AN1336
Application notePower-fail comparator for NVRAM supervisory devices

Introduction
Dealing with unexpected power loss
Inadvertent or unexpected loss of power can cause a number of system level problems. Memory loss,
uncontrolled program status and indeterminate processor state are just a few of the issues which canoccur during catastrophic power failure. Power-fail recovery is critical for applications created to performmachine control or instrumentation monitoring, therefore knowing the state of the operating system atthe time of power loss is very important.
The function of the power-fail comparator is to provide several milliseconds of early warning that poweris failing. This advance warning (see Figure 1: "Power-fail warning") will allow a system to perform
operations necessary to prepare for a controlled shutdown sequence. By using a special power-fail input(PFI) to monitor the unregulated supply voltage, a power fail output ( PFO ) can be generated tPFD after
the supply falls below the power-fail threshold (VPFI). This is made possible by the ability of a power
supply to continue to function and to provide output power for a period of time after the input power tothe power supply has failed. This facility enables the power supply to ride through missing half cycles ormissing cycles in an AC supply (Figure 2: "Supply hold-up").
Figure 1: Power-fail warning
PFI
VPFI

tPFD
PFO

AI04224

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Functional description

AN1336

Figure 2: Supply hold-up

AC Input

Regulated Output Voltage

Power-Fail Warning
Power-Fail Output
Supply Hold-up
AI04223

This is a result of the RC time constant inherent to most power supplies (see Figure 3: "Typical power
supply" ). This time constant is dominated by capacitors C1 and C3 (C2 is usually quite small). C1 willaffect the VUNREG slew rate during power-fail, while C3 and C1 will more directly affect the regulated VCC
slew rate. Thus when the AC input fails, this capacitance will continue to power the circuit for several
milliseconds, typically in the order of 10 ms or more.
Figure 3: Typical power supply
VUNREGREGULATORC1C2VCC
C3

AI042222

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Functional description
An independent bandgap reference comparator is used to monitor the unregulated supply
voltage by connecting this supply to the power-fail input pin. The RC time constant of thetypical power supply will provide several milliseconds of operating voltage before decaying
below a usable value. The power-fail input is constantly compared with an internal voltage
reference of 1.25 V (see Figure 4: "Power-fail comparator circuit"). If the input voltage falls
below 1.25 V, the power-fail output goes low. When it later goes above 1.25 V, the output
returns high.
Adding two external resistors (see Figure 5: "PFI/PFO in a typical system" ) as a voltage
divider circuit allows the comparator to supervise any voltage above 1.25 V. The formula tocalculate the trip point voltage of PFI (VPFI), which is dependent upon R1 and R2 is:( R1 + R2 )V TRIP = V PF I-------------------R2

where VPFI = 1.25 V

Figure 4: Power-fail comparator circuit+PFIPFO
1.25V–+–AI04221

The sum of both resistors should be about 1 Mohm to minimize power consumption and toensure the current in the PFI pin can be neglected compared with the current through theresistor network. The suggested resistor values are shown below (see Table 1: "Look-up
table for different trip points"). The tolerance of the resistors should not exceed 1% toensure the sensed voltage does not vary too much.

Table 1: Look-up table for different trip points
R1 (kOhms)

R2 (kOhms)

Vtrip (V)

750

130

8.5

910

130

10.0820100

11.5820

91

12.5

1100

100

15.0

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2AN1336

PFI/PFO operation in a system (how does it work?)
Figure 5: PFI/PFO in a typical system
9V

5VRegulator

AC in120/240V
50/60HZACVUNREG

VPFI

VIN

VCC

M41ST85W

MCU

SRAM

VCC

VOUT

VCC

VCC

RST

RST

W

PFO

NMI

G

INT

INT

E

R1
PFI
R2

ECON

AI04220

A typical power failure can be described by the following three events (see Figure 6:"Power failure sequence"):
1.

PFI triggered (t0): As VUNREG falls below the VPFI threshold, PFO is asserted on the2.

MCU’s Non-Maskable Interrupt (NMI) pin. When NMI is asserted, the MCU halts its
current task and begins saving critical data to the NVRAM (safeguard routine).
VCC begins to fall (t1): the MCU will continue functioning until the safeguard routine iscomplete or RESET occurs.

3.

RESET asserted and/or Write Protect occurs (t2):

At this point, the MCU needs to have completed the safeguard routine. This results in asafeguard window from PFI to RESET /Write Protect (t2 - t0).

