Micrel Introduces Small 7W Integrated Boost LED Driver For Portable Applications

Micrel Inc. launched the MIC2298, which is claimed to be the industry’s tiniest and most powerful LED driver for portable applications. The device is a 7W, high-efficiency boost dc-dc converter housed in a tiny 3mm x 3mm MLF® package. The device is targeted at photoflash and torchlight applications in mobile phones, PDAs, and digital cameras.

"Mobile phones and PDAs have dramatically increased the camera resolution they offer consumers," noted Ralf Muenster, Micrel’s Marketing Director for Power Products. "However, even these high resolution cameras continue to perform poorly in low light situations. Micrel’s new MIC2298 LED driver gives designers the ability to enhance their integrated cameras with a powerful high brightness LED flash that consumes only minimal board space and battery life."

The MIC2298 offers a switch current of 3.5A allowing the device to deliver 1A into two high brightness WLEDs connected in series. This enables a powerful flash that is said to improve picture quality, particularly in 2 Mega pixel and higher cameras. The LED brightness can be dynamically controlled by applying a voltage or PWM signal to the brightness pin. The IC operates at a fixed 1MHz switching frequency with greater than 86% efficiency. The high efficiency is claimed to enable longer battery life and, when combined with its extremely small footprint, make Micrel’s MIC2298 the "best solution" for driving high brightness LEDs in advanced mobile phone and PDA applications. The MIC2298 solution requires only a tiny 2.2uH inductor and small ceramic capacitors making the footprint very compact while minimizing solution cost. Additionally, the solution operates from an input voltage range of 2.5 – 10V, consistent with the operating range of single and dual cell Li-Ion batteries.

The MIC2298 is available in volume with pricing starting at $1.65 for 1K quantities.