The IR2161 is a dedicated Intelligent Half bridge Driver IC for a Halogen convertor (electronic transformer). It includes all necessary protection features and also allows the Convertor to be dimmed externally with a standard phase cut dimmer with both leading or trailing edge types. This IC provides the advantage of reduced thermal stress in the lamp due to softstart. There is also compensation of the output voltage for load regulation. It enables the convertor to operate with extremely low harmonic distortion over the full range of loads. The IR2161 includes adaptive deadtime to allow cool running MOSFETs and improves the EMI behaviour due to frequency modulation (dither). All the features are integrated in a small 8 pin DIP/SOIC package to allow for a size reduction in the next generation of convertors.