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Application Report
Conditioning a Switch-Mode Power Supply Current Signal
Using TI OP Amps

Larry Spaziani
ABSTRACT
The switch-mode power supply primary current is often sensed using a power resistor. Using an op amp to
amplify the current-sense signal can reduce cost and improve noise performance and efficiency. This report
reviews the advantages of using an op amp circuit and analyzes the design criteria needed to choose the proper
op amp.

Table of Contents
1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................................2
2 Circuit Design..........................................................................................................................................................................3
3 Advantages..............................................................................................................................................................................4
4 Choosing the Op Amp ...........................................................................................................................................................5
5 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................................................. 7
6 Revision History......................................................................................................................................................................7

List of Figures
Figure 1-1. Typical RSense Method and Proposed Op-Amp Method for Sensing Primary Side Switch Current...........................2
Figure 4-1. Current Sense Waveforms........................................................................................................................................ 5

List of Tables
Table 5-1. Suggested Texas Instruments Op Amps for Current Sensing.................................................................................... 7

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Introduction www.ti.com

1 Introduction
Switch-mode power supplies almost always require knowledge of the switching current, often sensed on the
primary side of the power transformer. Current Sensing Solutions for Power Supply Designers1 reviews many
methods for sensing the switched current. In lower-power switch-mode power supplies, the method most often
used employs a sense resistor. The type of sense resistor used is often a high power, low inductance resistor
that can add significant cost and power dissipation to the power supply design. This circuit is shown in Figure 1-1
(a).

PWMIC REF

RLEB
ISense

+ CLEB
+
VS VSense RSense
– –

GND
A P

(a) Typical Rsense-Configured

PWMIC VREF R3

A
R2
TI OP AMP +
ISense
+
– VSense
+
VS A –
– A Ri

GND Rf
RSense

Cf P
A

(b) Amplifying a Small Signal Using a TI Differential Amplifier

Figure 1-1. Typical RSense Method and Proposed Op-Amp Method for Sensing Primary Side Switch
Current

To overcome the cost and power dissipation of such power resistors, the circuit of Figure 1-1 (b) is proposed.
Using a differential amplifier made up of a low-power op amp and discrete resistors can result in several
advantages including lower power dissipation (efficiency), noise immunity, cost, and programmability.

1 Current Sensing Solutions for Power Supply Designers, Bom Mammano, Unitrode Power Supply Seminar SEM-1200, 1997.

2 Conditioning a Switch-Mode Power Supply Current Signal Using TI OP Amps SLOA044A – MARCH 2000 – REVISED JUNE 2021
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2 Circuit Design
A switch-mode power supply often switches current on the primary side of a transformer through a MOSFET
and measures the primary current with a sense resistor (RSense) as shown in Figure 1-1 (a). The pulse width
modulator IC (PWM) usually requires a current-sense signal (VS) in order to provide short-circuit protection or for
use in current mode control, or for both protection and control. The peak value of VS depends on the PWM IC
used, but it is typically 1 volt.
The value of the sense resistor RSense in Figure 1-1 (a) is chosen based on the peak value of the primary-side
current (IPeak) and the required value of VS. Therefore, RSense is determined by:

Vs
Rsense = Ipeak

The power dissipation in RSense is based on the RMS value of the primary-side current (Irms), which depends on
the peak value as well as on the waveshape and the duty cycle. The power dissipated is:

Psense  =  Irms 2 ×  Rsense

As an example, let:
IPeak = 6.67 A
Irms = 4 A
VS = 1 V
These values result in an RSense of 0.15 Ω, and a power dissipation in RSense equal to 2.4 W. Typically, a
5-W-rated resistor would be used in this application.
The circuit of Figure 1-1 (b) can be used to significantly reduce the cost and power dissipation of RSense. First,
let us review how the circuit of Figure 1-1 (b) operates. This op-amp circuit is configured as a typical differential
amplifier. The circuit operates by multiplying the differential sense signal (VSense) by the differential gain of the
op-amp circuit. If Rf = R3 and Ri = R2, this gain is:

Rf
Gain  =   Rf
Ri  and Vs  =  Vsense x  Ri  

Using the previous example, assume that the design goal is to use a lower-power sense resistor with a standard
value, such as a 0.01-Ω resistor rated at 0.5 W, and to limit the dissipation of this resistor to no more than 0.25
W. From this information, the gain of the circuit can be calculated.

