LED Driver IC

Taiwan's Macroblock Presents Innovative LED Drivers for Various LED Applications at Electronica 2008

ivan — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:51:05 +0000

Macroblock, as a LED driver IC manufacturer will continue to showcase its technology breakthroughs realized in the new products for LED display and LED lighting fields at Macroblock booth A5.532 at Electronica 2008 from 11th to 14th November in Munich, Germany.

Year 2008 is a significant year for various LED applications from the proofs of those magnificent LED screens at Beijing 2008 Olympics Game and the maturity of LED lighting products for general and automotive lighting. With the commitment to high-quality, high-efficiency and user-friendly LED drivers for a wide range of LED applications, Macroblock will highlight innovative products in different perspectives including:
Silent error detection function for commercial LED panels and traffic signs
Power saving functions for traffic signs and message signs
16-bit S-PWM embedded LED driver with two-wire interface for RGB clusters in architectural lighting
High voltage LED driver with error detection and DC/DC boost converter integration ability for general lighting, automotive lighting and LED backlighting
Hysteretic PFM constant current DC/DC buck converter with full protection for decorative lighting and high power lighting

To know more about Macroblock’s innovative technologies and products, you are welcome to visit our booth at Electronica 2008.

Electronica 2008
New Munich Trade Fair Center, Germany
Macroblock booth # A5.532
November 11-14, 2008

About Macroblock
Macroblock is a dedicated mixed-signal IC company. Foreseeing the promising future of LED applications, Macroblock is committed to providing excellent LED drivers that help LEDs to achieve outstanding performances. Macroblock constantly provides customers innovative and differentiated LED related IC solutions for LED display, illumination, and backlighting applications.

LED driver upgrades LCD backlight for media player apps

sarafan — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 03:21:58 +0000

Recently, ON Semiconductor has released the NCP5890, a lighting management device that integrates LCD backlighting, fun light controls and ambient light sensing in a 3mm x 3mm x 0.55mm µQFN-16 package. It targets compact smart phone and portable media player applications.

With its 30V output capability, the device drives LEDs in series to achieve homogeneous backlight over the LCD screen. At the same time, it controls three sets of white LEDs or RGB LEDs to create light patterns on keypads or chassis in a unique combination with backlighting. The driver also extends battery life by adjusting the backlight current based on the ambient light level.

Having high overall power efficiency of up to 90 percent at 1.3MHz oscillator frequency, the NCP5890 inductive boost LED driver renders up to 30V at output. It can sustain eight LEDs in series for LCD backlight and fun lighting. The device supports ambient light sensing, a feature needed in smart phones to lower power use and increase user comfort.

The NCP5890 also has a built-in gradual dimming that produces fade-in and fade-out effects. Both ambient light sensing and gradual dimming are automated built-in functions that can be activated with I2C commands. The device backs I2C protocol with two separate address options. The integrated driver also stretches battery power with a true cut-off function that limits the leakage output current in shut-down mode.

Freescale illuminates LED growth markets

aber — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:47:06 +0000

Addressing the burgeoning market for energy-saving, environmentally friendly light-emitting diode (LED) technology, Freescale Semiconductor is now sampling the first LED backlight product in its power management IC portfolio.

The new 10-channel MC34844 white LED driver IC is designed for LED backlights in notebook computers, as well as in flat-panel monitors with screen sizes ranging from 10 inches to 27 inches.

According to IMS Research, the market for semiconductors used in backlighting applications, including LED driver ICs, is expected to grow from $1.1 billion (USD) in 2008 to $2.0 billion in 2012. Currently, LED backlights are prevalent in smaller liquid crystal displays (LCDs) for cell phones, GPS devices and PDAs.

However, LEDs are now being implemented in larger LCD modules used in laptops, monitors and large-screen TVs.

"We expect the market for LED backlighting in notebooks, monitors and TVs to grow strongly," said Jamie Fox, a market research analyst for IMS Research. "In notebooks in particular, rapid growth is widely expected from 2008 to 2010."

"LED backlighting is a disruptive technology that will spur innovation and growth in the LCD market and enable more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly LCD displays," said Arman Naghavi, vice president and general manager of Freescale's Analog, Mixed-Signal and Power Division. "As a leading analog supplier, Freescale is well-positioned to deliver advanced driver ICs for LED backlighting applications. The market for LED backlights offers untapped potential as growth opportunities expand from laptops and monitors to LCD TVs and automotive, consumer and industrial lighting applications."

Energy-efficient, mercury-free

LED technology offers many advantages over conventional cold-cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) lighting systems, which are widely used in conventional LCDs. LED backlighting enhances the user viewing experience, offers more flexible backlight architectures and enables thinner display designs.

