Controller Vs Converter

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com Table of Contents
Application Note
Controller to Converter – Design Considerations for 24V
and 48V Systems
Armando Lopez, Rahil Ajani

ABSTRACT
This application note provides a high-level comparison between Texas Instruments’ switching buck controllers
and buck converters best suited for 24V, 36V, and 48V systems. These high-voltage rails typically require
wider input voltage devices to provide safe voltage margins and handle voltage transients up to 65V or 80V.
This report discusses design considerations and tradeoffs between buck controller and buck converter designs
for higher current applications, highlighting the value proposition of each device along with a side-by-side
comparison of electrical performance, PCB design size, and design considerations. Texas Instrument's new 80V
8A Buck converter LM70880-Q1 can be used as an example comparison against similar high-voltage controllers,
LM5148-Q1, LM5149-Q1, and LM5146-Q1.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................................2
2 Efficiency and Thermals Comparison.................................................................................................................................. 3
3 Design Size Comparison........................................................................................................................................................4
4 EMI and EMI Filter Comparison.............................................................................................................................................5
5 Other Design Considerations When Using Controllers and Converters...........................................................................7
5.1 Power MOSFET Selection................................................................................................................................................. 7
5.2 Feature Set........................................................................................................................................................................ 7
5.3 Minimum On-Time for High Voltage Conversions.............................................................................................................. 7
5.4 Power Inductor Consideration............................................................................................................................................8
6 Summary................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
7 References.............................................................................................................................................................................. 9
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All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
SNVAAA7 – OCTOBER 2024 Controller to Converter – Design Considerations for 24V and 48V Systems 1
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Introduction www.ti.com
1 Introduction
The use of higher voltage rails and inputs is an increasing trend across markets such as:
• 48V Automotive systems - Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and on board charging
• 48V Enterprise and Communications - Data-centers and remote radio units
• 24V rails in Industrial - Factory automation, robotics and building automation
Large voltage transients are a common challenge in these applications requiring some 24V rail applications to
use devices rated for 65V. Similarly, 48V automotive systems need to handle cold-crank voltage transients in
the range of 65V to 80V. Typically for Wide-Vin, high output current designs, a buck controller with external
MOSFETs is a standard choice.
New innovations in IC design, packaging and manufacturing allow for the creation of power dense, high current,
high-voltage converters. These devices also have the ability to multi-phase allowing them to reach output
currents that typically a controller solution could only achieve. Converter based designs offer many benefits
over classical controller designs but also share some tradeoffs that can be highlighted in this report. Below is a
high-level bullet point list of each device’s value proposition and summarized in Table 1-1.
Buck controller designs feature a PWM controller IC that control external MOSFETs. These designs require good
and careful layout design to minimize large parasitic loops created between the controller IC, MOSFETs and
key passives such as the input and output capacitors and the inductor. With good design considerations a buck
controller design provides the following value proposition:
• More design flexibility and optimization to design specifications
• More component optimization for efficiency and thermal performance
• Can achieve the lowest bill-of-material (BoM) cost
Buck converters feature a controller with one or more integrated power FETs. Some of the design challenges
of a controller design are greatly mitigated with a converter. For example, with integrated FETs critical parasitic
loops are minimized resulting in lower EMI designs to pass stringent EMI requirements easier. A buck converter
design provides the following value proposition:
• Component integration simplifies component sourcing, reduces customer BoM and enables smaller design
sizes
• Greatly reduces time and cost to market by reducing power-stage design time
• Minimized parasitic loops result in lower EMI emissions allowing for smaller and lower cost EMI filters
Table 1-1. Summary of Controller and Converter Highlights
Controller Converter
Moderate-Tough (More component selection
Design Difficulty Easy
and more layout design considerations)
Design Size Medium (Requires 2 large external FETs) Small
EMI Medium (Large parasitic loops) Low
Design Flexibility More (Component optimization) Less
Total BoM Cost $$$-$ $$-$
Thermals Can be optimized for better performance Good
2 Controller to Converter – Design Considerations for 24V and 48V Systems SNVAAA7 – OCTOBER 2024
www.ti.com Efficiency and Thermals Comparison
2 Efficiency and Thermals Comparison