2
Psense  =  Irms 2 ×  Rsense  =   4 Arms ×  0.01 Ω  =  0.16 W

Vsense  =  Ipeak  ×  Rsense  =  6.67 Apk  ×  0.01 Ω  =  66.7 mV

Vs 1V
Gain = Vsense = 66.7 mV = 15

Based on these results, let Rf = R3 = 15 kΩ and Ri = R2 = 1 kΩ in Figure 1-1 (b).

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3 Advantages
Power Dissipation and Efficiency:
The power dissipation of the sense resistor (RSense) used in the second example results in an improvement of
2.4 W – 0.16 W = 2.24 W, which can result in a significant increase in efficiency as well.
Board Area:
The reduction in power rating results in a much smaller sense resistor. Consider for example the following sense
resistors from Vishay Dale (www.vishay.com): WSR-3 3-W surface-mount and the WSL 1/2-watt surface-mount
resistors. The 3-W device requires six times the board area of the 1/2 watt device and also needs significant
copper area to dissipate the heat. The 1/2-W resistor combined with a SOT-23 op amp and sense resistors result
in approximately the same overall board area. Therefore, there is no significant advantage or disadvantage in
board area.
Cost:
The cost tradeoff in this design is not just the cost of a high-power resistor versus the cost of the lower-power
resistor plus the op-amp circuit. The following considerations can also be made regarding cost:
• Reduced bill of materials and reduced-size inventory: custom or semicustom power-supply designs often
choose sense resistors for the particular peak current and sense voltage required for each design. This can
result in each individual power supply design requiring a unique value and power rating, resulting in many
sense resistors in the company’s inventory. By utilizing one standard component, such as a 0.01-Ω 0.5-W
resistor, each individual power supply design can be customized by changing the gain of the resistors around
the op amp circuit. This also helps cost by allowing volume buying of one resistor.
• Through-hole construction versus surface mount: The cost of manufacturing large through-hole power
resistors should be compared to that of manufacturing standard surface-mount components such as lower-
power sense resistors, ICs, and standard SMD resistors.
• Thermal: The cost of additional cooling due to higher power dissipation should be considered.
Programmability:
The peak current of the switch-mode power supply can vary due to minor design or output specification changes,
or for various other reasons. The ability to easily adjust the gain of the op amp circuit offers power-supply
designers easy programmability by allowing changes to the circuit performance without having to change the
sense resistor. These changes can be due to control-loop changes, or to power supply specification changes
such as input-voltage range or output-voltage and current changes, all of which affect the primary-side peak
current.
Noise/performance:
Several factors of this op amp design will improve performance with regard to noise immunity of the sensed
current signal:
• Lower-inductance resistors: lower-power-rated resistors have smaller bodies and are almost always surface-
mount devices. This results in significantly-less series inductance, producing less ringing and fewer noise
spikes on the current signal.
• Differential sensing: differential sensing of the current signal results in an accurate measurement of the
primary-side current without the ground variation (ground bounce) becoming a factor. This is not the case in
the circuit of Figure 1-1 (a), where the current sensing is single-ended.
• Separating the grounds: the sense voltage (VS) is often used by the PWM IC for both control and current limit
protection. It is important to isolate the analog ground of the PWM IC from the noisy power ground of the
sense resistor. The circuit of Figure 1-1 (b) allows the designer to use grounds that vary slightly. It also allows
the power-supply designer to place the sense resistor away from the PWM IC using the op amp to buffer the
signal. The op amp should be ground-referenced to the same analog ground as the PWM IC.

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www.ti.com Choosing the Op Amp

