Lighting devices and methods for regulating periodic changes in analog output

Abstract

This disclosure relates to lighting devices and methods for regulating periodic changes in analog output. Lighting devices, systems, and methods for simulating daylight along a daytime or nighttime trajectory are provided. The simulation of daylight depends on the path length of the sun relative to a structure containing the lighting devices and systems. One or more lighting devices can be grouped together, and daylight simulation is performed along a trajectory by producing the same color temperature change throughout the day through all the lighting devices within that group, thereby producing different color temperatures throughout the day. Furthermore, a particular advantage of the preferred embodiments is the ability to manually change the simulated natural daylight output from one or more groups of lighting devices at any time, and advantageously, to change the color output more at certain times than at other times by simply actuating a trigger on a dimmer associated with a virtual or physical keypad.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of Chinese Patent Application No. 201780066068.1, filed on August 7, 2017, entitled "Lighting device and method for regulating periodic changes in analog output". Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to lighting devices including light-emitting diodes (LEDs), wherein the color temperature and / or brightness of the LEDs change automatically during the day or night, and the color temperature can advantageously change based on the time of day when a change in lighting is manually applied. Background Technology

[0003] The following descriptions and examples are provided as background information only and are intended to disclose information that may be relevant to this invention. No of the following information is necessarily intended or should be construed as prior art constituting a patentable feature affecting the subject matter claimed herein.

[0004] Lighting equipment, sometimes called lighting fixtures, light sources, or lamps, includes incandescent lighting equipment, fluorescent lighting equipment, and the increasingly popular light-emitting diode (LED) lighting equipment. LEDs offer many advantages over traditional lighting equipment such as incandescent and fluorescent lamps. Primarily, LED lighting equipment has lower power consumption, longer lifespan, is constructed from materials with minimal risk, and can be color-tuned for different applications. For example, LED lighting equipment provides the opportunity to adjust chromaticity (e.g., from white to blue to green, etc.) or color temperature (e.g., from “warm white” to “cool white”) to produce different lighting effects.

[0005] Lighting devices can include multicolor LED lighting devices that combine multiple LEDs of different colors into a single package. Examples of multicolor LED lighting devices are those in which two or more LEDs of different chromaticities are combined within the same package to produce white or near-white light. Many different types of white light lighting devices are available on the market, some combining red, green, and blue (RGB) LEDs, red, green, blue, and yellow (RGBY) LEDs, phosphor-converted white and red (WR) LEDs, RGBW LEDs, etc. By combining different chromaticities of LEDs within the same package and driving LEDs of different colors coated with different semiconductor materials or made from different semiconductor materials and with different drive currents, these lighting devices can mix their chromaticity outputs to generate white or near-white light within a wide color temperature or correlated color temperature (CCT) gamut, ranging from "warm white" (e.g., approximately 2600K-3700K) to "neutral white" (e.g., 3700K-5000K) to "cool white" (e.g., 5000K-8300K). Some multicolor LED lighting devices also enable the change of brightness and / or color of the lighting to a specific set point. When set to a specific brightness and chromaticity (or color set point) on a standardized chromaticity diagram, these tunable lighting devices should all produce the same color and color rendering index (CRI).

[0006] A chromaticity diagram maps the color gamut that the human eye can perceive in terms of chromaticity coordinates and spectral wavelengths. The spectral wavelengths of all saturated colors are distributed around the edge of a contour space (called the "color gamut" of human vision), which encompasses all hues perceived by the human eye. The curved edges of the color gamut are called spectral loci and correspond to monochromatic light, where each point represents a pure hue of a single wavelength. The straight edges at the bottom of the color gamut are called the violet lines. These colors, although located at the boundaries of the color gamut, have no corresponding colors in monochromatic light. Less saturated colors appear inside the diagram, with white and near-white near the center.

[0007] exist Figure 1 In the 1931 CIE chromaticity diagram shown, colors within the human visual gamut 10 are mapped along chromaticity coordinates (x, y). For example, a red (R) LED with a peak wavelength of 625 nm can have chromaticity coordinates of (0.69, 0.31), a green (G) LED with a peak wavelength of 528 nm can have chromaticity coordinates of (0.18, 0.73), and a blue (B) LED with a peak wavelength of 460 nm can have chromaticity coordinates of (0.14, 0.04). The chromaticity coordinates (i.e., color points) along the blackbody trajectory 12 follow Planck's equation, E(λ) = Aλ. -5 / (e (B / T)-1). Color points located on or near the blackbody trajectory provide a range of white or near-white light with color temperatures ranging from approximately 2500K to 10000K. These color temperatures are typically achieved by mixing light from two or more LEDs of different colors. For example, light emitted from RGB LEDs can be mixed to produce substantially white light with a color temperature ranging from approximately 2500K to approximately 5000K. While lighting fixtures are typically configured to produce a range of white or near-white color temperatures (e.g., approximately 2500K to 5000K) arranged along the blackbody curve, some lighting fixtures can be configured to produce any color within a color gamut triangle formed by the individual LEDs (e.g., RGB).

[0008] At least a portion of the blackbody locus 12 is often referred to as the "daytime locus," corresponding to the Kelvin scale of daytime color temperature. For example, as Figure 2 As shown, several bounding boxes 14a, 14b, 14c, and 14d are illustrated, illustrating the goal of simulating the color temperature of daylight during the day. For example, 14a, 14b, 14c, and 14d are chromaticity regions along the daytime trajectory 12 (shown as dashed lines), corresponding to Kelvin target color temperatures of 6000K, 4000K, 3000K, and 2300K, respectively. For instance, a daytime trajectory color temperature of 6000K can simulate a midday blue sky, 4000K can simulate a less blue mixture with some yellow overcast skies, 3000K can simulate a mixture of predominantly yellow and some red morning skies, and 2300K can simulate a predominantly red and some yellow sunrise sky, similar to the differences between natural white, cool white, and warm white color temperatures.

[0009] Some lighting fixtures allow color temperature to be changed by altering the ratio of the drive current supplied to each LED chain. The drive current supplied to different color LED chains, particularly the ratio of the drive current, can be varied by adjusting the level of drive current supplied to one or more emitting LED chains (current dimming) or the duty cycle (PWM dimming). For example, a lighting fixture including RGB LED chains can be configured to produce a warm white temperature by increasing the drive current supplied to the red LED chain and decreasing the drive current supplied to the blue and / or green LED chains.

[0010] The Color Rendering Index (CRI) is an index that defines the overall color or appearance of a color, and it can be defined by luminous flux (i.e., lumen output or luminance) and chromaticity. Luminance and chromaticity, or color temperature (when mixed), can often form a target setting that changes as LEDs age due to variations in drive current, temperature, and time. In some devices, the drive current supplied to one or more emitting LEDs can be adjusted to change the luminance level and / or color temperature setting of the lighting device. For example, the drive current supplied to all LED chains can be increased to increase the lumens or luminance output from the lighting device. In another example, as described above, the color temperature setting of the lighting device can be changed by altering the ratio of the drive current supplied to the LED chains. As described above, a lighting device including RGB LEDs can be configured to produce “warmer” white light by increasing the drive current supplied to the red LED chain and decreasing the drive current supplied to the blue and / or green LED chains.

[0011] A lighting fixture is needed that can produce different colors or color appearances defined by luminance and chromaticity throughout the day (including evening and night). It is desired to simulate the daytime trajectory of one or more lighting fixtures configured within the interior space of a structure, extending into the night. Based on a timing signal expected to be periodically transmitted throughout the day, it is necessary to periodically change the luminance and the chromaticity to form the color temperature of one or more groups of lighting fixtures within one or more rooms. The desired timing signal can be transmitted from a timer located away from one or more groups of lighting fixtures to dynamically change the color temperature to track, correspond to, or be specific to a simulated color temperature outside the structure, and to outdoor daylight or the possible lack thereof.

