Halogen control chip overcomes reliability, performance issues
As halogen lighting remains the light choice where light quality or precise light focusing is required, the need to continuously improve on efficiency and reliability has been challenging. In particular, attention has focused on the electronic transformer at the heart of halogen lamps, which frequently becomes damaged due to overload and short-circuit fault conditions, and which also must be able to dim the lamps smoothly and continuously using a standard phase-cutting triac wall dimmer.

Fairchild Semiconductor’s High Power Bipolar Junction Transistors Deliver High Efficiency for Electronic Ballast, Power Supply and Industrial Designs
Fairchild Semiconductor’s 3A and 5A bipolar junction transistors (BJT) contribute to energy-savings in electronic ballast, power supply and industrial designs due to their ultra-fast switching speeds and low saturation voltage. The FJD5555’s saturation voltage is as low as 0.5V and the FJD5553 is as low as 0.23V which is 50 percent lower than industry alternatives. 

STMicroelectronics Announces System-Friendly Ambient Light and Color Sensing Solutions for Lighting Control and Optical Feedback
STMicroelectronics has announced its first highly-integrated light and color-sensing IC intended for a wide range of optical feedback and sensing applications, including mobile phones, notebook PCs, and LCD TVs. The new VM6101 is the first product in the market to offer both color and ambient light sensing, with an embedded system interface that needs no external components – a cost-saving feature for manufacturers. The VM6101 is ideal for automatic LCD backlight control (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (CCFL) or white LED).

ON Semiconductor’s New Constant Current Switching Regulators Efficiently Drive High Brightness LEDs Used in Low Voltage and Automotive Lighting
ON Semiconductor a global leader in power semiconductor solutions, has introduced the NCP3065 switching regulator designed to efficiently drive high brightness LEDs (HB-LED) typically used in, low voltage lighting, landscape path and solar lighting, Halogen bulb replacements, and automotive and marine lighting. Several reference designs are available that drive the industry's latest HB-LEDs in various buck, boost and SEPIC applications.

National Semiconductor Announces Highly Integrated, High-Brightness LED Drivers with Wide Input Voltage Range for Industrial and General Illumination Applications
National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:NSM) today added two new light-emitting diode (LED) drivers to its PowerWise® energy-efficient product family.  National’s LM3401 and LM3405A LED drivers power 1W to 5W, high-brightness LEDs found in industrial and automotive applications as well as general illumination applications such as solid state and signage.  Each offers a wide input voltage range and provides a constant current to regulate the LED brightness and low feedback voltage to minimize power dissipation.

National Semiconductor’s LED WEBENCH Tool Helps Engineers Select From Hundreds of High Brightness LEDs and Design Power Supplies in Minutes
National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:NSM) today introduced its light-emitting diode (LED) WEBENCH® online design environment that helps engineers select from and design with more than 200 high-brightness LEDs in minutes.  Products from Avago Technologies, Cree, Lite-On, Nichia, OSRAM and Philips Lumileds are compared across multiple parameters, including light output, color, footprint, viewing angle, current and power rating.  A unique ‘Build It!’ feature ships a custom prototype kit to the engineer within 24 hours.

TI DELIVERS SMALLEST LINEAR LED DRIVER FOR PORTABLE ELECTRONICS
Texas Instruments Incorporated has introduced the smallest two-bank, low dropout (LDO) regulator to support light emitting diode (LED) lighting in portable applications, such as mobile phones, navigation systems, MP3 and media players. The device enables quality color backlighting from a tiny 1.2 mm x 1.2 mm package, allowing end-users to experience blinking and dimming of color keypads and navigation pad lights.

Fairchild Semiconductor Introduces Most Highly Integrated "System-In-A-Package" Ballast IC for Compact Fluorescent Lamps
Fairchild Semiconductor (NYSE: FCS) introduces the FAN7710, the most highly integrated ballast IC on the market specifically developed for compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) designs. Offering a "system-in-a-package" approach, the FAN7710 optimizes performance while simplifying design and overcoming the space limitations of CFL lighting applications.

Avago Technologies Adds New Ambient Light Sensor with Logarithmic Output to Product Family
Avago Technologies today announced a new ambient light sensor with a precise, logarithmic output response over a wide range of lighting conditions. The company is a leading supplier of analog interface components for communications, industrial and consumer applications. The APDS-9007 is the newest addition to Avago’s ambient light sensor product family.

Vishay’s New SMD Blue LEDs Feature High Luminous Intensity of 45 mcd to 112 mcd and 2 kV ESD-Withstand Voltage
Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. today released a new series of sapphire-based, high-intensity blue SMD LEDs that offer highly efficient InGaN technology at a lower cost than standard InGaN blue LEDs.

Cypress Revolutionizes High-Brightness LED Intelligent Lighting Designs With New EZ-Color™ Controller Family
Cypress Semiconductor Corp. has introduced a complete design solution for high-brightness (HB) LED intelligent lighting systems that offers unprecedented ease-of-use and performance. Cypress's new EZ-Color™ family of HB LED controllers is supported by PSoC Express™, the industry's first embedded visual design tool.

Lighting Applications to Benefit from High-Efficiency Power MOSFET from STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), one of the world’s leading power semiconductor manufacturers, has introduced the first member of a new power MOSFET family. The new family allows customers to drastically reduce conduction losses and increase efficiency and reliability of their lighting applications by achieving very low ON-resistance and excellent dynamic and avalanche characteristics.

