Display Different LED Sequences Using the MAXQ2000 Microcontroller with the MAX6970 LED Driver

Overview

The MAX6970 is an 8-port, 36V constant-current LED driver that uses a 4-wire serial interface. Using this application note, the MAX6970 can be used with the MAXQ2000 16-bit RISC microcontroller to create a variety of simple LED sequences with the touch of a button.

Hardware Setup

The circuit discussed in this application note utilizes the MAX6970EVKIT and the MAXQ2000-KIT. The MAX6970 evaluation (EV) kit schematic is shown in Figure 1. A MAXQ2000 EV kit board is included in the MAX6970 EV kit design. However for this application, it will be detached from the on-board MAXQ2000, since the MAXQ2000 EV kit has pushbutton features that would otherwise be used to control the LED sequences.