[0012] There is also a need for a lighting system and method that does not rely on sensor outputs to periodically change the color temperature output from a single lighting fixture or a group or multiple lighting fixtures. Instead of using sensors, the dynamic changes in simulated color temperature are selectively applied using time-of-day signals based on the application in each room. This proves advantageous and applicable to improved lighting systems that do not rely on, and cannot rely on, sensor outputs to periodically change the color temperature output. Furthermore, it is desirable that whenever a task involving changes in the color temperature output from one or more lighting fixtures is required, the brightness can be advantageously manually adjusted to override the simulated daylight output or its absence generated by LEDs. Similar to a desired timer used to generate the time of day, with regular periodic time outputs and corresponding color temperature changes in response to those times of day, the desired lighting system can change the dynamically and automatically simulated daylight output by manually adjusting the brightness of all lighting fixtures within a group, producing different changes in color temperature output depending on the time of day at which the manual adjustment occurs. Therefore, it is advantageous to manually change the color temperature relative to the time of day, and possibly more frequently at certain times of the day than at others. For example, when the simulated daylight output simulates a higher color temperature near midday, manually adjusting the brightness during a task will not significantly affect the high color temperature required to maintain a more realistic midday daylight simulation. However, even if the brightness changes by the same amount during sunrise and sunset as at midday, it is desirable to manually adjust the lower color temperature output more during sunrise and sunset than at midday. Therefore, it is desirable to utilize the relationship between color temperature as a function of both time of day and brightness to achieve task dimming (or reverse dimming) and produce a daytime simulation within the structure that is more consistent with the actual daylight occurring outside the structure. Simulation and manual overclocking should be applied desirably to each group of lighting fixtures within the structure. For example, the automatic simulation within a group of lighting fixtures in a bedroom should be different from that in the kitchen, and the manual overclocking in each room should also be different because different tasks need to be performed in these rooms. Summary of the Invention

[0013] The following provides a description of various embodiments of lighting devices, systems, and methods for dynamically and automatically controlling color temperature changes during the day or night, and for manually controlling the automatically changing color temperature. Manual control of task dimming can occur at any time of day, and preferably, the color temperature change resulting from manual adjustment of the automatically changing color temperature (depending on the desired task, either increasing or decreasing the color temperature) can efficiently and advantageously maintain a more realistic simulation of actual changes in external daylight that vary with the time of day or night.

[0014] According to one embodiment, a lighting device is provided comprising multiple LED chains, wherein each chain can be configured to produce illumination for the lighting device at a chromaticity consistent with a chromaticity setting. For example, each chain can be one of the primary chromaticities, such as red, green, or blue. Furthermore, the chains can also have a chromaticity consistent with a white chromaticity setting. The lighting device may also include driving circuitry coupled to the multiple LED chains. The driving circuitry is configured to generate a driving current to each chain, and based on the driving current supplied to those chains, the driving current can automatically change the color temperature output from the lighting device according to the time of day. For example, if the ratio of the current driven to the LED chains is modified periodically, such modification can occur automatically based on a time output from, for example, a timer.

[0015] Automatic modification or alteration of color temperature does not involve actuating triggers such as sliders on the user interface of the remote control. Unlike manual overclocking, which involves changes in intensity values ​​sent from the remote control to the interface or from the dimmer to the controller, automatic color temperature changes occur through parameters or setpoints, pre-existing as stored content in the memory of one or more lighting devices, and are invoked when one or more lighting devices receive a time signal of the day sent from the remote control. Manual overclocking necessarily involves user actuation of triggers on the user interface, while automatic color temperature changes occur periodically and automatically when the appropriate time signal of the day is sent, without any user actuation of triggers.

[0016] The lighting device may also include a control module coupled to a drive circuit for sending brightness values, for example, generated by a task dimming function. The brightness values ​​are sent to each of a plurality of LED chains. The control module may include an interface coupled to receive intensity values ​​from a remote control, which is, for example, remotely positioned relative to the lighting device, specifically relative to a control module within the lighting device that includes a controller. A storage medium may include a non-linear first mapping from the intensity values ​​received from the remote control to the brightness values ​​sent to the LED chains. The storage medium may also include a second mapping of color temperature as a function of time of day. The control module may also include a controller within the lighting device, coupled to receive changes in the intensity values ​​from the interface and to obtain the first and second mappings from the storage medium to generate a change in color temperature at a first time of day relative to a second time of day. According to one embodiment, the change in intensity values ​​may decrease the color temperature during daytime as part of a dimming function. However, depending on the task, if reverse dimming is required, such as on a cloudy day when a higher temperature is needed for a readout task, the change in intensity values ​​may increase the color temperature. Furthermore, for example, if the current analog output is nighttime and the user wants to increase the color temperature when he / she wakes up from bed, then the intensity value can be increased.

[0017] The user moves a trigger on the remote control, which accordingly changes the intensity value sent to the control module of each lighting device within a group of lighting fixtures in a room, for example, a room. As the intensity increases or decreases, task lighting can be manually controlled on a room-by-room basis. Furthermore, manual control based on room-by-room applications takes precedence over automatic changes in color temperature output, which are also based on room-by-room applications. For example, using improved detection and confirmation processing for group projection, a single trigger on the remote control can be manually actuated to control the automatic change in color temperature output of the entire group of lighting fixtures. The change in intensity can correspond to a fixed or variable change in brightness applied to the LED chain. A fixed change in brightness can produce a larger change in color temperature output from the LED chain during the first time of day than during the second time of day, while a variable change in brightness can produce an equal change in color temperature output from the LED chain during the first time of day as during the second time of day. According to the first embodiment, even if the brightness output from the LED chain remains constant throughout the day, but changes by the same amount throughout the day, the color temperature can change more during the first time period of the day than during the second time period of the day. Or according to the second embodiment, even if the brightness output from the LED chain changes throughout the day, but changes by the same amount throughout the day, the color temperature can change by the same amount during the first time period of the day as during the second time period of the day.

[0018] Each of the multiple LED chains can produce a different spectral wavelength range than the other LED chains. A drive current is applied to each of the multiple LED chains, and this drive current changes automatically with the time of day as a ratio between the multiple LED chains. The dynamic and automatic change function does not terminate until the interface receives an intensity value. The interface coupled to receive the intensity value is the interface that receives the intensity value during a lighting task, which can be either dimming or reverse dimming, for example, triggered by a user's manual override via a remote control to temporarily stop the dynamic and automatic change of color temperature with the time of day. Alternatively, the dynamic and automatic change of color temperature can continue at the level of dimming or reverse dimming. For example, when the next time signal of the day from a timer calls for the next color temperature within the automatically changing color temperature display, the resulting color temperature can be greater than or less than the color temperature normally generated from that display. Manual override occurs when the user actuates a button or slider on the remote control or on an AC power-coupled dimmer that includes a triac switching element. For example, actuating a trigger on a remote control or a triac switch can send the position of a button or slider from the remote control or dimmer to the interface as an intensity value. Manual dimming overshoot will cause a change in the brightness output from multiple LED chains. The manual dimming overshoot and the resulting change in brightness output will affect the LED output color temperature differently depending on the time of day when the user actuates the trigger (e.g., button or slider).

[0019] For example, if the color temperature output from the LED chain dynamically and automatically changes from, for example, 2300 Kelvin to 6000 Kelvin from sunrise to noon, then manual task lighting overdrive can occur by manually dimming the brightness output. Manually dimming the brightness in the morning will have a greater impact on reducing the color temperature compared to dimming at, for example, noon. Even with the same level of brightness dimming, the color temperature reduction via task dimming is advantageously greater in the morning than during noon. This advantage is crucial because when a user in a structure performs dimming to perform a task in that room of the structure, the user will prefer to maintain a higher color temperature associated with noon. Nevertheless, users also prefer to achieve a greater color temperature reduction during, for example, early morning or late afternoon, because during those times the color temperature is already close to the warm white spectrum and further dimming to complete the task will not harmfully affect the user's perception of daylight simulation, which is already on a lower color temperature trajectory. Historically, users have been accustomed to using incandescent bulbs at approximately 2700 K, which drops to 1500 K as the light dims. However, high color temperature lighting devices, such as fluorescent or LED lighting equipment, do not significantly change their color temperature when dimmed. Therefore, the purpose of dimming LEDs more in the morning and evening is generally the opposite of regular LED lighting operation, but ideally achieved through this manual overdrive, while maintaining the less dimming that is normally desired when a higher color temperature is achieved.

