DLPS071A October 2015 – February 2023 DLPA3005
PRODUCTION DATA
High switching currents run through the wiring connecting the external RGB switches and the LEDs. Therefore special attention needs to be paid here. Two perspectives apply to the LED-to-RGB switches wiring:
The location of the parasitic series impedances is depicted in Figure 10-3.
Currents up to 16 A can run through the wires connecting the LEDs to the RGB switches. Some noticeable dissipation can be caused. Every 10 mΩ of series resistances implies for 16 A average LED current a parasitic power dissipation of 2.5 W. This might cause PCB heating, but more important overall system efficiency is deteriorated.
Additionally the resistance of the wiring might impact the control dynamics of the LED current. It should be noted that the routing resistance is part of the LED current control loop. The LED current is controlled by VLED. For a small change in VLED (ΔVLED) the resulting LED current variation (ΔILED) is given by the total differential resistance in that path, as:
where
In this expression Lseries is ignored since realistic values are usually sufficiently low to cause any noticeable impact on the dynamics.
All the comprising differential resistances are in the range of 12.5 mΩ to several 100’s mΩ. Without paying special attention a series resistance of 100 mΩ can easily be obtained. It is advised to keep this series resistance sufficiently low, that is, <10 mΩ.
The series inductance plays an important role when considering the switched nature of the LED current. While cycling through R,G and B LEDs, the current through these branches is turned-on and turned-off in short time duration. Specifically turning off is fast. A current of 16 A goes to 0 A in a matter of 50 ns. This implies a voltage spike of about 1 V for every 5 nH of parasitic inductance. It is recommended to minimize the series inductance of the LED wiring by:
If the inductance cannot be made sufficiently low, a Zener diode needs to be used to clamp the drain voltage of the RGB switch such it does not surpass the absolute maximum rating. The clamping voltage need to be chosen between the maximum expected VLED and the absolute maximum rating. Take care of sufficient margin of the clamping voltage relative to the mentioned minimum and maximum voltage.