Electronics & Smart Controls

A New LED Controller Technology to Expedite the Next Level of Smart Lighting

Lighting installations that use artificial lighting and often deemed more comfortable and energy efficient are generally referred to as "Smart Lighting". While no clear definition exists "Smart Lighting" has become a common catch phrase. Kurt Marquardt, Senior Director LED Lighting Systems and Product Marketing, Infineon Technologies has a more accurate definition. For him, the term "smart lighting" describes the capability of the lighting system to adapt automatically to the needs of the users and the room. He presents an alternative way to implement smart lighting systems, using the new XDPL8221 digital LED-driver IC [1]. Read more »

A Manufacturing Revolution for the LED Lighting Industry

LpR 67 Article, page 76: Western business investments in local manufacturing facilities have been declining since the 1980s due to partnering with contract manufacturers in Asia. But with increasing and hidden costs in Asia, companies are now seeking to bring manufacturing back home. A recent innovation, microfactories, could be the solution. Paavo Käkelä, Chairman and VP at EID Tech in Finland, presents the microfactory called Ant PlantTM. He explains this new, flexible manufacturing concept, shows how it works and how it is set up, and analyzes the benefits of local, automated production of LED lighting products as an alternative to contract manufacturing in Asia. Read more »

SoC Technologies in Lighting - Today’s Landscape and Tomorrow's Practices

A system-on-chip (SoC) quite suddenly became an important component in the lighting industry, fueling IoT innovation and opening new opportunities, while at the same time bringing disruption and new challenges. With rapid advancements in wireless communication, the impact of connected technologies on the lighting business will only keep increasing. This means deeper integration with SoCs and more attention from silicon vendors as they start competing for market share in this promising segment. But what is the current state of SoC design from the lighting perspective? Are chipmakers keeping up with the growing expectations for wireless lighting control solutions that are mature and truly reliable? When developing its complete Bluetooth software stack for professional lighting, Silvair worked with a number of different SoCs. Therefore, Piotr Winiarczyk, Wireless Solution Architect, and Szymon Rzadkosz might have found the answers to these questions. Read more »

LED Driver Miniaturization - Opening New Opportunities for Solid State Lighting

While LEDs have significantly improved over the past decade, driver technologies have not kept pace and are, in some respects, the limiting factors for new applications. Size is a particular issue. Dramatically increasing the switching frequency helps to reduce size but often causes other issues or is costly. Mickey Madsen, CEO of Nordic Power Converters, explains how his company has overcome the hurdles and made it feasible by designing very high frequency LED drivers. Read more »

LED-Retrofit Based on AlGaN/GaN-on-Si Field- Effect Transistor Drivers

Efficient driver technologies for LED systems are still a relevant topic. Several new approaches are proposed and new technologies are under development. Andreas Zibold, PhD student at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF, and his co-authors, M. Kunzer, R. Reiner, B. Weiß, P. Waltereit, R. Quay, J. Wagner, and O. Ambacher demonstrate the suitability of AlGaN/GaNon- Si field effect transistors (FETs) for their use in LED drivers. The transistors are tested in an isolated buck converter and an efficiency of 86% is measured for the full converter circuit. The driver circuit is combined with an LED module based on a laser-structured Aluminum Nitride (AlN) ceramic board onto which 21 high power white-emitting LED chips are mounted. This combination resulted in an LEDRetrofit lamp with a total light output of 2676 lm at an efficacy level of 119 lm/W. The results compare favorably to state-of-the-art commercial solutions. Read more »

Smart LED System in Package through Wafer Level Integration Approach

It is believed that LEDs will dominate all lighting applications in the near future. Integration and packaging are the two critical issues that, if resolved, will enable efficient and reliable solutions for lighting requirements. Z. Kolahdouz, H. van Zeijl, and G. Q. Zhang from the Institute of Microsystems and Nanoelectronics (DIMES) at the Delft University of Technology, and M. Kolahdouz from the Thin Film Laboratory and Nano-Electronics at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Tehran show that wafer level packaging is a promising method to ensure lower cost, higher scale, and superior yield. A new integration approach of a smart unit of LED lighting is introduced: LED System in Package (SiP). Read more »

Tech-Talks BREGENZ - Philipp Henrici, President and Managing Director at BJB

It’s unusual for a lighting company to be older than electric lighting itself, but BJB in Arnsberg, Germany is celebrating their 150th anniversary this year. LED professional’s Siegfried Luger and Dr. Günther Sejkora spoke with Philipp Henrici, the President and Managing Director at BJB about disruptive technology changes, starting from petroleum lamps to electric lighting as well as conventional lighting versus solid state lighting. They also touched on the subjects of chances and drawbacks of LED component standardization, modular systems and automated production processes. Read more »

Technologies | Luminaires | Outdoor Applications | Nov 26, 2015

Gunshot Detection for Lighting Fixtures

Cities and their emergency responders will soon have a new way to deploy gunshot detection technology and be able to respond to incidents and react faster to protect their residents. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between GE Lighting and SST, Inc., developer of the ShotSpotter™ crime detection and location suite, lays ground to embedding sophisticated ShotSpotter technology into GE’s intelligent LED street lights. Read more »

Technologies | Electronics | Oct 06, 2015

µModule LED Driver Integrates All Circuitry, Including the Inductor in a Surface Mount Package

David Ng, Module Development Manager at Linear Technolgies, explaines the features of a compact step down DC/DC module for distributed LED power supplies in a DC grid that offers high efficiency, a wide dimming range, and a current range from 35 mA to 1 A. Read more »

Technologies | Electronics | May 27, 2015

Power Conversion Efficiency - Key for Stand-Alone Solar Powered Lighting in Nordic Regions

Stand-alone solar powered lighting solutions are made possible even in the Nordic region through a new, ground-breaking Danish project. An ideal collaboration between scientists from 4 different fields and private companies has succeeded in creating a system and a methodology that makes the impossible possible: Outdoor solar lighting which is not just a decoration. Read more »

Technologies | Engineering | Systems | Mar 21, 2014

Not Just Light Generation - Xicato Calls It "Internet of Lights" or Lighting 2.0

Xicato, in cooperation with Echelon will demonstrate a new integrated controls approach. What Xicato understnds when saying "Internet of Lights" is already explained shortly on their website. If you are interested in topic like this, don't miss LpR 43. Read more »

Technologies | Electronics | LiFi | Jan 14, 2014

Enhanced Data Transmission for Li-Fi Communications using LED Lighting

Despite continuous improvements in wireless communication technology, e.g. 3G, LTE, 4G etc., a looming crisis is anticipated due to a lack of sufficient radio frequency bandwidth to support the growth in demand for data transmission, in the so called “Spectrum Crunch”. Visible Light Communication (Li-Fi) offers an economical solution. LED lighting is now widely deployed and can, in parallel with its primary function, also be used for wireless communication. Li-Fi demonstrates significant improvements in security, safety and capacity over radio frequency communication, and ease of deployment as compared with fibre-optic cable. The LED link is untethered, enables links with many mobile devices, and is independent of any one host. Improvements to the data rate achievable using LEDs as the transmitter allows services based on Li-Fi concept to outperform other communication modes. Read more »