Maxim MAX16839 Quick Start Manual

19-4942; Rev 1; 5/10

MAX16839 Evaluation Kit

General Description

The MAX16839 evaluation kit (EV kit) demonstrates

three separate high-voltage, single-channel, linear high­brightness LED (HB LED) drivers using the MAX16839
IC. This EV kit is configured to supply an HB LED current
of 100mA per channel and operates from a 5V to 40V
rated power supply providing up to 300mA. The EV kit
can withstand a 45V automotive load-dump condition.
An input switch is included to evaluate pulse-width­modulation (PWM) driving with supply chopping.

The EV kit eases evaluation of the MAX16839 PWM
dimming-control feature by providing three indepen­dent PWM inputs to all three channels. Each PWM input
accepts a digital signal up to 10kHz. Additionally, mul­tiple EV kits can be cascaded by using the MAX16839
FLTS signals. An input common-mode choke is also
provided to facilitate EMI immunity testing.

Evaluates: MAX16839

Features

S Three Independent Channels for Driving

High-Brightness LEDs

S 100mA LED Current per Channel

S Three Independent PWM Inputs

S PWM Dimming Control Up to 10kHz

S Operates from a 5V to 40V Supply

S Supply Input Chopper Circuit

S Capability for Cascading Multiple Kits

S Proven PCB and Thermal Design

S Fully Assembled and Tested

Ordering Information

PART TYPE

MAX16839EVKIT+ EV Kit

+Denotes lead(Pb)-free and RoHS compliant.

Component List

DESIGNATION QTY DESCRIPTION

1FF Q10%, 50V X7R ceramic

C1 1

C2, C3, C4 3

C5, C6, C7 3

D1 1

D2 1

JU1, JU2, JU3 3 3-pin headers

JU4–JU11 8 2-pin headers

L1 1

capacitor (0805)
Murata GRM21BR71H105K

0.022FF Q10%, 50V X7R ceramic
capacitors (0805)
Murata GRM216R71H223K

0.1FF Q10%, 50V X7R ceramic
capacitors (0805)
Murata GCM21BR71H104K

60V, 1A Schottky diode (SMA)
Central Semi CMSH1-60M LEAD
FREE
(Top Mark: CS60M)

15V Q 5%, 250mW zener diode
(SOD523)
Central Semi CMOZ15V LEAD
FREE
(Top Mark: H0)

80V, 500mA common-mode choke
TDK ZJYS81R5-2P24-G01

DESIGNATION QTY DESCRIPTION

60V 1.25A p-channel MOSFET

P1 1

Q1 1

R1, R3, R5 3
R2, R4, R6 3

R7, R9, R10 3

R8 1

U1, U2, U3 3

— 11 Shunts (JU1–JU11)

— 1

*EP = Exposed pad.

(SOT23)
Fairchild FDN5618P
(Top Mark: 618)

65V 100mA npn transistor
(SOT23)
Central Semi BC846A TR
(Top Mark: 1A) or
Fairchild BC846AMTF
(Top Mark: 8AA)

4.12I Q1% resistors (0603)

2.05I Q1% resistors (0603)
10kI Q5% resistors (1206)

2.2kI Q5% resistor (2010)

Programmable LED current
regulators (6 TDFN-EP*)
Maxim MAX16839ATT+
(Pkg. Code: T633+2)

PCB: MAX16839 EVALUATION
KIT+

_______________________________________________________________ Maxim Integrated Products 1

For pricing, delivery, and ordering information, please contact Maxim Direct at 1-888-629-4642,
or visit Maxim’s website at www.maxim-ic.com.

MAX16839 Evaluation Kit

Component Suppliers

SUPPLIER PHONE WEBSITE

Central Semiconductor Corp. 631-435-1110 www.centralsemi.com
Fairchild Semiconductor 888-522-5372 www.fairchildsemi.com
Murata Electronics North America, Inc. 770-436-1300 www.murata-northamerica.com
TDK Corp. 847-803-6100 www.component.tdk.com

Note: Indicate that you are using the MAX16839 when contacting these component suppliers.

