LED Drivers and Power supplies
LED drivers and power supplies regulate the power to an LED or a string (or strings) of LEDs. They provide
constant current or
constant voltage regulation to produce outputs that are matched to the electrical characteristics of the LED load.
LED drivers may also interpret control signals to dim the connected LEDs. An LED luminaire or lamp is only as good as its driver. As LEDs are current-driven devices sensitive to current and voltage fluctuations, the driver circuitry must generate the predetermined magnitude of DC power using an appropriate power conversion topology. The type of topology used very often depends on the features and specifications that are implemented. Lifespan, operating voltage, efficiency, power factor, harmonic distortions, dimming performance, flickering, size and cost are among the most crucial parameters. An LED driver implements many features sequentially or in parallel and may need to communicate with its environment and perform high-level light control. Microcontroller-based LED drivers can communicate with its environment, building automation systems and smart devices to implement sophisticated control strategies.