Hi,
My customer is planning implement reverse current protection using Method 2 from the datasheet (diode//resistor between the ground pin and system ground) and wants to know if the thermal pad needs to be tied to the gnd pin of the TPS or can it connect to real ground? They are concerned about the diode and resistor creating a pseudo-ground and if the thermal pad is connected to the GND pin inside the IC, then it will short out the ground pin protection. It is advantageous to have the thermal pad connect to real ground because the ground plane is a much larger thermal relief than if a separate thermal plane had to be created for the pseudo-ground net.
Thanks,
Katie
