In electronics, an LED circuit or LED driver is an electricalcircuit used to power a light-emitting diode (LED). The circuit must provide sufficient current to light the LED at the required brightness, but must limit the current to prevent damaging the LED. The voltage drop across a lit LED is approximately constant over a wide range of operating current; therefore, a small increase in applied voltage greatly increases the current. Datasheets may specify this drop as a "forward voltage" () at a particular operating current. Very simple circuits are used for low-power indicator LEDs. More complex, current source circuits are required when driving high-power LEDs for illumination to achieve correct current regulation.
The simplest circuit to drive an LED is through a series resistor. It is commonly used for indicators and digital displays in many consumer appliances. However, this circuit is not energy-efficient, because energy is dissipated in the resistor as heat.
The LED's depends on its material. Ohm's law and Kirchhoff's circuit laws are used to calculate the appropriate resistor value, by subtracting the LED's from the supply voltage and dividing by the desired operating current. With a sufficiently high supply voltage, multiple LEDs in series can be powered with one resistor.
If the supply voltage is close or equal to the LED's , then no reasonable value for the resistor can be calculated, so some other method of current limiting is used.
Power source considerations
The voltage versus current characteristics of an LED is similar to any diode. Current is approximately an exponential function of voltage according to the Shockley diode equation, and a small voltage change may result in a large change in current. If the voltage is below or equal to the threshold no current flows and the result is an unlit LED. If the voltage is too high, the current will exceed the maximum rating, overheating and potentially destroying the LED.
LED drivers are designed to handle fluctuation load, providing enough current to achieve the required brightness while not allowing damaging levels of current to flow. Drivers may be constant current (CC) or constant voltage (CV). In CC drivers, the voltage changes while the current stays the same. CC drivers are used when the electrical load of the LED circuit is either unknown or fluctuates, for example, a lighting circuit where a variable number of LED lamp fixtures may be installed.
As an LED heats up, its voltage drop decreases (band gap decrease[1]). This can encourage the current to increase.
MOSFET drivers
Household LED light bulb with its internal LED elements and driver circuitry exposed.
An active constant current source is commonly used for high power LEDs, stabilizing light output over a wide range of input voltages which might increase the useful life of batteries. Active constant current is typically regulated using a depletion-modeMOSFET (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor), which is the simplest current limiter.[2]Low drop-out (LDO) constant current regulators also allow the total LED voltage to be a higher fraction of the power supply voltage.
Series resistors are a simple way to stabilize the LED current, but energy is wasted in the resistor.
Miniature indicator LEDs are normally driven from low voltage DC via a current-limiting resistor. Currents of 2mA, 10mA and 20mA are common. Sub-mA indicators may be made by driving ultra-bright LEDs at very low current. Efficiency tends to reduce at low currents,[3] but indicators running on 100μA are still practical.
In coin cell powered keyring-type LED lights, the resistance of the cell itself is usually the only current limiting device.
LEDs with built-in series resistors are available. These may save printed circuit board space, and are especially useful when building prototypes or populating a PCB in a way other than its designers intended. However, the resistor value is set at the time of manufacture, removing one of the key methods of setting the LED's intensity.
The value for the series resistance may be obtained from Ohm's law, considering that the supply voltage is offset by the diode's , which varies little over the range of useful currents:
or
where:
is resistance in ohms, typically rounded up to the next higher resistor value.
is the power supply voltage in volts, e.g. 9-volt battery.
is the LED's forward voltage drop in volts when lit. and the LED's light frequency (which we perceive as color) increase with the band gap of the LED's materials. Consequently, ranges from around 1.7 to 2.0 volts for red LEDs to around 2.8 to 4.0 volts for violet LEDs.
is the voltage drop across the switch in volts: (A) for no switch, use 0 volts, (B) for mechanical switch, use 0 volts, (C) for BJT transistor, use collector-emitter saturation voltage from the transistor datasheet.
is the desired current of the LED in amps. The maximum continuous-on current is shown on LED datasheets, for example 20mA (0.020A) is common for most small LEDs. Many circuits operate LEDs at less than the specified maximum current to save power, or to reduce brightness, or to use a common resistor value. For indoor use, tiny surface mount high-efficiency LEDs can easily light up with 1mA (0.001A) or more current, which most digital logic outputs can easily source or sink.