Additional benefits of LED backlighting over conventional CCFL technology include higher efficiency (more light at a given power), reduced power consumption, a five-fold longer lifespan, enhanced durability, and up to 100 times better contrast ratios for clearer definition on screen.

A key benefit of LED technology is that it is free from mercury, a substance known to be toxic to humans. Mercury is a key material in CCFL lighting systems, which are used in 99 percent of existing LED TV displays. In Europe, the European Directive on the Restriction of Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electronics (RoHS) has mandated that manufacturers must move to mercury-free LEDs.

LED driver IC to target 10-27 inch LCDs

sarafan — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 03:11:59 +0000

Recently, Freescale Semiconductor is sampling the first LED backlight product in its power management IC portfolio. The 10-channel MC34844 white LED driver IC with an integrated boost converter is designed for LED backlights in notebook computers, as well as in flat-panel monitors with screen sizes ranging from 10 inches to 27 inches.

According to Freescale, the MC34844 IC, housed in a lead-free, 32-pin 5 x 5 x 0.8-mm TQFN package, is reportedly the industry's most compact LED backlight driver IC for notebook and monitor applications. Capable of driving up to 160 LEDs in 10 parallel strings, the highly integrated device provides greater LED control capabilities than any other single-chip solution currently available.
Using the device's I2C/SMBus interface, developers can program the LED current, PWM frequency and PWM duty cycle for the LEDs. Multiple devices can be synchronized for driving more LEDs. The MC34844 is designed to remove the burden on the controller for PWM generation and to eliminate the need for PWM signals to travel through the printed circuit board, which can cause noise and electromagnetic compatibility performance issues.

In addition, the MC34844's pulse-width modulation (PWM) generator supports LED dimming, a feature that helps improve picture quality and enables a long screen life. The device also is designed to deliver consistent performance over the lifetime of the LEDs by compensating for optical and temperature degradation.

The MC34844 offers an input voltage range of 7 V to 28 V and an output voltage of up to 60 V. The LED driver delivers up to 55 mA LED current per channel. It also features dynamic headroom control to improve device efficiency and a 3.5-A integrated boost. Protection features include user-programmable over-voltage protection, LED open failure detection and OTP/OCP/UVLO lockout.

A low-cost 10-channel LED driver - PR4010

sarafan — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 02:52:13 +0000

It’s reported that PREMA Semiconductor GmbH, is located in Mainz, Germany, has designed 10-channel LED driver dubbed the PR4010 that drives up to 10 LEDs of any color individually.

For more than 10 LEDs, several PR4010 can be cascaded and programmed via one serial interface, typical applications are driving dot matrix or LED segment displays. For example, the PR4010 can drive 75 LEDs of a mulitplexed 15x5 dot matrix display with only two PR4010 and five additional transistors. Each of the 10 LED driver outputs is a current sink for up to 10mA. The serial interface with latched input allows individual programming of each LED channel by an external microcontroller. Further applications are LED displays like bargraphs or status displays. The PR4010 is designed in a SSOP20 package, samples are available upon request.

According to the company, the current variation between the LED channels does not exceed ±5%; uniform control is guaranteed, LED brightness is set by an external resistor; it can be varied through a PWM signal at the "blank" input, which allows ON / OFF control for all channels independent of the serial interface. The PR4010 has been designed for supply voltages from 3V up to 5.5V.

Freescale samples the first LED backlight product

sarafan — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 03:13:53 +0000

Freescale Semiconductor has entered the LED market, and announced that it is sampling the first LED backlight product in its power management IC portfolio. The 10-channel MC34844 (pictured) white LED driver IC is targeted at LED backlights in notebook computers, as well as in flat-panel monitors with screen sizes ranging from 10 inches to 27 inches.

“LED backlighting is a disruptive technology that will spur innovation and growth in the LCD market and enable more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly LCD displays,” said Arman Naghavi, VP and general manager of Freescale’s analog, mixed-signal, and power division, in a statement. “The market for LED backlights offers untapped potential as growth opportunities expand from laptops and monitors to LCD TVs and automotive, consumer and industrial lighting applications.”

According to Freescale, key benefits of LED technology over conventional cold-cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) lighting systems include higher efficiency, reduced power consumption, a five-fold longer lifespan, enhanced durability, and up to 100 times better contrast ratios for clearer definition on screen. LED technology is also free from mercury, a substance known to be toxic and often restricted or banned by current environmental regulations like ROHS. With the launch of its LED backlight driver IC portfolio, it plans to expand into growing backlighting markets, such as large-screen digital TVs and commercial lighting. The Austin-based company expects to announce LED backlighting solutions for LCD TVs in Q1 2009. Also in 2009, the company expects to pursue the LED lighting market for automotive, commercial, and residential applications.

