LT3596
Applications Information
For True Color PWM dimming, the LT3596 provides up
to 10,000:1 PWM dimming range at 100Hz. This is done
by reducing the duty cycle of the PWMn pin from 100%
to 0.01% for a PWM frequency of 100Hz (see Figure 5).
This equates to a minimum on time of 1µs and a maxi-
mum period of 10ms. PWM duty cycle dimming allows
for constant LED color to be maintained over the entire
dimming range.
tPWM
tON(PWM)
LED1-3
CURRENT
MAX ILED
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Figure 5. LED Current Using PWM Dimming
Using the TSET Pin for Thermal Protection
The LT3596 contains a special programmable thermal
regulation loop that limits the internal junction tempera-
ture. This thermal regulation feature provides important
protection at high ambient temperatures. It allows an
application to be optimized for typical, not worst-case,
ambient temperatures with the assurance that the LT3596
automatically protects itself and the LED strings under
worst-case conditions.
As the ambient temperature increases, so does the internal
junction temperature of the part. Once the programmed
maximum junction temperature is reached, the LT3596
linearly reduces the LED current, as needed, to maintain
this junction temperature. This is only achieved when
the ambient temperature stays below the maximum pro-
grammed junction temperature. If the ambient temperature
continues to rise above the programmed maximum junc-
tion temperature, the LED current will reduce to less than
10% of the full current.
A resistor divider from the VREF pin programs the maximum
IC junction temperature as shown in Figure 6.
Table 6 shows commonly used values for R1 and R2.
Choose the ratio of R1 and R2 for the desired junction
temperature limit as shown in Figure 7.
VREF
R2 LT3596
TSET
R1
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Figure 6. Programming the TSET Pin
Table 6. TSET Programmed Junction Temperature
TJ (°C)
85
R1 (kΩ)
49.9
R2 (kΩ)
97.6
100
49.9
90.9
115
49.9
84.5
The TSET pin must be tied to VREF if the temperature
protection feature is not desired.
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
–50 –25
0 25 50 75 100 125
TEMPERATURE (°C)
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Figure 7. VTSET for LED Current Derating
LED Current Derating Using the CTRLM Pin
A useful feature of the LT3596 is its ability to program
a derating curve for maximum LED current versus tem-
perature. LED data sheets provide curves of maximum
allowable LED current versus temperature to warn against
exceeding this current limit and damaging the LED. The
LT3596 allows the output LEDs to be programmed for
maximum allowable current while still protecting the
LEDs from excessive currents at high temperature. This
is achieved by programming a voltage at the CTRLM pin
with a negative temperature coefficient using a resistor
divider with temperature-dependent resistance (Figure 8).
As ambient temperature increases, the CTRLM voltage
falls below the internal 1V voltage reference, causing
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