Using the algebraic formula (above) and assuming is 0 (to simplify examples), the resistance is calculated as follows:
Example 1 with of 9V, = 1.8V, = 5mA:
= (9V - 1.8V) / 5mA = (9 - 1.8) / 0.005 = 1440 ohms, then round up to a 1.5K ohm resistor (per common resistor values).
Example 2 with of 5V, = 1.8V, = 1K ohm:
= (5V - 1.8V) / 1K ohm = (5 - 1.8) / 1000 = 0.0032, which is 3.2mA
LED arrays
Schematic of LEDs in series
Schematic of LEDs in parallel
Strings of multiple LEDs are normally connected in series. In one configuration, the source voltage must be greater than or equal to the sum of the individual LED voltages; typically the LED voltages add up to around two-thirds of the supply voltage. A single current-limiting resistor may be used for each string.
Parallel operation is also possible but can be more problematic. Parallel LEDs must have closely matched in order to have similar branch currents and, therefore, similar light output. Variations in the manufacturing process can make it difficult to obtain satisfactory operation when connecting some types of LEDs in parallel.[4]
LEDs are often arranged in ways such that each LED (or each string of LEDs) can be individually turned on and off.
Direct drive is the simplest-to-understand approach—it uses many independent single-LED (or single-string) circuits. For example, a person could design a digital clock such that when the clock displays "12:34" on a seven-segment display, the clock would turn on the appropriate segments directly and leave them on until something else needs to be displayed.
However, multiplexed display techniques are more often used than direct drive, because they have lower net hardware costs. For example, most people who design digital clocks design them such that when the clock displays "12:34" on a seven-segment display, at any one instant the clock turns on the appropriate segments of one of the digits—all the other digits are dark. The clock scans through the digits rapidly enough that it gives the illusion that it is "constantly" displaying "12:34" for an entire minute. However, each "on" segment is actually being rapidly pulsed on and off many times a second.
An extension of this technique is Charlieplexing where the ability of some microcontrollers to tri-state their output pins means larger numbers of LEDs can be driven, without using latches. For N pins, it is possible to drive n2-n LEDs.
The use of integrated circuit technology to drive LEDs dates back to the late 1960s. In 1969, Hewlett-Packard introduced the HP Model 5082-7000 Numeric Indicator, an early LED display and the first LED device to use integrated circuit technology. Its development was led by Howard C. Borden and Gerald P. Pighini at HP Associates and HP Labs, who had engaged in research and development (R&D) on practical LEDs between 1962 and 1968.[5] It was the first intelligent LED display, making it a revolution in digital display technology, replacing the Nixie tube and becoming the basis for later LED displays.[6]
Polarity
Unlike incandescent light bulbs, which illuminate regardless of the electrical polarity, LEDs will only light with the correct electrical polarity. When the voltage across the p-n junction is in the correct direction, a significant current flows and the device is said to be forward-biased. If the voltage is of the wrong polarity, the device is said to be reverse biased, very little current flows, and no light is emitted. LEDs can be operated with alternating current, but they will only light on the half of the AC cycle where the LED is forward-biased. This causes the LED to turn on and off at the frequency of the AC supply.
Most LEDs have relatively low reverse breakdown voltage ratings compared to standard diodes, so it may be easier than expected to enter this mode and cause damage to the LED due to overcurrent. However, the cut-in voltage is always less than the breakdown voltage, so no special reverse protections are necessary when driving an LED directly from an AC supply when properly current-limited for forward-biased operation.
The manufacturer will normally advise how to determine the polarity of the LED in the product datasheet. However, there is no standardization of polarity markings for surface mount devices.[7][8]
Pulsed operation
Many systems pulse LEDs on and off, by applying power periodically or intermittently. So long as the flicker rate is greater than the human flicker fusion threshold, and the LED is stationary relative to the eye, the LED will appear to be continuously lit. Varying the on/off ratio of the pulses is known as pulse-width modulation (PWM). In some cases, PWM-based drivers are more efficient than constant current or constant voltage drivers.[3][9]
Most LED data sheets specify a maximum DC current that is safe for continuous operation. Often they specify some higher maximum pulsed current that is safe for brief pulses, as long as the LED controller keeps the pulse short enough and then turns off the power to the LED long enough for the LED to cool off.