[0020] Therefore, according to one embodiment, it is preferred that the drive current to each of the multiple LED chains automatically changes with the time of day to alter the color temperature output from the LEDs, thereby simulating the natural daylight of the sun from sunrise to sunset. According to another embodiment, while the drive current to each of the multiple LED chains changes automatically depending on the timer output related to the sun's position, the interface allows wired or wireless communication from a timer within a remote control located away from the lighting equipment. The remote control also allows a trigger for the user to actuate the trigger and change the intensity value sent to the interface. A dimming or reverse dimming trigger button slider can be configured on a dimmer or remote control based on a three-terminal bidirectional SCR switch, located away from the lighting equipment and coupled to the AC trunk. Actuation not only changes the intensity value but also correspondingly changes the same amount of brightness on all LEDs within one or more groups of lighting equipment controlled by the trigger button. However, depending on the time of day, when LEDs typically produce a lower color temperature, the brightness change achieved by changing the intensity value preferably has a greater effect than when they produce a higher color temperature. Although the change in brightness is the same, the benefit of the different effects on color temperature stems from human perception of simulated daylight. As mentioned above, the motivation is to allow users to maintain a higher color temperature during peak daylight hours than during off-peak hours when users would prefer a lower color temperature, during over-the-top or manual dimming adjustments. This adjustment is made whenever a user wants to dim from higher to lower brightness to perform a certain task, maintaining a higher color temperature during peak daylight hours and reducing the color temperature more significantly during off-peak daylight hours.

[0021] According to yet another embodiment, a lighting system is provided. This lighting system may include a plurality of LEDs configured to generate multiple color temperatures along a blackbody curve. A timer may also be provided for generating multiple times of day, including a first time and a second time of day. A driving circuit may be coupled between the timer and the plurality of LEDs to receive the multiple times of day and assign drive current to the plurality of LEDs to generate a first color temperature during the first time of day and a second color temperature during the second time of day. The driving circuit automatically and dynamically generates the first and second color temperatures depending on when the timer generates the first and second time signals of day. However, the dynamic and automatic generation of the first and second color temperatures can be overridden by a user-actuated trigger. A control module, specifically an interface coupled to the control module, can receive intensity values ​​from a remote control or dimmer and can send a corresponding brightness value to each of the plurality of LEDs. The brightness value is determined based on a non-linear first mapping from intensity value to brightness value. That non-linear first mapping may be stored in a storage medium, along with a second mapping of color temperature as a function of time of day. The storage medium, specifically the first and second mappings, is used by the controller. When the controller receives a change in intensity value from the remote control or dimmer, the controller retrieves the first and second mappings from the storage medium, and even if the brightness change caused by the change in intensity value is equal at the first and second times of the day, a greater color temperature change can be produced during the first time of the day than during the second time of the day.

[0022] For example, the timer within the remote control is preferably any module, circuit, or system with a clock. The clock preferably varies depending on the Earth's position relative to the structure where the timer is placed. The clock can be coupled to any synchronization system, such as a crystal oscillator, or can receive periodic feeds from, for example, a satellite or via the Internet. Furthermore, the clock can preferably be reset based on the latitude and longitudinal coordinates of the timer and the specific time zone in which the timer is located. The timer generates multiple times of day at any interval desired by the user, such as per minute, per hour, or per few hours. Thus, if a regular timing interval is set to per hour, multiple times of day can include daytime, for example, starting at 6:00 AM, 7:00 AM, 8:00 AM, etc. Alternatively, the timer generates a time signal only at selected times, such as sunrise, one hour after sunrise, sunset, and / or one hour before sunset. In the latter example, the timer can generate at relatively short intervals (e.g., 10-minute intervals) within a fixed time period (e.g., one hour) to produce a smooth or "fade-in" effect as the color temperature changes each time sunrise and sunset occur. Therefore, for the observer, the color temperature will change in a series of increasing or decreasing steps or linearly to increase or decrease the display of automatic color temperature changes.

[0023] Similar to a timer preferably configured in a remote control (i.e., a physical keypad, or a portable computing device wired or wirelessly coupled to one or more lighting devices), an AC trunk-coupled dimmer is also configured to be located away from the lighting devices. The remote control or dimmer manually, non-linearly, and depending on the time of day, changes the brightness value, altering the color temperature by different amounts. However, changes in the intensity value output from the dimmer equally alter the brightness value across multiple LEDs, altering the color temperature by equal or different amounts depending on the time of day. For example, the dimmer may include a trigger that, when actuated by a user, alters the color temperature more before 10:00 AM and after 4:00 PM than between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM. Furthermore, when actuated by a user, movement of the trigger on the dimmer can record the corresponding change in intensity value, and correspondingly record the change in brightness value. The color temperature preferably decreases more before 10:00 AM and after 4:00 PM than between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM. More preferably, the color temperature decreases more one or two hours after sunrise and one or two hours before sunset than during the intermediate period between sunrise and sunset. Those times are local times relative to the geographical location of the structure containing the lighting equipment.

[0024] According to yet another preferred embodiment, the plurality of LEDs may include a first plurality of LEDs. A second plurality of LEDs may be grouped with the first plurality of LEDs within a room of the structure. Thus, two or more LED-based lighting devices may be grouped together within a room of the structure. Those lighting devices may be a group of downlights (PAR) installed in the ceiling, and / or one or more A20 or A19 lighting devices, for example, placed on a bedside table. Regardless of the type or function of the lighting devices, they may be grouped together for control purposes. However, typically, for example, a group of lighting devices is generally arranged geographically close to each other within a room of the structure. Therefore, preferably according to some embodiments, the grouped plurality of lighting devices may be configured to produce the same color temperature across all lighting devices within the group. The color temperature across the grouped plurality of lighting devices is set by a dataset stored as content within each of the grouped plurality of lighting devices. For example, the content of this dataset is configured and then stored in the grouped lighting devices using a remote control. Thus, the remote control can not only discover all lighting devices within the structure, but also subsequently group certain lighting device groups, and assign the content of the dataset defining the chromaticity and luminance values ​​of each lighting device within the group. Subsequently, when the timer invokes a time-based display, automatic fade-in, such as color temperature changes, sends a periodic time signal throughout the day to the specific group of lighting fixtures. This causes all lighting fixtures within that group to experience automatic color temperature changes throughout the day, and possibly also automatic changes in brightness output. Therefore, a preferred method involves automatically changing the color temperature among multiple lighting fixtures in a group based on periodic, different time signals throughout the day sent from timers of multiple lighting fixtures located far apart in the group, to simulate the changing natural light produced by the sun.

[0025] Preferred lighting methods also include manual dimming of brightness across multiple grouped lighting devices, causing the color temperature to change in accordance with the current time signal of the day sent from a timer. Specifically, if manual dimming occurs at the first time of day (i.e., at the current time signal of the first time of day), the color temperature can change more than if manual dimming occurs at the second time of day (i.e., at the current time signal of the second time of day). Manual dimming can maintain its over-control state of terminating automatic color temperature change or increasing / decreasing automatic color temperature change until the timeout timer expires, a predetermined time signal of the day subsequently occurs, or possibly the next predetermined time signal of the day subsequently occurs. The over-control state can be maintained indefinitely or for a specific predetermined amount of time. Moreover, manual over-control, and specifically the change in the intensity of dimming or reverse dimming levels, can occur gradually, linearly, exponentially, or with any dimming or reverse dimming gradient desired by the user, based on multiple steps within a fixed or varying amount of time, to gradually fade into the automatically changing color temperature. The details thereof are further described below, including details of each of the above embodiments. Attached Figure Description

[0026] Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from reading the following detailed description and referring to the accompanying drawings.

