LED driver cuts BOM cost and component count

This has since changed and the market has consolidated, and as such the pressure on the market has changed. As any market consolidates, it places huge financial pressures on the producers. So what people are looking for from their LED products is a solution that provides a quality of performance that the end user finds acceptable but which is produced as cost effectively as possible.

To meet this need Power Integrations has announced its LYTSwitch-7 single-stage, non-isolated, TRIAC-dimmable, buck topology LED driver IC family. Capable of delivering up to 22W without a heatsink in a small SO-8 footprint, these high efficiency devices are suitable for bulbs, tubes and fixtures. LYTSwitch-7 designs do not require bleeders - employing simple, passive damping for TRIAC management and an off-the-shelf, single winding inductor, reducing component count to just 20, as compared to approximately 35 parts for typical dimmable LED driver boards.

LYTSwitch-7 ICs deliver a phase-cut (TRIAC) dimming solution with a wide dimming range and monotonic dimming response. The LED drivers enable efficiency of greater than 86% - around two percent higher than conventional dimmable products – with high PF, accurate regulation and comprehensive protection. They suit low- or high-line input as well as wide range universal input designs for US commercial lighting applications, which operate from 90V AC to 305V AC with TRIAC dimming enabled in low-line installations.

Huberto Notohamiprodjo, Director of Product Marketing at Power Integrations commented: “Our new LYTSwitch-7 LED driver ICs provide a highly robust solution while requiring a BOM count that is approximately 40% less than for conventional circuits. The internal 725V MOSFET delivers better withstand performance during line surges, while the bleeder-less design has high TRIAC compatibility but does not produce wasted heat, resulting in a more efficient and reliable driver.”

Peter Rogerson, Marcom Director, Power Integrations added: “Line overvoltage is important because, without it, when there’s a surge you place thermal stress on the LEDs and they can crack. This is the most common form of early failure in the LED market. So simply by providing that line overvoltage protection, and surge protection to the LED load, we’re taking out the single biggest short term failure in LED lights.”

The LYTSwitch-7 ICs have a host of protection features including thermal foldback with end-stop shutdown, which protects the IC, driver and fixture at abnormally high ambient temperatures by automatically reducing the current flow and dimming the lamp. Developers find that thermal foldback is the key to reducing costs associated with over-design of both electrical and mechanical components to meet reliability goals, since the IC automatically limits unusual temperature excursions without extinguishing the lamp. Devices are also protected from open and short circuit conditions, input and output OV, overcurrent and SOA. LYTSwitch-7 ICs meet international standards including DOE Level 6 (external power supply), CEC Titles 20 and 24, ENERGY STAR Lamps Program Requirements Version 2.0, NEMA SSL-7A and EN61000-3-2 (C&D).

Key applications include low cost A19 lamps, small form factor lamps such as candle style and GU10 bulbs, commercial and industrial applications, ceiling lamps and downlight fixtures. LYTSwitch-7 IC samples are available now. Dev

Rogerson concluded: “The LYTSwitch-7 offers a pragmatic user experience that reduces the cost of manufacturability without reducing the end user experience, which is what the market is looking for right now. The amount of consolidation among the manufacturers really is a sign of a maturing market. Because of what people are looking for from their products you need to be able to penetrate the market affordably, you need to be able to manufacture affordably, but you still need to be able to produce something that people are satisfied with.”