EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - October 2004 -- International Rectifier, IR® (NYSE: IRF), a world leader in power management technology, today announced that industry engineers have selected IR's IR2161 and IR2520D adaptive lighting control ICs to be among the top-ranked Ultimate Products V1.2. This product rating program, done with and for the engineering community, is sponsored by CMP Media's EETimes and eeProductCenter. It surveys more than 1300 engineers to determine the most significant semiconductor, passive component and test equipment product introductions each quarter across seven categories.

"We're tremendously gratified by the very positive response we're receiving for these innovative lighting solutions which signal a new standard in lighting ICs. We're continuously simplifying the design process and improving performance for electronic lighting applications with single-chip solutions. Our high-voltage integrated circuit (HVIC) technology and adaptive control techniques make energy-saving lighting circuits more reliable," said David Tam, International Rectifier Vice President, Consumer and Industrial Sector Business.

The IR2161is specifically designed for electronic transformers that drive low voltage halogen lamps. All necessary features are integrated into a single 8-pin DIP or SOIC, reducing parts count, simplifying circuits and increasing reliability. It can adapt to changing supply voltage, frequency conditions, and lamp conditions enabling the introduction of highly-reliable halogen transformers while streamlining their design and manufacture. Adaptive Deadtime Control is a key feature of the IR2161, which increases transformer reliability by continually maintaining soft switching.

The IR2520D is a control IC integrating all the necessary features for fluorescent lamp ballasts. Also packaged in an 8-pin DIP or SOIC, the new device includes a zero voltage switching (ZVS) circuit that maintains soft switching, regardless of supply voltage, frequency and lamp conditions, and includes internal crest factor over-current protection and an integrated bootstrap diode. Its adaptive zero voltage switching control minimizes switching losses in the half-bridge MOSFETs, ensuring maximum efficiency and lifetime, regardless of component and lamp tolerances as well as line voltage variations.

Lighting ICsReference designs

Results of the Ultimate Products ranking were announced on September 28 and appear in the "Ultimate Products 1.2" supplement to EE Times online. Go to the eePRODUCT CENTER page at http://www.eeproductcenter.com/ and click the EE Times' Ultimate products link.