LED Drivers Expand Control of Automotive Lighting

The automotive industry makes extensive use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in high-beam headlights, brake and position lights, and side and rear direction lights. In an LED driver design, the brightness intensity of the various illuminating devices is not equal; rather, it depends on their specific function. Needless to say, then, that LEDs operate at different brightness levels—for example, at full brightness for braking and from 10% to 25% for the rear lights. LED dimming circuits are used to differentiate the brightness level through a pulse-width-modulation (PWM) driving technique, which modulates the width of the current pulses applied to the LEDs.