Active-semi ACT4910EVK1-121 User manual

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Rev 1.0, 16-November-2017
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is a trademark of Active-Semi.
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ACT4910EVK1-121 User’s Guide
Description
This document describes the characteristic and operation of the Active Semi ACT4910EVK1-121 evaluation kit
(EVK). It provides setup and operation instructions, schematic, layout, BOM, and test data. This EVK
demonstrates the ACT4910QW121 eFuse power management IC. Other ACT4910QWxxx options can be
evaluated on this EVK by replacing the IC and any other necessary components.
Features
The EVK can be used as a standalone board if desired. However, to access the internal registers and to take
full advantage of the IC’s capability, the user must connect the EVK kit to a PC with Active Semi’s USB-TO-I2C
interface dongle and use the GUI software. The EVK provides full access to the each converter’s input and
output voltage, as well as all the digital control signals. This gives the user the flexibility to configure the EVK
to match their real world system. Note that the ACT4910EVK1-121 is specifically configured for the
ACT4910QW121 IC.
Figure 1 – EVK Picture

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Setup
Required Equipment
ACT4910 EVK
USB-TO-I2C Dongle
Power supply – 12V @ 4A for full power operation
Oscilloscope – >100MHz, >2 channels
Loads – Electronic or resistive. 4A minimum current capability.
Digital Multimeters (DMM)
Windows compatible computer with spare USB port.
EVK Setup
Figure 2 – EVK Setup

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Hardware Setup
1. If using I2C, ensure that a shorting jumper is placed across J6 to provide a pullup voltage.
2. Connect a lab supply to J1.
3. Connect an appropriate load to J2.
GUI Setup (optional)
1. Refer to the end of this document for detailed instructions to install the ACT4910 GUI.
2. Connect the USB-TO-I2C dongle to the computer via a USB cable.
3. Connect the USB-TO-I2C dongle to the EVK J4 connector. Refer to Figure 3 to ensure the correct
polarity of the connection. As a guide, use the “Active-Semi” logo on the top of the dongle so the black
wire is connected toward the lower left corner of the Dongle.
Figure 3 – USB-TO-I2C Dongle Connection
EVK Design Parameters
The ACT4910EVK1-121 is designed for a 12V input voltage. The maximum operating voltage is determined by
the IC’s maximum input voltage rating. The minimum operating voltages are determined by the buck converters’
minimum input voltage and by the LDOs’ dropout voltages. Maximum currents are determined by the IC’s CMI
settings, which can be changed via I2C after startup.
Table 1. EVK Design Parameters
Parameter Description Min Typ Max Unit
VIN eFuse input voltage 10.8 12.0 13.6 V
I
OUT
Load current 2.5 A
I
CL
eFuse current limit 3.5 A
V
STR
Storage voltage 28 V
EN_UV
Input voltage falling threshold to start supplement mode 10
VBuck
Buck output voltage in supplement mode 10.7
T
softstart
Softstart time 20 ms
T
holdup
Supplement mode holdup time 3 ms

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Jumpers and Connectors
J1 – Input voltage to the EVK.
J2 – Output power from the EVK. This is the system load.
J3 – Additional storage capacitor connector. This connector allows additional storage capacitors to be easily
added for evaluation
J4 – I2C connector. Connect to the Active Semi USB-TO-GPIO dongle or to any other I2C communication
device.
J5 – PLI output. This allows easy access the PLI or PG_STR pin.
J6 – I2C pullup voltage source. Place a shorting jumper across J6 to pullup the I2C lines to the IC REF
voltage. An external voltage may be applied to J6-2 if desired.
J7 – eFuse Rdson measurement. This connector provides easy to access Kelvin connections to measure the
eFuse Rdson. Do not use J7 to apply power to the EVK or as an output connector for the load.
EVK Operation
Turn on
The EVK is preconfigured and ready to use. Apply the 12V input voltage and the EVK automatically powers,
charges the storage capacitors, and delivers power to the load. No modifications are needed to start evaluating
the ACT4910’s many functions such as supplement mode, ADC measurements, current limiting, etc.
Modifications
The EVK is designed to allow the user to immediately start evaluating the ACT4910 functionality. After the user
becomes familiar with the EVK functionality and has verified that they can reproduce the performance data, they
can easily modify the EVK to match their specific system level requirements. Refer to the ACT4910 datasheet
for detailed design equations.
PLI vs PG_STR Functionality
The ACT4910 default setting for pin 2 is for the PLI functionality. If the user changes this functionality to the
PG_STR function, populate R8 with a 2.2kohm resistor to enable LED1 to turn on when PG_STR goes low.
Input Snubber
The EVK contains a non-populated input snubber. If testing with long, inductive cables, populating the snubber
with the appropriate values will reduce overshoot when the input is hot plugged. 1nF and 10Ω are good starting
points.