Controllers are a standard design for high current and high ambient temperature applications due to their ability
to use low resistance MOSFETs and have more PCB surface area for thermal dissipation. Converters, although
offering less flexibility, can achieve comparable thermal performance through a combination of large thermal
DAP (die attach paddle), integrated low-resistance FET and good IC design as shown in the following images.
Efficiency curves and thermal data were generated from each devices’ respective EVM. LM5148-Q1 utilizes
the same EVM as LM5149-Q1 named LM5149-Q1EVM-400 and share the same efficiency and thermal
performance. LM70880QEVM was adjusted to use the same 6.8µH inductor as the LM5149-Q1EVM-400. Both
devices were tested under similar conditions and LM5149 EVM utilizes MOSFETs with an RDSon values of
19.5mΩ and 8.8mΩ.
100 100
95 95
90 90
85 85
Efficiency (%)
Efficiency (%)
80 80
75 75
70 70
65 65
60 60
55 LM5148 55 LM5148
LM70880 LM70880
50 50
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Output Current (A) Output Current (A)
Figure 2-1. Controller vs. Converter Efficiency Figure 2-2. Controller vs. Converter Efficiency
Comparison (VIN = 24V; VOUT = 5V) 0A to 8A Comparison (VIN = 48V; VOUT = 12V) 0A to 8A
Figure 2-4. Converter Thermals (VIN = 48V; VOUT =

Figure 2-3. Controller Thermals (VIN = 48V; VOUT = 12V 8A)
12V 8A)
The converter design has the added benefit of easy performance characterization. A controller design requires
greater simulation, calculations and design trials. Controller designs must consider the different specifications
and performance per controller IC and per MOSFET chosen for the design.
As mentioned, a controller design offers increased flexibility such as MOSFET optimization. MOSFETs with
lower resistance specifications can yield higher efficiency and better thermals at the expense of increased
cost. External MOSFET also sometimes have wider operating temperatures up to 175C° while converters are
specified up to 150C°.
Design Size Comparison www.ti.com
A growing amount of application designs require higher voltage conversions and higher output power. Thermals
can be a common challenge amongst these designs and have to be managed with a variety of designs.
Controller and converter based designs both require good layout and thermal mitigation techniques to work well
in high ambient temperature environments.
3 Design Size Comparison
External FETs contribute a large amount of space on a controller design, particularly because each FET requires
its own package. 80V MOSFETs typically are 5mm x 6mm in size and some 60V MOSFETs can be 3mm x 3mm.
MOSFETs alone can contribute to more than 20% of a controller's total design size. Converters enable compact
and power dense designs as shown between the two EVMs in Figure 3-1 and Figure 3-2
Note Note
Approximately 720mm² design size Approximately 540mm² design size
Figure 3-1. Controller EVM Design Size (LM5149- Figure 3-2. Converter EVM Design Size (LM70880-
Q1) Q1)
Saving space in the power-stage allows for either direct PCB cost savings or increases space available for other
critical components. This alone can be worth the efficiency or BoM cost tradeoff of a converter design.
www.ti.com EMI and EMI Filter Comparison
4 EMI and EMI Filter Comparison

Power stage designs require extra attention to detail to avoid unsafe electromagnetic interference across noise
sensitive circuitry especially in applications that have EMI requirements such as CISPR 32 and CISPR 25.
While newer controller designs have EMI reduction features such as Dual Random Spread Spectrum (DRSS)
and Active EMI Filtering (AEF) like found in LM5149-Q1, the layout of a power design is critical for EMI
performance. High parasitic loops that are formed in between key components such as the controller, FET,
input and output capacitors as shown in Figure 4-1, minimizing these loops with good layout improve EMI
performance. See Improve High-Current DC/DC Regulator EMI Performance for Free with Optimized Power
Stage Layout, application note.
VIN
CIN #1 #1: High frequency power loop

CBOOT #2: High-side gate drive loop
VCC #3: Low-side gate drive loop
CBOOT
HO Q1
High-side
gate driver LO
#2
SW
VOUT
VCC
CVCC
Q2 COUT
Low-side LO
gate driver
#3
PGND
GND
Figure 4-1. Parasitic Loops Formed in a Controller Design
A converter design provides the most minimal parasitic loop between controller and FET. This factor alone
contributes highly to the EMI performance between a controller and converter design and can be seen in the EMI
filter required for each design. Figure 4-2 showcases the EMI filter needed to pass CISPR25 Class 5, a stringent
EMI specification for automotive applications, using a converter design with DRSS. Figure 4-3 and Figure 4-4
showcases the much larger filter and shielding required for a controller design with no EMI reduction features to
pass the same EMI specification.
Note Note
EMI filter is highlighted is approximately Part of the EMI filter is highlighted and is
230mm² approximately 390mm²
Figure 4-2. LM70880-Q1 EVM EMI Filter Figure 4-3. LM5146-Q1 EVM Front-End EMI Filter
EMI and EMI Filter Comparison www.ti.com
Note
Part of the EMI filter is highlighted and is approximately 145mm²
Figure 4-4. LM5146-Q1 EVM Back-End EMI Filter
EMI filters can be a large contributor to design size and total cost but determining this can be a challenge.
Sometimes a designer needs to complete their initial design and layout before being able to test their circuit’s
EMI performance and determine how much more EMI margin they require for their systems. This can be as
simple as adding more passives to a filter such as input capacitors, ferrite beads or use larger filter inductors but
it may also require additional design time to optimize circuit layout. A converter design will likely require the least
amount of design work and EMI filter components required to pass EMI standards saving time, cost and design
size.
www.ti.com Other Design Considerations When Using Controllers and Converters
5 Other Design Considerations When Using Controllers and Converters
5.1 Power MOSFET Selection

