AnalogicTech Releases Energy-Efficient Step-Up LED Backlight Drivers

Analog semiconductor manufacturer, Advanced Analogic Technologies has launched the AAT14XX line of 31 mA step-up LED drivers.

Each string can handle up to 10 LEDs. The single-channel drivers are compact and operate silently, making them suitable for Lithium-ion battery-based single cell equipment such as smart phones, mobiles, portable media players and portable navigation devices that use larger screens.

The AAT14XX drivers allow greater efficiencies and provide filtered pulse-width modulation dimming to remove disturbances with the radios in handheld devices such as cell phones. They measure 1.15x1.55 mm and require an area of only 0.7 cm² on a printed circuit board.

The Strategic Marketing Director at AnalogicTech, Roger Smullen stated that the potential offered by the AAT14XX family will be applied in various devices ranging from televisions to tablets.

The brightness of the LED can be controlled by filtered or direct pulse-width modulation control or through 32 dimming steps by utilizing the S²Cwire interface. A dimming frequency of 100 KHz by the pulse-width modulation control not only removes audible noise, but can also decrease backlight power usage by 50%.

Backlight in LCD screens leads to power drain in portable systems. The AAT14XX family addresses this issue with a high-voltage current sink and three dimming controls that allow LED current adjustment from 10 to 31 mA. In comparison to standard LED drivers using ballast resistors, the AAT14XX can achieve a high efficiency of 88%.

The AAT14XX family supports an input range of 2.7 to 5.5 V. They include open LED protection, programmable over-voltage protection, over-temperature protection and automatic recovery.