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Test Results

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ActiveSwitcher
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is a trademark of Active-Semi.
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Schematic
Figure 4 – ACT4910EVK1-121 Schematic
1
2
J1
VIN
L1 2. 2μH
22μF
C6
1
2
J5
PG_STR
R2
11. 5K
TP1
R1
91K
0. 1μF
C1
TP5
R3
360K
R7
10K
100pF
C13
6.8nF
C12
1
2
J2
Vout
47nF
C14
1
2
J3
STR
22μF
C5
0.1μF
C7
TP3
22μF
C9 R4
24K
1μF
C10
R5
75K
R6
12K 0.1μF
C11
TP2
TP4
TP6
1
2
J6
VIO_IN
REF
R8
2. 2K
R11
10K
R10
2. 2K
R9
2.2K
LED1
GND
C8
22μF
GND
GND
nIRQ
REF
SCL
SDA
GND
GND
GND
TP7 TP8
REF
1
2
3
4
J4
comp
SCL
SDA
nIRQ
GND
GND
GND
GND
GND
GND
GND
GND
HSB 1
PG_ST R 2
PGND
3
BSET
4
REF
5
COMP 6
FB 7
VSS
8
SCL
9
SDA
10
VOUT 11
VOUT 12
VOUT 13
nIRQ
14
ISET
15
SS
16
EN
17
VIN
18
VIN
19
VIN
20
VIN
21
VIN
22
VOUT 23
VOUT 24
VOUT 25
STR
26
SW 27
PGND
28
U1 ACT4910/1
TP9
1 2
J7
Vsense+ Vsence-
22μF
C4
22μF
C3
1nF
C2 DNP
R12 DNP
10Ω
C15
47μF
C26
47μF
C21
47μF
C22
47μF
C23
47μF
C24
47μF
C25
47μF
C20
47μF
C19
47μF
C18
47μF
C17
47μF
C16
47μF
STR GND

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Layout
Figure 5 – Layout Top Layer
Figure 6 – Layout Bottom Layer

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Figure 7 – Layout Power
Figure 8 – Layout GND

