Product category:
Power Supply ICs and Controllers
News Release from: Fairchild Semiconductor
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 23 September 2005
Design centre helps car makers meet
regulations
Fairchild Semiconductor's Global Power Resource Design Centre is helping car makers to meet the proposed European daytime headlight safety regulations, using a ballast design based on SEPIC topology.
Fairchild Semiconductor's Global Power Resource Design Centre in Germany recently completed designs enabling automobile manufacturers to meet the proposed European daytime headlight (daytime running light) safety regulations with a new ballast design utilising SEPIC topology This new design is ideal for low voltage DC/DC applications, such as automobile headlights
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 28 Feb 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Fairchild's ballast designs offer a wide range of options, including optimising factors such as EMI and efficiency, and are highly variable in terms of input and output voltage as well as output power.
"Fairchild's Global Power Resource Design Centre in Europe also developed a design, using the SEPIC topology, to drive up to seven LEDs with 30V max output and 350mA constant current as well as up to 36 low-power LEDs with 120V max output with 70mA constant current output", said Ole-Peter Brusdal, Regional Vice President, European Sales and Marketing.
The use of car headlights during the daytime is expected to become mandatory in the European Union under plans being discussed by the European Commission to cut the number of road accidents.
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Today's automobiles increasingly use high brightness LEDs of up to 1W of power.
However, daytime headlights typically require five to seven LEDs to comply with the expected new standard.
Ideally, these LEDs should be connected in a series to ensure identical current and therefore the brightness of each device.
SEPIC topology can transform voltages up as well as down, easily meeting these requirements.
While SEPIC topology is ideal for DC/DC applications, it is also an excellent choice in non-isolated low power AC/DC applications, such as power supplies for industrial controls and white goods.
This topology offers cost-effective solutions, achieving an efficiency of about 80%.
"Fairchild is fortunate to have the calibre of talent in Dr Michael Weirich and his team to develop innovative designs using SEPIC topology in a expansive range of low voltage applications, such as daytime running headlights, DC/DC convertors and off-line AC/DC solutions", continued Brusdal.
The Global Power Resource Design Centre in Fuerstenfeldbruck, is resourced with expertise and equipment targeted to provide comprehensive power design solutions for electronic applications in the principal European end markets - industrial, consumer and automotive.
With significant power design experience, the design and application laboratory is staffed by highly qualified systems, applications and component engineers.
Able to turn around designs in as little as two weeks, the centre provides customers with fully engineered solutions, including evaluation boards; detailed reports including information for bill-of-materials (BOMs, and turnkey designs, including CAD files that can be incorporated into customers' designs; and application notes.
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