In addition to emission, an LED can be used as a photodiode in light detection. This capability may be used in a variety of applications including ambient light detection and bidirectional communications.[10][11][12]
As a photodiode, an LED is sensitive to wavelengths equal to or shorter than the predominant wavelength it emits. For example, a green LED is sensitive to blue light and some green light, but not to yellow or red light.
This implementation of LEDs may be added to designs with only minor modifications in circuitry.[10] An LED can be multiplexed in such a circuit, such that it can be used for both light emission and sensing at different times.[10][12]
A multivibrator is an electronic circuit used to implement a variety of simple two-state devices such as relaxation oscillators, timers, latches and flip-flops. The first multivibrator circuit, the astable multivibrator oscillator, was invented by Henri Abraham and Eugene Bloch during World War I. It consisted of two vacuum tube amplifiers cross-coupled by a resistor-capacitor network. They called their circuit a "multivibrator" because its output waveform was rich in harmonics. A variety of active devices can be used to implement multivibrators that produce similar harmonic-rich wave forms; these include transistors, neon lamps, tunnel diodes and others. Although cross-coupled devices are a common form, single-element multivibrator oscillators are also common.
A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical resistance as a circuit element. In electronic circuits, resistors are used to reduce current flow, adjust signal levels, to divide voltages, bias active elements, and terminate transmission lines, among other uses. High-power resistors that can dissipate many watts of electrical power as heat may be used as part of motor controls, in power distribution systems, or as test loads for generators. Fixed resistors have resistances that only change slightly with temperature, time or operating voltage. Variable resistors can be used to adjust circuit elements, or as sensing devices for heat, light, humidity, force, or chemical activity.
In electronics, a comparator is a device that compares two voltages or currents and outputs a digital signal indicating which is larger. It has two analog input terminals and and one binary digital output . The output is ideally
A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC), which periodically reverses direction, to direct current (DC), which flows in only one direction.
The electrical resistance of an object is a measure of its opposition to the flow of electric current. Its reciprocal quantity is electrical conductance, measuring the ease with which an electric current passes. Electrical resistance shares some conceptual parallels with mechanical friction. The SI unit of electrical resistance is the ohm, while electrical conductance is measured in siemens (S).
Pulse-width modulation (PWM), also known as pulse-duration modulation (PDM) or pulse-length modulation (PLM), is any method of representing a signal as a rectangular wave with a varying duty cycle.
In electronics, a relaxation oscillator is a nonlinear electronic oscillator circuit that produces a nonsinusoidal repetitive output signal, such as a triangle wave or square wave. The circuit consists of a feedback loop containing a switching device such as a transistor, comparator, relay, op amp, or a negative resistance device like a tunnel diode, that repetitively charges a capacitor or inductor through a resistance until it reaches a threshold level, then discharges it again. The period of the oscillator depends on the time constant of the capacitor or inductor circuit. The active device switches abruptly between charging and discharging modes, and thus produces a discontinuously changing repetitive waveform. This contrasts with the other type of electronic oscillator, the harmonic or linear oscillator, which uses an amplifier with feedback to excite resonant oscillations in a resonator, producing a sine wave.
In electronics, a linear regulator is a voltage regulator used to maintain a steady voltage. The resistance of the regulator varies in accordance with both the input voltage and the load, resulting in a constant voltage output. The regulating circuit varies its resistance, continuously adjusting a voltage divider network to maintain a constant output voltage and continually dissipating the difference between the input and regulated voltages as waste heat. By contrast, a switching regulator uses an active device that switches on and off to maintain an average value of output. Because the regulated voltage of a linear regulator must always be lower than input voltage, efficiency is limited and the input voltage must be high enough to always allow the active device to reduce the voltage by some amount.
Two-terminal components and electrical networks can be connected in series or parallel. The resulting electrical network will have two terminals, and itself can participate in a series or parallel topology. Whether a two-terminal "object" is an electrical component or an electrical network is a matter of perspective. This article will use "component" to refer to a two-terminal "object" that participates in the series/parallel networks.
The 555 timer IC is an integrated circuit used in a variety of timer, delay, pulse generation, and oscillator applications. It is one of the most popular timing ICs due to its flexibility and price. Derivatives provide two or four timing circuits in one package. The design was first marketed in 1972 by Signetics and used bipolar junction transistors. Since then, numerous companies have made the original timers and later similar low-power CMOS timers. In 2017, it was said that over a billion 555 timers are produced annually by some estimates, and that the design was "probably the most popular integrated circuit ever made".
