PCA9533: 4-bit I2C-bus LED dimmer

The PCA9533 is a 4-bit I²C-bus and SMBus I/O expander optimized for dimming LEDs in 256 discrete steps for Red/Green/Blue (RGB) color mixing and back light applications.

The PCA9533 contains an internal oscillator with two user programmable blink rates and duty cycles coupled to the output PWM. The LED brightness is controlled by setting the blink rate high enough (> 100 Hz) that the blinking cannot be seen and then using the duty cycle to vary the amount of time the LED is on and thus the average current through the LED.

The initial setup sequence programs the two blink rates/duty cycles for each individual PWM. From then on, only one command from the bus master is required to turn individual LEDs ON, OFF, BLINK RATE 1 or BLINK RATE 2. Based on the programmed frequency and duty cycle, BLINK RATE 1 and BLINK RATE 2 will cause the LEDs to appear at a different brightness or blink at periods up to 1.69 second. The open-drain outputs directly drive the LEDs with maximum output sink current of 25 mA per bit and 100 mA per package.

To blink LEDs at periods greater than 1.69 second the bus master (MCU, MPU, DSP, chip set, etc.) must send repeated commands to turn the LED on and off as is currently done when using normal I/O expanders like the NXP Semiconductors PCF8574 or PCA9554. Any bits not used for controlling the LEDs can be used for General Purpose parallel Input/Output (GPIO) expansion, which provides a simple solution when additional I/O is needed for ACPI power switches, sensors, push-buttons, alarm monitoring, fans, etc.

The Power-On Reset (POR) initializes the registers to their default state, causing the bits to be set HIGH (LED off).

Due to pin limitations, the PCA9533 is not featured with hardware address pins. The PCA9533/01 and the PCA9533/02 have different fixed I²C-bus addresses allowing operation of both on the same bus.

