Automotive linear LED driver provides independent controls for brightness and colour

Diodes Incorporated has released a new automotive-compliant linear LED driver that allows users to control the brightness and colour of its three channels independently.

The human-centric automotive design drives the demand for multi-channel LED drivers, enabling vehicle occupants to easily change interior lighting colours to match their moods. These drivers also help increase safety levels by simultaneously enabling animated turning-indicator signals and exterior grill lighting for different road conditions. The AL1783Q driver has LED current settings by an external REF pin, independent dimming controls for each channel, and PWM to perform LED dimming. It is well-suited for multiple interior and exterior lighting applications in EV and ICE vehicles.

The automotive industry is trending towards using higher-voltage rails to power vehicle subsystems, and this has seen battery voltages increase from 12V and 24V to 48V. In response to this development, the driver has been developed to operate from a 55V rail, providing an advantage over other LED drivers, which typically only operate up to 40V. This feature also supports increasing LED chain voltages.

Another advantage of this driver is that it delivers up to 66% more current per channel (250mA compared with a standard 150mA), allowing greater flexibility to support higher LED current ranges in a broader range of lighting applications. For added flexibility, the current in the three channels can be set using individual resistors.

Thermal robustness is an important consideration when designing with linear LED drivers. Therefore, the driver is housed in a thermally efficient TSSOP-16EP package with an exposed cooling pad for superior heat dissipation. For added system-level reliability, the AL1783Q has multiple fault detection features, including UVLO and OVP, and can detect LED open and short circuit conditions.

The driver is automotive compliant – qualified to AEC-Q100, manufactured in IATF 16949 certified facilities, and supporting PPAP documentation. They are supplied in the space-saving TSSOP-16EP (5.1mm x 6.6mm) package.