A current source is an electronic circuit that delivers or absorbs an electric current which is independent of the voltage across it.
A shunt is a device that is designed to provide a low-resistance path for an electrical current in a circuit. It is typically used to divert current away from a system or component in order to prevent overcurrent. Electrical shunts are commonly used in a variety of applications including power distribution systems, electrical measurement systems, automotive and marine applications.
An electronic component is any basic discrete electronic device or physical entity part of an electronic system used to affect electrons or their associated fields. Electronic components are mostly industrial products, available in a singular form and are not to be confused with electrical elements, which are conceptual abstractions representing idealized electronic components and elements. A datasheet for an electronic component is a technical document that provides detailed information about the component's specifications, characteristics, and performance. Discrete circuits are made of individual electronic components that only perform one function each as packaged, which are known as discrete components, although strictly the term discrete component refers to such a component with semiconductor material such as individual transistors.
In electronics, voltage drop is the decrease of electric potential along the path of a current flowing in a circuit. Voltage drops in the internal resistance of the source, across conductors, across contacts, and across connectors are undesirable because some of the energy supplied is dissipated. The voltage drop across the load is proportional to the power available to be converted in that load to some other useful form of energy.
An avalanche transistor is a bipolar junction transistor designed for operation in the region of its collector-current/collector-to-emitter voltage characteristics beyond the collector-to-emitter breakdown voltage, called avalanche breakdown region. This region is characterized by avalanche breakdown, which is a phenomenon similar to Townsend discharge for gases, and negative differential resistance. Operation in the avalanche breakdown region is called avalanche-mode operation: it gives avalanche transistors the ability to switch very high currents with less than a nanosecond rise and fall times. Transistors not specifically designed for the purpose can have reasonably consistent avalanche properties; for example 82% of samples of the 15V high-speed switch 2N2369, manufactured over a 12-year period, were capable of generating avalanche breakdown pulses with rise time of 350 ps or less, using a 90V power supply as Jim Williams writes.
A buck converter or step-down converter is a DC-to-DC converter which decreases voltage, while increasing current, from its input (supply) to its output (load). It is a class of switched-mode power supply. Switching converters provide much greater power efficiency as DC-to-DC converters than linear regulators, which are simpler circuits that dissipate power as heat, but do not step up output current. The efficiency of buck converters can be very high, often over 90%, making them useful for tasks such as converting a computer's main supply voltage, which is usually 12V, down to lower voltages needed by USB, DRAM and the CPU, which are usually 5, 3.3 or 1.8V.
A switched capacitor (SC) is an electronic circuit that implements a function by moving charges into and out of capacitors when electronic switches are opened and closed. Usually, non-overlapping clock signals are used to control the switches, so that not all switches are closed simultaneously. Filters implemented with these elements are termed switched-capacitor filters, which depend only on the ratios between capacitances and the switching frequency, and not on precise resistors. This makes them much more suitable for use within integrated circuits, where accurately specified resistors and capacitors are not economical to construct, but accurate clocks and accurate relative ratios of capacitances are economical.
A flyback diode is any diode connected across an inductor used to eliminate flyback, which is the sudden voltage spike seen across an inductive load when its supply current is suddenly reduced or interrupted. It is used in circuits in which inductive loads are controlled by switches, and in switching power supplies and inverters.
A joule thief is a minimalist self-oscillating voltage booster that is small, low-cost, and easy to build, typically used for driving small loads, such as driving an LED using a 1.5 volt battery. It can use nearly all of the energy in a single-cell electric battery, even far below the voltage where other circuits consider the battery fully discharged ; hence the name, which suggests the notion that the circuit is "stealing" energy or "joules" from the source – the term is a pun on "jewel thief".
A capacitive power supply or capacitive dropper is a type of power supply that uses the capacitive reactance of a capacitor to reduce higher AC mains voltage to a lower DC voltage.
References
↑ Van Zeghbroeck, Bart J. (1997). "2.2.5". 2.2.5 Temperature dependence of the energy bandgap. Ece-www.colorado.edu. Archived from the original on 2009-02-01. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
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