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Note
Load sharing (current sharing) is a technique used in all the systems in which the load requires high current, low voltage and/or redundancy; for this reason a modular power system is necessary in which two or more power supplies or DC/DC converters are paralleled.
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High/low side load share controller
This controller IC is specifically designed to achieve load sharing of paralleled and independent power supply modules in distributed power systems, by adding only few external components. Current sharing is achieved through a single wire connection (share bus) common to all of the paralleled modules.
The device is able to perform both high side and low side current sensing, that is the sense current resistor can be placed either in series to the power supplies output or on the ground return. The L6615 then drives the share bus to a voltage proportional to the output current of the master that is to the highest amongst the output currents delivered by the paralleled power supplies. The share bus dynamics is independent of the power supply output voltage and is clamped only by the device supply voltage. The output voltage of the other paralleled power supplies (slaves) is then trimmed by the ADJ pin so that they can support their amount of load current. The slave power supplies work as current-controlled current sources. Sharing the output currents is useful for equalizing also the thermal stress of the different modules and providing an advantage in term of reliability.
http://www.st.com/stonline/products/literature/ds/8881.pdf -
Load share controller
The UC3902 load share controller is an 8-pin device that balances the current drawn from independent, paralleled power supplies. Load sharing is accomplished by adjusting each supplies’ output current to a level proportional to the voltage on a share bus.
http://www.ti.com/lit/gpn/uc2902 -
Hot Swappable Load Share Controller
The LTC®4350 is a load share controller that allows systems to equally load multiple power supplies connected in parallel. The output voltage of each supply is adjusted using the SENSE + input until all currents match the share bus. The LTC4350 also isolates supply failures by turning off the series pass transistors and identifying the failed supply. The failed supply can then be removed and replaced with a new unit without turning off the system power. The LTC4350 is available in a 16-pin narrow SSOP package.
http://www.linear.com/pc/downloadDocument.do?navId=H0,C1,C1003,C1142,C1079,P2105,D2215 -
UC1907, UC2907, UC3907: Load share controller
The UCx907 family of load share controller ICs provides all the necessary features to allow multiple-independent-power modules to be paralleled such that each module supplies only its proportionate share to total-load current.
http://www.ti.com/lit/gpn/uc2907 -
Advanced 8 pin load share controller
The UCC39002 is an advanced, low cost and high performance loadshare controller that provides all necessary functions to parallel multiple independent power supplies or DC/DC modules. Targeted for high reliability applications in server, telecom, workstation and other distributed power systems, the controller is suitable for N+1 redundant systems or high current applications where off-the-shelf power supplies need to be paralleled.
http://www.ti.com/lit/gpn/ucc29002
