Osram Opto joins the ISELED Alliance expanding the ecosystem for in-cabin auto lighting

The ISELED has defined RGB LED modules with an integrated controller that can deliver new SSL capabilities in an automotive cabin, including dynamic cabin lighting, roof lighting, and more, and Osram Opto Semiconductors has joined the alliance.

The ISELED Alliance has announced that Osram Opto Semiconductors has joined the alliance focused on a solid-state lighting (SSL) scheme that will feature connected RGB (red, green, blue) nodes that can provide dynamic lighting inside an automotive cabin. Osram joins a group of members that includes Inova Semiconductors, Dominant Opto Technologies, Lucie Labs, Melexis, OLSA Group, NXP, TE Connectivity, the University of Pforzheim, and Valeo. Inova Semiconductors founded the alliance at the Electronica trade fair in Munich back in 2016, hoping to create an ecosystem of partners that could supply all aspects of a dynamic, connected LED system to the auto industry.

The fundamental building block of the ISELED technology is an RGB light point or node that includes the three LEDs along with an integrated digital controller. The alliance further defines a 2-wire digital bus capable of 2-Mbps data rates that can connect more than 4000 of the RGB nodes that would likely be supplied as flexible strips. Moreover, ISELED Alliance members will deliver the software and other system elements needed to enable new auto cabin-lighting applications.

ISELED says the intended applications include:

• Dynamic ambient lighting
• Roof lighting
• Functional lighting (for reading, etc.)
• Display backlighting

The alliance also states the 2-Mbps data rate is video capable. But it’s not clear that the technology would be used to display video imaging; rather, it might be used to synchronize with video as autonomous vehicle platforms emerge.

Osram, meanwhile, has deep roots in automotive lighting and has worked on its own and in partnerships to pursue a variety of interior and exterior automotive applications. Most recently, Osram announced a partnership with automotive OEM Continental focused on next-generation automotive concepts. Moreover, the company has been in another partnership focused on smart 1024-pixel LED arrays for exterior lighting that might even project messages for other vehicles and pedestrians.

Osram Opto Semiconductors has joined several partners in the ISELED Alliance, which was organized to advance research and commercialization of dynamic, connected LED systems to the automotive industry.

In the ISELED case, Osram Opto was almost surely pursued for its semiconductor manufacturing capabilities. The ISELED announcement indicated that Osram would be developing the first of the smart RGB nodes. Furthermore, the integrated intelligence will eliminate any need for sensors that monitor the color and intensity of the nodes.

“A key customer advantage of these innovative smart LED components is that the complex calibration for adjusting color location and brightness between the individual LEDs is no longer necessary,” said Hermann Senninger, senior marketing manager for automotive interior products at Osram Opto. “In addition, this technology also opens up many other potential applications for our customers — first for the vehicle interior and later also for the exterior.”

Osram’s participation in the automotive sector, specifically from the Osram Opto perspective, is a primary driver of the company’s success. As we covered in a report from Strategies in Light 2017, the LED manufacturers with an emphasis on automotive had gained market share and Osram had become the second-largest manufacturer of packaged LEDs globally measured by revenue. That data came from our Strategies Unlimited market research business unit that is a sister business of LEDs Magazine within the PennWell Media LEDs & Lighting Network of businesses, which also includes Strategies in Light. You can get far more detailed data on the packaged LED market in the Strategies Unlimited annual report on the sector.