Oct 4 2007
Exar Corporation entered the industrial and architectural lighting market today with the release of a high-voltage step-down DC/DC controller, the SP7601. This LED driver delivers an input voltage range up to 30V in an industry-first, small 6-pin TSOT (2.9x2.8mm) package. This highly-integrated device is capable of supporting 24 Voltage Direct Current (VDC) and 12VDC rails most commonly found in architectural and general LED lighting systems.
"Extending the reach of its broad portfolio of portable device lighting solutions, the SP7601 addresses architectural and lighting requirements at a time when the market is accelerating its conversion from incandescent and florescent to LED lighting systems," said Jon Cronk, director, Power Management Marketing. "In addition, the controller architecture is extremely flexible providing optimal solutions for 1W, 5W and 10W LEDs enabling designers to reuse a common platform and rapidly finalize their projects."
Key Product Features
The 1.2MHz SP7601 has a 0.2V feedback which eliminates excessive heating in the LED driver and allows designers to focus on the LED thermal concerns associated with high current LEDs. The overall driver solution is very compact as a result of the high operating frequency, internal compensation and the ability to operate without an output capacitor. The SP7601 can be deployed into the new LED lighting fixtures which are taking advantage of the new form factors afforded by the LED light source.
In LED lighting systems which use RGB color mixing and/or brightness control, the LEDs are Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) with a fixed current level rather than a variable current because changes in current result in shifts of the color spectrum of the LED. The SP7601 supports PWM dimming and color mixing by allowing for PWM control up to 1KHz with duty cycles as short as ten percent.
"In only seven months, the engineering staff brought the SP7601 to market," said Lee Cleveland, senior vice president of Engineering. "This nimble and focused approach enables our customers to take advantage of rapidly changing market conditions."