A Novel MTCMOS-Based On-Chip Soft-Start Circuit for Low Leakage LED Driver with Minimum In-Rush Current

摘要

Multi-threshold complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (MTCMOS)-based on-chip soft-start circuit for low leakage LED driver with minimum in-rush current is proposed in this paper. During the start-up time of the LED driver, more in-rush current flows to the LED lights which can cause more stress and to the LED. The prolonged stress due to the in-rush current may reduce the life span of the LEDs. Hence, it is mandatory to minimize the in-rush current during the start-up time of the LED driver. The proposed method is validated through the simulations carried out in Cadence Virtuoso Analog Design Environment. The proposed circuits have been designed and implemented in CMOS 180-nm generic process design kit (GPDK). The proposed MTCMOS-based soft-start circuit reduces the in-rush current during the start-up time and minimizes the leakage power during the standby mode of the LED driver. The proposed scheme minimizes the in-rush current, and hence, the life span of the LEDs is improved; moreover, the battery backup time is also enhanced due to minimization of the leakage power. The proposed system outperforms well in terms of minimum in-rush current and low leakage current compared to the conventional LED driver. The conventional LED driver has 3.801 μA leakage current, whereas the proposed LED driver has a leakage current of 37.51 nA during 10% duty cycle for the same simulation setup.