[0027] Figure 1 It is a graph of the 1931 CIE chromaticity diagram, which illustrates the blackbody curve of color perception or color temperature, as well as the color gamut of the spectrum wavelengths achievable by lighting devices that include LEDs of multiple different colors.

[0028] Figure 2 This is an exemplary color temperature space along the blackbody curve, showing four illumination boundaries from multiple LEDs;

[0029] Figure 3 It depicts the angular relationship between the structure containing the lighting equipment and the sun, including the change in the path length of sunlight throughout the day;

[0030] Figure 4 It depends on the relationship between the sun's path length and the dominant wavelength throughout the day;

[0031] Figure 5 An array of LEDs of different colors is depicted within a lighting device, wherein each LED of a different color can be configured in a chain of LEDs of similar colors;

[0032] Figure 6It is an exemplary plan view of a structure containing multiple lighting devices arranged in one or more groups within one or more rooms of the structure, and corresponding remote controls are also placed in one or more rooms within the structure;

[0033] Figure 7 This is an exemplary block diagram of a lighting device, which includes a power converter, an LED driver circuit, a control circuit controller, and multiple LED chains of different colors;

[0034] Figure 8 It can be included in Figure 7 An exemplary block diagram of an LED driver circuit within a lighting device;

[0035] Figure 9 This is an exemplary GUI for a remote control of a lighting device, further illustrating the commissioning of a physical lighting device to a group that may be associated with a specific area or room within the structure;

[0036] Figure 10A yes Figure 7 The exemplary GUI of the controller shown further illustrates the assignment of lighting device groups to, for example, keypad buttons;

[0037] Figure 10B yes Figure 7 The exemplary GUI of the controller shown further illustrates the assignment of a scene or a scene that changes over time (i.e., the display) to one or more groups previously assigned to, for example, keypad buttons.

[0038] Figure 10C yes Figure 7 The exemplary GUI of the controller shown further illustrates the assignment of color and brightness for each scene and the assignment of the time for calling each scene to form the display.

[0039] Figure 11 It is a graph showing the spectral sensitivity of brightness at different color wavelengths;

[0040] Figure 12 It is a graph of brightness provided to lighting equipment at different intensities (such as power or current);

[0041] Figure 13A and 13B It is a curve of different color temperatures appearing at different times of the day, and the different effects of brightness changes on those colors depend on when the brightness changes;

[0042] Figure 14It is a block diagram of the contents (or dataset) stored in the storage medium of the lighting device and the time messages sent from the controller, wherein the time messages address different datasets depending on the state of the real-time clock in the controller, and if different datasets are addressed, the color output from the lighting device is automatically changed or manually changed depending on the state.

[0043] Figure 15 It is a curve showing how color temperature changes as a function of both time of day and brightness.

[0044] Figure 16 It is another graph showing how color temperature changes as a function of both time of day and brightness; and

[0045] Figure 17 It is a block diagram of the intensity transferred to the luminance dimming curve and the brightness transferred to the color simulation curve, so as to generate the target color temperature at any time, such as when manually changing the daytime simulated display.

[0046] While the invention is readily adaptable to various modifications and substitutions, specific embodiments thereof are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings and will be described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the drawings and their detailed description are not intended to limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed, but rather are intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Detailed Implementation

[0047] Among the various advantages of LED-based lighting, LEDs offer a unique opportunity to integrate artificial and natural light, providing beneficial and healthy illumination through dynamic lighting mechanisms. A particular advantage of LED-based lighting is the generation of artificial daylight for various reasons, especially for the treatment of human ailments such as circadian rhythm disorders, seasonal illnesses, and shift work conditions. Many conventional LED-based lighting devices replicate or “simulate” natural daylight conditions through the use of sensors. Sensors can detect daylight conditions within the internal structure of a structure and create artificial lighting from the lighting device, attempting to replicate natural daylight conditions or simulate daylight outside the structure. Unfortunately, sensors have limitations in both technology and the location of these sensors. Therefore, sensors do not always accurately detect external daylight conditions and sometimes fail to properly simulate outdoor natural daylight conditions.

[0048] Therefore, a more preferred alternative mechanism is to keep track of the time of day and send multiple time-of-day values ​​from a timer to the LED-based lighting fixtures. Instead of using sensors (which have various drawbacks associated with them), timers are used, and the simulated daylight changes based on the time-of-day values ​​or data sent from the timers. Using timers and time-of-day values ​​proves advantageous if the day / night display is tailored differently depending on the room where daylight is simulated. Sensors cannot tailor the simulation to a room; instead, they sense throughout the structure and provide a consistent simulation. Thus, grouping the lighting fixtures based on individual rooms and controlling each room separately with different remote controls and associated timers with different time-of-day values ​​is inherent to timers rather than sensors—an added benefit of not using sensors to control the daylight simulation. Of course, there are acceptable limitations to using timers compared to sensors. Timers change the time-of-day values ​​sent to the lighting fixtures to update the lighting fixture output at periodic intervals throughout the day, regardless of whether external conditions change, except for normal conditions occurring during that time of day. For example, unless the timer is coupled to a sensor, and the sensor is preferably placed outside the structure and communicatively linked to the timer, the timer itself cannot detect cloudy external conditions, partly cloudy, overcast, foggy, or rainy conditions. Therefore, communication of the timer, and the multiple time values ​​or data sent from the timer of the remote-controlled lighting equipment, throughout the day is limited to the expected normal daylight conditions during various time periods of the day. In some cases, using a timer to simulate daylight is related to statistically normal daylight conditions, but this can be customized based on the orientation of the room towards the daylight conditions. The benefits of selectively customizing the simulation based on the orientation of the controlled lighting equipment group and the room containing these devices outweigh any benefits of using sensors instead of timers. For most days of the year, individual control and customization based on individual rooms among the groups of lighting equipment has proven to be a superior control mechanism compared to sensors. Any deviation between the daylight simulation determined by the timer for normal times of day and the actual conditions outside is an acceptable deviation and does not interfere with the daylight simulation performed by the timer or the benefits of customizing timer control between rooms within the structure. Using only a timer without a sensor can also prove sufficient from the ease of timer operation rather than the inaccurate and often flawed sensor readings used to sense abnormal external daylight conditions. However, if the resulting analog display is unacceptable to the user, the user can always manually change the color temperature output, as described below.

[0049] According to one embodiment, daylight conditions are preferably simulated using a timer that manipulates and updates the simulation from the lighting equipment based on the calendar day and the time of day, and this function is performed automatically and dynamically throughout the day. Automatic simulation occurs as a dynamically changing display, which continues automatically without user intervention and specifically in response to the lighting equipment receiving a time signal from the timer to continue changing the color temperature output. Automatic simulation and automatic color temperature changing occur without user-actuated triggers, functionally preserving the option for manual over-control rather than automatic display. Subsequently, depending on the user's required task, or if the user wishes to manually change the simulation for greater accuracy relative to external conditions, the user can manually change the color temperature output from the lighting equipment or a specific group of lighting equipment, either in a single step in response to user actuation, or gradually over a smooth series of steps, or linearly over time. After the task is completed, or after the user actuates the dimmer back to its previous trigger position, or after the daylight simulation changes at the next time of day, or the time after that, the same reversal, which can occur in smooth multiple steps or linearly over time, returns to the automatically and dynamically changing analog output.

