ASL5xxxyHz
Matrix LED Controller (MLC)
Rev. 2.1 — 5 February 2019
Product data sheet
1 General description
The ASL5xxxyHz family is a fully featured and flexible Matrix LED Controller (MLC). It
provides a cost effective design solution, specifically targeting advanced automotive
exterior lighting applications. The family consists of part numbers with different maximum
currents and different driving modes, Smart and direct PWM.
Smart PWM part numbers determine PWM dimming duty cycle from information stored
inside the MLC in the form of dimming polynomial curve coefficients. These coefficients
are programmable by the customer according to the dimming profile they would like to
see. The MLC uses these polynomial coefficients to calculate the PWM duty cycle to 12-
bit resolution. The MLC also provides the capability to increase the speed of the PWM
dimming curve dynamically or sequence several PWM dimming curves together.
It is possible to store polynomials for up to eight PWM dimming curves. By storing
these polynomial coefficients internally, it is not necessary for the microcontroller to
send updated PWM dimming information to each LED switch continuously. Instead, the
microcontroller selects the PWM curve and LED to which it must be applied. Therefore,
the PWM dimming information from the microcontroller is reduced, which reduces the
volume of data transfer from the microcontroller to the MLC.
The MLC also provides the functionality to correct for LED brightness variations. This
feature is especially useful to ensure a homogenous light output from LEDs that have
luminance variations with the same LED current.
The MLC has many diagnostic features, including:
• Direct NTC feedback for monitoring the LED temperature
• Direct identification resistor input for PCB characterization
• Single LED open/short detection and protection
• Internal IC junction temperature monitoring
• Power-on-Reset (POR) monitoring; mandatory for off-board configuration and following
safety requirements
• Power OK bit (POK) to ensure that the complete MLC is working as expected
• External components (NTC, ID resistor, charge pump capacitor) monitoring and fail
detection
• Full communication diagnosis, including flagging illegal actions
• Possibility to clear Open Circuit (OC) and Short Circuit (SC) flags and reset the internal
mosfets dynamically and without a need of a power-on-reset
All this diagnostic information is available to the microcontroller via the MLC interface. A
microcontroller controls the MLC through a high-speed serial CAN interface. Through this
interface, the microcontroller can control up to 32 MLCs, enabling control of up to 384
LEDs or segments.
The MLC has an internal 200 MHz oscillator that avoids the need of an external quartz
(reducing system cost and providing better EMC behavior) for synchronization and clock