4 Choosing the Op Amp

Size and number of channels:
The op amp chosen is typically a single channel op amp as only one is required. Texas Instruments offers-single
channel op amps in SOT-23, MSOP 8-pin, and SOIC 8-pin packages.
Rail-to-rail input or output:
The input signal to the op amp is the sense voltage (Vsense), which is ground referenced. However, the peak
voltage of Vsense is typically very low and will not approach the positive power supply voltage of the op amp.
Therefore, a rail-to-rail input op amp is not required. All of Texas Instruments single supply CMOS operational
amplifiers can accept input signals as low as the ground.
The output signal of the op amp is the Vs signal, which typically swings from 0 V to 1 V. The load current into
the PWM IC is typically quite small, and therefore does not significantly limit the choice of op amps. Almost all
of Texas Instruments single-supply CMOS op amps are capable of swinging to ground on the output. The load
current into the PWM IC is typically quite small, and therefore will not significantly limit the choice of op amps.
Powering the Op Amp:
It is recommended to power the op amp from the reference output of the PWM IC used in the power supply. This
reference is often 5.0 V, but can be lower. TI offers single-channel op amps that work from supply voltages as
low as 2.5 V, such as the TLV2771. The reference output of the PWM IC (such as the UC384x and UCC380x
family of PWM controllers) is often able to supply output drives of several milliamperes, which is adequate to
power many op amps. The op amp should be grounded to the same analog ground used by the PWM IC. The
current required by the op amp is the ICC current as well as the drive current. A feedback resistor (Rf) value
between 10 kΩ and 100 kΩ is recommended to limit the drive current.
Slew rate and gain-bandwidth product:
VSENSE VS

trise tfall

1/fs

Figure 4-1. Current Sense Waveforms

Figure 4-1 shows a representation of VSense, the current-sense signal across the sense resistor, and VS, the
filtered signal desired at the PWM IC. The leading edge of VSense contains a spike that is due to parasitic
elements in the power supply, including reverse recovery of diodes and capacitance of the MOSFET. This spike
is undesirable and can be filtered out using the feedback capacitor Cf, as shown in Figure 1-1 (b). The filter
time-constant is often set to be three to four times the rise time of this spike. The filter’s pole must be set
low enough to filter the leading edge spike, but not so low that the current ramp signal is distorted. The filter
pole must therefore be set above the switching frequency (fs) of the switch-mode power supply. This can be
expressed as:

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1 1
fc = 2 x π x Rf x Cf = 8 x π x trise  and fc ≥ 3 x fs 

So, for a rise time (tr) of 100 ns and a 100-kHz switching frequency, this corner frequency would be set to 400
kHz. In this case the limiting factor is the time constant.
Because the circuit filters out frequencies above fc, the gain-bandwidth (GBW) product of the op amp used can
be easily calculated as:

GBW  ≥ fc x Gain = fc x Rf

Ri

For the earlier example where the gain was set to 15, and with a 400-kHz corner frequency, the GBW for the
desired op amp is calculated to be 6 MHz.
The slew rate (SR) of the waveform in Figure 4-1 can be determined by the falling slope, and is equal to
VPeak/tfall. However, the bandwidth of the circuit is limited significantly by the RC time-constant of the pole. It can
be assumed that the slew rate of the op amp should exceed the limitation of the filter time constant. Therefore,
the slew rate can be determined by:

Vpeak Vpeak
SR ≥ τ   =   Rf x Cf   =  Vpeak x 2 x π x fc     Volts/second 

Continuing the earlier example, this would result in a SR of:

SR  ≥ Vpeak x 2 x π x fc = 1 V x 2 x π x 400 kHz = 2.5 V/μs

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5 Conclusion
The use of an op amp to differentially-amplify a current-sense signal in switch-mode power supplies offers cost,
programmability, performance and power advantages. This paper discusses how to choose the proper op amp
for this particular application. Several single-supply op amps suggested for this application are detailed in Table
5-1, with significant parameters listed. The TLV2771 and TLC081 are well suited for this application in 3.3-V and
5-V systems, respectively.
Table 5-1. Suggested Texas Instruments Op Amps for Current Sensing
OP AMP SUPPLY VOLTAGE SUPPLY CURRENT SLEW RATE GBW SMD PACKAGES
P/N [V] [mA] (MAX) [V/us] (TYP) [MHz] (TYP)

TLV2770 2.5–5.5 2.0 9.0 4.8 SOT–23, SOIC–8,

TLV2771 MSOP–8

TLV2361 2.0–5.0 2.5 3.0 7.0 SOT–23

TLV2470 2.7–6.0 0.75 1.4 2.8 SOT–23, SOIC–8
TLV2471
TLV2231 2.7–10.0 1.2 1.6 2.0
TLC081 4.5–16.0 2.5 16.0 10.0 MSOP–8, SOIC–8
TLC2201 4.6–16.0 1.5 2.5 1.6 SOIC–8

6 Revision History
NOTE: Page numbers for previous revisions may differ from page numbers in the current version.
Changes from Revision * (March 2000) to Revision A (June 2021) Page
• Updated the numbering format for tables, figures and cross-references throughout the document...................2

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