Macroblock

Figure 1. Live at Macroblock Booth
The 4th Shanghai International Auto Lamp Exhibition and the 13th Auto Lamp Industry Development Technical Forum (ALE) are both being successful events hold in Shanghai on 28th and 29th of March. ALE 2018 puts on displaying the automotive lighting supply chain that every exhibitor showcases their best and latest solutions. Macroblock takes part in ALE 2018 for the very first time and brings comprehensive automotive lighting driver IC solutions.
Figure 2. Comprehensive driver IC solutions

〝Driving Safety with Innovation〞is the theme this year. Aiming to solve the existing challenges of automotive lighting (safety, reliability, EMI, heat, and cost), Marcoblock provides adequate driver IC solutions to different applications.

1. Headlamp
The headlamp combines high beam, low beam, Daytime Running Lamp (DRL) and turn indicator. High beam and low beam both adopt MBI6671 which features:

• Simple and flexible circuit design
• Support BOOST, BUCK , BUCK-BOOST and SEPIC
• External MOSFET for flexible component selection/heat dissipation and driving higher output power

DRL and turn indicator use the flagship driver IC, MBI1841, which contains 8 linear channels. For each channel, the maximum current can be up to 150mA. Also, in order to decrease manpower cost for the driver board design, it has built-in multiple rolling patterns that do not require any additional coding, yet still achieve effects by setting up external resistors.

As for DRL, MBI1841 can support up to high efficient parallel LED connections and quick altering DRL and position lamp brightness level. When it comes to turn indicators, MBI1841 represents a high efficiency (>80%) linear solution and has built-in patterns that allow speedy hardware settings. It helps decrease the complexity of circuit design.
Figure 3. Macroblock Headlamp Solution
Figure 4. Macroblock MBI6671 Demo Box

2. Rear Lamp
The combined rear lamp unit contains rear lamp, brake lamp and turn indicator. MBI1841 is adopted for all three in this demonstration.

As aforementioned features of MBI1841, it is equipped with the rear/brake pattern that can apply to existing products without using complicated dimming method. 

Regarding to Table 1, it is easy to understand why MBI1841 is a better solution when comparing to an MCU based solution.
Table 1. MBI1841 and MCU based structure comparison
Figure 5. Macroblock Rear Lamp Solution
Figure 6. Macroblock MBI1841 Demo box

3. Fog Lamp
Macroblock provides two solutions for fog lamps. The first fog lamp solution adopts MBI6657 which is equipped with 1.2A internal MOSFET. This is a low EMI solution, while testing in cars with 12V power supply, it does not interfere AM/FM radio. The second light guide fog lamp solution uses MBI6671. Because of its flexibility to operate in buck, boost, and buck-boost features, MBI6671 can work with different number of LEDs in one string.
Figure 7. Macroblock Fog Lamp Solution
Figure 8. Macroblock MBI6657 Demo box

4. Side Mirror Lamp
The side mirror lamp uses one MBI1841 to switch in between position lamp and turn indicator. When applying to position lamps, it has built-in welcome patterns that allow speedy hardware settings. For turn indicators, MBI1841 helps fasten timing adjustment and simplify lighting effect development.
Figure 9. Macroblock Side Mirror Lamp Solution

5. Dashboard
Macroblock has a hold on mini LED development even though we do not demonstrate at ALE 2018 this time. Mini LED solutions adopt MBI5/6 series driver ICs and were showcased at ISE 2018. The mini LED solutions can be applied to head up display (HUD) and dashboard, and provide better display brightness and contrast. Therefore, its popularity is on the rise in the entire automotive display industry.
Figure 10 Showing mini LED solution at ISE 2018

During ALE 2018, customers show high interest in Macroblock’s driver solutions. Our employees provide clear and concise product explanations, and also direct interact with customers, which make it easier for users to have a better understanding of driver IC values. Last but not least, Macroclock takes this opportunity to demonstrate solid R&D capability and great performance in the automotive lighting area.