Tower's power management process selected by 3PEAKIC for energy saving LED driver ICs

SUZHOU, CHINA & MIGDAL HA EMEK, ISRAEL: 3PEAKIC Microelectronics Inc., a provider of high-end analog and mixed-signal electronic products, and Tower Semiconductor Ltd announced that Tower will manufacture 3PEAKIC’s energy saving LED driver ICs used for backlight LED panels in handheld devices such as cell phones, PDAs and personal navigation devices (PNDs).

LEDs present many advantages over traditional light sources including lower energy consumption, longer lifetime, and smaller size as well as faster switching, useful in communications technology.

According to Strategies Unlimited, the LED lighting market is forecast to exceed $5 billion in 2012, corresponding to a CAGR of 28 percent from 2008 to 2012. In addition, during 2009, iSuppli reports that the LED market revenue growth is expected to outshine the overall semiconductor market.

LED driver ICs need the current to be tightly controlled between channels which requires superior mixed-signal modeling and analog device characterization available from Tower’s power management process (TS18PM). Due to the large well-modeled passive device offerings in TS18PM, 3PEAKIC's LED Driver IC (3P3208) requires lower power and fewer components on the PCB.

Tower's TS18PM process includes 20v-60v scalable Rdson NLDMOS/PLDMOS devices as well as advanced 0.18-micron CMOS and bipolar NPN devices needed in today's complex power management chips. It also includes industry leading RF and Thermal modeling, predictive parasitic extraction switch, high voltage ESD solutions, and extremely dense 5v and 1.8v digital cell libraries for “digital intensive” designs.

The nearly released additional options of Deep Trench isolation, NBL and Ultra Low Rdson will push the offering over 100v while providing superior lateral and vertical isolation required for high power applications.

3PEAKIC’s LED driver IC is ideal for backlighting control in mobile devices. The 3P3208 features 16 programmable current levels with single wire pulse control, dual-mode 1X, 1.5X, charge pump for maximum efficiency and VF coverage, small application circuit, and no need for extra resistors for current settings.

In addition, it provides automatic LED detection to shut down open channels, built-in thermal protection, proprietary current regulation topology, no inductors, low noise operation, 1MHz constant switching frequency, and the smallest package size (2.85x3mm) available.

““We found Tower's power management process to be ideal for LED driver ICs as it includes an industry first scalable Rdson versus breakdown voltage design kit technology to reduce on-resistance and size of power cells,” said Dr. Zhixu Zhou, President of 3PEAKIC Microelectronics Inc. “Tower has been instrumental in offering excellent process technology and customer support in manufacturing our wafers and also working with us to develop and win the market.”

“3PEAKIC's choice to manufacture its devices at Tower's fab in Israel instead of a facility in closer proximity to China is a testament to our unparalleled design enablement capabilities and superior process technologies,” said Dr. Avi Strum, Vice President and General Manager of Tower's Specialty Business Unit at Tower Semiconductor.

“We seek to align our capabilities with customers that target the green energy sector and are pleased with the opportunity to produce energy saving devices such as 3PEAKIC’s LED driver ICs.”

2009 will not be 2001 repeat for global chip industry

The fact that the ongoing economic gloom has brought some doom for the global chip market is well known. H1-2008 held up well, better than most had predicted. However, now, the economic gloom in the global financial system has managed to nick the US, and Europe, and lately, Japan, into recessionary conditions, taking the global chip industry along with it!

Some fear that the recession will be as bad as 2001 and that 2009 could re-enact 2001! However, Future Horizons' Malcolm Penn differs, and I'd agree with him. In 2001, there was this huge dotcom collapse, coupled with the unfortunate happenings of 9/11, and a 'massive inventory burn just as a huge amount of excess capacity was coming on stream.'

What's the situation now? There's no serious overcapacity, and the pre-slowdown utilization rate were in the 90 percent region. Capex was already in retrenchment, well before the slowdown. Nor are there any serious excess inventory in the supply chain.

So, that only leaves the problem of the global financial gloom. Lot of money is being thrown about at the problem, hoping that it would pull the world out of the mess it currently finds itself in.

But, can the industry afford to NOT innovate? This is the time to innovate and find new ways to come out of the hole it finds itself in. The industry must also reconcile to single-digit growths mostly, from now on, I guess.

There has been no new 'killer device of mass use' like the mobile phone. Simply, no one has been able to come up with any new device of such mass appeal! The mobile phone, as we knew it, was only meant for voice. Now, it ports a camera, an MP3 player, Internet browsing, email, etc. It gave birth to PDAs, and probably, now, mobile Internet devices (MIDs).

It amuses me a lot when I find companies talking about providing full Internet experience on the mobile phone. It amuses me even further when I find a lot of people and companies talking about how they expect people to be on the Internet all the time! Surely, there are other things to do in one's life than simply staying hooked to the Internet! Or maybe, they have a crystal ball to gaze in, all the time!

The industry needs to be careful about all the predictions and technologies. Not all will succeed. What they should try their hand at is at being innovative! Or, has innovation completely gone out of the window?