Smart LED Drivers Simplify Dynamic Automotive Lighting with Digital Color Mixing
What you'll learn:
- Main features of the LED drivers, including a 12-bit PWM generator.
- The range of automotive applications for the devices.
The AL58818Q and AL58812Q are automotive-compliant 18- and 12-channel linear LED drivers designed to provide precise color mixing and brightness control for automotive rear lamp modules, grille/emblem lights, and interior ambient lighting.
Developed by Diodes Inc., the devices help designers simplify the development of advanced lighting elements and other complex animated LED lighting modules, such as infotainment displays, automotive status indicator lights, touch panels with vivid lighting effects, and zero audible noise.
Each of the drivers’ channels features an internal 12-bit pulse-width-modulation (PWM) generator operating at 30 kHz for fine-tuned color mixing (16 million color combinations) and brightness control. System designers can select between I2C or SPI digital interfaces through a hardware-selectable pin, providing enhanced programming flexibility.
The AL58818Q has 18 channels, making it ideal for up to six RGB LED lighting modules or 18 single-color LEDs, while the AL58812Q provides 12 channels for up to four RGB LED modules. Each channel delivers up to 70 mA of current set by the external resistor. Each channel also has an internal 30-kHz, 12-bit PWM generator for smooth dimming that supports logarithmic and linear-scale brightness control as well as a deep dimming function.
Both devices boast an accurate 3% device-to-device and channel-to-channel current matching for precise color mixing and uniform color distribution.
The AL58818Q and AL58812Q are priced at $0.85 and $0.80, respectively, in 5,000-piece quantities. Standard compliance versions — AL58818 and AL58812 — are available, too. They’re well-suited for industrial and commercial applications. Design tools for these devices include the RGB 3-in-1 evaluation board, which features an on-board MCU.
About the Author
Lee Goldberg
Contributing Editor
Lee Goldberg is a self-identified “Recovering Engineer,” Maker/Hacker, Green-Tech Maven, Aviator, Gadfly, and Geek Dad. He spent the first 18 years of his career helping design microprocessors, embedded systems, renewable energy applications, and the occasional interplanetary spacecraft. After trading his ‘scope and soldering iron for a keyboard and a second career as a tech journalist, he’s spent the next two decades at several print and online engineering publications.
Lee’s current focus is power electronics, especially the technologies involved with energy efficiency, energy management, and renewable energy. This dovetails with his coverage of sustainable technologies and various environmental and social issues within the engineering community that he began in 1996. Lee also covers 3D printers, open-source hardware, and other Maker/Hacker technologies.
Lee holds a BSEE in Electrical Engineering from Thomas Edison College, and participated in a colloquium on technology, society, and the environment at Goddard College’s Institute for Social Ecology. His book, “Green Electronics/Green Bottom Line - A Commonsense Guide To Environmentally Responsible Engineering and Management,” was published by Newnes Press.
Lee, his wife Catherine, and his daughter Anwyn currently reside in the outskirts of Princeton N.J., where they masquerade as a typical suburban family.
Lee also writes the regular PowerBites series.