I am trying to precisely control current limit of the LT3081 IC following this paper, page 12, schematic on page 14, but by using a microcontroller.
I'm controlling the output voltage with a 10kOhm, 8 bit, digital potentiometer, which I feed with 1.2mA constant current to make it regulate the output voltage between 0 and 12 V.
I'm trying to limit the output current from 1 mA to 1A, idealy with 1 mA step, without using more expensive 10 bit digital pots. By using a similar configuration as shown in the schematic for higher accuracy (pot + paralel res + series res), using one 10k, 8 bit, digital pot and considering the wiper resistance, I got to a point where I can control the current limit with a 7 mA step at lower values, and 2 mA steps as I get closer to 1 A limit.
Spreadsheet for 10k 8b values: link
Equation for current limit(from datasheet): RILIM = ILIMIT/360mA/kΩ + 450Ω
Simplified equation: RILIM = ((ILIM*1000)/0.36) + 450
Simplified schematic:
simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab
My question is: Is there any other way for a more precise current limit control without using a higher step count (bit) digital pot?