US-based supplier of silicon solutions for energy efficient electronics has announced that it has launched the NCP1840 a multi LED driver, which can accommodate up to eight LEDs separately. The driver enables the user to create arrange of lighting patterns.
The driver is primarily suited for multi-LED status indicators that convey diagnostic and status conditions to the user and also help in distinguishing an end product through LED animation.
The device uses a quad-mode charge pump, which has low noise levels and has high-efficiency to increase the battery life and this in turn makes it ideal for portable devices. The charge pump is also accompanied with current regulators to ensure smooth operation even during voltage drops. The NCP1840 is also compact as it has only five ceramic capacitors and one resistor for LED power supply and controlling current. The device also comes in a package which is Pb-free, compliant to RoHS, 4 mm X 4 mm and QFN-20. It can operate under temperature ranges of -40°C to +85°C.
Engineers can use the NCP1840 to offload some of the work that is usually handled by the system design processor. They can also carry out current and dimming level programming through reading and writing to registers by using a serial interface that ensures similar blink rate and brightness in each LED. The brightness of the LEDs can also be controlled logarithmically in order to eliminate distortion of brightness and support natural viewing. According to Ryan Cameron, the varied features of NCP1840 enable OEMs to use LED illumination to provide diagnostic and status feedback in order to distinguish their products.