LED Driver

Through a 400-kHz, 2-wire, SMBus™ I²C™-compatible serial interface, the MAX6965 from Maxim Integrated Products provides nine 7-V tolerant output ports, each capable of sinking up to 50 mA. A reset input, RST-bar, clears the serial interface and restores the outputs to their default power-up state of high impedance. With low standby current and packaged in compact 3-mm × 3-mm × 0.8-mm, 16-pin QFN and QSOP packages, this LED driver is ideal for portable applications.

The MAX6965's 8-bit PWM brightness control is integrated within the chip. Four bits control the global intensity of all LED outputs from fully off to fully on, thereby simplifying brightness ramp up and down. The remaining 4 bits further break down the globally set current into 16 steps of brightness control for each individual LED.

Alternatively, a single 8-bit control can set all outputs at once with 240 intensity steps. Each output has independent 2-phase blink functionality. The ports can be individually configured to be off or on during each blink phase or to ignore the blink control. The blink period is controlled by a clock input (up to 1 kHz) on the BLINK pin or by a register. The blink input operates as a logic control to turn the LEDs on and off or as a general-purpose input (GPI).

The MAX6965 has one address pin that provides four unique slave IDs. These devices operate from a 2-V to 3.6-V supply over the automotive temperature range (-40°C to 125°C) with a supply current (interface running, PWM enabled) of 51 µA (typ) and a standby current of 1.2 µA (typ).

For more information, visit www.maxim-ic.com.