
LTC4267
15
4267f
temperature exceeds the overtemperature trip point, the 
current is reduced to zero and very little power is dissi-
pated in the part until it cools below the overtemperature 
set point. Once the LTC4267 has charged up the load 
capacitor and the PD is powered and running, there will 
be minor residual heating due to the DC load current of 
the PD flowing through the internal MOSFET. The DHC 
package offers superior thermal performance by including 
an exposed pad that is soldered to an electrically isolated 
heat sink on the printed circuit board.
During classification, excessive heating of the LTC4267 
can occur if the PSE violates the 75ms probing time limit. 
To protect the LTC4267, thermal overload circuitry will dis-
able classification current if the die temperature exceeds 
the overtemperature trip point. When the die cools down 
below the trip point, classification current is reenabled.
The PD is designed to operate at a high ambient tem-
perature and with the maximum allowable supply (57V). 
However, there is a limit to the size of the load capacitor 
that can be charged up before the LTC4267 reaches the 
overtemperature trip point. Hitting the overtemperature 
trip point intermittently does not harm the LTC4267, but it 
will delay the completion of capacitor charging. Capacitors 
up to 200μF can be charged without a problem over the 
full operating temperature range.
Switching Regulator Main Control Loop
Due to space limitations, the basics of current mode 
DC/DC conversion will not be discussed here. The reader 
is referred to the detail treatment in Application Note 19 
or in texts such as Abraham Pressman’s 
Switching Power 
Supply Design.
In a Power over Ethernet System, the majority of ap-
plications involve an isolated power supply design. This 
means that the output power supply does not have any 
DC electrical path to the PD interface or the switching 
regulator primary. The DC isolation is achieved typically 
through a transformer in the forward path and an op-
toisolator in the feedback path or a third winding in the 
transformer. The typical application circuit shown on the 
front page of the datasheet represents an isolated design 
using an optoisolator. In applications where a nonisolated 
topology is desired, the LTC4267 features a feedback port 
and an internal error amplifier that can be enabled for this 
specific application.
In the typical application circuit (Figure 11), the isolated 
topology employs an external resistive voltage divider 
to present a fraction of the output voltage to an external 
error amplifier. The error amplifier responds by pulling 
an analog current through the input LED on an optoiso-
lator. The collector of the optoisolator output presents a 
corresponding current into the I
TH
/RUN pin via a series 
diode. This method generates a feedback voltage on the 
I
TH
/RUN pin while maintaining isolation.
The voltage on the I
TH
/RUN pin controls the pulse-width 
modulator formed by the oscillator, current comparator, 
and RS latch. Specifically, the voltage at the I
TH
/RUN pin 
sets the current comparator’s trip threshold. The current 
comparator monitors the voltage across a sense resistor 
in series with the source terminal of the external N-Chan-
nel MOSFET. The LTC4267 turns on the external power 
MOSFET when the internal free-running 200kHz oscillator 
sets the RS latch. It turns off the MOSFET when the cur-
rent comparator resets the latch or when 80% duty cycle 
is reached, whichever happens first. In this way, the peak 
current levels through the flyback transformer’s primary 
and secondary are controlled by the I
TH
/RUN voltage. 
In applications where a nonisolated topology is desirable 
(Figure 11), an external resistive voltage divider can present 
a fraction of the output voltage directly to the V
FB
 pin of 
the LTC4267. The divider must be designed so when the 
output is at its desired voltage, the V
FB
 pin voltage will 
equal the 800mV onboard internal reference. The internal 
error amplifier responds by driving the I
TH
/RUN pin. The 
LTC4267 switching regulator performs in a similar manner 
as described previously.
Regulator Start-Up/Shutdown
The LTC4267 switching regulator has two shutdown 
mechanisms to enable and disable operation: an un-
dervoltage lockout on the P
VCC
 supply pin and a forced 
shutdown whenever external circuitry drives the I
TH
/RUN 
pin low. The LTC4267 switcher transitions into and out of 
shutdown according to the state diagram (Figure 8). It is 
APPLICATIU
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