The MC34844 LED driver IC can drive up to 160 LEDs in 10 parallel strings and includes pulse-width modulation (PWM) generator support for LED dimming. The device also is designed to deliver consistent performance over the lifetime of the LEDs by compensating for optical and temperature degradation. Using the device’s I2C / SMBus interface, developers can program the LED current, PWM frequency, and PWM duty cycle for the LEDs, Freescale said. Multiple devices can be synchronized for driving more LEDs.

Citing data from IMS Research, the market for semiconductors used in backlighting applications, including LED driver ICs, is expected to grow from $1.1 billion in 2008 to $2 billion in 2012. Freescale is currently sampling the MC34844 LED driver IC for laptops and monitor applications. Broader market availability is planned for Q4. The suggested resale price of the MC34844 in 10,000 quantities is $1.44.

Dongbu HiTek Announces Joint Development of LED Driver IC

sarafan — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 06:02:55 +0000

Recently, Dongbu HiTek announced the joint development of an LED driver chip for Back Light Unit (BLU) applications in laptop computers. Developed in collaboration with ADDtek, a Taiwanese fabless company specializing in analog and mixed-signal chip solutions, the new LED driver designed by Taiwan-Based ADDtek uses Dongbu HiTek’s specialized BCDMOS (Bipolar CMOS DMOS) process at the 0.35-Micron Node.

Now, the announcement further highlights Dongbu HiTek’s commitment to BCDMOS leadership as it closely follows the Korean company’s launch of the world’s first 0.18 micron-level BCDMOS process in June. In addition to supporting a wide range of high-voltages from 12V to 60V, Dongbu HiTek’s BCDMOS technology enables a diversity of highly compact mixed-signal chip solutions.

Jae Song, EVP of marketing for Dongbu HiTek, asserted they are committed to becoming the preferred source for BCDMOS chip solutions. He disclosed that future support could extend the operating range of 0.35 micron-level chips up to 85V. Dr. Song expects Dongbu HiTek to steadily increase LED chip driver production volume for ADDtek next year to meet customer demand. He noted that his company will begin manufacturing LED light sources that are used not only in BLU applications for laptops, desktops, mobile handsets and flat panel TVs, but in other growth markets as well. According to related analysis, an independent market research firm, the worldwide market for LED driver ICs will grow from approximately $650 million this year to more than $800 million in 2011.

About Dongbu HiTek

Headquartered in Seoul, Korea, Dongbu HiTek Co., Ltd. offers advanced products and services across two major business areas: Agriculture and Semiconductor. The Semiconductor Business provides specialized chip foundry services that add high value to display, mobile and various analog applications. The company’s two world-class fabs currently process 200mm wafers at nodes ranging from 0.35 microns to 110 nanometers. This wafer processing is supported by comprehensive design support (IP and design libraries), prototype development/verification, and packaging/module development.

ARC SSL announces 3-channel MINI Controller CA3001

ivan — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:49:57 +0000

ARC Solid-State Lighting, provider of LED driver and controller, announces a new LED lighting controller-MINI Controller CA3001, the control capacity of 3-channels RGB full color is extremely favorable for Lighting Embellishing of Shop Widows and Products Showcases to create amazing lighting effects and romantic atmospheres easily. Having both control and driving capacities but it is truly simple to install. With built-in 12 different lighting effects, users may choose any one as their wish and the lighting effect speeds are also adjustable.

CA3001 Features
RGB Full color LED controller
Various lighting effects：12 built-in lighting effects and 1 user-defined lighting effect; 16 adjustable lighting speeds or brightness through dip switches.
Smooth color transitions：256 levels of gray scale
Powerful driving capacity：2A driving capacity each channel, and total can drive up to 6A

The speed of 12 various built-in lighting effects can be adjusted as users' wish. 16 levels speed may fit different events, and then let LED lighting shows your brand image. If the built-in lighting effects do not match your CIS, you can make your own one as well. Taking a clothing shop as an example, it can display brand indentified color normally to make your customers impressed；When holding new products launch events, you can change the usual lighting effect to a wonderful one regarding to the event topic. Since your showcase is greatly eye-catching, it's just a piece of cake for attracting your customers.

「I would like to use LED lighting for decorate my shop, but I do not have any LED professional knowledge or experience of installation. Is the setting procedure of lighting effects very complicated? Is it difficult to install the whole system?」 If you do have any concern as above, CA3001 is definitely your best choice. Compared with the power benefits that CA3001 offers, the installation and lighting effects setting are really simple；there are only 6 output/input connectors, as picture 1 shows, two on the left side are for power input, and the rest four connectors on the right side are connected with your LED lighting fixture. All you need is only a screw driver to get the all connection done, and then select the lighting effect you need and adjust the light effect speed through two dip switches"Mode/Speed".