[0050] Figure 3 A more detailed illustration of something similar Figure 1 and Figure 2 The daytime trajectory and spectral characteristics of sunlight shown are produced by the changing position of the sun 16 relative to a structure 18, for example, that carries one or more lighting devices. Figure 3 As shown, the angular relationship between Sun 16 and Structure 18 changes throughout the day, and this angular relationship is often referred to as the zenith angle. As the Sun 16 moves from its zenith position to a position almost horizontal with the Earth's surface 20, the path length (PL) increases from PL1 to PL4. Importantly, the spectral distribution of sunlight, specifically its spectral radiance, changes with PL. For example... Figure 4 As shown, shorter wavelengths can be more sensitive and produce greater spectral radiation at shorter PL compared to longer wavelengths. Figure 3 and Figure 4The combined illustration shows that when the sun 16 is directly above structure 18, a shorter path length (PL1) produces a larger amount of lower wavelength chromaticity spectrum, and when the sun 16 is near the horizon, a longer path length (PL4) shows the advantage of longer wavelength spectral radiation. At PL1, natural daylight conditions are generally more cool white or natural daylight color temperature, where blue is dominant relative to red and yellow. Conversely, as the path length increases to PL4, the color temperature is closer to the warm white associated with incandescent or halogen lamps, where red and yellow are dominant relative to blue. To simulate changes in natural daylight conditions within an artificial lighting system (such as one or more lighting devices of the present invention), the lighting device must be based on, for example, a change in path length (PL... s It changes its color temperature output throughout the day.

[0051] Figure 5 The diagram partially illustrates a "white" LED lighting device 24. The lighting device constitutes white illumination by including, for example, multiple white LED semiconductor devices 26, multiple yellow-green semiconductor devices 28, multiple red LED semiconductor devices 30, and, if the lighting device 24 is an RGB-based lighting device, blue LED semiconductor devices 32. The red, green, blue, and white semiconductor devices each define a specific chromaticity region in a chromaticity space, which includes a target chromaticity region of combined light emitted by red, green, blue, and white light emitters. For example, an RGB system can form white light of a specific color temperature by mixing various red, green, and blue chromaticity regions. The red, green, blue, and white semiconductor devices are made of various organic or inorganic semiconductor materials, each producing a different chromaticity or wavelength output. Some red, green, blue, or white semiconductor devices can be encapsulated with a coating, thereby also producing the desired chromaticity wavelength output. For example, white LED semiconductor devices may include blue light-emitting LED semiconductor devices coated with phosphors. Moreover, by independently attenuating each of the three or four RGB or RGBW LEDs (or LED chains), the lighting device 24 is able to produce a wide color gamut with a color temperature along the blackbody curve and according to the desired output along the daytime trajectory.

[0052] Figure 6An example of a structure 36 comprising multiple lighting devices 38 is illustrated. Lighting devices 38 are sometimes interchangeably referred to as lamps, lighting fixtures, or light emitters. The residence 36 may have multiple rooms, such as bedrooms, living rooms, etc. Preferably, each lighting device includes at least one LED, and more preferably, includes several LED chains, each chain capable of producing a corresponding color within a chromaticity range. Lighting devices 38 may include PAR lighting devices, shown as, for example, downlights 38a in a living room, and other PAR lighting devices 38c, such as downlights in a bedroom. For example, a living room may have four downlights labeled 38a, while a bedroom may have three downlights labeled 38c. Next to a sofa in, for example, a living room is a table, on which a lighting device 38b, for example, A20, is arranged.

[0053] Preferably, each lighting device includes a communication interface for a first communication protocol, which is a wireless communication protocol used by, for example, all lighting devices 38 within residence 36. A popular first communication protocol could be WPAN using IEEE 802.15.4 and / or any protocol based thereon, such as ZigBee. Therefore, the lighting devices can communicate wirelessly with each other if desired. In addition to the wirelessly interconnected lighting devices, remote controls can also be interconnected wirelessly or wired. Figure 6 The remote control shown can be physical keypads 40a and 40b, respectively associated with, for example, a living room and a bedroom. As will be mentioned later, the physical keypad can be replaced by a virtual keypad and assigned to, for example, a mobile phone, and more specifically, to a GUI displayed on the mobile phone or mobile computer. Thus, the remote control can be a physical keypad connected wired or wirelessly to one or more sets of physical lighting devices controlled by the physical keypad, or the remote control can be a computer-based portable device wirelessly connected to one or more sets of lighting devices controlled by a virtual keypad displayed on the GUI of a wireless portable device. The virtual keypad displayed on the GUI of the mobile device can look exactly like the physical keypad, having virtual triggers (i.e., buttons, sliders, etc.) similar to the actual triggers on the physical keypad. The physical keypad can communicate with its corresponding lighting device via wired or wireless means, while the virtual keypad displayed on the GUI of the mobile device can communicate using wireless communication protocols such as WPAN or ZigBee. Moreover, in contrast to the first communication protocol that communicates with the physical lamps and physical keypad 40 in the lighting device 38, the second communication protocol is linked to the first communication protocol via a bridge 42, which can be placed near the residence, and the residence 36 can allow the second communication protocol, such as Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc., to communicate from, for example, a mobile phone to the lighting device 38.

[0054] Figure 7 An exemplary block diagram of a lighting device 38 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. Figure 7 The lighting device shown provides an example of hardware and / or software that can be used to dynamically and automatically simulate natural daylight, and then manually override the simulation when one or more lighting tasks are required. Manual override may be necessary to perform temporary tasks or to more accurately simulate current external daylight conditions—for example, from cloudless, clear external daylight conditions to cloudy or rainy conditions.

[0055] The physical lighting device 38 includes a plurality of emitting LEDs 40, and in this example, the physical lighting device 38 includes four chains of any number of LEDs connected in series. Each chain may have two to four LEDs of the same color, which are coupled in series and configured to receive the same drive current. In one example, the emitting LEDs 40 may include red LED chains, green LED chains, blue LED chains, and white or yellow LED chains. However, preferred embodiments are not limited to any particular number of LED chains, any particular number of LEDs within each chain, or any particular color or combination of LED colors. In some embodiments, the emitting LEDs 40 may be mounted on a substrate and encapsulated within the main optical structure of the emitter module, possibly together with one or more photodetectors.

[0056] In addition to the emitting LED 40, the lighting device 38 also includes various hardware and software components for powering the lighting device and controlling the light output from one or more emitter modules. Figure 7 In the illustrated embodiment, the lighting device 38 is connected to the AC mains 42 and includes a function for converting the AC mains voltage (e.g., 120V or 240V) to DC voltage (V). DC An AC / DC converter 44 is used. A DC voltage (e.g., 15V) is supplied to the LED driver circuit 46 to generate a drive current, which is then supplied to the emitting LED 40 to produce illumination. Figure 7 In one embodiment, a DC / DC converter 48 is included for converting DC voltage (V) DC ) converted to a lower voltage V L (For example, 3.3V), this voltage V L This is used to power lower-voltage circuitry systems for the lighting equipment, such as phase-locked loop (PLL) 50, interface 52, and control circuitry system 54. In other embodiments, the lighting equipment 38 may be powered by a DC voltage source (e.g., a battery) instead of the AC trunk 42. In such embodiments, the lighting equipment may be coupled to a DC voltage source and may include or exclude a DC / DC converter in place of the AC / DC converter 44. Additional timing circuitry may be required to provide timing and synchronization signals to the control drive circuitry.

[0057] In the illustrated embodiment, PLL 50 is included within the lighting device 38 for providing timing and synchronization signals. PLL 50 can lock onto the AC trunk frequency and can generate a high-speed clock (CLK) signal and a synchronization signal (SYNC). The CLK signal provides a timing signal for the control circuitry 54 and the LED driver circuitry 46. In one example, the CLK signal frequency is in the tens of MHz range (e.g., 23 MHz) and is precisely frequency and phase synchronized with the AC trunk. The control circuitry 54 uses the SYNC signal to create a timing signal for controlling the LED driver circuitry 46. In one example, the SYNC signal frequency is equal to the AC trunk frequency (e.g., 50 or 60 Hz) and is also precisely phase aligned with the AC trunk.

