12-channel LED driver from Nexperia supports ASIL-B functional safety compliant automotive lighting designs

Reduced heating enables higher integration in space-constrained environments

Nijmegen, March 25, 2025: Nexperia today introduced an AEC-Q100 qualified 12-channel, 40 V high-side LED driver integrated circuit (IC) that complies with the ASIL-B level for designing functionally safe automotive lighting, including tail, brake, signal and in-cabin illumination applications. This release addresses the market demand from automotive manufacturers for ICs that can help systems achieve ASIL-B compliance much earlier in the design cycle.

The NEX13120FPC-Q100 exhibits exceptional thermal performance thanks to its low dropout voltage of 600 mV at 100mA current, which translates into power saving of 15 mW per channel and 5 °C reduction in operating temperature. This dropout voltage is 200 mV lower than similar competing LED drivers for the same test conditions. Independent channels on the NEX13120FPC-Q100 can deliver up to 100 mA of 8-bit programmable output current and can be connected in parallel for applications with higher current requirements. This LED driver supports phase-shift pulse width modulation (PWM) dimming to deliver better load-transient and reduced electromagnetic interference (EMI). Configurable analog dimming and Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) dimming can support various application requirements, including dynamic animation effects.

Long distance off-board communication at data rates up to 2 Mb/s is supported by the UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) over a controller area network (CAN) digital interface, which can support up to 27 node addresses. The extensive range of diagnostic features on the NEX13120FPC-Q100 include LED open-circuit, short to ground, and single LED short-circuit detection. In addition, a configurable watchdog automatically places the device in a fail-safe state if connection to the CAN bus is lost.

The NEX13120FPC-Q100 can operate at a junction temperature range from -40 °C to +150 °C and is housed in a thermally enhanced 24-pin HTSSOP24 package. The NEX13120PC-Q100 is identical to the NEX13120FPC-Q100 and is suitable for applications without chip level functional safety requirements.

To learn more about Nexperia’s portfolio of LED drivers for automotive applications, visit: https://www.nexperia.com/automotiveLED