ROHM Semiconductor GmbH has announced the development of an LED driver IC series optimized for portable devices of all types, including mobile phones and car audio equipment. Features include built-in display pattern data and automatic illumination control that lightens CPU load.

Two models are offered: the BD2802GU (2.8×2.8×1.0mm) designed to drive 6 LEDs, and the BD2812GU (3.1×3.1×1.0mm) which integrates a boost circuit.

The continuing trend towards greater sophistication in electronic devices has been accompanied by an equally large need for high performance LED illumination. Conventional LED driver ICs normally do not include an illumination control function, making fine current control difficult. Additional problems that often arise are flickering and/or inflexible design. And while LED driver ICs equipped with an illumination function do exist, the variety is often insufficient and the degree of sophistication severely limited. Problems such as the necessity of noise countermeasures when performing highly expressive and complicated LED illumination and the increased load on the CPU required when performing illumination control occur.

In order to meet these demands, ROHM has developed the BD2802GU and BD2812GU driver ICs for driving 6 LED lamps (two RBG LEDs). The units are offered in an ultra-compact WL-CSP (Wafer Level Chip Scale Package) featuring a pitch of 0.5mm for easy mounting in mobile devices. Both types feature 7-bit gradation (128 steps) and integrate a constant current DAC for lower EMI noise and reduced flickering. Integrated display pattern data enables automatic illumination control, eliminating CPU load. The display patterns of each of the 6 LEDs can be set individually, and 7-bit (128-step) resolution results in up to 2,097,000 colors (R:128 steps × G:128 steps × B:128 steps) for smooth, highly expressive LED illumination. By changing the device control address both the BD2802GU and BD2812GU can be configured to drive greater number of lamps for larger scale applications.