STMicroelectronics Introduces First Auto-Shutdown LED Driver to Address Energy-Saving Programs
STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a leader in ICs for driving high-brightness (HB) LEDs has introduced the first LED driver to include auto-power-saving features. The STP16CPS05, an innovative member of ST’s Power Logic family, allows manufacturers to meet the high power-efficiency requirements of industrial lighting, signage and transport applications by guaranteeing savings of 80% compared to existing solutions.

IR’s Fully-Integrated, Protected High-Voltage IC with PFC Simplifies Multi-Lamp Circuits for Advanced Fluorescent Linear Ballasts
International Rectifier, IR® (NYSE: IRF), a world leader in power management technology, today introduced the IRS2168D fully-integrated and protected high-voltage integrated circuit (HVIC) for advanced electronic linear fluorescent lamp ballasts which incorporate active power factor correction (PFC).

Avago Technologies Announces New Series of High-Brightness LEDs for Portable Outdoor Electronic Signs and Signal Applications
Avago Technologies today announced a new series of low-power high-performance extra-bright round through-hole light emitting diodes (LEDs) for portable and solar-powered outdoor electronic signs and signal applications. Available in Red, Amber and Red-Orange colors, Avago’s new HLMP-Exxx series of 5 mm aluminum indium gallium phosphide (AllnGaP) LEDs are highly reliable and provide high luminous intensity with low forward voltage to meet the needs of designers who need a low-power lighting solution. Avago is a leading supplier of innovative semiconductor solutions for advanced communications, industrial and commercial applications.

IR’s New Protected 600V Lighting IC with PFC Extends Flexibility and Programmability of Advanced Ballast Designs
International Rectifier, IR® (NYSE: IRF), a world leader in power management technology, today introduced a 600V fully-integrated and protected ballast control IC for advanced linear fluorescent lamp ballasts which incorporate active power factor correction (PFC). "Today’s advanced linear fluorescent ballasts rely on PFC to comply with government regulations. Our new highly-integrated and fully-protected IRS2166D ballast control IC offers designers much of what they need in a small footprint simplifying their design tasks while delivering a high degree of programmability,” said Stephane Ernoux, product marketing manager for IR’s lighting products.

Fairchild Semiconductor’s CRM PFC Controller ICs Feature Industry-Leading THD Performance, Low Standby Power to Meet PFC/Energy Regulations
Fairchild Semiconductor introduces critical conduction mode (CRM) power factor correction (PFC) controller ICs specially designed to meet stringent stand-by power and harmonic regulations affecting ballast, notebook adaptors, LCD TVs and LCD monitors. The FAN7529 and FAN7530 utilize a patent-pending variable on-time control method to achieve industry-leading Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) performance (

First High-Efficiency, High-Power, Fast-Transient-Response LED Driver Controller for Projection and Lighting Applications
Maxim Integrated Products (NASDAQ: MXIM) has introduced the MAX16818 high-efficiency LED-driver controller for projection and lighting applications, that utilize the next-generation of high-power light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The MAX16818 is the first LED-driver controller that enables Maxim's patent-pending technology for rapid LED-current transients of up to 20A/µs and 30kHz dimming frequency.

International Rectifier Announces Phase Control Loop Ballast ICs to Achieve Transformer-Less Dimming
International Rectifier, IR® (NYSE: IRF), a world leader in power management technology has announced the 600V IR21592 and IR21593 dimming ballast ICs, each featuring a phase control loop and half-bridge driver for fluorescent lamps. IR's new devices include the most comprehensive set of protection features including dimming ignition detection as well as brown-out and over-temperature protection. In addition, a micro-controllable interface is included.

TOSHIBA COMMERCIALIZES HIGH LUMINOUS FLUX WHITE LIGHT LEDS FOR ALTERNATIVE LIGHTING SOLUTION
Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC)*, and its parent Toshiba Corp. (Toshiba), has announced a new generation of white light emitting diodes (LEDs) that achieves the industry's highest level of luminous flux for lighting used in either the home or office, decorative interior lighting in stores and LCD backlighting.

National Semiconductor’s New Lighting Management Units Drive up to 20 Series-Connected LEDs in Cell Phones, Other Handheld Devices
National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:NSM) has introduced two new, highly integrated lighting management units (LMUs) that include a high-voltage boost converter and programmable constant-current driver to control up to 20 series-connected LEDs in display backlights, and keypad, RGB and camera flash LEDs. The LP3958 and LP5526 LMUs feature tiny micro SMD packages and are well-suited for cell phones and other handheld devices.

Atmel and IXYS Release New Light Ballast Demo Kits
Atmel® Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML), a global leader in the development and fabrication of advanced semiconductor solutions has announced the release of dimmable and non-dimmable demo kits for light ballast applications. These new kits are the result of a cooperation between Atmel and IXYS Corporation to develop design tools and speed up the implementation of ballast solutions for the lighting market. They feature Atmel's AVR® and 8051 microcontrollers and IXYS's broad range of mixed signal and power management products.

AnalogicTech Announces High Power DC/DC Boost Converter for Space-constrained Applications
Advanced Analogic Technologies Incorporated (AnalogicTech) (Nasdaq: AATI), a developer of power management semiconductors for mobile consumer electronic devices has announced the AAT1210, a high power, high current step-up converter for thin, small-footprint portable applications. Supplying up to 4.5W of power, this new converter is the first to take a single-cell Lithium-ion battery voltage and boost it to a 5V/900 mA output in a total solution less than 1 mm in height.