Voltage Regulator

The one that keeps your circuits singing!

πŸ›† Brief description

A voltage regulator is always essential in electronic projects. It provides a constant, low-noise supply voltage. A regulator can only provide one supply voltage. On this board, all components require a supply voltage of 3.3V. Therefore, a single voltage regulator is implemented.


πŸ›† Voltage Regulator Chip

The TPS7A02 is an ultra-small, ultra-low quiescent current, low dropout linear regulator (LDO) widely used in electronic applications.

The device has very low power consumption (around 25nA), making it ideal for power management applications. In addition, this LDO can deliver up to 200mA, which is sufficient for the tracker's power requirements.

Technological capabilities

Features
Description

Input Voltage Range

From 1.5V to 5V

Output Voltage Range

From 0.8V to 5V (fixed)

Output Accuracy

1.5% over temperature

Current consumption

~25nA

Voltage Dropout

250mV at 200mA


πŸ›† Hardware Integration

Pin Configuration & Description

The TPS7A02 IC is available in two packages: 4-pin X2SON (1x1mm) or 5-pin SOT-23 (2.9x2.8mm). I chose the SOT-23 package because it's easier to debug if necessary. The voltage regulator is a critical component on a board. It's important to be able to replace it if necessary.

The available pins are listed in the table below:

Pin Number
Name
Description

1

IN

Input Voltage Pin.

Voltage to regulate.

2

GND

GND

3

EN

Driving this pin to high enables the regulation voltage. Driving to a low logic state disables the device.

4

NC

No connect pin. This pin is not internally connected. Connect to ground or leave floating.

5

OUT

Regulated output pin. Voltage regulated

Kicad - Rooting

The voltage regulator chip is wired according to the data sheet (see page 26). A 1Β΅F input and output is used for load transient response. Pin 4 is left floating and pin 3 is wired to the input voltage (voltage coming from the battery).

Kicad Schematic | Voltage Regulator Stage

πŸ›† Documentation

Web Site | Texas Instruments | TPS7A02
Datasheet | Voltage Regulator | TPS7A02

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