enhance device performance, protect against faults, and ensure reliability
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Hardware Overview
How does it work?
eFuse 2 Click is based on the TPS259631, an integrated eFuse device that manages load voltage and load current from Texas Instruments. The TPS259631 provides various factory-programmed settings and user-manageable settings, allowing device configuration to handle different transient and steady-state supply and load fault conditions, thereby protecting the input supply and the downstream circuits connected to the device. The device also uses an in-built thermal shutdown mechanism to shield itself during these fault events. This Click board™ provides a simple solution for current limiting, inrush current control, and supervision of power rails for a wide range of applications operating from 2.7 V to 19 V external power supply and delivering up to 2A. Besides, the eFuse 2 Click board™ monitors the input supply the entire time and comes up with a user-adjustable UVLO and
OVLO mechanism through an I2C compatible digital potentiometer, the AD5241 from Analog Devices to ensure that the load is powered up only when the voltage is at a sufficient level. It is also possible to get an accurate sense of the output load current by measuring the voltage drop across the current limit resistor. By replacing the resistor with a digital rheostat, you can easily program the current limit as performed on this Click board™. For this purpose, the AD5175 single-channel 1024-position digital rheostat from Analog Devices that communicate with the MCU through the I2C serial interface is used to program the current limit. The TPS259631 regulates the current to the set current limit value within the nominal overcurrent response time and exits current limiting when the load current falls below the current limit value. The eFuse 2 Click board™ allows the choice of the least significant bit (LSB) of the I2C addresses for
AD5241 and AD5175. This can be performed by positioning the SMD jumper labeled as ADDR SEL to its appropriate position. Additional functionality, such as hardware reset for AD5175 and fault indication interrupt, is provided and routed at RST and INT pins of the mikroBUS™ socket labeled as RST and FLT. This open-drain fault output is associated with a red LED indicator, marked as the FLT, that will be pulled low when a fault is detected. This Click board™ can operate with either 3.3V or 5V logic voltage levels selected via the VCC SEL jumper. This way, both 3.3V and 5V capable MCUs can use the communication lines properly. Also, this Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing easy-to-use functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.
Features overview
Development board
UNI-DS 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 STM32, Kinetis, TIVA, CEC, MSP, PIC, dsPIC, PIC32, and AVR MCUs regardless of their number of pins, and a broad set of unique functions, such as the first-ever embedded debugger/programmer over WiFi. 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, UNI-DS v8 provides a fluid and immersive working experience, allowing access anywhere and under any
circumstances at any time. Each part of the UNI-DS 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. UNI-DS 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)
512
Silicon Vendor
STMicroelectronics
Pin count
64
RAM (Bytes)
131072
Used MCU Pins
mikroBUS™ mapper
Take a closer look
Schematic
Step by step
Project assembly
Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the UNI-DS v8 as your development board.
Track your results in real time
Application Output
After pressing the "FLASH" button on the left-side panel, it is necessary to open the UART terminal to display the achieved results. By clicking on the Tools icon in the right-hand panel, multiple different functions are displayed, among which is the UART Terminal. Click on the offered "UART Terminal" icon.
Once the UART terminal is opened, the window takes on a new form. At the top of the tab are two buttons, one for adjusting the parameters of the UART terminal and the other for connecting the UART terminal. The tab's lower part is reserved for displaying the achieved results. Before connecting, the terminal has a Disconnected status, indicating that the terminal is not yet active. Before connecting, it is necessary to check the set parameters of the UART terminal. Click on the "OPTIONS" button.
In the newly opened UART Terminal Options field, we check if the terminal settings are correct, such as the set port and the Baud rate of UART communication. If the data is not displayed properly, it is possible that the Baud rate value is not set correctly and needs to be adjusted to 115200. If all the parameters are set correctly, click on "CONFIGURE".
The next step is to click on the "CONNECT" button, after which the terminal status changes from Disconnected to Connected in green, and the data is displayed in the Received data field.
Software Support
Library Description
This library contains API for eFuse 2 Click driver.
Key functions:
efuse2_set_operating_voltage- Set operating voltage functionefuse2_set_current_limit- Set operating current functionefuse2_get_fault- Get fault function
Open Source
Code example
This example can be found in NECTO Studio. Feel free to download the code, or you can copy the code below.
/*!
* @file main.c
* @brief eFuse2 Click example
*
* # Description
* This is an example that demonstrate the use of the eFuse 2 click board.
*
* The demo application is composed of two sections :
*
* ## Application Init
* Initialization driver enables - I2C,
* AD5175: enable write, set the normal operating mode and operating
* current to the 1,2 A;
* AD5241: set operating voltage to the 12,0 V;
* display diagnostic states.
*
* ## Application Task
* eFuse 2 click board uses USB UART log to display
* operating voltage, OVLO, UVLO and current limit condition.
* This firmware provides the functions to set the operating voltage and
* current limiting conditions in order to provide the threshold
* of the fault conditions. When one of the fault conditions is met,
* the microcontroller is notified via INT pin which is checked
* by the app to initiate a shutdown mode.
* All data logs write on USB UART changes every 2000 milliseconds.
*
* @author Stefan Ilic
*
*/
#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "efuse2.h"
static efuse2_t efuse2;
static log_t logger;
float op_current;
float op_voltage;
float min_voltage;
float max_voltage;
void application_init ( void ) {
log_cfg_t log_cfg; /**< Logger config object. */
efuse2_cfg_t efuse2_cfg; /**< Click config object. */
/**
* 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.
efuse2_cfg_setup( &efuse2_cfg );
EFUSE2_MAP_MIKROBUS( efuse2_cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
err_t init_flag = efuse2_init( &efuse2, &efuse2_cfg );
if ( I2C_MASTER_ERROR == init_flag ) {
log_error( &logger, " Application Init Error. " );
log_info( &logger, " Please, run program again... " );
for ( ; ; );
}
efuse2_default_cfg ( &efuse2 );
Delay_ms( 100 );
op_current = 1.2;
op_voltage = 12.0;
log_printf( &logger, "-----------------------------\r\n" );
log_printf( &logger, " Set operating value: \r\n" );
log_printf( &logger, " Voltage: 12.0 V \r\n" );
efuse2_set_operating_voltage( &efuse2, op_voltage, &min_voltage, &max_voltage );
Delay_ms( 1000 );
log_printf( &logger, " Current: 1.2 A \r\n" );
log_printf( &logger, "-----------------------------\r\n" );
efuse2_set_current_limit( &efuse2, op_current );
Delay_ms( 1000 );
log_printf( &logger, " Turn ON Power Supply \r\n" );
log_printf( &logger, "-----------------------------\r\n" );
log_info( &logger, " Application Task " );
}
void application_task ( void ) {
if ( EFUSE2_FAULT == efuse2_get_fault( &efuse2 ) ) {
efuse2_operating_mode( &efuse2, EFUSE2_AD5175_SHUTDOWN_MODE );
Delay_ms( 1000 );
log_printf( &logger, " Shutdown Mode \r\n" );
log_printf( &logger, "-----------------------------\r\n" );
for ( ; ; );
}
log_printf( &logger, " Oper. Voltage : %.3f V \r\n", op_voltage );
log_printf( &logger, " Undervoltage : %.3f V \r\n", min_voltage );
log_printf( &logger, " Overvoltage : %.3f V \r\n", max_voltage );
log_printf( &logger, " Current Limit : %.3f A \r\n", op_current );
log_printf( &logger, "-----------------------------\r\n" );
Delay_ms( 2000 );
}
void main ( void ) {
application_init( );
for ( ; ; ) {
application_task( );
}
}
// ------------------------------------------------------------------------ END
