Ap7217c – Diodes AP7217C User Manual
Page 7

AP7217C
1.25V 600mA CMOS LDO
AP7217C Rev. 3
7 of 9
OCTOBER 2009
DS31424
©
Diodes Incorporated
Application Note
Input Capacitor 
A 1
µF ceramic capacitor is recommended to connect between IN
and GND pins to decouple input power supply glitch and noise. 
The amount of the capacitance may be increased without limit. A 
lower ESR (Equivalent Series Resistance) capacitor allows the 
use of less capacitance, while higher ESR type requires more 
capacitance. This input capacitor must be located as close as 
possible to the device to assure input stability and less noise. For 
PCB layout, a wide copper trace is required for both IN and GND. 
 
Output Capacitor 
The output capacitor is required to stabilize and help the transient 
response of the LDO. The AP7217C is designed to have 
excellent transient response for most applications with a small 
amount of output capacitance. The AP7217C is stable with any 
small ceramic output capacitors of 1.0
µF or higher value, and the
temperature coefficients of X7R or X5R type. Additional 
capacitance helps to reduce undershoot and overshoot during 
transient. For PCB layout, the output capacitor must be placed as 
close as possible to OUT and GND pins, and keep the leads as 
short as possible. 
 
 
ENABLE/SHUTDOWN Operation 
The AP7217C (SOP-8L-EP) is turned on by setting the EN pin 
high, and is turned off by pulling it low. If this feature is not used, 
the EN pin should be tied to IN pin to keep the regulator output on 
at all time. To ensure proper operation, the signal source used to 
drive the EN pin must be able to swing above and below the 
specified turn-on/off voltage thresholds listed in the Electrical 
Characteristics section under V
IL
and V
IH
.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thermal Considerations  
Thermal Shutdown Protection limits power dissipation in 
AP7217C. When the operation junction temperature exceeds 
140°C, the Over Temperature Protection circuit starts the thermal 
shutdown function and turns the pass element off. The pass 
element turn on again after the junction temperature cools by 
30°C. For continuous operation, do not exceed absolute 
maximum operation junction temperature 125°C. The power 
dissipation definition in device is: 
 
P
D
= (V
IN
− V
OU
T) x I
OUT
+ V
IN
x I
Q
 
The maximum power dissipation depends on the thermal 
resistance of IC package, PCB layout, the rate of surroundings 
airflow and temperature difference between junctions to ambient. 
The maximum power dissipation can be calculated by following 
formula: 
 
P
D(MAX)
= ( T
J(MAX)
- TA ) /
θ
JA
 
Where T
J(MAX)
is the maximum operation junction temperature
125°C, T
A
is the ambient temperature and the
θ
JA
is the junction
to ambient thermal resistance. 
 
 
 
Current Limit Protection 
When output current at OUT pin is higher than current limit 
threshold, the current limit protection will be triggered and clamp 
the output current to approximately 750mA to prevent 
over-current and to protect the regulator from damage due to 
overheating. 
 
Short circuit protection 
When V
OUT
pin is shorted to GND or V
OUT
voltage is less than
200mV, short circuit protection will be triggered and clamp the 
output current to approximately 70mA. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Vin
Vout
C
Co
ESR
Iin
IN
AP7217C
GND
Iq
OUT
Iout
