SmarteXite technology platform for intelligent LED lighting

Dialog Semiconductor's iW6401 is the first device from the smarteXite family. It supports a variety of dimming interfaces, including digital dimming via a simple main on/off switch, the new Ledotron digital dimming protocol and toggle-switch based dimming. All dimming-curves are capable of memory configuration to enable a highly optimised end-user lighting experience. Supporting the Ledotron IEC 62756-1 dimming protocol, the iW6401 features an integrated digital loadline transmission receiver is the world’s first single-chip plug-and-play Ledotron solution.

Suitable for powerful front end applications for wireless communication modules like low-energy Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or ZigBee, the iW6401 uses a standard I²C digital interface. The iW6401 also enables peripheral devices, such as intelligent sensor devices enabling colour- or proximity-sensing, to be directly connected. When one is, the integrated power management unit in the iW6401 provides a stable power source, reducing the external component count and cost.

The world’s first programmable AC-DC retrofit LED lamp driver IC, the iW6401 combines Dialog’s strengths in configurable power management with state-of-the-art digital signal processing design. This allows engineers to design and configure the bulb design via software with an optimised bill of material versus a time intensive iterative hardware design process. reducing time-to-market this enables a smarteXite-based design to support many different global configurations and lighting requirements.

Mark Tyndall, VP Corporate Development & Strategy and GM Power Conversion Business Group at Dialog Semiconductor, comments: "Solid state lighting components and manufacturing costs have fallen to a level enabling LED bulbs to be sold in retail stores for under 10 dollars; this price point drives consumers to adopt the technology and retrofit their homes. Market analyst firm McKinsey predicts a 57 percent compounded annual growth rate for LED bulbs units to be sold between 2012 and 2016, with more than 2.6 billion units to be sold in 2016.”

Allowing lower tolerance LEDs to be used with less waste, SmarteXite supports final stage digital calibration on the production line where the bulb manufacturers can reconfigure the illumination calibration settings like brightness and colour via the A/C mains terminals. This final stage calibration feature enables the adjustment of the LED currents to be done in the installed state, making the smarteXite platform also ideal for Zhaga compliant power supplies. The iW6401 can be configured to actively manage the lamp temperature using either an on-chip or off-chip temperature sensor together with configurable state temperature control.