Picture 1：CA3001 MINI Controller installation guide

CA3001 Applications

Lighting embellishing in Shop windows
Lighting design in product showcases

About ARC SSL
ARC Solid-State Lighting was founded in Jan, 2007 in Taipei, Taiwan. We focus on the LED lighting controller and opto-electronic design and development to provide appropriate solutions for LED Lighting applications. Among the wide range of opto-electronic devices, ARC SSL chooses LED lighting applications as the axis for technology development and explores the advanced software and control system technology to outperform the advantages of LED lighting devices.

SemiTech announce 3 wires RGBW LED PWM driver IC「DJ5111」and constant current driver IC「DJ5091」

ivan — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:04:37 +0000

Semisilicon Technology Corp. announce two 3 wires full color LED driver IC, One is 3 wires RGBW LED PWM driver IC，Part number is「DJ5111」.The other is 3 wires RGB LED constant current driver IC，Part number is「DJ5091」.

Except resolution of each color and drive LED output form are different between these two parts. They are major used on series LED cluster string to control color changing. Best advantage is reducing the wires usage. Reduce one or two wires from traditional application to single wire. Not only reduce the cost as well as easy to connect. Storage color pattern and transmit data by simple MCU, easy programming and maintenance. Besides the data series transmission also we can cascade the power to operate to obtain power saving. These techniques get lots of patent in many countries also.

DJ5111 is PWM output suitable use on high voltage clusters application, like light string of sign, building outline string, light bar etc..

DJ5091 is constant current level output suitable use on single RGB LED application, like single RGB LED cluster light string, Christmas light string etc..

Future Lighting Solutions and NEC Electronics America Introduce Intelligent Constant High-Current Driver with Microcontroller

Emma — Fri, 09 May 2008 06:46:14 +0000

Future Lighting Solutions, a division of Future Electronics, Inc., with NEC Electronics America, Inc., today introduced the world’s first intelligent constant High-Current Driver (HCD) with microcontroller (MCU). The new HCD/LED MCU can be used in lighting applications that employ multiple LEDs, in addition to industrial control applications such as stepping motors, solenoid drives, and switch-mode power supplies.

“Future Lighting Solutions and NEC Electronics America have developed a ‘smart’ design approach to support the growing performance demands of LED lighting and other applications,” said Bart Ladd, General Manager, Account Development and Applications, NEC Electronics America. “We have combined NEC Electronics’ extensive experience in MCUs with Future Lighting Solutions’ power LED applications knowledge, to produce this new HCD/LED MCU. The solution offers higher integration and greater intelligence, and is supported with a robust design environment that helps designers bring products to market faster and more cost effectively.”

The new device combines an NEC Electronics’ 8-bit All Flash™ microcontroller with a four-channel HCD that helps reduce device size and system costs. This solution delivers efficient power management capability in street illumination, architecture, entertainment, emergency vehicle and display lighting systems.

“Customers will value the flexibility that the µPD78F8024 solution provides, such as providing output current support to drive the full range of our LUXEON® high-power LEDs,” said Patrick Durand, Worldwide Applications Manager for Future Lighting Solutions. “Engineers who want to maximize control, reliability and power savings for their solid-state lighting applications can also leverage this new MCU’s ability to dynamically change the average current for an LED by communicating with a temperature or ambient light sensor.”

The product’s high level of integration allows for a smaller number of external components to open up board space for other components. In addition to supporting a wide input voltage range from 9 to 38-volts, the flexible four-channel architecture also enables designs using both buck and boost regulator topologies.

The µPD78F8024 HCD/LED MCU is available in a 64-pin LQFP. Samples are available now, starting at US$3.50 per 1000 unit quantities1. Evaluation boards will be available in early May. For additional information, visit www.FutureLightingSolutions.com/NEC.

About Future Lighting Solutions

Future Lighting Solutions is a division of Future Electronics Inc., the 3rd largest electronic distributor in the world. We are focused on delivering world-class LUXEON® LEDs, technical solutions and commercial support that facilitate developing and manufacturing “never before possible” LUXEON LED based applications. Future Lighting Solutions brings customers unparalleled LED lighting knowledge, access to expert resources, full system solutions and global logistics support.

About NEC Electronics America, Inc.

NEC Electronics America, Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is a wholly owned subsidiary of NEC Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), a leading provider of semiconductor products encompassing advanced technology solutions for the broadband and communications markets; system solutions for the mobile, PC, automotive and digital consumer markets; and multi-market solutions for a wide range of consumer applications. NEC Electronics America offers local manufacturing in Roseville, California, and the global manufacturing capabilities of its parent company. In the Americas, NEC Electronics America markets and sells industrial-type active-matrix LCD modules from NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd., a global leader in innovative display technologies.

Pricing and availability are subject to change without notice. All Flash is a trademark or registered trademark of NEC Electronics Corporation.