Used in industrial, architectural, and automotive applications, as well as for warning lamps and emergency lights, highbrightness power

LEDs (HBLEDs are becoming more and more popular, due in part to their relatively high efficiency and long life! However, to achieve optimal lighting when ambient light is not constant, the driver circuit should be capable of varying the LED brightness automatically!

Fig. 1 shows a typical operating circuit for the "#$%&'()! # modification to this circuit yields a stand-alone brightness regulator (Fig. 2 , which re*uires no microprocessor or microcontroller!

+t increases LED brightness when the ambient-to-LED ratio rises, and reduces brightness when that ratio declines! ,he circuit operates with a supply voltage of & - (four %!.-- ## cells in series , and consists of three main sections/
#mbient light sensor 0% (1sram 23H45%) for visible-light wavelengths in the 4.)- to 67)-nm range LED driver ("a8im "#$%&'() with 9:" dimming input #nalog-to-9:" signal converter that converts the measured analog signal (proportional to light to a 9:" signal for use in regulating the LED driver

Because the constant-current driver ("#$%&'() includes a step-down converter, the efficiency is high (typically 6); ! +ts operating voltage range is 5!. to (' -, and it delivers up to (. : of output power! ,his output is proportional to the light intensity, which can be ad<usted via the 9:" input (D+" !

MAX16820 OPERATION
,he #nalog=9:" unit includes a dual ultra-low-power comparator ("#$67( , and a dual op amp with rail-to-rail input=output characteristics ("#$5)6( ! ,he first op amp (U%# operates as a non-inverting 2chmitt trigger, and the second (U%B as an integrator! :hen the first op amp asserts a high level, the integrator capacitor charges with a constant current! Because the output of the second op amp (U%B connects to the input of the first op amp, the output of U%B decreases linearly! ,hat output voltage switches to low after dropping below the input-voltage threshold of the first op amp, thereby discharging the capacitor and causing the output voltage of the second op amp to increase! By constantly charging and discharging, the capacitor produces a triangular waveform at the output of U%B! ,he measured voltage, -9hoto, (proportional to light is compared with the triangular waveform in the first comparator (U(# ! ,his causes that output to be high when -9hotois greater than the triangular waveform, and low otherwise! ,he result is a 9:" signal that regulates LED brightness via the LED driver>s Dim input, ma?ing LED brightness proportional to the brightness of the environment! ,o achieve the inverse regulation, you can insert an inverter in front of the 9:" converter circuit!