MILPITAS, CA – July 7, 2010 – Linear Technology announces the LT3596, a 60V, 1MHz step-down DC/DC converter designed to operate as a constant current LED driver for up to 30 LEDs. From a 48V input, the LT3596 can drive up to three strings of LEDs, each with up to ten 100mA LEDs in series, delivering efficiencies of over 90%. The LT3596’s multichannel capability makes it ideal for LED billboards as well as industrial and medical displays. Its input voltage range of 6V to 60V makes it well suited for automotive and industrial applications. The LT3596 offers + 1.5% LED current matching to insure uniform display brightness and True Color PWM(TM) dimming offers dimming ratios as high as 10,000:1. A programmable 200kHz to 1MHz fixed frequency operation and current-mode architecture ensures stable operation over a wide range of supply and output voltages, minimizing the size of external components. Additionally, the switching frequency is synchronizable to an external clock. The LT3956’s thermally enhanced 5mm x 8mm QFN package provides a highly compact solution footprint for LED backlighting applications.

The LT3596 uses a single 800mA, 60V internal switch to provide a step-down constant current source. The internal buck converter uses an adaptive feedback loop to regulate the output voltage slightly higher than the required LED voltage to ensure maximum efficiency. If any of the LED strings experience an open or short-circuit, it will continue to regulate the other strings and signal the FAULT pin. Additional features include LED current derating based on junction temperature and/or LED temperature and LED disconnect in shutdown.

The LT3596EUHG is available in a 39-lead 5mm x 8mm QFN package. Pricing starts at $3.65 each in 1,000-piece quantities. An industrial grade version, the LT3596IUHG is tested and guaranteed to operate from a -40°C to 125°C operating junction temperature and is priced at $4.29 each in 1,000-piece quantities. All versions are available from stock. For more information, visit www.linear.com/pr/3596.

Summary Features LT3596

• 300mA Buck Regulator, Drives Up to 10 100mA LEDs per Channel with Fast NPN Current Sources
• Fast Current Sources for <1us Pulse Widths (10,000:1 True Color PW™ Dimming at 100Hz)
• LEDs Disconnected in Shutdown
• Adaptive VOUT for Increased Efficiency
• 6V to 60V Input Voltage Range
• + 1.5% Accurate LED Current Matching
• External Resistors Set LED Current for Each Channel
• Requires No External Compensation
• Programmable Switching Frequency (200kHz to 1MHz)
• Synchronizable to External Clock
• Open, Short LED Detection and Reporting
• Programmable LED Thermal Derating and Reporting
• Programmable Temperature Protection
• 5 × 8mm2 Thermally Enhanced QFN Package with 0.6mm High Voltage Pin Spacing

About Linear Technology

Linear Technology Corporation, a manufacturer of high performance linear integrated circuits, was founded in 1981, became a public company in 1986 and joined the S&P 500 index of major public companies in 2000. Linear Technology products include high performance amplifiers, comparators, voltage references, monolithic filters, linear regulators, DC-DC converters, battery chargers, data converters, communications interface circuits, RF signal conditioning circuits, µModule® products, and many other analog functions. Applications for Linear Technology’s high performance circuits include telecommunications, cellular telephones, networking products such as optical switches, notebook and desktop computers, computer peripherals, video/multimedia, industrial instrumentation, security monitoring devices, high-end consumer products such as digital cameras and MP3 players, complex medical devices, automotive electronics, factory automation, process control, and military and space systems.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif, July 7 – Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS), a world leader in software and IP for semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing, today announced that Open-Silicon a leading system-on-chip (SoC) design and semiconductor manufacturing company, has licensed and integrated 50 high speed DesignWare(r) IP products into customers’ chips with 100 percent first-pass silicon success. The IP products include complete solutions consisting of configurable digital controllers, PHYs which support leading process technologies from 180 to 28 nanometres, verification IP, as well as analogue front ends and data converters. In addition to integrating many of Synopsys’ silicon-proven interface and analogue IP products, Open-Silicon has incorporated building block and infrastructure IP from Synopsys’ DesignWare Library into hundreds of designs. By accessing a broad range of pre-verified IP solutions from a trusted vendor, Open-Silicon has been able to consistently reduce integration and verification risk and shorten development cycles for their complex designs in a wide range of applications such as home networking, enterprise network processors, wireless base-stations, storage controllers and test equipment.

