Device drives most LEDs in the industry claims austriamicrosystems

The AS1119 is said to drive 144 LEDs and requires 9mm^² pcb space. It is designed to reduce external component count, reduce connector pin count and requires fewer pcb layers. Applications include dot matrix displays in mobile phones and personal electronics. According to austriamicrosystems, the device drives the most LEDs in the industry, each with an 8bit dimming control and no external resistor required. An 8bit analogue current control is designed to allow fine tuning of each matrix to compensate for different brightness of different colours, or to adjust the white balance on rgb LEDs. The AS1119 incorporates six frames of memory for small animations or for use as a buffer to reduce host processor load. It is also said to extend battery life by including an onchip 320mA charge pump which is required when LEDs require a higher voltage than the battery can supply, allowing continuous operation even under low battery voltage conditions. "The AS1119 is the most advanced and smallest dot matrix LED driver available on the market," stated Rene Wutte, austriamicrosystems' marketing manager for lighting. "It enables creative light design with the longest battery lifetime through our intelligent power management for mobile applications. It allows our customers to create unique looking devices while minimising design effort through the AS1119's flexibility." 18 lines are required to drive all 144 LEDs. This is accomplished with austriamicrosystems' multiplexing technique called cross-plexing, which enables reducing the line count on the pcb as well as fewer pins on the connectors.