Allegro announces a new, high-brightness, adjustable constant current LED driver to complement its existing portfolio of display driver ICs. Targeted at the automotive lighting market, this LED driver is also an excellent fit in industrial and consumer LED applications. This new device is designed to operate over the typical automotive battery and temperature ranges.
The input voltage range is specified down to 6 V and will operate up to a maximum of 40 V. The linear constant current output can be adjusted to deliver up to 350 mA in a typical application. An ENABLE input is used to enable the LED drive and can also be driven with a pulse-width-modulated (PWM) input for dimming of the LED brightness. To help minimize EMI, the slew rate of the output current is controlled during switching. In addition, the ENABLE pin will cause the IC to enter into a low quiescent sleep mode if held low.
Typical applications for Allegro's A6260 include: automotive interior lighting such as map lights and dome lights, and exterior lighting such as rear indicator and brake lights and rear combination lighting. Industrial and consumer high intensity LED lighting applications will also benefit from the A6260's feature set.
Several automotive-grade protections are featured in the integrated circuit. The IC is fully protected against shorts to ground or shorts to battery. This new IC also includes a thermal shut-down circuit (TSD) which disables the IC if the junction temperature reaches ~ 165°C. Allegro's A6260 has integrated reverse battery protection eliminating the need for an external reverse battery diode.
Allegro's new LED driver is available in an 8-lead thermally enhanced SOIC package and has a 12-week lead–time to market. It is priced at $0.85 in quantities of 1,000.