“Our customers look to us to execute complex interfaces with first time silicon success, including physical design, package design, and test engineering,” said Taher Madraswala, vice president of engineering at Open-Silicon.  “Our 100 percent success rate when using DesignWare IP is a reflection of Open-Silicon’s IP integration capability, our tight technical relationship with Synopsys’ engineers, and the high quality of Synopsys’ complete solutions of silicon-proven DesignWare IP.”

As one of the initial members of the Synopsys IP OEM Partner Program, Open-Silicon has access to the entire Synopsys portfolio of interface and analogue IP solutions. As companies increasingly turn to leading SoC design and semiconductor manufacturing vendors like Open-Silicon to help build their complex SoC designs, Synopsys is proactively partnering with these vendors to provide silicon-proven IP solutions, expert technical support and comprehensive documentation to mitigate project risks. Synopsys and Open-Silicon provide customers with high quality IP and design services that help them bring their products to market faster and with more differentiated features.

“For more than 15 years, Synopsys has been providing SoC designers with a broad portfolio of high quality, silicon-proven IP solutions consisting of digital controllers, PHYs and VIP that reduce integration risk and development cost and speed time-to-market for SoC designs,” said John Koeter, vice president of marketing for the Solutions Group at Synopsys. “As one of the industry’s top fabless ASIC companies, Open-Silicon is focused on customer service, low cost, design schedules and first-time correct silicon. Our OEM partnership with Open-Silicon enables a larger customer base to access pre-qualified DesignWare IP allowing them to reduce development costs and risk.”

About DesignWare IP

Synopsys is a leading provider of high-quality, silicon-proven interface and analogue IP solutions for system-on-chip designs. Synopsys’ broad IP portfolio delivers complete connectivity IP solutions consisting of controllers, PHY and verification IP for widely used protocols such as USB, PCI Express, DDR, SATA, Ethernet, HDMI and MIPI IP including 3G DigRF, CSI-2 and D-PHY. The analog IP family includes Analogue-to-Digital Converters, Digital-to-Analogue Converters, Audio Codecs, Video Analogue Front Ends, Touch Screen Controllers and more. In addition, Synopsys offers SystemC™ transaction-level models to build virtual platforms for rapid, pre-silicon development of software. With a robust IP development methodology, extensive investment in quality and comprehensive technical support, Synopsys enables designers to accelerate time-to-market and reduce integration risk. For more information on DesignWare IP, visit: http://www.synopsys.com/designware. Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/designware_ip.  

About Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) is a world leader in electronic design automation (EDA), supplying the global electronics market with the software, intellectual property (IP) and services used in semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing. Synopsys’ comprehensive, integrated portfolio of implementation, verification, IP, manufacturing and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) solutions helps address the key challenges designers and manufacturers face today, such as power and yield management, system-to-silicon verification and time-to-results. These technology-leading solutions help give Synopsys customers a competitive edge in bringing the best products to market quickly while reducing costs and schedule risk. Synopsys is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has more than 65 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and India. Visit Synopsys online at http://www.synopsys.com/.

About Open-Silicon, Inc.

Open-Silicon, Inc. is a leading semiconductor company focused on SoC realization for traditional ASIC, develop-to-spec, and derivative ICs. Open-Silicon’s OpenMODEL brings together Open-Silicon’s engineering technology and high-quality manufacturing services with one of the broadest partner ecosystems for IC development, spanning IC design, open market IP integration, wafer fabrication, and assembly/test services. Open-Silicon received the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) award for Most Respected Private Semiconductor Company in 2008 and 2009. For more information, visit Open-Silicon’s website at www.open-silicon.com or call 408-240-5700.