PCA9533: Product Block Diagram
sot096-1_3d
Data Sheets (1)
Name/DescriptionModified Date
4-bit I2C-bus LED dimmer (REV 3.0) PDF (140.0 kB) PCA953327 Apr 2009
Application Notes (1)
Name/DescriptionModified Date
LED dimmer demoboard (REV 1.0) PDF (392.0 kB) AN1031511 Jan 2005
Users Guides (3)
Name/DescriptionModified Date
I2C-bus specification and user manual (REV 6.0) PDF (1.4 MB) UM1020428 Apr 2014
I2C-bus specification and user manual (REV 5.0) PDF (1.6 MB) UM10204_JA03 Apr 2013
I2C Demonstration Board 2005-1 Quick Start Guide (REV 1.0) PDF (261.0 kB) UM1020613 Jun 2006
Brochures (4)
Name/DescriptionModified Date
NXP® I2C-bus solutions 2014: Smart, simple solutions for the 12 most common design concerns (REV 1.0) PDF (3.5 MB) 7501754001 Aug 2014
LED controllers: Voltage-switch drivers, constant-current drivers, and Flash LED drivers (REV 1.0) PDF (2.7 MB) 7501758803 Jul 2014
Create smarter, more efficient white goods; An industry-leading portfolio of cost-effective, power-saving solutions for... (REV 1.0) PDF (1.1 MB) 7501654301 Jun 2008
LED dimming with GPIO expansion; NXP® 2/4/8/16-bit I2C/SMBus LED dimmers PCA9530/31/32/33 (REV 1.0) PDF (212.0 kB) 7501607301 Jun 2007
Package Information (2)
Name/DescriptionModified Date
plastic thin shrink small outline package; 8 leads; body width 3 mm (REV 1.0) PDF (240.0 kB) SOT505-108 Feb 2016
plastic small outline package; 8 leads; body width 3.9 mm (REV 1.0) PDF (244.0 kB) SOT96-108 Feb 2016
Packing (2)
Name/DescriptionModified Date
SO8; Reel pack; SMD, 13" Q1/T1 Standard product orientation Orderable part number ending ,118 or J Ordering... (REV 2.0) PDF (232.0 kB) SOT96-1_11819 Apr 2013
TSSOP8; Reel pack; SMD, 13" Q1/T1 Standard product orientation Orderable part number ending ,118 or... (REV 1.0) PDF (214.0 kB) SOT505-1_11815 Apr 2013
Supporting Information (4)
Name/DescriptionModified Date
Reflow Soldering Profile (REV 1.0) PDF (34.0 kB) REFLOW_SOLDERING_PROFILE30 Sep 2013
Wave Soldering Profile (REV 1.0) PDF (20.0 kB) WAVE_SOLDERING_PROFILE30 Sep 2013
Footprint for reflow soldering (REV 1.0) PDF (9.0 kB) SO-SOJ-REFLOW08 Oct 2009
Footprint for wave soldering (REV 1.0) PDF (8.0 kB) SO-SOJ-WAVE08 Oct 2009
IBIS Model
Ordering Information
ProductPackage version
Package Information
Product IDPackage DescriptionOutline VersionReflow/Wave SolderingPackingProduct StatusPart NumberOrdering code(12NC)MarkingChemical ContentRoHS / Pb Free / RHFLeadFree Conversion DateEFRIFR(FIT)MTBF(hour)MSLMSL LF
PCA9533D/01SOT96-1SO-SOJ-REFLOW SO-SOJ-WAVE
SO-SOJ-REFLOW SO-SOJ-WAVE
Reel 13" Q1/T1ActivePCA9533D/01,118 (9352 744 34118)P9533/1PCA9533D/01week 5, 20050.02.05E811
Bulk PackActivePCA9533D/01,112 (9352 744 34112)P9533/1PCA9533D/01week 5, 20050.02.05E811
PCA9533D/02SOT96-1SO-SOJ-REFLOW SO-SOJ-WAVE
SO-SOJ-REFLOW SO-SOJ-WAVE
Reel 13" Q1/T1ActivePCA9533D/02,118 (9352 744 36118)P9533/2PCA9533D/02week 5, 20050.02.05E811
Bulk PackActivePCA9533D/02,112 (9352 744 36112)P9533/2PCA9533D/02week 5, 20050.02.05E811
PCA9533DP/01SOT505-1Reflow_Soldering_ProfileReel 13" Q1/T1ActivePCA9533DP/01,118 (9352 744 35118)P33/1PCA9533DP/01week 12, 20050.02.05E811
PCA9533DP/02SOT505-1Reflow_Soldering_ProfileReel 13" Q1/T1ActivePCA9533DP/02,118 (9352 744 37118)P33/2PCA9533DP/02week 12, 20050.02.05E811
4-bit I2C-bus LED dimmer PCA9533
LED dimmer demoboard PCA9533
I2C-bus specification and user manual pca9685pw
I2C-bus specification and user manual pca9685pw
I2C Demonstration Board 2005-1 Quick Start Guide pca9685pw
NXP® I2C-bus solutions 2014: Smart, simple solutions for the 12 most common design concerns pca9685pw
LED controllers: Voltage-switch drivers, constant-current drivers, and Flash LED drivers pca9685pw
Create smarter, more efficient white goods; An industry-leading portfolio of cost-effective, power-saving solutions for... PMEG6010CE_AUTOMOTIVE
LED dimming with GPIO expansion; NXP® 2/4/8/16-bit I2C/SMBus LED dimmers PCA9530/31/32/33 PCA9551
Reflow_Soldering_Profile Wave_Soldering_Profile LPC1112FD20
PCA9533 IBIS model PCA9533DP
plastic small outline package; 8 leads; body width 3.9 mm CBT3306_Q100
Footprint for reflow soldering NPIC6C596A_Q100
Footprint for wave soldering NPIC6C596A_Q100
SO8; Reel pack; SMD, 13" Q1/T1 Standard product orientation Orderable part number ending ,118 or J Ordering... CBT3306_Q100
plastic thin shrink small outline package; 8 leads; body width 3 mm pesd5v0l7bas
Reflow_Soldering_Profile Wave_Soldering_Profile LPC1112FD20
TSSOP8; Reel pack; SMD, 13" Q1/T1 Standard product orientation Orderable part number ending ,118 or... pesd5v0l7bas
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