New Industry Products

Maxim Integrated Products Releases the MAX1848 DC/DC Converter

June 25, 2001 by Jeff Shepard

Maxim Integrated Products (Sunnyvale, CA) has released a new step-up dc/dc converter that regulates current, versus voltage, to power white LEDs for backlights in cellular phones and PDAs. The MAX1848 powers two or three white LEDs in series, rather than in parallel, to eliminate the brightness mismatch caused by varying threshold voltages.

The eight-pin SOT-23 device, which contains an internal n-channel MOSFET, provides 85-percent efficiency. Maxim claims that it far exceeds charge-pump solutions. Powered directly from a lithium-ion battery, it can deliver as much as 60mA. Prices start at $1.25 each in quantities of 2,500 and up.