Catalyst Semi Adds To I/O Bus Expander Product Line With New 16-bit I²C LED Dimmer

Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. has expanded its line of bus products with the CAT9532, a 16-bit LED driver with dimmer and blinker control functions, which can also be used as a general purpose I/O expander.

A drop-in replacement for the PCA9532, the CAT9532 can drive 16 LEDs directly in parallel and provides LED dimming in 256 brightness steps for backlighting and RGB color mixing. The device can also turn each LED ON, OFF or blinking at one of two programmable rates for sensor control, power-switch, push-button and status indicator light applications with I²C or SMBus interfaces.

Packaged in 24-lead SOIC, TSSOP and 24-pad TQFN (4 x 4mm), the CAT9532 LED driver/blinkers are priced at $0.75 each in 10,000 piece quantities. Projected lead-time for production quantities is currently 6 to 8 weeks ARO.