Automotive highside LED driver meets multiple regulation demands

Texas Instruments TPS929120-Q1 Automotive 40V High-Side LED Driver with FlexWire interface is a 12-channel, 40V high-side LED driver controlling the 8-bit output current and 12-bit PWM duty cycles. The device satisfies multiple regulation requirements with LED open-circuit, short-to-ground, and single LED short-circuit diagnostics. The configurable watchdog automatically fixes fail-safe states when the MCU connection is lost, and, with programmable EEPROM, the device can be set flexibly for various application scenarios.

LED drivers with digital interfaces are necessary to efficiently drive pixel-controlled lighting applications. In exterior lighting, various lamp functions are generally located on different PCB boards with off-board wires connected. It is challenging for a traditional single-ended interface to satisfy the strict EMC requirements.

The UART-based FlexWire interface of the device simply accomplishes long-distance off-board communication with no impact on EMC by employing an industrial-standard CAN physical layer.

Typical applications include automotive exterior rear light, automotive exterior headlight, automotive interior ambient light, and automotive cluster display.