Freescale Semiconductor is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets. The company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations in more than 30 countries.

LED Lighting is gaining popularity as an environmentally friendly lighting solution. The ability to control brightness and color temperature by electronic dimming makes LED lighting an appealing solution for many illumination applications ranging from mood lighting to video projection. Regardless of type, color, size, or power, all LEDs work best when driven with a constant current. LED manufacturers specify the characteristics (such as lumens, beam pattern, color) of their devices at a specified forward current (IF) not at a specific forward voltage.

Low-power LEDs are ideal for lighting portable electronics because they are efficient, easy to drive, small, thin, robust, and low noise. When running off a Lithium-Ion battery (typically 3.7V output voltage), each low-power LED requires up to 4V at 30 mA. To operate more than one LED for a lighting solution, an LED driver is needed to boost the voltage and regulate the current to optimize LED output.

Sources of input voltage for LED arrays come from batteries or power supplies that have a certain tolerance. An automotive battery, for example, may supply 8V to 16V depending on the load and the age of the battery.