Date: 13/02/2012

Bright LED camera flash in phone with 40 Watts power capability

These days when you always carry a battery in the form of mobile phone, there are range of applications electronics designer can think in leveraging that battery source. One such intersting example is emergency lamp. There are plenty of phones with LED as torch light, but the disadvantage is, the light is not enough. Chip maker ST Microelectronics has comeout with 40W system-in-package chip, the new STCF04 integrating camera flash and torch controller, producing the brightness equivalent to an outdoor security floodlight. The new device also provides extra flash and torch brightness controls, with eight user-selectable levels for the flash and 12 for the torch, as well as a light-sensor input. Flash and torch safety timers, temperature sensing and short-circuit protection features are also built in.

The STCF04 employs supercapacitor (also called ultracap-acitor) from Murata to store the high energy temporarily. STCF04 uses discrete high-current MOSFET switch and high-power white LED. This module may find applications not only in mobile phones and cameras but also in many other portable devices.

Major features of STCF04:
Maximum flash power >40W
1 x 320mA torch current
100mA privacy indicator red LED output; 12 adjustment steps
I2C bus with selectable address
Temperature sensing, short-circuit, over-voltage and flash/torch timer safety features

Package: 25-bump 3 x 3mm TFBGA package
Availability: Now in samples, full production is planned at the end of Q1 2012
Indicative Price: Each at $2.00 for orders of 1000 pieces.