LED lighting is a vital component of modern automotive design, providing striking visual contrast, clear visual feedback, and illuminating dark environments. To support the latest applications, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier 1 suppliers in the automotive industry require cost-effective LED drivers that can enable sophisticated and dynamic lighting applications while ensuring easy integration and development.
MLX80142 Specifications:
The six-channel MLX80142 enables precise, high-speed control of two RGB LEDs. The IC allows for a cross-cut PCB design to support simple single-layer PCBs as well as PCB-less overmolded assemblies such as In-Mold Structural Electronics. This approach streamlines integration, allowing for the development of very compact designs with an overall width of only a few millimeters, making the MLX80142 ideal for lighting assemblies with limited space, such as those found in dashboards or door panels.
To ensure reliable operation, the IC features an internal direct-bond bus that guarantees that, within serial-connected configurations, if one IC fails, it will not affect the functionality of the remaining LED drivers. This, along with compliance with the ASIL B out-of-context (SEooC) safety element, allows the IC to be used in vehicle safety lighting as well.
Thanks to its no-code development approach, the MLX80142 simplifies the deployment of sophisticated LED systems. As the first MeLiBu® controller with a state machine-based configuration, it streamlines the development process, minimizing associated costs and effort.
MeLiBu® 2.0
The lighting demands of the automotive industry now far exceed the limitations of CAN and LIN networks, and manufacturers are continually pushing for more high-speed, dynamic RGB LEDs, as well as animated lighting based on scenes and situations that activate under specific circumstances. Melexis MeLiBu® utilizes a CAN-FD physical layer and UART communication to provide high-speed, dynamic lighting applications that surpass the capabilities of conventional automotive LIN and CAN networks.
Building on existing MeLiBu® solutions, MeLiBu® 2.0 expands capabilities by enabling control of more than 3,500 RGB LEDs (10,500 LEDs) throughout the vehicle (interior and exterior) and communication speeds of up to 4 Mbit/s.
The new MLX80142, the first LED driver compatible with MeLiBu® 2.0, supports up to 500 RGB LEDs per MeLiBu® segment, contributing to this increased capacity. This performance allows automotive OEMs to implement more complex animated lighting systems without increasing design complexity or costs.