While controller designs boast design flexibility this typically also means increased design complexity, one
aspect of this is the MOSFET selection. The choice of MOSFETs has significant impact on a controller designs’
performance and has various specifications that must be accounted for including:
• MOSFET on-state resistance or RDS(on), which dictates power loss and thermal performance
• Parasitic capacitances, which enable faster transition times and reduced switching losses
• Gate driver voltage, which Controller ICs vary in rating and determines if logic and or standard MOSFETs can
be used
It takes a considerable amount of time and design effort to choose suitable Power MOSFETs. Table 5-1 is a
typical table shown in data sheets that outline all the power losses that must be accounted for when selecting
MOSFETs for a controller design. Converters skip this design process and have better characterizations of their
performance.
Table 5-1. MOSFET Power Losses
Power Loss Mode High-Side MOSFET Low-Side MOSFET
§ 2
2
'IL· § 2 'IL ·
2
MOSFET conduction Pcond1 D ˜ ¨ IOUT ¸ ˜ RDS(on)1 Pcond2 Dc ˜ ¨ IOUT ¸ ˜ RDS(on)2
¨ 12 ¸ ¨ 12 ¸
© ¹ © ¹
VIN ˜ FSW ª§ 'IL · § 'IL · º
MOSFET switching Psw1
2
«¨ IOUT
¬© 2 ¹
¸ ˜ tR ¨ IOUT
©
¸ ˜ tF »
2 ¹ ¼ Negligible
MOSFET gate drive PGate1 VCC ˜ FSW ˜ QG1 PGate2 VCC ˜ FSW ˜ QG2
MOSFET output charge PCoss FSW ˜ VIN ˜ Qoss2 Eoss1 Eoss2 Negligible
Body diode ª§ 'IL · § 'IL · º

N/A PcondBD VF ˜ FSW «¨ IOUT ¸ ˜ t dt1 ¨ IOUT ¸ ˜ t dt2 »
conduction ¬© 2 ¹ © 2 ¹ ¼
Body diode PRR VIN ˜ FSW ˜ QRR2

