MSIT: Towards a greener Future

LED Driver
In general, we can define an LED driver as a stand-alone control circuitry or
a self-contained power supply with control circuitry that provides an output
matching the electrical characteristics of the LEDs to be controlled. If the
LED is to be dimmed or pulsed ON and O, the driver would then include
!"# circuitry.
Driver Connection
$nfortunately, there is no standard that defines LED driver connections,
with different manufacturers sometimes varying the characteristics and
connections used for their drivers. In general, an LED driver commonly
includes at least four connectors. %wo connectors are for power input,
whereas the other two are for the LED. If the driver supports !"#, it will
normally include two additional connections. %hese connections are
typically used for a dimming pot or control connection.
Types of Drivers
&urrently, semiconductor companies mar'et a broad line of LED drivers,
which are designed to support a variety of applications. (uch applications
range from automotive )where LEDs are used in interior and e*terior
lighting+ to display )where LEDs provide a bac'lighting capability+. In
addition, different types of drivers are used on the basis of the topology of
the application, where LEDs can be mounted in series or parallel. In spite
of the preceding we can place LED drivers into five general categories,
-. boost or step-up LED drivers,
.. buc' or step-down LED drivers,
/. buc'-boost LED drivers,
0. multitopology drivers, and
1. pump LED drivers.
Step-Down LED Drivers (Buc Converters!
2 step-down or buc' LED driver is a dc-to-dc converter that is used to
lower the provided input voltage to a voltage that supplies an acceptable
constant current to the LED. Depending on the type of step-down driver,
!"# circuitry may be included to support dimming as well as flashing.
&urrently, a step-down LED driver is commonly used for automotive interior
and e*terior lighting, as well as ambient and architectural lighting. %hese
application areas have a voltage source far above that re3uired to operate
one or more LEDs, thus the step-down or buc' LED driver support LEDs
very well in such environments.
(tep-down converter is used for applications where the load voltage is
never more than about 415 of the supply voltage. %he limit of about 415 is
due to switching delays in the control system. In a buc' converter circuit, a
power #O(E% is usually used to switch the supply voltage across an
inductor and LED load connected in series. %he inductor is used to store
energy when the #O(E% is turned on6 this energy is then used to provide
current for the LED when the #O(E% is turned off. 2 diode across the
LED and inductor circuit provides a return path for the current during the
#O(E% off time. 2 simple schematic is shown in igure below.
7uc' converters are an attractive choice for LED drivers in offline and in
low voltage applications as they can produce a constant LED current at
very high efficiencies. 2 pea'-current-controlled buc' converter can give
reasonable LED current variation over a wide range of input and LED
voltages and needs no design effort in feedbac' control design. &oupled
with the fact that these converters can be designed to operate at above
895 efficiencies, the buc'-based driver becomes an attractive solution to
drive high brightness LEDs.
Contro""er IC
%he controller I& to be used in the driver circuit will be the LinkSwitch-PH
developed by !ower Integrations, $(2.
%he Lin'(witch-!: has been developed to cost effectively implement
a single-stage power factor corrected LED driver and primary-side
constant-current control. %he Lin'(witch-!: controller is optimi;ed
for LED driver applications and re3uires minimal e*ternal parts. It
provides control of the output current through the LED load without
the use of an optocoupler.
%he Lin'(witch-!: monolithically integrates the <.1 = power
#O(E% and controller. %he controller consists of an oscillator,
!"#, > = regulator, over-temperature protection, fre3uency ?ittering,
cycle-by-cycle current limit, leading edge blan'ing, and a charge
controller for output && )constant current+ control.
%he Lin'(witch-!: provides a sophisticated range of additional
protection features including auto-restart for control loop open@short
faults and output short-circuit conditions.
%he accurate hysteretic thermal shutdown ensures safe !&7
temperatures under all conditions.
%he non-isolated power factor corrected buc'-boost design presented
in this report shows how Lin'(witch-!: dramatically simplifies off-
line, high-efficiency, power factor corrected LED driver design with
very low parts count and enables a &lass & harmonic currents
compliant implementation of a very high efficiency, high output
voltage design.
E#a$p"e Sc%e$atic
Circuit Description
%he Lin'(witch-!: )$-+ is a highly integrated primary-side controller
intended for use in LED driver applications. %he Lin'(witch-!: provides
high power factor in a single-stage conversion topology while regulating the
output current across the range of input and output voltage conditions
e*pected in a typical LED driver environment. 2ll of the control circuitry
responsible for these functions plus the high-voltage power #O(E% is
incorporated into the device.
&apacitor &-, &., differential cho'es L-, and L., plus common mode
cho'e L0 perform E#I filtering and are si;ed to maintain a high-power
factor. Aesistor A- and A. are used to damp the B of L- and L. to prevent
a resonant pea' in the E#I spectrum.
%he buc'-boost power circuit with floating output is composed of $- )power
switch C control+, output diode D>, output capacitor &1 and &<, and output
inductors %- and %.. Inductor %- has a second winding configured in
flybac' configuration used to provide a bias supply to $-. %wo inductors
were used due to space constraints of the tube. Diode D0 was used to
prevent negative voltage appearing across drain-source of $- near the
;ero-crossing of the input voltage. Diode D- and &/ detect the pea' 2&
line voltage. %he voltage across &/ along with A/ and A0 sets the input
current fed into the =OL%2DE #ONI%OA )=+ pin. %his current is used by
$- to control line undervoltage )$=+, overvoltage )O=+, and feed-forward
current which in con?unction with the EED72&E )7+ pin current provides
a constant current to the LED load.
%he 7 pin current used by $- for output current regulation is provided by
the voltage to current converter networ' formed by A<-A-9, B-, &>, and
D1. Output voltage is related to feedbac' current by the following e3uation,
I
7
F I
A<
F )=
O$%
* A4@)A4CA8+ - =
7E
+@ A<
=oltage across A4 was chosen to eliminate or minimi;e the effect of
temperature and =&E dependence of the =7E voltage of B-.
Note,
%he inal &ircuit will be similar to the above circuit but the components)A, L, &+ values
may differ depending on the actual voltage and current re3uirements of the LED %4
lamp we are going to buy.