Infineon Technologies extended the family of switch-mode LED drivers for high power LEDs for general lighting applications. Combining thermal protection feature that contributes to the lifetime of LEDs with flexibility in output current range from 350mA up to multiple amperes, the drivers are solutions for the design of indoor and outdoor lighting.

The ILD series include LED driver ICs with integrated power stage as well as with external MOSFET achieving up to 98% driver efficiency across a wide range of general lighting applications, including MR16 halogen retrofits, residential and commercial luminaires, architectural lighting and street lamps. In addition to high output current range Infineon’s ILD family provides flexibility to customers by two different dimming methods, analog and PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) dimming.

Besides the wide spread over-current protection the ILD drivers offer an over-temperature protection that is tailored to protect the LEDs and the LED driver IC from thermal overstress delivering the maximum possible operating life of the LED lamps and LED fixtures. The devices in the ILD series can achieve cost effectiveness because they have been designed for specific LED currents or applications.

As an example, the ILD2035 has been designed for MR16 lamps with 1W LEDs. Another example is the ILD4001, where the features and protection functions are included into a stand-alone LED controller and an external MOSFET is used as a power stage.

Three devices – ILD4001, ILD4035 and ILD2035 – will be available in SC-74 package with very small form factor and the fourth device – ILD4120 – comes in DSO-8 package with exposed pad. The ILD family includes wide input voltages, from 4.5 V to 42V for ILD4001 and 4.5V to 40V for ILD4035 and ILD4120 providing the flexibility to be used with most of the standard power supplies. Dimming can be implemented using PWM managed by a microcontroller or alternatively by analog control voltage.

Infineon offers design support, including demonstration boards, application notes and an online design tool that can be used from part selection to reference design generation, verification and BOM (bill of material) creation.

Availability and Pricing

All of the ILD series devices are available today in sample quantities and as demonstration board starter kits, with production ramp starting now. As a pricing example, the ILD4035 device (350mA output, SC-74 package) is US Dollar 0.60 for 10,000 pieces.

Researchers at Strategies Unlimited estimate global sales of 227 million LED driver IC units for lighting in 2011. According to market experts, the world market for LED driver ICs for lighting is growing from US dollar 114.7 million in 2011 up to US dollar 585.4 million in 2015. This means a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 50 per cent.