Animated lighting greater market traction for vehicles in all segments

Melexis assists automobile manufacturers to gain a competitive edge, opening up opportunities to install animated lighting functionality to their vehicles. A blend of advanced multi-channel driver ICs and a license-free high-speed bus protocol offer the performance and scalability needed.

The company has used its state-of-the-art in-vehicle networking capabilities to meet this latest automotive lighting trend. Through employment of the company’s license-free MeLiBu technology, design engineers can have access to the high-speed interfacing required for the implementation of animated lighting applications.

Based on the CAN-FD physical layer and UART communication with self-synchronisation, the MeLiBu bus protocol is supported by its multi-channel MLX81116, and MLX81117 LED driver ICs, as well as the MLX81130 OLED driver. The protocol’s elevated bandwidth and ultra-low latency operation allow the real-time updating of more than 300 RGB-LEDs. As a result, compelling animated content can be featured on LED lighting matrices with no compromise in performance. There is no necessity for an excessive number of components adding to the overall expense and take up precious board space.

As well as being able to deliver 2Mbit/s data transmission rates, MeLiBu also displays all the required robustness to handle the ESD and EMI issues linked with automotive deployment. ISO26262 compliance guarantees that it is fully aligned with ASIL B functional safety expectations. This unique bus protocol supports lighting for interior and exterior applications. These can be animated brand badges, turn indicators, daytime running lights, safety warning lights, phone call alerts, etc.

“Our automotive customers are able to show real differentiation and gain greater market traction for their latest models, whether this is in the luxury, mid-range or economy category,” states Michael Bender, product line manager, Embedded Lighting at Melexis.

“MeLiBu with its related driver ICs present a highly flexible and fully scalable platform. They bring new exciting lighting concepts without having to worry about system cost or complexity. It means that animated lighting functions are now possible for lower/medium end vehicles.”