The MAX8536 evaluation (EV) kit circuit demonstrates the functionality of the MAX8536 ORing MOSFET controller that provides redundancy and fault isolation to highly reliable power systems. The EV kit board can operate in 5V and 3.3V systems. The EV kit is configured for 5V operation.

During startup, the EV kit monitors the voltage difference between a power supply and a power bus. Once the voltage difference is less than 0.4V (typ), the IC turns on two ORing MOSFETs, linking the power supply and power bus. Once the MOSFETs are on, the EV kit monitors the load current and voltages to protect against undervoltage (UVP), overvoltage (OVP), and reverse-current fault conditions.

The OVP and UVP thresholds are adjustable and can be disabled. The UVP threshold is set to 2.9V, and the OVP threshold is set to 5.75V. An active-low FAULT signal output is provided for circuit monitoring.