Qorvo Active ACT88420EVK1-101 User manual

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ACT88420EVK1-101 User’s Guide
Description
This document describes the characteristic and operation of the Qorvo ACT88420EVK1-101 evaluation kit
(EVK). It provides setup and operation instructions, schematic, layout, BOM, and test data. This EVK
demonstrates the ACT88420-101 Qorvo PMU power management IC. Other ACT88420-xxx 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 Qorvo’s USB-TO-I2C
interface dongle and use the GUI software. The EVK provides full access to 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 ACT88420EVK1-101 is specifically configured for the ACT88420-101. This CMI does not use the
Push-Button.
Figure 1 – EVK Picture

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Setup
Required Equipment
ACT88420 EVK
USB-TO-I2C Dongle
Power supply – 3.3V @ 5A for full power operation
Oscilloscope – >100MHz, >2 channels
Loads – Electronic or resistive. 3A minimum current capability.
Digital Multi-meters (DMM)
Windows compatible computer with spare USB port.
EVK Setup
Figure 2 – EVK Setup

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Hardware Setup
1. Decide which voltage will power VIO_IN. Qorvo recommends powering VIO_IN from the VIN input.
Connect a shorting jumper between J4-1 and J4-2 header to power VIO_IN from the VIN input voltage.
2. Connect a jumper between J2-1 and J2-2 header to power VIN_LDO1 from VIN input voltage.
3. No jumpers are needed for GPIO2/3/4. These are three state GPIOs and can accept a floating input.
Leaving these open sets the following:
a. Buck1=VSET0=2.5V
b. Buck2=VSET0=1.2V
c. Buck3=VSET1=0.81V
d. Buck4=LDO mode set to VSET0=1.8V
e. LDO1=PLSW mode
4. No jumper is needed for GPIO6. GPIO6 has a pullup resistor to VIO which sets LDO2 in LDO mode
to1.8V.
5. Connect a jumper between J20-1 and J20-2 to let GPIO7=L to enable PMIC when input power is applied
in the next step. Remove the GPIO7 jumper if you do not want the supply to automatically startup when
input power is applied.
6. Connect a 3.3V DC input voltage source between J1-1 and J1-2. If the GPIO7 jumper is not installed,
install it to enable the PMIC.
7. Connect an appropriate load to each power supply output.
8. Note that the typical setup is to apply the same 3.3V input voltage to all inputs. Using different input
voltage sources requires careful consideration of startup sequencing.
Figure 3 – Shorting Jumper Settings

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GUI Setup (optional)
1. Refer to the end of this document for detailed instructions to install the ACT88420 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 J8 connector. Refer to Figure 4 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 4 – USB-TO-I2C Dongle Connection
EVK Design Parameters
The ACT88420EVK1-101 is designed for a 3.3V input voltage. Table1 shows the Regulators’ output voltage and
the current supply capability.
Table 1. EVK Design Parameters
Parameter Description Min Typ Max Unit
VIN Operation Input range of Power Supply 2.7 3.3 3.7 V
OUT1 Buck1 output voltage (floating GPIO2) 2.5 V
OUT2 Buck2 output voltage (floating GPIO2) 1.2 V
OUT3 Buck3 output voltage (floating GPIO3) 0.81 V
OUT4 Buck4 output voltage (floating GPIO4) 1.8
LDO1 LDO1 output voltage (floating GPIO4) LSW
LDO2 LDO2 output voltage (GPIO6=H) 1.8
Io_OUT1 Buck1 load current 2 A
Io_OUT2 Buck2 load current 1.5 A
Io_OUT3 Buck3 load current 2.5 A
Io_OUT4 Buck4 load current 0.3 A
Io_LDO1 LDO1 load current 0.4 A
Io_LDO2 LDO2 load current 0.4 A

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EVK Operation
Turn-on
Apply the 3.3V input voltage. All outputs automatically turn on with the programmed startup sequence.
Test Results

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Schematic
Figure 5 – ACT88420EVK1-101 Schematic