Quick Start

Required Equipment

• 5V to 40V, 500mA adjustable DC power supply

• Three series-connected HB LED strings rated no

less than 100mA and a maximum forward voltage
of 39V

• See the LED Load Configuration section for more
information

Evaluates: MAX16839

The MAX16839 EV kit is fully assembled and tested.
Follow these steps to verify board operation. Caution:

Do not turn on the power supply until all connections
are completed.

1) Verify that shunts are installed on pins 1-2 of jumpers

JU1, JU2, and JU3 (100mA operation).

2) Verify that shunts are not installed on jumpers

JU4–JU10 (independent operation).

3) Verify that a shunt is installed on jumper JU11

(bypass chopper circuit).

4) Set the power-supply output to 12V and disable the

output. If the total forward voltage of the HB LED
string is > 6.5V, ensure that the input supply rises in
less than 14Fs, or connect the FLTS output to ground
to disable the turn-off in case of fault feature. The IC
can otherwise latch in fault condition at startup.

5) Connect the power-supply ground to the PGND PCB

pad.

6) Connect the power-supply positive output to the VIN

PCB pad.

7) Connect each HB LED string as follows:

Channel 1: Connect an HB LED string anode to
the LED1+ PCB pad and the cathode to the LED1­PCB pad.

Channel 2: Connect an HB LED string anode to
the LED2+ PCB pad and the cathode to the LED2­PCB pad.

Channel 3: Connect an HB LED string anode to
the LED3+ PCB pad and the cathode to the LED3­PCB pad.

2 ______________________________________________________________________________________

Procedure

8) Enable the power-supply output.

9) Verify that the attached LEDs are illuminated.

Detailed Description of Hardware

The MAX16839 EV kit demonstrates three separate high­voltage, single-channel, linear HB LED drivers. Each lin­ear current driver circuit uses a MAX16839 IC in a 6-pin
TDFN surface-mount package with an exposed pad
for enhanced thermal dissipation. On the EV kit, each
driver circuit is configured to supply an HB LED cur­rent of 100mA per channel at 5% current accuracy. The
MAX16839 ICs control the HB LED current by maintain­ing a 203mV (typ) drop across each channel’s external
sense resistors (R1 or R2 for channel 1, R3 or R4 for
channel 2, and R5 or R6 for channel 3). Additionally,
each channel can be reconfigured to provide down to
50mA of current.

The EV kit operates from a 5V to 40V rated power sup­ply providing up to 300mA and the EV kit can with­stand a 45V load-dump condition. The input supply is
filtered by common-mode choke L1 and capacitor C1,
while battery-reverse protection is provided by diode
D1. The input supply chopper circuit is comprised of
p-channel MOSFET P1, biasing resistor/diode pair R7/
D2, and switching transistor Q1. See the Chopper-Circuit
Operation section for more information on using the
chopper circuit.

The MAX16839 PWM dimming-control feature can be
evaluated with an independent PWM input on each of
the three channels. Each PWM input accepts a digital
signal up to 10kHz at the DIM1, DIM2, or DIM3 and
GND PCB pads. Additionally, each PWM input functions
as an active-high enable for the corresponding chan­nel. Multiple EV kits can be cascaded using the FLTS1,
FLTS2, FLTS3, and GND PCB pads and configuring the
proper jumpers. Jumpers JU8, JU9, and JU10 disable
the MAX16839 fault-detection features.

Each MAX16839 IC features an exposed pad that uses
the top-layer and bottom-layer PCB copper as a heat-sink.
For a single-layer design, the top-layer copper would only
be required from a thermal-design perspective. The EV
kit PCB uses 2oz copper for optimum thermal dissipation.

