National Semiconductor Corp. (Santa Clara, CA) is announcing a new family of light-emitting diode (LED) integrated circuit drivers specifically designed for sharper colors and superior brightness in lighting systems for portable handheld devices such as cell phones, smart phones, global positioning systems (GPS) and personal digital assistants (PDA), the company reports. The LED products are also suitable for portable games, toys, MP3 players and other devices. The LED drivers require minimal software programming.

The LP3950 chip offers an audio synchronization feature, which allows the color LEDs on the phone or MP3 player to blink and change color in time with the device's music or ring tones. The LP3950 synchronizes the LEDs based on the music's amplitude or frequency response. Two RGB LED outputs can drive up to 300mA of output current for color LEDs or for camera flash LED, and an integrated boost converter powers the LEDs. The product is offered in 32-pin thin CSP package (5.5 mm by 4.5 mm).

The LP3942 is a color LED driver with a charge pump and an SPI interface. The driver has 16 colors with eight brightness values. Two separately programmed outputs can either drive one or more RGB LEDs in parallel.

LP3931 is a color LED driver with magnetic boost converter and SPI interface. This chip enables OEM customers to create systems that can control the color, keypad and camera flash with a single chip, while using the existing standard white LED drive for backlighting. Each output port can be controlled separately with programmable start and stop time, slope and brightness.

Contact: www.national.com.