EL SEGUNDO, CA. November 2001 - International Rectifier, IR® (NYSE: IRF) today introduced version 2.0 of its popular ballast design software to dramatically reduce electronic ballast design time. The software, IRPLBDA2, outputs a complete ballast design with a bill of materials and a schematic in as few as five steps. Time to market can be shortened from months to weeks using International Rectifier's ballast design software.

The ballast design software automates designing ballasts with International Rectifier's latest 600V, fully protected and integrated ballast control ICs, IR2156, IR21571 and IR2159. Applications include dimming, non-dimming, linear fluorescent and compact fluorescent (CFL) ballasts. Series-, parallel- and dual-ballast fluorescent configurations are also supported.

The ballast design software frees the engineer from tedious work associated with design chores such as component calculations, simplifying ballast design. With this tool, optimization of application-specific designs and comparison of alternative designs are quickly completed. Using IR ballast design software with IR reference designs allows the end user to quickly customize the reference design for their particular application.

"When combining the ballast design software with the reference designs and the highly integrated ballast control ICs offered by International Rectifier, it is now possible to create efficient, fully protected electronic ballasts faster. This is especially important now that electronic ballasts are quickly replacing magnetic ballasts to save energy," said Tom Ribarich, Director of Engineering for Lighting ICs at International Rectifier.

According to the Alliance to Save Energy, T8 lamps and electronic ballasts use about 30% percent less energy than the standard T12 lamps and magnetic ballasts. Electronic ballasts also produce less heat, are lighter in weight, increase lamp life, and reduce flickering and noise.

Technical Details

Lamps requiring ballasts have different requirements for pre-heat, ignition, run voltage and frequency that effect lamp life, light quality and ballast efficiency, making each ballast different. International Rectifier's ballast control chips allow circuit customization for maximum lamp life and performance. The ballast design software automates solving complex equations, saving time for the ballast designer.

The ballast design software supports 36 lamp types and 7 different ballast configurations and enables users to add new lamp types. Over 20 parameters including frequency, voltage, current and component values are selectable by the user. The software includes an inductor calculator that assists in designing the inductors required in electronic ballasts.

Ballast designers can select either of the International Rectifier's IR2156, IR21571, or IR2159 integrated ballast control and gate driver IC in their design. The IR2156 enables a cost-effective solution for fluorescent ballasts and integrates programmable operating frequencies for pre-heat, ignition and continuous operation with ballast and lamp fault protection.

The IR21571 is designed for linear ballasts and combines IR2156 functionalities with additional protection features such as below resonance and brownout protection. The IR2159 is a dimming ballast control and gate driver IC that provides continous dimming from one to one hundred percent of full power, which is very pleasing to the human eye. The IR1259 also integrates programmable pre-heat time and extensive fault protection.

The Windows 95 and higher-compatible software is available at no charge from International Rectifier's web site.

To Download your copy of the Ballast Design Software, Click Here.

High Resolution JPEGs are available in the Press Room.