Digital power control seeks to maximise LED efficiency

With .dp digital power 2.0 Infineon Technologies has developed a digital platform for power supply, with which LED lighting systems can be controlled intelligently, thus making maximum energy savings possible.

The step into the digital world with all its advantages is made possible by digital controllers and a special software that the manufacturers of lighting systems can use to configure individual parameters according to their requirements. “This allows our customers greater flexibility because it eliminates the need for costly development of designs for product variants, since specifications can be defined at the end of the production line,” says Ulrich vom Bauer, Marketing for Lighting ICs, Infineon. “With .dp digital power 2.0, the development time can be reduced by up to 70% - therefore, the customer can bring products to the market significantly faster.” In addition, the digital approach makes innovations possible that can’t be realised using analogue components.

Infineon will be presenting two members of the new platform, the ICL8105 and ILD2111 controllers, for the first time during the International LED Professional Symposium + Expo, Bregenz, Austria, 22^nd to 24^th September.

The ICL8105 is a digitally configurable flyback controller with Power Factor Correction (PFC) for constant power LED drivers from 10 to 80W. Thanks to the high level of integration and the control on the primary side, only a few external components are required. This allows for a cost reduction of up to 10%. The controller has powerful algorithms and supports multiple operating modes. Advantages are a high efficiency and power factor correction plus low distortion. This produces a high quality of light with no flickering. The controller has an input for 0 to 10V dimming; there is no need for an oscillator including power supply. An active burst mode significantly extends the dimming range, while preventing undesirable effects such as flickering or shimmering. To protect the LED driver in case of overtemperature, the ICL8105 automatically reduces the output current in case of overload.

The ILD2111 is a digitally configurable buck controller and is designed as a constant current source with output current control (backlash) for LED drivers in the range from 10 to 150W. Thus, the regulator addresses diverse commercial LED applications. The ILD2111, too, requires only a few external components. The output current can be set easily and accurately by a resistor, and is also compatible with the LEDset interface. The IC provides flicker-free PWM dimming down to 1%. The component automatically selects an operating window in order to optimally regulate different loads, depending on the switching frequency and the ripple of the output current. The output voltage is specified with 15 to 55VDC. Extensive, user-configurable features protect the component at undervoltage and overvoltage, short circuits, overcurrent or high temperatures.

Both driver ICs offer the advantages of the digital world which includes the ability of the LED power supply to be configured by the customer on site using software. In addition to high flexibility, this also means savings in material costs. This plays a big role in today’s highly fragmented lighting market.

Both the ICL8105 and the ILD2111 are available as samples and can be ordered in high volume. Development boards, the .dp Interface Board and the .dp Vision GUI software are offered for both controllers. For more information about Indineon's .dp digital power 2.0 family, click here.