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PFI/PFO operation in a system (how does itwork?)
Figure 6: Power failure sequence
V(t0) Power-Fail Input detected Begin Safeguard Routine

VUNREG
PFI(t1) VCC begins to fall(t2) Reset and/or Write Protect(whichever occurs first)

VCC
VPFD

Safeguard Window
tt0

t1

t2
AI04219

This safeguard window can be used for a number of purposes, depending on theapplication:
Power save
The MCU can switch off, one by one, all non-critical peripheral components to conserve
energy for safeguard routines.
Data transferThe MCU may transfer data from the scratch pad memory to the non-volatile memory. Ittakes only a few MCU cycles if using NVRAM, but can take several milliseconds when thisdata needs to be stored in an EEPROM or Flash memory.
Scratch pad RAM overwrite
Many applications are now required to run encode/decode algorithms (e.g. DES or RCA)
for higher security.
Therefore it is sometimes preferable to overwrite the working space before power-down toprevent the contents of the RAM from being read illegitimately.

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Advantages over traditional power monitoring

3AN1336

Advantages over traditional power monitoring
Typical power monitoring (or supervisory) devices offer features such as brown-out detectby monitoring the voltage at the VCC pin, then asserting a RESET output when VCC drops
below a minimum level. Some may also include chip-enable gating or chip-enable write
protection which will disable access to the memory, thereby protecting the SRAM contentsfrom errant writes by an MCU that is operating in an undervoltage condition. These aregood features and necessary to avoid catastrophic data loss, but unfortunately do not occur
early enough to allow the MCU to gracefully enter a fail-safe state. Any of the following
scenarios will result in unsatisfactory system shutdown:
Loss of processor state
When the RESET occurs, any information not already stored to the NVRAM will be lost.
This includes the processor state, the program status, and any information still in thescratch pad RAM, but not in the NVRAM.
RESET occurs during a write cycle
If the MCU is writing to memory when RESET occurs, that data will most likely becorrupted. This applies to EEPROM and Flash memories as well as NVRAM.
Write protect occurs before RESET
If the NVRAM gates off access to the SRAM prior to processor RESET, the processor may
continue accessing/writing the NVRAM expecting that the data written is secure (when it
has in fact, been lost).

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Hysteresis

Hysteresis
Hysteresis may be added to PFI for additional noise margin if desired (see Figure 7:"Adding hysteresis"). The ratio of R1 and R2 should be selected such that PFI sees VPFI
when VUNREG falls to its trip point (VTRIP). Connecting R3 between PFI and PFO provides
the hysteresis and should typically be more than 10 times the value of R1 or R2. The
hysteresis window will extend both above (VH) and below (VL) the original trip point.
Figure 7: Adding hysteresis

VIN
PFO
R10V
VCC

0V

VL

VTRIP

VH

VIN

PFI
VTRIP = VPFI

R3

R2

( R1R2+ R2 )( R11 + R21 + R31 )V
VL = R1 [ VPFI ( 1 + 1 + 1 ) – CC]
R1 R2 R3
R3C1

VH = (VPFI + VPFH ) (R1)

PFO
GND
whereVPFI = 1.25V
VPFH = 10mVTOCONTROLLER

AI03077

Connecting an ordinary signal diode in series with R3 (see Figure 8: " Hysteresis on risingVIN") so the lower trip point (VL) coincides with the trip point without hysteresis, causing theentire hysteresis window to occur above VTRIP. This method provides additional noise
margin without compromising the accuracy of the power-fail threshold when the monitored
voltage is falling. The current through R1 and R2 should be at least 1 μA to ensure that the25 nA PFI input current does not shift the trip point. The capacitor C1 is added for noise
rejection and should be quite small (e.g. ~100 nF), but is optional.

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Hysteresis

AN1336
Figure 8: Hysteresis on rising VIN

VIN
PFO
R10V
0V

VCC

VTRIP

VIN

VH

PFI
R2( R1R2+ R2 )V
VH = R1[(VPFI + VPFH )( 1 + 1 + 1 ) – D ]R1 R2 R3R3

R3

VTRIP = VPFIC1PFOGND
TOCONTROLLER

where
VPFI = 1.25V
VPFH = 10mV
VD = Diode Forward Voltage Drop
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AN13365Revision history

Revision history
Table 2: Revision history
Date

Revision02-Jul-2001

121-Mar-2014

2

Changes
Initial release
Revised document presentation
Updated Figure 5: "PFI/PFO in a typical system"
Removed table entitled "Supervisory ZEROPOWER/TIMEKEEPER®
products with power-fail comparator"

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AN1336
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