Nippon Precision Circuits Inc.(NPC) announces the development of Laser Switching Driver IC "SM8610BV", that realizes low current consumption in portable CD and MD players.

NPC has developed several kinds of ICs dedicated to portable audio players such as Shock proof memory controllers or DA converters, and recently has evolved the analog ICs such as Head amplifier IC or Read channel IC for DVD players. With these abundant experiences, NPC has brought the latest IC, SM8610BV, for Portable CD and MD players.

SM8610BV reduces the current consumption by using a laser switching drive, instead of currently means to drive pickup by constant-current laser control. Therefore the battery life will be extended significantly. Also, SM8610BV features the Power-Save Mode, laser driver current stop function. This function realize the decrease of current consumption at IC's non-working time and the quick resumption of laser driving.

SM8610BV allows flexible design according to the power supply and set design, by freely settings of Laser switching frequency, Maximum driving current consumption and Duty ratio.