IR Unveils New IR2166 One-Chip Ballast Control IC
International Rectifier Corp. (IR, El Segundo, CA) introduced its IR2166 ballast control IC with integral power-factor correction (PFC) for linear fluorescent lighting ballasts. The new one-chip solution replaces a separate ballast control IC, gate driver IC, PFC IC and additional discrete circuitry to cut the ballast cost by up to 30 percent.
The new ballast chip features a patent-pending, critical-conduction-mode, boost PFC control method that maximizes PFC performance by adapting to the mode of the ballast control, producing a total harmonic distortion of less than 10 percent, and a power factor greater than 0.99 at 120V line voltage. The IR2166 incorporates a state machine to control the operating sequence of the ballast, including under-voltage lockout, preheat, ignition, run and fault modes. The chip integrates a programmable preheat time and frequency to heat the filaments to their correct emission temperature, providing as much as 30 times more lamp life and reducing the required ignition voltage. In addition, the universal 80Vac to 260Vac mains input capability simplifies circuits for the global market, minimizing the need for region-specific designs.
The IC further extends lamp and ballast life by providing protection during voltage or current spikes while providing flicker-free high-quality lighting. Such protection features include under-voltage lockout, soft-start, failure to strike, filament failure, over-current, a patent-pending end-of-life protection, lamp re-insert auto-restart as well as dc bus under-voltage reset.
The IR2166 is available in a single 16-pin PDIP or SOIC pacakage. Pricing for the IR2166 is $1.92 each in 10,000-unit quantities. Samples of the IR2166 are now available.
