National Semiconductor Introduces Industry's First 2A, Single Inductor, RGB LED Driver for Portable Projectors

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- National Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: NSM) today introduced the industry's first 2A red, green and blue (RGB) LED driver for portable projectors that drives three common anode RGB high-brightness LEDs sequentially with a single inductor.  The highly-integrated LM3435 includes an I2C control interface for LED current control.

A basic portable or pocket projector LED design today includes a separate driver for each red, green and blue LED and each circuit requires an inductor.  The design is bulky and costly, consisting of multiple components to accurately drive the LEDs.  The growing popularity of pocket projectors, often smaller than a common two and a half inch portable hard drive, poses increased space constraints.  A single LM3435 LED driver from National solves the problem by driving three RGB LEDs sequentially, powering one after another at 60 Hz and above to match the operation requirements of the latest liquid crystal on silicone (LCoS) or digital light processing (DLP) image devices.  The much simpler, compact design requires just a single inductor and a few passive components alongside the driver.

National's LM3435 LED driver joins National's family of high-brightness projector drivers that include the LM3433 and LM3434 with high frequency dimming and LM3549 0.7A sequential-mode LED driver.

National will demonstrate the LM3435 in its booth A43 in Hall 8.1 at the Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition in Guangzhou, China, June 9-12.

Technical Features of National's LM3435 LED Driver

National's LM3435 RGB LED driver is a highly-integrated, compact switching-mode constant current regulator that drives three LEDs in sequential-mode with a single inductor.  The LM3435 integrates all active components, including an N-Channel main MOSFET, P-Channel synchronous MOSFET and three N-Channel pass switches for individual LED control.  It accepts input voltage from 2.7V to 5.5V to drive constant current pulses to each red, green and blue high-brightness LED sequentially.  The level of current pulses is individually programmed linearly for 1023 steps through an I2C interface.  The maximum level of the current pulse can be set by three external current setting resistors to ground from 0.5A to 2.0A respectively.  The non-isolated flyback converter with synchronous rectification ensures buck-boost operation at high efficiency.

Pricing and Availability

Samples are available now with production quantities available in July.  The LM3435 RGB LED driver is offered in a 40-pin thermally enhanced LLP package and priced at $4.50 each in quantities of 1,000.  More information is available at http://www.national.com/mpf/LM/LM3435.html.

About National Semiconductor

National Semiconductor is a leader in power management technology. Known for its easy-to-use analog integrated circuits and world-class supply chain, National's high-performance analog products enable its customers' systems to be more energy efficient. Headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., National reported sales of $1.42 billion for fiscal 2010. Additional information is available at www.national.com.

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SOURCE National Semiconductor Corp.