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Bill of Materials
Item RefDes QTY Description Package MFR PartNumber
1 C1 2
Cap,Ceramic,0.1uF,50V,
10%,X7R 603 Std Std
2 C2 1
Cap,Ceramic,1nF,50V,10%,
X7R 603 Std Std
3 C3,C4,C5,C6 4
Cap,Ceramic,22uF,16V,10%,
X7R 1206 Std Std
4 C7 1
Cap,Ceramic,0.1uF,50V,
10%,X7R 603 Std Std
5 C8,C9 2
Cap,Ceramic,22uF,50V,10%,
X7R 1206 Std Std
6 C10 1
Cap,Ceramic,1uF,16V,10%,
X7R 603 Std Std
7 C11 1
Cap,Ceramic,100nF,16V,
10%,X7R 603 Std Std
8 C12 1
Cap,Ceramic,6.8nF,16V,
10%,X7R 603 Std Std
9 C13 1
Cap,Ceramic,47pF,16V,10%,
X7R 603 Std Std
10 C14 1
Cap,Ceramic,47nF,25V,10%,
X7R 603 Std Std
11
C15,C16,C17,C18,C19,C20,C21,
C22,C23,C24,C25,C26 12
Cap,Ceramic,47uF,35V,10%,
X7R D7343 Kemet 1605S70CB
12 L1 1
Inductor,2.2uH,6A,22mohm,
SMDFlatWireHighCurrent 4.1x4.1x3.1mm WurthElektronik 74438357022
13 LED1 1 LED,BrightGreen 603 WurthElektronik 150060VS75000
14 R1 1 Res,91kΩ,1% 603 Std Std
15 R2 1 Res,11.5kΩ,1% 603 Std Std
16 R3 1 Res,360kΩ,1% 603 Std Std
17 R4 1 Res,24kΩ,1% 603 Std Std
18 R5 1 Res,75kΩ,1% 603 Std Std
19 R6 1 Res,12kΩ,1% 603 Std Std
20 R7 1 Res,10kΩ,5% 603 Std Std
21 R8,R9,R10 3 Res,2.2KΩ,5%, 603 Std Std
22 R11 1 Res,10KΩ,5% 603 Std Std
23 R12 1 Res,10Ω,5% 603 Std Std
24 J1,J2,J3 3
Header,Series213‐5mm
horizontalentry 5mm WurthElektronik 691213710002
25 J4 1 Header,4pin,100mil  WurthElektronik 61300411121
26 J5,J6 2 Header,2pin,100mil  WurthElektronik 61300211121
27 TP1,TP3,TP5 3
TestPoint,Red,ThroughHole,
1mm 0.040" Keystone 5000
28 TP2,TP4,TP6,TP7,TP8 5
TestPoint,Black,Through
Hole,1mm 0.040" Keystone 5001
29 U1 1 ACT4910QM‐121 QFN28 Active‐semi 

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GUI Installation
1. Contact Active Semi for the GUI files and save them on your computer.
2. Plug the USB-TO-I2C dongle into a free USB port.
3. Follow the instructions in the “How to install driver for dongle” folder.
Figure 9 – Dongle Driver
4. Double click on the ACT4910 GUI.exe to start the ACT4910 GUI.

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GUI Overview
The GUI has 2 basic function buttons allocated in top-left of the Tool Bar which are Read and Write I2C. The
GUI contains 2 setting modes: Basic Mode and Advanced Mode. In Basic Mode screen it displays basic user
programmable configuration options are programmed using the drop-down boxes or check boxes. Advanced
Mode contain the button text for changing setting for every single bit.
Basic Mode
The following figure show the GUI in basic mode. This mode allows the user to easily change one or more IC
settings.
Figure 10 – GUI Basic Mode
Read Icon Write Icon

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Advanced Mode
Click the “Advanced Mode” button in the left of the GUI screen to see all available user programmable options.
With Advanced Mode, additional user programmable features can be selected using the button text. In the left
side of the Advanced Mode Screen, click on the Tiles Selector to display the register to view or change. Then
change a register one bit at a time by clicking on the desired bit. The value of the bit is display right next to the
bit-name button.
Note that the far right side of the screen contains a scroll down button to scroll down to additional registers since
the Tile Screen can only display up to 8 bytes at once.
Figure 11 – GUI Advanced Mode
Button Descriptions
Read: Clicking on this button reads the ACT4910 registers and displays them in the GUI. Note that this reads
all registers. Active-Semi recommends reading registers each time the ACT4910 powers-up to acquire the initial
register settings. Active-semi also recommends reading registers after making changes to them. Immediately
reading the registers after a write confirms the changes were properly stored. This also updates the SYSTEM
STATUS box to ensure that one of the changes did not generate a fault condition.
Figure 12 – Read Button

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Write: Clicking on this button writes the GUI settings to the ACT4910’s registers. All registers are written,
regardless of whether or not they were changed.
Figure 13 – Write Button