Infineon Technologies AG released BCR430U, a constant current linear LED driver IC. The BCR430U provides industry-leading drop performance for regulating LED current in standalone operation. No external power transistor is needed. Typical applications for the BCR430U include LED strips, architectural LED lighting, LED displays as well as retail, appliance and emergency lighting.
The voltage drop at the integrated driver IC can go down to 135 mV at 50 mA. This improves overall efficiency and provides the voltage headroom required to compensate for LED forward voltage tolerances and variances in the supply voltage. Thus, more flexibility in the lighting design is possible. With the BRCU430U, additional LEDs can be added to lighting designs without changing the supply voltage.
The LED driver current ranges between 5 mA and 100 mA, and can be easily adjusted via high ohmic resistor on a dedicated pin. The supply voltage ranges between 6 V and 42 V. For safe and reliable operation and to extend the LED lifetime, a smart over-temperature controlling circuit reduces the LED current when the junction temperature is very high.
The BCR430U is available now in a SOT-23-6 package. More information is available at www.infineon.com/bcr430u.
