Author Topic: Is internal pull-up a problem for enable pin on regulator or power switch?  (Read 1146 times)

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Offline SarcareanTopic starter

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So I am finishing a design and I believe there could be a potential problem, so I thought I would toss this over to the pros here. :)

I have a Atmel ARM micro-controller connected to the enable pins of two high-side power switches (ADP197), with each one controlling the output of 5v or 3.3v.

The potential problem is that the Atmel MCU GPIO has internal pull-ups (100K?) on bootup/reset, and the power switch has an internal pull-down (4 M?). I am worried that on boot, both power switches will become active (and thus combined voltage would do damage). My design is to enable one switch or the other, but not both at the same time.

So my question is: is there a problem here? And if so, should I connect a resistor (4.7K?) to each of the enable lines to ground?
 

Online ajb

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Re: Is internal pull-up a problem for enable pin on regulator or power switch?
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2016, 11:48:28 am »
Yes, it's up to you to make sure that your system doesn't blow itself up when the MCU is in reset.  However, are you sure that the pullups are active on reset?  Usually the outputs are off entirely, in which case the the internal pulldown in the switches should keep them off.  But resistors are cheap, and a footprint for a resistor you might or might not need is even cheaper, so I'd say put the footprint there in any case.  If it turns out that you don't need the resistor, great, if you do, good thing you have a place for it! 
 


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