Advanced Analogic Technologies, Inc., a developer of power management integrated circuits, announced yesterday a new set of flash and backlight White LED (WLED) drivers for the highly competitive feature phone market. Offering new efficiencies in power usage in highly compact packages, the AAT3176 flash driver and the AAT3351 white LED driver promise to help handset designers extend battery life and reduce product footprint.

Reduced PCB requirements
Operating from a 2.7V to 5.5V input voltage, the AAT3176 flash driver IC supplies up to 500 mA output current. The dual mode charge pump maximizes power efficiency by supporting both 1X and 2X operation and can be programmed across 16 distinct steps via AnalogicTech's patented S(2)Cwire(TM) (Simple Serial Control) interface. Coming in the industry's smallest package for a 500 mA flash driver IC - 20% smaller than comparable devices - the AAT3176 allows designers to build highly compact camera lighting solutions.

To maximize design flexibility and minimize programming time, the AAT3176 uses separate external resistors to set maximum flash and movie-mode current. To protect the integrity of the device, the driver features a thermal management system that includes open- and short-circuit protection and automatic soft-start circuitry. A load disconnect feature extends battery life by disconnecting the load during shutdown and reducing quiescent current to less than 1.0 uA.

High Efficiency LED Driver
The AAT3351 is a high efficiency charge pump capable of driving up to 4 White LEDs at up to 30 mA each. The dual-mode fractional charge pump automatically switches between 1X and 1.5X modes based on input voltage, LED forward voltage and load current to maximize efficiency. A 1 MHz switching frequency helps minimize external component size.

To smooth transitions between brightness levels, the device uses AnalogicTech's S(2)Cwire(TM) serial digital interface to enable, disable and set current to any of 32 levels. LED current output accuracy is +/-10% and LED current matching is 3%. The AAT3351 also adds automatic soft-start circuitry and built-in short-circuit protection.

Price and Availability
Both ICs are qualified across the -40 degrees C to +85 degrees C temperature range. The AAT3176 is available in a compact 2.2 x 2.2-mm, 10-pin TDFN package and sells for $0.66. The AAT3351 comes in either a 14-pin TSOPJW or 12-pin TDFN33 package and sells for $0.48 in 1K quantities.

About AnalogicTech
Advanced Analogic Technologies, Inc. (AnalogicTech) is a supplier of Total Power Management(TM) semiconductor solutions for a variety of consumer, communications, and computing systems. The company focuses its design and marketing efforts on the application-specific power management needs of such devices as mobile handsets, smart phones, digital cameras, netbooks / notebooks, personal navigation systems, and wireless LANs. AnalogicTech also develops and licenses device, process, package, and application-related technologies. For more information, please visit www.analogictech.com.