MAX16839 Evaluation Kit

LED_

203mV

LED Load Configuration

The EV kit can drive three separate HB LED loads. Each
load can consist of multiple HB LEDs in series with a
total forward voltage up to 39V. If the HB LED forward
voltage is > 6.5V, the input voltage must rise within 14Fs
to avoid a fault, or the fault feature must be disabled by
connecting the FLTS output to ground. The EV kit circuit
drives HB LEDs rated for a minimum of 100mA and can
be reconfigured to drive up to 50mA. Proper heat-sinking
of the LEDs is important for optimum LED performance
and durability.

HB LED Current Settings

The EV kit features jumpers to reconfigure each
MAX16839 linear current-sink circuit on each channel.
When inserted on pins 1-2, jumpers JU1, JU2, and JU3
configure the current sink’s limit to 100mA, respectively.
Installing the jumpers on pins 2-3 configures the current
sink’s limit to 50mA. See Table 1 for channel 1, Table 2
for channel 2, and Table 3 for channel 3 jumper settings.

To reconfigure the circuit for another current limit,
replace resistor R2, R4, or R6 for channels 1, 2, and 3,
respectively, and use the following equation to calculate
a new value for the desired current:

R =

where I
((I

LED1

SENSE

is the desired HB LED current in amps

LED_

, I

LED2

, and I

LED3

I

) and R

is the new R2,

SENSE

R4, or R6 resistor value in ohms for obtaining the desired
HB LED current. Install the respective jumper (JU1, JU2,
or JU3) on pins 1-2 when configuring the channel for
another current.

If designing for a higher LED current, verify that the

Evaluates: MAX16839

desired current setting does not exceed the power rating
of the corresponding resistor (R1–R6) or the LED load.
Do not set the LED current above 100mA.

Faults (FLTS1, FLTS2, FLTS3) and

Open HB LED Detection

The EV kit features PCB pads for accessing the fault sig­nal (FLTS_) at each IC (U1, U2, and U3). Storage capaci­tors C5, C6, and C7 are provided at each IC’s FLTS pin,
respectively, for fault retention/memorization. When the
voltage across the capacitor exceeds 1.65V during a
fault event, the respective HB LED driver turns off, unless
this feature is disabled by connecting the FLTS output
of the respective IC to ground. Jumpers JU6 and JU7
are provided to connect all FLTS signals together, which
shuts down all channels if a fault is detected at one of
them. See Table 4 for configuring the FLTS jumpers.
Refer to the Open-LED Detection and Fault Event Status
Memory section in the MAX16839 IC data sheet for fur­ther information on the FLTS signal.

The MAX16839 integrated open HB LED detection fea­ture is enabled when VIN > 7.38V (typ) and the voltage
at the DIM pin is high and the IC thermal shutdown is
low. When any of these conditions are violated, the fault­detection function is disabled.

Dimming Operation

The EV kit features three independent PWM PCB pads
and jumpers for accessing/configuring the current-dim­ming input (DIM) signal at each IC (U1, U2, and U3).
Jumpers JU4 and JU5 are provided to connect all the DIM
signals together or to operate independently. Each chan­nel can have a different dimming-signal pattern.

Table 1. Channel 1 HB LED Current (JU1)

SHUNT

POSITION

1-2* Connected to R2 100

2-3 Connected to R1 50

CS PIN

Table 2. Channel 2 HB LED Current (JU2)

SHUNT

POSITION

1-2* Connected to R4 100

2-3 Connected to R3 50

*Default position.

CS PIN

_______________________________________________________________________________________ 3

HB LED CURRENT

(mA)

HB LED CURRENT

(mA)

Table 3. Channel 3 HB LED Current (JU3)

SHUNT

POSITION

1-2* Connected to R6 100

2-3 Connected to R5 50

*Default position.*Default position.

CS PIN

HB LED CURRENT

(mA)

Table 4. Fault FLTS1, FLTS2, FLTS3
(JU6, JU7)

SHUNT

POSITION

Installed Connected together Simultaneous

Not installed* Independent Independent

*Default position.

