Cypress Intelligent Lighting Solutions Support Nichia Power LEDs
Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: CY) today announced its intelligent lighting solutions support the Power LED series from Nichia Corporation. Using Cypress's PSoC Designer™ 5.0 visual design software and the CY3265N-RGB evaluation kit, designers can simply input the selected Power device; select bin specifications through easy-to-use, drop-down menus; and choose a color, including white - without having to write a single line of firmware.
The solution frees lighting designers from having to be experts in LED binning and temperature specifications, allowing them to focus on desired lighting effects and bring intelligent lighting systems to market more quickly and efficiently.
Cypress has integrated the Power LED series specifications and temperature characteristics into the content library of PSoC Designer 5.0 software, which supports Cypress's EZ-Color™ LED controllers. With other LED controllers, engineers must input specific device binning and temperature performance data. Cypress has introduced the CY3265N-RGB evaluation kit enabling designers to begin simplified system design with XLamp LEDs.
"We are pleased to bring the simplified design of our intelligent lighting solutions to Nichia's Power LEDs," said Curt Davis, vice president of Cypress's PowerPSoC™ Business Unit, which includes Intelligent Lighting Solutions. "Nichia has established a leading position in the LED market with innovative products that drive toward large scale adoption of LED lighting, and the savings in design time and costs offered by our solutions fit in well with this mission."
"We expect customers to be delighted by the combination of our LEDs and Cypress's software, controller technology and additional lighting solutions," said Hideki Oguro, deputy general manager of the LED Business Planning Dept. at Nichia. "Enabling code-free design makes it easier than ever before to develop compelling and efficient lighting systems."
Availability:
The CY3265N-RGB evaluation kit provides the firmware to support Power LEDs. The kit comes with a daughter card featuring Power LEDs, and includes a MiniProg, a 5v LCD display, a USB cable, a CD with PSoC Designer 5.0, Gerber files and schematics. The kit is available on the Cypress Online Store at www.cypress.com and from authorized distributors.
About Cypress's Intelligent Lighting Solutions:
LED lighting design requires a complex set of calculations with custom firmware to deliver consistent color. The two biggest problems that LED lighting engineers face are having to account for differing LED performance specifications based on manufacturing bins and the LEDs' degradation (such as output flux, wavelength etc.) over different temperatures. With PSoC Designer 5.0, designers simply select a color from a gamut presented on-screen. Pre-loaded manufacturers' bin specifications and choice of either temperature or optical feedback algorithms are automatically applied to the selected design and programmed into an EZ-Color controller. This can save anywhere from weeks to months of design time for a complex design.
EZ-Color LED controllers can support up to 16 LED strings, compared to four or five strings for competitive devices. The additional strings can mean a savings of dozens or even hundreds of controllers in very large designs, cutting design complexity, power consumption and board space. The EZ-Color LED controllers are powered by Cypress patent pending PrISM™ (Precise Illumination Signal Modulation) technology. The PrISM modulation technology significantly reduces low-frequency flicker and radiated electro-magnetic interference (EMI)-common problems in LED lighting designs. Designers also have the flexibility to add additional functionality to the EZ-Color controllers, including battery charging, motor control, thermal feedback, programmable control gear and other features.
About Nichia:
Nichia Corporation is recognized as the world leader in indium gallium nitride (InGaN) LED and laser diode technology. Nichia was established in Japan in 1956 to manufacture calcium phosphate used in the production of fluorescent lamp phosphors. Since that time, Nichia has grown in the field of manufacturing and sales of fine chemicals, particularly inorganic luminescent materials (phosphors), high brightness LEDs, and, recently, laser diodes. Nichia was formerly known as Nichia Chemical Industry Company, Limited. Nichia has operations throughout the world, including Nichia America Corporation, Detroit Sales Office, based in Wixom, Michigan. Please visit www.nichia.co.jp for more information.
About Cypress:
Cypress delivers high-performance, mixed-signal, programmable solutions that provide customers with rapid time-to-market and exceptional system value. Cypress offerings include the PSoC® programmable system-on-chip, USB controllers, general-purpose programmable clocks and memories. Cypress also offers wired and wireless connectivity technologies ranging from its CyFi™ Low-Power RF solution, to West Bridge® and EZ-USB® FX2LP controllers that enhance connectivity and performance in multimedia handsets. Cypress serves numerous markets including consumer, computation, data communications, automotive, and industrial. Cypress trades on the NYSE under the ticker symbol CY. Visit Cypress online at www.cypress.com.
