Features like low power usage and long lifetime have made LED a massively popular lighting solution. As the stability of LEDs is continuously improving, they can adapt to the harsh conditions of automotive applications and therefore enable rapid developments of the use in automotive market. In this article, we’ll introduce LITIX™, the latest LED driver IC family from Infineon, and give you further insight of the development trend of LED drivers.
Various subcategories to meet requirements of different applications
The history of LED technology can be traced back to 1962. Back then, it was mainly used in applications such as indicators and display boards. LED was not applied to the lighting until the development of blue LED in 1993, followed by white LED later. With the launch of high-power and high-brightness LEDs, they are now extensively used in applications including lighting, decoration and alarms in the automotive industry.
With its development experience in the automotive lighting market all over these years and the know-how, expertise of application and innovation in the semiconductor field, Infineon is leading the market of switches for automotive lighting by product families like PROFET™, SPOC™ and SPIDER. LITIX™ is the latest collection of Infineon automotive LED driver ICs. With the launch of LITIX™, Infineon has proved that its core competencies in semiconductor and automotive lighting fields can also be applied to LED drivers. By releasing different subcategories of LITIX™, Infineon is expected to maintain its leading role in the market of automotive exterior lighting in the future.
Infineon’s LITIX™, the LED driver IC integrating its long-term expertise of system for automotive lighting applications, can meet the quality requirements of lighting applications in the automotive industry. Self-protection and diagnostic functionalities ensure application security. The stability of LITIX™ is improved by precise current control. Infineon offers flexible LED driver solutions through different families; the four subcategories of LITIX™, Linear, Basic, Power and Power Flex, are designed to meet the requirements of different applications.
1. LITIX™ Linear: offers linear-current sources required by low-to-high power applications
LITIX™ Linear is designed to supply constant current up to 500 mA, which enables constant LED brightness and ensures extended LED lifetime, independently from supply voltage or LED forward voltage class. LITIX™ Linear is the best solution for automotive interior LED lighting, LED tail lights and indicator LEDs for diagnostic functions.
2. LITIX™ Basic: linear-current sources family with flexible features
LITIX™ Basic is optimized for the control of low-to-medium power LEDs in automotive applications. The whole family offers linear constant source products whose footprint compatibility ranging from 60 to 180 mA and 1 to 3 output channels and enables stable and reliable LED brightness by precise current control. Its diagnostic and logic features enable improved system reliability by approaches including significant component reduction on board level, improved system protection (e.g. enhanced resistance to ISO pulses), and energy-optimized system solution (DCDC control).
3. LITIX™ Power: DC/DC converter and controller for high power lighting
LITIX™ Power is the DC/DC converter and controller for high power LED lighting solutions and increasingly used in automotive front-lighting systems. These solutions are usually realized by using several discrete LEDs in one chain which leads to a string voltage up to 60 V or less LEDs with a forward current of up to 1.5 A. Both implementations require DC/DC solutions with boost, buck or buck-boost architectures. LITIX™ Power consists of DC/DC devices that can perfectly meet these requirements.
4. LITIX™ Power Flex: DC/DC controller that can realize maximum flexibility and power application
LITIX™ Power Flex provides flexible DC/DC driver solutions that can be used to drive LED systems up to 50 W or more, or LEDs with working current of more than 3 A. TLD5541-1QV is the first member of Infineon’s new multi-topology DC/DC controller family LITIX™ Power Flex. Its synchronous DC/DC H-bridge topology is beneficial for driving high power LEDs with maximum system efficiency (well above 90%) and minimum external components. In addition, EMC emissions can be reduced by the introduction of optimized spread spectrum switching frequency. With its seamless buck-boost regulation and fast dynamic load jump behaviour, it is an innovative solution for realizing cost-optimized LED headlamps with complete protection and diagnostic features.
LEDs are expected to become the major trend of light sources for automotive lighting in the future. By adopting the LITIX™ LED driver families from Infineon to automotive lighting applications, it is possible to accelerate product development as well as ensure stability under the harsh conditions of automotive applications. LITIX™ LED driver IC is the best choice for automotive lighting design.
