Powering LED Lighting

I had the opportunity to talk with Paul Daigle who is responsible for business development and new product definition for the Teridian energy measurement development team at Maxim Integrated Products. He has focused on energy measurement products for more than 12 of the last 18 years that he has worked in the mixed signal semiconductor industry. He explained Teridian's new AC- and DC-power measurement capability suitable for a high-power LED-lighting ballast. This system has the capability of controlling LED lighting systems in various applications, including warehouse, architectural, garage, parking lot, street and highway lighting. The power savings that can be achieved are considerable and make an attractive proposition for authorities when considering installations of lighting systems.

Teridian Semiconductor, a subsidiary of Maxim Integrated Products (NASDAQ: MXIM), has recently demonstrated both AC- and DC-power measurement suitable for high-power LED-lighting ballasts. Inside the lighting ballast of the luminaire, the 78M6613 replaces a microcontroller unit that receives DALI commands and controls dimming, and adds functionality for accurate power-consumption management. Using the Teridian/Maxim 78M6613 energy-measurement system-on-chip (SoC), the product validates the interoperability of various components to create a ballast capable of measuring its own power efficiency. Targeted for applications such as warehouse, architectural, garage, parking lot, street, and highway lighting, the demonstration featured a lighting ballast that has both Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI) and Zigbee® controls. Using the 78M6613 enables high-measurement accuracy (±3 percent) without needing to calibrate the ballast. It also provides a simple, configurable interface that remains independent of regression testing done on the communications firmware to resolve network interoperability and user application issues. With the data available to the operator, potential failures can be predicted and rectified, greatly reducing maintenance costs.

"Monitoring and verification is essential feedback for any energy-management system, but energy measurement is not a core competency for most lighting manufacturers," said Jay Cormier, Maxim Integrated Products Director, Teridian/Maxim Business Management, Energy Measurement & Communications. "As our demonstration will show, a remotely controlled LED-lighting ballast can be easily upgraded to include real-time energy-efficiency measurement without increasing the number of electronic components or incurring the manufacturing costs of calibration." Inside the lighting ballast of the luminaire, the 78M6613 replaces a microcontroller unit that receives DALI commands and controls dimming, and adds functionality for accurate power-consumption management. The device also provides digital information to assist with diagnostics. The 78M6613 is the industry's first SoC energy-measurement solution for AC and DC power that enables the capture and reporting of real-time energy data. This provides the ability to quantify where energy is needed, used and stranded. With an embedded analog front-end and compute engine, small footprint and embedded firmware, the 78M6613 features best-in-class accuracy of ±0.5 percent over a 2000:1 dynamic range. The SoC also provides powerful tools for self-calibration to help facilitate rapid design time and optimal manufacturing costs. It includes the full range of AC-power diagnostics—including power, power factor, voltage current, voltage sag and dip—and eliminates the need for external components. Naturally, in the real world, the uptake of these new energy saving systems take time due to the various committees and approval and qualification stages. Teridian is working through 3rd parties to speed up the adoption and with the compelling argument and vital need for energy saving, we should be seeing these intelligent systems implemented in the near future. For more information on the 78M6613 product line, demonstration and evaluation kits and other products from Teridian/Maxim, please visit www.maxim-ic.com/Teridian