[0058] In some embodiments, interface 52 may be included within lighting device 38 for receiving datasets or content from an external calibration tool during device manufacturing or during the supply or commissioning of the lighting device or group of lighting devices. For example, datasets or content received via interface 52 may be stored in a mapping table within storage medium 56 of control circuitry 54. Examples of datasets or content that may be received via interface 52 include, but are not limited to, the luminous flux (i.e., luminance value), intensity, wavelength, and chromaticity of the light emitted by each LED chain (i.e., when mixed to form a color temperature), and more specifically, (a) a mapping from luminance values ​​to intensity values, and (b) a mapping from color temperature to luminance values ​​and time of day values, as will be described in more detail below.

[0059] Interface 52 is not limited to receiving datasets or content during the supply or commissioning of lighting equipment or groups of lighting equipment. Interface 54 can also be used to receive commands from, for example, remote control 64. Commands can also be sent from dimmer 52 to control circuitry (controller) 54. Dimmer 62 can be coupled to the AC trunk line, as shown, similar to a three-terminal bidirectional thyristor switch, to allow the user to manually operate the dimmer. The three-terminal bidirectional thyristor switch of dimmer 62 changes the tangent RMS voltage on the AC trunk line and forwards the corresponding intensity value derived therefrom to the lighting equipment. Dimming or reversing dimming commands in the form of intensity values ​​can be sent to drive circuitry 46 by actuating a trigger button or slider on remote control 64 or dimmer 62. In contrast to actuating a trigger on dimmer 52, a user can actuate a trigger (i.e., a button or slider) on the user interface of a remote control (such as a physical keypad) or the graphical user interface of a portable computer (such as a smartphone or laptop) to allow dimming or reversing dimming commands to be sent from remote control 64 via interface 52, either wired or wirelessly. Via dimmer 62 or remote controller 64, a decrease in intensity value due to dimming (or an increase in intensity value due to reverse dimming) will result in a decrease / increase in brightness due to the mapping table stored in medium 56 and retrieved by control circuit controller 54. For example, when performing a task or when performing a more accurate color temperature simulation for actual daylight conditions (e.g., cloudy, rainy, or overcast outdoor conditions), commands can be transmitted to lighting device 38 via dimmer 62 or remote controller 64 and interface 52 to turn the lighting device on / off, control the brightness level, and manually and temporarily override the color temperature daylight simulation display (day or night) as described below.

[0060] Interface 52 is not limited to receiving datasets or content during the supply or commissioning of lighting equipment or groups of lighting equipment. Interface 54 can also be used to receive commands from, for example, a remote control 64. Commands can also be sent from dimmer 62 to control circuitry (controller) 54. Dimmer 62 can be coupled to the AC trunk line, as shown, similar to a three-terminal bidirectional thyristor switch, to allow the user to manually operate the dimmer. The three-terminal bidirectional thyristor switch of dimmer 62 changes the tangent RMS voltage on the AC trunk line and transmits the corresponding intensity value derived therefrom to the lighting equipment. Dimming or reversing dimming commands in the form of intensity values ​​can be sent to drive circuitry 46 by actuating a trigger button or slider on remote control 64 or dimmer 62. In contrast to actuating a trigger on dimmer 62, a user can actuate a trigger (i.e., a button or slider) on the user interface of a remote control (such as a physical keypad) or the graphical user interface of a portable computer (such as a smartphone or laptop) to allow dimming or reversing dimming commands to be sent from remote control 64 via interface 52, either wired or wirelessly. Via dimmer 62 or remote controller 64, a decrease in intensity value due to dimming (or an increase in intensity value due to reverse dimming) will result in a decrease / increase in brightness due to the mapping table stored in medium 56 and retrieved by control circuit controller 54. For example, when performing a task or when performing a more accurate color temperature simulation for actual daylight conditions (e.g., cloudy, rainy, or overcast outdoor conditions), commands can be transmitted to lighting device 38 via dimmer 62 or remote controller 64 and interface 52 to turn the lighting device on / off, control the brightness level, and manually and temporarily override the color temperature daylight simulation display (day or night) as described below.

[0061] According to a preferred embodiment, interface 52 is coupled to receive control signals from remote controller 64, and more specifically, to receive control signals from a user-actuated trigger on remote controller 64 for changing an automatically changing lighting display among one or more sets of lighting devices 38. Depending on the automatically changing lighting display, remote controller 64 may include a timer that sends multiple time signals for the day to control circuit controller 54 via interface 52. For example, if remote controller 64 includes a physical keypad 40 with a real-time clock, the real-time clock periodically sends time signals for the day among multiple time signals, depending on the calendar day and the time of day. The time signals for the day are unique for the calendar day and the time of day recorded and output by the timer. If, for example, the time signals for the day are sent hourly, then only the specific time signal for the current hour is sent from the multiple time signals for the day, where each signal corresponds to a different hour.

[0062] Using timing signals received from PLL 50 and control signals from interface 52 (e.g., a periodic set of time signals for the day sent from a remote timer to create a daylight-simulating display that changes with the time of day, and a dimmer to perform dimming functions to change the intensity value to the desired brightness level), control circuit controller 54 calculates and generates a value indicating the desired drive current to be supplied to each LED chain 40 based on the brightness and a color temperature mapping as a function of brightness and time stored in medium 56. This information can be transmitted via standards such as SPI or I 2 The serial bus of C) transmits data from the control circuit controller 54 to the LED driver circuit 40. Furthermore, the control circuit 54 can provide a latching signal that instructs the LED driver circuit 46 to simultaneously change the drive current supplied to each LED chain 40 to prevent brightness and color artifacts.

[0063] In some embodiments, controller 54 may be configured to determine the appropriate drive current required to achieve the desired luminous flux and / or desired chromaticity of the lighting device according to one or more compensation methods described in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 14 / 314,530, published December 31, 2015, as U.S. Patent No. 2015 / 0382422A1; No. 14 / 314,580, published July 12, 2016, as U.S. Patent No. 9,392,663; and No. 14 / 471,081, published March 3, 2016, as U.S. Patent Publication No. 2016 / 0066384A1, which are collectively assigned and incorporated herein by reference. In a preferred embodiment, control circuit controller 54 may also be configured to regulate the drive current supplied to the emitting LED 40 so as not to exceed the maximum safe current level or maximum safe power level attributable to one or more power converters of the lighting device 38 at the current operating temperature determined by temperature sensor 58.

[0064] like Figure 7 As shown, a temperature sensor 58 may be included within a lighting device 38 for measuring the current operating temperature of the lighting device. In some embodiments, the temperature sensor 58 may be a thermistor thermally coupled to a component including... Figure 7 The circuit board or chip of one or more components shown. For example, temperature sensor 58 may be coupled to a circuit board including AC / DC converter 44, DC / DC converter 48, PLL 50, and interface 52. In another example, temperature sensor 58 may be thermally coupled to a chip including LED driver circuitry 46 and emitting LED chain 40. In other embodiments, temperature sensor 58 may be an LED, which serves as both a temperature sensor and an optical sensor to measure ambient light conditions or output characteristics of LED chain 40. The temperature measured by sensor 58 is provided to controller 54 for adjusting drive current.

[0065] In some embodiments, the control circuit controller 54 may determine the appropriate drive current by executing program instructions stored in the storage medium 56. In one embodiment, the storage medium 56 storing the first and second maps may be a non-volatile memory and may be configured to store program instructions and calibration value tables, as described, for example, in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 14 / 314,451, published December 31, 2015, as U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015 / 0377699 A1 and U.S. Patent No. 14 / 471,057, published December 31, 2015, both of which are collectively assigned and incorporated herein by reference. Alternatively, the control circuit controller 54 may include combinational logic for determining the desired drive current, and the storage medium 56 may be used solely to store a mapping table of color temperature as a function of luminance values ​​and time of day, and intensity as a function of luminance values.

