12-channel automotive 40-V high-side LED driver with FlexWire interface

With increasing demand for animation in automotive lighting, LEDs must be controlled independently. Therefore, LED drivers with digital interfaces are essential to effectively drive pixel-controlled lighting applications. In exterior lighting, multiple lamp functions are typically located on different PCB boards with off-board wires connected to each other. It is difficult for a traditional single-ended interface to meet the strict EMC requirements. By using an industrial-standard CAN physical layer, the UART-based FlexWire interface of the TPS929120-Q1 easily accomplishes long distance off-board communication without impacting EMC.

The TPS929120-Q1 is a 12-channel, 40-V high-side LED driver that controls the 8-bit output current and 12-bit PWM duty cycles. The device meets multiple regulation requirements with LED open-circuit, short-to-ground, and single LED short-circuit diagnostics. A configurable watchdog also automatically sets fail-safe states when the MCU connection is lost, and, with programmable EEPROM, TPS929120-Q1 can flexibly be set for different application scenarios.