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Bill of Materials
Table 2 - BOM
Item Designator Quantity Description Package Manu-
facturer PartNumber
1
C2, C3, C4, C10,
C11, C14, C15,
C16, C18, C19
12 Capacitor, Ceramic, 22uF/6.3V ’0603 Murata GRM188C80J226ME15D
2 C12,C20 0 Capacitor, Ceramic, 22uF/6.3V ’0603 Murata GRM188C80J226ME15D
3 C1,C5, C13, C17 4 Capacitor, Ceramic, 10uF/6.3V ’0402 Standard Standard
4 C6, C7, C8, C9 4 Capacitor, Ceramic, 2.2uF/6.3V ’0402 Standard Standard
5 J1, J3, J6, J9, J12 5 CON, Screw Terminal, 3.50, 2P con,tbk,350-
2p,kf350 Wurth 691214110002S
6 J7, J10, J11, J13,
J19, J20 6 CON, Header, 2.54, Male, 2P, TH con,hdr,254-2p Wurth 61300211121
7 J2, J4, J14, J15,
J16, J17, J18 7 CON, Header, 2.54, Male, 3P, TH con,hdr,254-3p Wurth 61300311121
8 J8 1 CON, Header, 2.54, Male, 4P, TH con,hdr,254-4p Wurth 61300411121
9 J5 1 CON, Header, 1.27, Male, 6P, TH con,hdr,1.27-
6P Digekey GRPB061VWVN-RC
10 D1 1 Diode, Led, Blue WL-
SMCW_0603 std Standard
11 L1, L3 2 Inductor, 0.47uH
L4020_MAPI_R
- cover-pk-
L2520
Wurth 744383560047HT
12 L2, L4 2 Inductor, 0.47uH L25xx_MAPI_R
- cover L2010 Wurth 744383240047
13 R3, R4, R5, R6,
R7, R8, R9, R10 8 Resistor, SMD,100k R0603_M Standard Standard
14 R11 1 Resistor, SMD,10k R0603_M Standard Standard
15 R1 1 Resistor, SMD,1k R0603_M Standard Standard
16 nPB1 1 Switch, TSW, TE-1437565-0 SW,TSW,TE-
1437565-0 std Standard
17 TP3, TP5, TP6,
TP8, TP10 5 TEST POINT PC MINI .040"D BLK tpt,keystone- 5001 KeyStone 5001
18 TP1, TP2, TP4,
TP7, TP9 5 TEST POINT PC MINI .040"D RED tpt,keystone- 5000 KeyStone 5000
19 U1 1 IC, ACT88420-101T WLCSP36(6x6) Qorvo ACT88420-101T

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Layout
Figure 6 – Layout Top Assembly

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Figure 7 – Layout Layer 2

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Figure 8 – Layout Layer 3

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Figure 9 – Layout Bottom Layer

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GUI Installation
1. Download the GUI files from Qorvo’s website and save them on your computer.
2. Plug the USB-TO-I2C dongle into a free USB port.
3. Double click on the ACT88420 GUI.exe to start the ACT88420 GUI.
Figure 10 – Dongle Driver
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: Configuration Mode and Regulator Mode. In Configuration Mode screen it
displays each regulator’s basic information on a single page, all the information is user configurable via the
drop-down boxes. Regulator Mode allows the user to view and change the IC’s advanced internal registers of
each regulator.
Configuration Mode
Click the “Configuration” button in the left of the GUI screen to see the basic user programmable options. This
display mode allows user to change some basic settings of each regulator (voltages, current…). User can use
either the mouse scroll or the right-side scroll bar to navigate to other regulators. Using drop-boxes, left-click
the small arrow next to the value, then a selection pop-up displays all possible options to choose from. Scroll
up/down to find the target value and left-click to select it. After the required parameters are changed, click the
“Write” button to transfer the changes from the GUI to the IC.

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Figure 11 – GUI Configuration Mode

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Regulator Mode
Click the “Regulator” button in the left of the GUI screen to see all available user programmable options. In the
left side of the screen, click on the Tiles Selector to choose which regulator or LDO’s to show. There are two
tabs for each tile, “Setting “and “Register”.
The “Settings” tab is easy to read and has drop down menus that show the available choices. The “Registers”
tab shows the actual register values required to achieve a desired setting.
Figure 12 – GUI Setting Tab of Regulator Mode

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Figure 13 – GUI Register Tab of Regulator Mode

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Button Descriptions
Read: Clicking on this button reads the ACT88420 registers and displays them in the GUI. Note that this reads
all registers. Active-Semi recommends reading registers each time the ACT88420 powers-up to acquire the
initial register settings. Qorvo 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 14 – Read Button
Write: Clicking on this button writes the GUI settings to the ACT88420’s registers. All registers are written,
regardless of whether or not they were changed.
Note: Remember that changes to the GUI settings are not transferred into the IC until the GUI’s “Write” button
is pressed.
Figure 15 – Write Button
Confirm: Confirm function allows user to compare the ACT88420’s registers information on GUI with the values
read from IC.
Figure 16 – Confirm Button
I2C Configuration: I2C configuration function allows user to select one of the ACT88420’s I2C addresses for
Read/Write function.

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Figure 17 – I2C Configuration Button
Dongle Connection Status: The GUI also contains a dongle is connected status which indicates that Active-
Semi’s USB-TO-I2C dongle is connected to the USB port of the driver installed. The figure below shows the two
possible indication status graphics.
Figure 18 – Dongle Connection Status
Dongle Dongle
Connected Disconnected