[0066] Generally, the LED driver circuit 46 may include a plurality of (N) driver blocks 68, where N is equal to the number of emitting LED chains 40 included within the lighting device 38. In one exemplary embodiment, the LED driver circuit 46 includes four driver blocks 68, each configured to generate illumination from a different one of the emitting LED chains 40. In some embodiments, the LED driver circuit 46 may include circuitry for measuring ambient temperature, measuring the forward voltage and photocurrent of the photodetector and / or emitter, and adjusting the LED drive current. Each driver block 68 receives data indicating a desired drive current from the control circuitry 54, and a latch signal indicating when the driver block 68 should change the drive current.

[0067] Figure 8 This is an exemplary block diagram of an LED driving circuit 46 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 8 In an exemplary embodiment, the LED driver circuit 46 includes four driver blocks 68, each including a DC / DC converter 72, a current source 74, and an LC filter 76, for generating an operating drive current (Idrv) provided to the connected emitting LED chain 40a to produce illumination, and a relatively small drive current (Idrv) for obtaining a measurement of the emitter forward voltage (Vfe). In some embodiments, when the controller 80 drives the “Out_En” signal high, the DC / DC converter 72 can deliver a DC voltage (Vfe). DCThe signal is converted into a pulse-width modulated (PWM) voltage output (Vdr). This PWM voltage signal (Vdr) is filtered by an LC filter 76 to generate a positive voltage on the anode of the connected LED chain 40a. The cathode of the LED chain is connected to a current source 74, which forces a fixed drive current (Idrv) equal to the value provided by the "emitter current" signal through the LED chain 40a when the "Led_On" signal is high. The "Vc" signal from the current source 74 provides feedback to the DC / DC converter 72 to output an appropriate duty cycle and minimize the voltage drop across the current source 74.

[0068] like Figure 8 As shown, each driver block 30 may further include a differential amplifier 78 for measuring the forward voltage drop (Vfe) on the connected emitter LED chain 26a. When Vfe is measured, the DC / DC converter 32 is turned off, and the current source 74 is configured to draw a relatively small drive current (e.g., approximately 1 mA) through the connected emitter LED chain 40a. The forward voltage drop (Vfe) generated on the LED chain 40a by this current is measured by the differential amplifier 78, which produces a signal equal to Vfe. The forward voltage (Vfe) is converted into a digital signal by the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 42 and provided to the controller 80. The second controller 80 determines when the forward voltage measurement is performed and generates Out_En, Emitter Current, and Led_On signals, which are provided to each driver block 68.

[0069] LED driver circuit 46 is not limited to Figure 8 The embodiments shown are illustrated. In some embodiments, each LED driver block 68 may include additional circuitry for measuring photocurrent, which is induced across one or more emitting LED chains 40 when these chains are configured to detect incident light (e.g., ambient light or light emitted from other emitting LEDs). In some embodiments, the LED driver circuit 46 may additionally include one or more receiver blocks (not shown) for measuring the forward voltage and / or photocurrent induced across one or more photodetectors, which may also be included within the emitter module. In some embodiments, the LED driver circuit 46 may include a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the driver circuitry and a multiplexer for multiplexing the emitter forward voltage (Vfe) and the measured temperature to the ADC 82. Exemplary embodiments of such driver circuitry are described in the previously mentioned co-pending application.

[0070] DC / DC converters 48 and 72 can include virtually any type of DC / DC power converter, including but not limited to buck converters, boost converters, buck-boost converters, etc. Converters, single-ended primary inductor converters (SEPIC), or flyback converters. AC / DC converter 44 can also include virtually any type of AC / DC power converter, including but not limited to buck converters, boost converters, buck-boost converters, etc. Power converters include single-ended primary inductor converters (SEPICs) and flyback converters. Each of these power converters typically includes multiple inductors (or transformers) for storing energy received from the input voltage source, multiple capacitors for supplying energy to the load, and switches for controlling the energy transfer between the input voltage source and the load. Depending on the type of power converter used, the output voltage supplied to the load by the power converter can be greater than or less than the input voltage source.

[0071] According to a preferred embodiment, AC / DC converter 44 includes a flyback converter, while DC / DC converters 48 and 72 include buck converters. AC / DC converter 44 converts AC mains power (e.g., 120V or 240V) into a substantially lower DC voltage V. DC (For example, 15V), which is supplied to buck converter 48 / 72. Buck converter 48 / 72 gradually reduces the DC voltage output from AC / DC converter 44 to a lower voltage, which is used to power the low-voltage circuit system and provide drive current to LED chain 40.

[0072] In some embodiments, the brightness level can be adjusted substantially continuously from a minimum level (e.g., 0% brightness) and a maximum level (e.g., 100% brightness) from a dimmer 62 or a remote control 64, and vice versa. The adjustment can be linear, but in most cases it is non-linear and more logarithmically scaled due to the difference between the slider adjustment on the dimmer and remote control 64 and the brightness output. Figure 12 As shown and described. Specifically, movement of the trigger position (movement of the slider, the amount of time a button is pressed, or whether one or more buttons are pressed) is translated into an intensity value. The position of the trigger position can correspond to an intensity value, but the trigger position / state or intensity value is non-linear with respect to the brightness level. Therefore, actuation of the trigger does not translate into an exact "one-to-one" change in the brightness level. Non-linear mapping is required. Scaling can be easily implemented by defining the brightness level as a 16-bit variable. In other embodiments, the brightness level can be adjusted between a finite number of predefined steps, where each step corresponds to a percentage change in brightness (e.g., 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of maximum brightness) or a decibel change in lumen output (e.g., + / - 1 dB).

[0073] Figure 9The illustration shows an example of grouping lighting fixtures 38 based on their actual physical location and function. The mechanisms used to provide grouping and the functionality of the lighting fixtures will be disclosed later when describing the grouping and scene / display assignment mechanisms. However, as... Figure 9 As shown, a location such as a bedroom can have a group of lighting fixtures 38, and associated with this group of lighting fixtures 38 is a specific scene or display. Since each lighting fixture 38 has one or more LEDs, the RGB of multiple LEDs can be customized to any color, brightness, or visual effect desired by the user by setting up a scene or time-varying display within the group of lighting fixtures.

[0074] Figure 9 The illustration shows multiple physical lighting devices displayed as virtual lighting devices on the graphical user interface (GUI 85) of the remote control 64. The virtual lighting devices 39 correspond to the various actual lighting devices 38 within the structure. In addition to the physical lighting devices 38, there are also physical keypads 40 spaced apart throughout the structure, such as… Figure 6As shown. Lighting fixture 38 can have any type of shape factor, including A20, PAR38, linear recess, wall washer, and track light. Keypad 40 can be mounted in a signal combination junction box and coupled to the AC trunk. Moreover, a virtual keypad appearing on a wireless or wired remote controller 64 can eliminate the physical keypad 40. The virtual keypad can exist on a GUI application on a computer (specifically, a mobile device such as a smartphone). If the remote controller consists of a wired physical keypad or a wireless mobile device with a GUI on which a virtual keypad is shown, then the keypad (whether physical or virtual) is generally described as remote controller 64. In addition to the network of physical lighting fixture 38 and physical keypad 40, remote controller 64 is also used to control communication with the network of physical lighting fixture 38 and physical keypad 40. Remote controller 64 is essentially an execution unit that executes instructions and data to present a GUI that the user can use to perform the grouping and scene / display assignments described in Figures 10b and 10c. Control instructions are sent from controller 64 to the network of lighting fixture 38 via a communication interface. The communication interface for controller 64 simply uses, for example, the ZigBee communication protocol to communicate correctly with the lighting equipment and keypad. If a bridge or hub is needed to bridge the ZigBee protocol used by lighting equipment 38 and the protocol used by remote controller 64, remote controller 64 can also communicate via a different protocol. For example, a software application can operate on controller 64, possibly on an Apple or Android mobile device, to present a virtual keypad on controller 22. A hub or bridge connects between WiFi and a wireless lighting network that can use ZigBee. If remote controller 64 communicates directly without an intermediate bridge or hub, a dongle with a radio interface will allow the GUI of remote controller 64 to communicate directly with the network of physical lighting equipment 38 and physical keypad 40.

