LEDs with a built-in driver
When you’re powering red, green, and blue LEDs to get a specific level of light and color 
output, there are a lot of details to worry about. That’s the reason Inova Semiconductors GmbH, a fabless German IC maker, came up with an LED driver chip that can sit on the same die as the LEDs themselves or be used separately. The driver IC, visible in the image, includes PWM current sources, communication circuits, and other items necessary to power up to 4,079 LEDs in a chain. It also handles dimming, setting the brightness of the RGB LEDs to an 8-bit resolution. It receives commands via bidirectional half-duplex 2 Mbit/sec serial lines. Typical vehicular apps are in roof lighting, display backlighting, and ambient lighting.
NEXT PAGE: A make-believe high-speed bus
Hypervisor for automobile is a smart idea if the overhead proves insignificant. Someday automakers can realize the security benefits of hypervisor.