ADM8843
Rev. 0 | Page 10 of 16
AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL
The automatic gain control block controls the operation of the
charge pump by selecting the appropriate gain for the charge
pump. Doing so maintains sufficient drive for the LED anodes
at the highest power efficiency over a 2.6 V to 5.5 V input
supply range. The charge pump switching thresholds are
described in Table 5.
Table 5. Charge Pump Switching Thresholds
Gain Threshold
1.5× to 2× 3.33 V
2× to 1.5× 3.36 V
1× to 1.5× 4.77 V
1.5× to 1× 4.81 V
BRIGHTNESS CONTROL WITH A
DIGITAL PWM SIGNAL
PWM brightness control provides the widest brightness control
method by pulsing the white LEDs on and off using the digital
input control pins, CTRL1 and/or CTRL2. PWM brightness
control also removes any chromaticity shifts associated with
changing the white LED current, because the LEDs operate at
either zero current or full current (set by RSET).
The digital PWM signal applied with a frequency of 100 Hz to
200 kHz turns the current control sinks on and off using CTRL1
and/or CTRL2. The average current through the LEDs changes
with the PWM signal duty cycle. If the PWM frequency is much
less than 100 Hz, flicker could be seen in the LEDs. For the
ADM8843, zero duty cycle turns off the LEDs, and a 50% duty
cycle results in an average LED current ILED being half the pro-
grammed LED current. For example, if RSET is set to program
20 mA/LED, a 50% duty cycle results in an average ILED of
10 mA/LED, ILED being half the programmed LED current.
FB1
FB2
FB3
FB4
CTRL1
CTRL2
R
SET
I
SET
ADM8845
05050-018
3.4V
V
CC
V
OUT
I
IN
C3
2.2µF
C1
1µFC2
1µF
PWM INPUT
OR
HIGH/LOW
PWM INPUT
OR
HIGH/LOW
Figure 19. Digital PWM Brightness Control Application Diagram
By applying a digital PWM signal to the digital input control
pins, CTRL1 and/or CTRL2 adjust the brightness of the sub
and/or main displays. The ADM8843’s four white LEDs are
organized into two groups, main display (FB1 to FB3) and sub
display (FB4); refer to the Theory of Operation section.
The ADM8843’s main and sub display brightness can be
controlled together or separately. It does this by applying a
digital PWM signal to both the CTRL1 and CTRL2 pins. The
duty cycle of the applied digital PWM signal determines the
brightness of the main and sub displays together. Varying the
duty cycle of the applied PWM signal varies the brightness of
the main and sub displays from 0% to 100%.
By holding CTRL1 low and applying a digital PWM signal to
CTRL2, the sub display is turned off and the main display is
turned on. Then the brightness of the main display is determined
by the duty cycle of the applied digital PWM signal.
By applying a digital PWM signal to CTRL1 and holding CTRL2
low, the sub display is turned on and the main display is turned
off. Then the brightness of the sub display is determined by the
duty cycle of the applied digital PWM signal.
By applying a digital PWM signal to CTRL1 and holding
CTRL2 high, the sub display is turned on and the main display
is turned on. Then the brightness of the sub display is determined
by the duty cycle of the applied digital PWM signal. The bright-
ness of the main display is set to the maximum (maximum is set
by RSET).
By holding CTRL1 high and applying a digital PWM signal to
CTRL2, the sub display is turned on and the main display is
turned on. Then the brightness of the main display is determined
by the duty cycle of the applied digital PWM signal. The bright-
ness of the sub display is set to the maximum (maximum is set
by RSET).
When CTRL1 and CTRL2 are low, the LED current control
sinks shutdown. Shutdown of the charge pump is delayed by
15 ms. This timeout period, tCP, allows the ADM8843 to
determine if a digital PWM signal is present on CTRL1 and
CTRL2, or if the user has selected a full chip shutdown (see
Figure 20).
If digital PWM brightness control of the LEDs is not required, a
constant Logic Level 1 (VCC) or 0 (GND) must be applied.
The four white LED in the ADM8843 are arranged into two
groups, sub and main. It is possible to configure the four LEDs
as in Table 6. Refer also to Figure 20.