U1, U2, AND U3

FLTS PINS

FAULT

OPERATION

MAX16839 Evaluation Kit

Use a digital PWM signal with a 5V logic level and
a switching frequency between 100Hz and 10kHz.
Frequencies lower than 100Hz can introduce flickering
in the light output. Vary the duty cycle of the signal to
adjust the LED brightness. LED brightness increases as
the duty cycle increases and vice versa. When the PWM
signal’s duty cycle is 100%, the LEDs are continuously
on. At 0% duty cycle, the outputs are disabled.

See Table 5 for configuring the DIM_ jumpers. Refer to
the PWM Dimming section in the MAX16839 IC data
sheet for further information on the DIM signal.

Additional Configurations and Features

The EV kit includes several other features to facilitate
evaluating the MAX16839 IC. A power-supply chopper­circuit feature, and the ability to cascade multiple kits for
operation, are detailed in the following sections.

Chopper-Circuit Operation

The EV kit features a power-supply chopper circuit for
the VIN input supply. The input supply chopper circuit

Evaluates: MAX16839

is comprised of p-channel MOSFET P1, biasing resistor/
diode pair R7/D2, and switching transistor Q1. When

Table 5. DIM1, DIM2, DIM3 (JU4, JU5)

SHUNT

POSITION

Installed Connected together Synchronous

Not installed* Independent Independent

*Default position.

U1, U2, AND U3

DIM PINS

DIM

OPERATION

installed, jumper JU11 is provided to bypass the chop­per circuit.

To use the chopper circuit, connect a function generator
with a digital signal to the CHOP and GND PCB pads.
Use a 3V to 5V low-frequency pulse-width-modulated
(PWM) signal to switch the chopper circuit on/off.

Cascading Multiple Kits

The EV kit features PCB pads and jumpers for cascading
multiple kits. To cascade another EV kit, use the follow­ing guidelines:

1) Install all DIM_ shunts on jumpers JU4 and JU5.

2) Install all FLTS_ shunts on jumpers JU6 and JU7.

3) Connect the DIM3 PCB pad on kit #1 to the DIM1 PCB
pad on kit #2.

4) Connect the FLTS3 pad on kit #1 to the FLTS1 pad on
kit #2.

5) Connect the GND PCB pad nearest DIM3 on kit #1 to
the GND PCB pad nearest the DIM3 pad on kit #2.

6) Connect a common power supply to both kits’ VIN
and PGND PCB pads.

Table 6. Chopper-Circuit Operation

(JU11)

SHUNT

POSITION

Installed Connected to ground Bypassed

Not installed* Connected to Q1 Running

*Default position.

MOSFET P1/ BIASING

RESISTOR R8

CHOPPER-

CIRCUIT

OPERATION

4 ______________________________________________________________________________________

MAX16839 Evaluation Kit

Evaluates: MAX16839

Figure 1. MAX16839 EV Kit Schematic

_______________________________________________________________________________________ 5

MAX16839 Evaluation Kit

Evaluates: MAX16839

Figure 2. MAX16839 EV Kit Component Placement Guide—
Component Side

6 ______________________________________________________________________________________

1.0”

1.0”

Figure 3. MAX16839 EV Kit PCB Layout—Component Side

MAX16839 Evaluation Kit

Evaluates: MAX16839

Figure 4. MAX16839 EV Kit PCB Layout—Solder Side

_______________________________________________________________________________________ 7

1.0”

MAX16839 Evaluation Kit

Revision History

REVISION

NUMBER

0 9/09 Initial release —
1 5/10 Updated data sheet based on new revision of the IC 2, 3

REVISION

DATE

Evaluates: MAX16839

DESCRIPTION

PAGES

CHANGED

Maxim cannot assume responsibility for use of any circuitry other than circuitry entirely embodied in a Maxim product. No circuit patent licenses are implied.
Maxim reserves the right to change the circuitry and specifications without notice at any time.

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