Reference Design Specializes In Ballast Dimming Control

Meeting the specs outlined in the Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI) standard, which is an addendum to the IEC929 electronic ballast standard, the IRPLDIM2 reference design melds on a compact card all of the components and circuitry required to control the dimming of fluorescent lighting ballasts. Providing up to 256 light-level settings, the design integrates the companyÕs IR2159 dimming ballast controller and gate driver IC with MicrochipÕs PIC16F628 flash microcontroller together with some 90 other components, which is said to be far less than what other designs require. The IR2159 600V, programmable chip uses a patented phase control technique that eliminates the current-sensing transformer and provides stable logarithmic dimming from 100% to 1%. The reference design is available for driving either 220V, 36W T8 fluorescent lamps such as are used in Europe and Asia or 110V, 32W T8 lamps for the North American market. The design includes hardware, software and documentation and costs $150 each. For more details, contact INTERNATIONAL RECTIFIER INC., El Segundo, CA. (310) 252-7105.