reverse recovery
5.2 Feature Set

Controllers can offer a variety of features that aren’t found in many converter designs. These features provide
versatility and greater ease of use such as:
• Adjustable current limit, which allows for the use of one device to be used across designs and loads with
minimal BoM adjustment.
• Internal or external compensation. While internal compensation is favored for design simplicity, external
compensation can be considered when a customer wants to optimize their designs for load variation
performance and stability or minimizing required output capacitance.
• Fixed Vout settings, reducing BoM for common outputs such as 3.3V, 5V and 12V
Some converters like LM70880-Q1 include these controller-like features, offering greater versatility for various
applications.
5.3 Minimum On-Time for High Voltage Conversions
An important specification to consider in the device selection for a high voltage conversion design is the
minimum on-time (Ton min). High voltage controllers typically have low Ton min allowing for designs such as
48Vin to 5Vout, 3.3Vout or lower.
Low Ton min is also important for designs requiring constant frequency switching to avoid interference with other
frequency bands in your system. Frequency foldback occurs when the voltage conversion exceeds the minimum
on-time specification at a certain switching frequency. This needs to be especially considered for systems that
deal with voltage transients. LM5148-Q1 has a minimum on-time of around 50ns and LM70880-Q1 incorporates
Other Design Considerations When Using Controllers and Converters www.ti.com
new IC innovation to offer an ultra-low minimum on-time of 25ns to handle a variety of high voltage conversion
system challenges.
5.4 Power Inductor Consideration
A good power design practice is to use an output inductor with a saturation current rating higher than the
maximum high side current limit specification of a regulator, this makes sure that the inductor does not saturate
even during a soft-short condition on the output.
As an example, some converters rated for 65V 8A have a maximum current limit greater than 17A whereas a
controller can have a max current limit of approximately 12A for an 8A continuous output design. Higher current
limits can restrict inductor choices and can require slightly larger or taller inductors versus what could be used
with a device with tighter current limits. LM70880-Q1 shares the benefit of having tight current limits which can
enable lower cost or smaller inductors.
6 Summary
This application note outlines the tradeoffs between controller and converter designs. New 65V and 80V
converters integrate innovation on the fronts of packaging, FET technology, IC design and manufacturing. These
new converters give power designers a new option in their tool belt that enable smaller, lower EMI and easy
to design power-stages that are scalable to output currents only controllers could touch in the past. However,
controllers won’t be going away anytime soon with their design flexibility and optimization. As with all great
challenges there are always multiple designs with tradeoffs.
The DC/DC converters and controllers in Table 6-1 are ideal for 24V systems and 48V systems across
applications. For further design size reduction, greater ease of use and lower EMI, an integrated inductor module
may be of interest such as TPSM365R6 and TPSM5601R5H.
Table 6-1. Suggested Step-Down Converters for High Voltage Systems
Device Iout (A) Input Voltage (V) Package Comment
LM5146-Q1 External FETs 5.5-100 4.5x3.5mm QFN
LM5137-Q1 External FETs 4-80 6x6mm QFN Dual Output
LM5190-Q1 External FETs 5-80 4.5x3.5mm QFN Integrated CC/CV
LM5149-Q1 External FETs 3.5-80 5.5x3.5mm QFN Single Output, Integrated
AEF
LM5143A-Q1 External FETs 3.5-65 6x6mm QFN Dual Output
LM70880-Q1 8 4.5-80 6x6mm QFN
LM706A0-Q1 10 4.5-65 6x6mm QFN
LM70660 6 4.5-65 6x6mm QFN
LM65645-Q1 4.5 3-65 2.6x3.6mm WQFN Ultra-low EMI, Ultra-low Iq
LMR51635 3.5 4.3-60 2.9x2.8mm SOT-23 Simple Switcher, Low Iq
LM5013-Q1 3.5 6-100 4.9x6mm HSOIC Non-synchronous, Low Iq
LMR38025-Q1 2.5 4.2-80 3x3mm WSON Simple Switcher, Low EMI
LMR38020-Q1 2 4.2-80 4.9x6mm HSOIC Simple Switcher, Low EMI
LMR36520 2 4.2-65 4.9x6mm HSOIC Simple Switcher, Low Iq
LMR36015-Q1 1.5 4.2-60 2x3mm QFN Low EMI, Low Iq
LMR51610-Q1 1 4.5-65 2.9x2.8mm SOT-23 Simple Switcher, Low Iq
LM5164-Q1 1 6-100 4.9x6mm HSOIC Low Iq
LM5169-Q1 0.65 6-120 4.9x6mm HSOIC Low Iq
LMR36506-Q1 0.6 3-65 2x2mm QFN Ultra-low Iq, Ultra-low EMI
LMR36503E-Q1 0.3 3-65V 2x2mm QFN Ultra-low Iq, Ultra-low EMI,
Extended Temperature
LMR36502 0.15 3-65V 2x2mm QFN Ultra-low Iq, Ultra-low EMI
LMR36500 .05 3-65V 2x2mm QFN Ultra-low Iq, Ultra-low EMI
www.ti.com References
7 References
• Texas Instruments, LM5148-Q1 Automotive, 80V synchronous buck DC/DC controller with ultra-low IQ, data
sheet.
• Texas Instruments, LM70880-Q1 Automotive, high-density, 4.5-V to 80-V input, 8-A low-EMI synchronous
DC/DC step-down converter, data sheet.
• Texas Instruments, There are more ways than you think to reduce conducted EMI, blog.
• Texas Instruments, Automotive EMI Reduction Techniques, Applications and Solutions, training video.
• Texas Instruments, Understanding EMI and Mitigating Noise in DC/DC Converters, training video.
• Texas Instruments, Simple Success With Conducted EMI From DC-DC Converters, application note.
• Texas Instruments, Reduce Conducted EMI in Automotive Buck Converter Applications, application note.
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www.ti.

com Table of Contents

Armando Lopez, Rahil Ajani

2 Efficiency and Thermals Comparison

Figure 2-4. Converter Thermals (VIN = 48V; VOUT =

4 EMI and EMI Filter Comparison

CIN #1 #1: High frequency power loop

Figure 4-1. Parasitic Loops Formed in a Controller Design

5 Other Design Considerations When Using Controllers and Converters

5.1 Power MOSFET Selection

Body diode ª§ 'IL · § 'IL · º

Body diode PRR VIN ˜ FSW ˜ QRR2

5.2 Feature Set

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