National Semiconductor Introduces New High-Brightness LED Driver with Temperature Management Control

National Semiconductor Corp. today announced a new LED driver with temperature management control and the addition of an online design environment to support it.  The LM3424, a member of National’s PowerWise® energy-efficient product family, drives high-brightness LEDs in a variety of indoor, outdoor and automotive applications.  Supported in National’s WEBENCH® LED Designer, its temperature management control, thermal foldback, enables lighting designers to quickly and easily design a reliable thermal system using the LM3424.



Thermal foldback combats high temperatures LEDs can reach as a result of environmental conditions.  When LED temperatures rise above a safe threshold, the lifetime and efficacy of the LED decreases.  With the LM3424, lighting designers can program temperature and slope breakpoints within which the LEDs operate safely.  When an over-temperature condition occurs, the LM3424’s thermal foldback circuitry reduces the regulated current through the LEDs.  The reduced current dims the LED to a range programmed by the designer and the LED remains within the range until it returns to a safe operating temperature.

This method of thermal foldback maintains the lifetime and efficacy of the LED and ensures the warranty period of fixtures in applications such as automotive headlights, high bay warehouse lighting and street lighting.

National’s WEBENCH LED Designer helps lighting designers identify the ideal temperature threshold or foldback breakpoint of the LEDs.  Traditionally, resistor values are calculated by hand to identify temperature foldback breakpoints.  The WEBENCH online design environment allows the designer to easily enter the temperature foldback and slope points and then visualize the behavior of the design at different LED temperatures.  This requires no hand calculations.  An interactive temperature slider shows the results graphically.  The LED driver design automatically updates with entry of temperature breakpoint requirements.

Offered in a 20-pin thermally enhanced TSSOP package, the LM3424 drives up to 18 high-brightness LEDs in series with output current above 2A in a typical application.  It contains all of the features to regulate currents based on buck, boost, SEPIC, flyback and buck-boost topologies.

The LM3424 operates over a wide input range of 4.5V to 75V.  The pulse-width modulation (PWM) controller is designed for high-speed capability including an oscillator frequency range that can be synchronized up to 2.0 MHz.  Additional features include PWM and analog dimming, programmable softstart and protection features such as low-power and thermal shutdown, and cycle-by-cycle current limit.

Available now, National’s LM3424 and is priced at $1.75 in 1,000-unit quantities.

Disclaimers of Warranties
1. The website does not warrant the following:
1.1 The services from the website meets your requirement;
1.2 The accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the service;
1.3 The accuracy, reliability of conclusions drawn from using the service;
1.4 The accuracy, completeness, or timeliness, or security of any information that you download from the website
2. The services provided by the website is intended for your reference only. The website shall be not be responsible for investment decisions, damages, or other losses resulting from use of the website or the information contained therein<
Proprietary Rights
You may not reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, display, perform, publish, distribute, disseminate, broadcast or circulate to any third party, any materials contained on the services without the express prior written consent of the website or its legal owner.

Tokushima, Japan - 6 March 2024: Nichia, the world's largest LED manufacturer and inventor of the high-brightness blue and white LED, has started mass production of the new UV-B (308nm) and UV-A (330nm) LEDs in its popular 434 Series packa... READ MORE

New XLamp® S Line LEDs enhance growth, last longer, lower energy costs Horticulture and other forms of agricultural lighting require application-tuned ratios of spectral content, high efficacy and long lifetimes. Whether you are interested... READ MORE