LED Fault-Management Chip

LED lights for critical applications such as vehicle lights, streetlamps and emergency lights are even more dependable and long-lasting thanks to a new fault-management chip from STMicroelectronics (Geneva, Switzerland). The new chip, the LBP01, is used in lamps that comprise multiple channels each containing several LEDs. Without the LBP01, failure of a single LED can extinguish an entire channel, significantly reducing total light output and demanding early replacement. The LBP01 bypasses failed LEDs so that the lamp can continue producing near-maximum illumination. This improves performance and safety, and can yield valuable savings for operators such as city authorities, as the total cost of replacing a streetlamp can be as much as $700.