New Allegro LED Drivers Bring High-End Lighting Technology to Mainstream Vehicles, Enhancing Automotive Safety

Allegro MicroSystems has expanded its automotive lighting portfolio to include two new offerings for advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) applications. A unique solution in the market, the A80803 leverages multi-topology conversion and patented IP to enable smooth high/low/high beam transitions in a single integrated circuit (IC). The A80804 linear LED driver provides high power for automotive lighting applications through multiple, independently-configurable channels. Both products help designers reduce the number of ICs required to create safety-enhanced automotive lighting systems, enabling higher performance and more compact designs at lower system cost.

The A80803 is a switch-mode, constant-current controller for high-power LED automotive lighting applications that addresses many common pain points for headlight designers, with innovative features that make it easier for headlight designers to bring advanced functionality to mainstream vehicles. The multi-topology single-ended controller design, combined with wide input/output voltage capability, provides a universal solution for a wide variety of use cases and/or number of LEDs. Options for SPI-based control or EEPROM-based end-of-line programming for standalone operation further extend the range of possibilities.

The A80804 is Allegro’s first four-channel linear driver for high-power LEDs. In addition to targeted applications such as DRL/position and stop/tail lights, it gives lighting designers increased design flexibility for popular features such as sequential turn signals, animation effects, and theater-style transitions. No switching elements or inductors are required, and the A80804’s low EMI output helps it achieve CISPR25 Class 5 compliance. It also offers multiple analog and PWM dimming methods, dual brightness mode operation, and is configurable without the need for a microcontroller (more info).