Design intelligence and advanced features into cost-efficient lighting applications with new digital DC/DC LED Developer's Kit based on TI's Piccolo(TM) MCU

HOUSTON, May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Bringing the intelligence and precision of real-time digital control to expanding LED applications, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) today announced its new TMS320C2000™ Piccolo microcontroller (MCU) DC/DC LED Developer's Kit. The new LED controller kit enables developers to leverage the performance of low-cost Piccolo MCUs to differentiate LED designs with advanced features such as dimming, color tone adjustment, power line communication and fault detection. Additionally, developers can reduce system cost through the integrated control of LED and power stages using a single Piccolo MCU. The kit is easily adaptable for varying design needs, as it supports multiple power configuration options, modular Piccolo controlCARDs and a detachable LED panel. The DC/DC LED Developer's Kit comes complete with all of the open source hardware and software needed to jumpstart design of energy-efficient LED electronics, including backlighting, street lighting and building automation lighting.  For more information, go to www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-sw.

Piccolo MCU DC/DC LED Developer's Kit key features and benefits (TMDSDCDCLEDKIT)

• Piccolo F28035 controlCARD provides 60MHz of 32-bit performance, 14 PWM outputs, a 12-bit, 4.6 megasample-per-second ADC, and 128KB of flash memory to support advanced lighting features
• Digitally controlled buck/boost DC/DC 12-24V power conversion stage allows developers to adjust voltage to match varying LED configurations
• 8 independent 5 watt LED strings allow unique current sensing for features like individual brightness adjustment and blown string detection
• Onboard isolated XDS100 USB JTAG emulation simplifies debugging and programming while reducing system cost
• Easy-to-use, open source controlSUITE software includes examples for closed loop control of DC/DC power and LED driver stages as well as detailed lab documentation of software structure and functionality
• Modular controlCARD concept allows developers to choose the right C2000 MCU to fit varying price, performance and peripheral requirements

Pricing and availability

The new Piccolo MCU DC/DC LED Developer's Kit (part number: TMDSDCDCLEDKIT) is priced at $379 US and is immediately available for order at www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-es. controlSUITE software is free and can be immediately accessed at www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-cslp.

TI's broad portfolio of MCUs and software

From general purpose, ultra-low power MSP430™ MCUs, to Stellaris® Cortex-M3-based 32-bit MCUs and high performance, real-time control TMS320C2000 MCUs, TI offers the broadest range of microcontroller solutions. Designers can accelerate time to market by tapping into TI's complete software and hardware tools, extensive third-party offerings and technical support.

Find out more about TI's DC/DC LED Developer's Kit and support by visiting the links below:

• DC/DC LED Developer's Kit: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-sw
• Video overview of DC/DC LED Developer's Kit: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-v
• LED Reference Design Cookbook: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-mc
• Multi-String LED Driver block diagram: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-mssbd-pr-ee
• General lighting block diagram: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-glsbd-pr-ee
• TI lighting solutions: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-ledlp
• controlSUITE software: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-cslp
• TI's microcontroller portfolio: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-mculp
• TI eStore: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-es

About Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) helps customers solve problems and develop new electronics that make the world smarter, healthier, safer, greener and more fun. A global semiconductor company, TI innovates through design, sales and manufacturing operations in more than 30 countries.  For more information, go to www.ti.com.

Trademarks

Stellaris and StellarisWare are registered trademarks and Code Composer Studio, Piccolo, MSP430 and TMS320C2000 are trademarks of Texas Instruments Incorporated.  ARM is a registered trademark and Cortex is a trademark of ARM Ltd.  All registered trademarks and other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

SOURCE Texas Instruments Incorporated