[0075] A typical installation in the structure would have physical keypads 40 and various physical lighting fixtures 38 in each room. In some cases, some rooms may have multiple keypads, controlling the same lighting fixtures much like a conventional two- or three-way light switch, where a three-way switch uses two switches and a two-way switch uses one switch—on / off. The physical keypads 40 in each room then generally control color, brightness, spectrum, or visual effects. The keypads can control these effects statically or over time. Static control is simply the user pressing a trigger button or slider on the physical keypad. The lighting fixtures 38 and physical keypads 40 in the residence can also be controlled by a computer running an application, where a radio-based dongle is plugged into a USB port, or by a mobile device such as a smartphone also running a software application. For example, the dongle can directly transmit ZigBee messages, while a bridge or hub translates between WiFi and ZigBee messages.

[0076] After the physical lighting device 38 and physical keypad 40 are installed in the structure, they must be discovered before the grouping and scene building process. Therefore, when using a controller, for example, with a dongle, the first step is to discover all lighting devices and keypads within the controller's range. The wireless network used by the lighting device 38 and keypad 40 is preferably a mesh network, so physically distant lighting devices or keypads can still be within the controller's communication range via one or more hops. When the user instructs the controller to discover all devices (via a command on the controller's GUI), the dongle broadcasts a message instructing all devices to receive the message directly or via any number of hops in response using their unique ID number (often referred to as the MAC address). The unique MAC address of each lighting device and keypad is sent back to the remote control 64. If the remote control 64 is a personal computer or telephone with a screen, it displays a set of GUI icons on that screen as virtual lighting devices representing the corresponding physical lighting devices that have responded. These icons are called virtual lighting devices because it is necessary to distinguish the lighting device appearing on the GUI as virtual lighting device 39 from the lighting devices or physical lighting device 38 present in the residence.

[0077] For example, such as Figure 9As shown, in a facility with six physical lighting devices 38 in its structure, six virtual lighting device icons 39 will appear. The keypad will also be shown as a virtual keypad icon in a later step. When an acknowledgment message is sent back to the remote control from each lighting device, an indication that all lighting devices have been discovered occurs, causing each physical light to turn blue and each physical keypad to flash. Furthermore, each discovered physical lighting device and physical keypad will appear on the GUI as a virtual lighting device and virtual keypad icon. If not all physical lighting devices turn blue or the keypad flashes when the user checks by walking around the residence, then not all acknowledgment messages have been returned, and therefore, a missing acknowledgment message with the unique MAC light address will indicate that non-blue physical lights have not yet been discovered. Remedial action is then required, as described below. However, if all physical lighting devices turn blue during a physical check, the corresponding icon will appear, and all physical lighting devices in the residence will appear as icons on the controller GUI.

[0078] After all physical lighting fixtures and physical keypads have been identified, the next step is grouping. In the grouping process or mechanism, physical lighting fixtures that need to be controlled together are assigned specific group addresses. For example... Figure 9 As shown, during the grouping mechanism, the group address is downloaded to the storage medium 56 of each lighting device. Subsequently, during the control mechanism, actuation of a single button on the physical keypad 40, or actuation of a group name assigned to a virtual button on the virtual keypad, will cause a control message to be sent from the controller via a single multicast message to all unique MAC addresses associated with that unique group address, in order to initiate the content associated with that group of physical lighting devices via a microprocessor retrieval mechanism. Further description of group addressing and content storage within the lighting devices 38 occurs during the grouping mechanism and during the scene builder or display builder mechanism.

[0079] Different types of remote controls 64 may exist, especially for communication protocols used with multiple lighting devices 38. The remote control 64 can simply include a dongle with a USB interface and be wirelessly plugged into the USB port of a mobile device. If the remote control 64 is to communicate via a hub or bridge, then the remote control 64 uses different protocols for communication, which the various lighting devices 38 use to communicate with each other and with the physical keypad 40.

[0080] For example, during the discovery phase, a broadcast discovery signal is sent from remote controller 64 via a mesh network from hop to hop, with acknowledgment returns (e.g., in hexadecimal) from one unique address to another. The broadcast discovery and acknowledgment returns form a routing table with a destination address and a next hop address for a particular light. The routing table, along with the group address, which we will describe later, and the content associated with that group address, is stored in the memory of lighting device 38. The group address and content may have group addresses, for example, F and C, respectively, forming the multicast table. An example of a flowchart for lighting device discovery, multicast table creation, and content (scene / display builder) for each group of lighting devices is set forth in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 15 / 041,166, which is commonly assigned and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0081] Discovery processing can be initiated by sending a discovery message. At least once, after the installation of lighting fixture 38, network configuration may be required. This network configuration can be repeated if necessary. Typically, the configuration or discovery process is performed only once. However, if the lighting fixture is replaced, then the discovery process must be repeated whenever the lighting system is modified. Therefore, discovery processing can be performed if the network is modified or reconfigured, if lighting fixtures are added or removed, or if a modification to the lighting scene occurs. When configuring the network during the discovery phase, the remote controller is initially unaware of the available lighting fixtures. The structure of the lighting system network is not predetermined by installation like the cabling structure of a wired network. Instead, it can be determined by several physical conditions, such as the distance or shielding material between adjacent lighting fixtures, walls or other equipment between lighting fixtures, or even electromagnetic interference from electrical appliances or other equipment within structure 36.

[0082] To calculate the network configuration, broadcasting is preferably triggered by controller 64. Broadcast messages are sent by addressing the message to a predefined broadcast address, which all physical devices (lighting devices and keypads) listen for. For example, the broadcast signal will first be received by those devices closest to the controller. Those lighting devices can then forward the broadcast message to other lighting devices, which in turn forward the message to even more distant lighting devices via one or more hops. To complete the network configuration, the controller must receive an acknowledgment signal from each light, which confirms that it has received the broadcast message. The acknowledgment signal is preferably sent back to the controller that sent the broadcast as a unicast or direct message. Each lighting device sending such a unicast message must receive an acknowledgment to prevent it from retransmitting the same message. Therefore, the return acknowledgment sent back by the controller over the mesh network is also a unicast message.

[0083] During the discovery phase or discovery process, broadcasting, receiving, and acknowledging responses, followed by sending acknowledgment replies, is quite time-consuming. However, since discovery processing occurs infrequently and generally only during the initial installation and configuration of lighting equipment, users generally find the potentially several-second delay acceptable. However, any time delays or lags, especially any popcorn effect, should be avoided when subsequently controlling the discovered lighting equipment. In some cases, even fractions of a second, when using multicast and aggregated acknowledgment mechanisms described later to perform control is clearly unpleasant for the user.

[0084] Although relatively slow compared to the control process, the discovery process begins with a broadcast discovery message, which is thus routed over multiple hops to all the various nodes, including physical lighting devices 38 and physical keypads 40. The unicast and acknowledgment return from each of those nodes, keypads, and lighting devices to the remote controller 64 must be routed via the mesh network as an acknowledgment signal. Thus, the remote controller 64 receives acknowledgments, expected to have the unique MAC addresses of all the physical lighting devices, by indicating the blue light output from all these lighting devices and the flashing of the discovered keypad on the physical keypad.

[0085] Figure 9 The diagram illustrates the grouping process, in which the GUI on the remote controller 64 is used not only to group virtual lighting device 39 icons, but also to group physical lighting devices 38 based on any user-named group or a pre-existing group with a pre-existing scene assigned to it. Figure 9 The illustration shows a GUI displayed on the remote control 64 if it has a screen similar to a laptop or telephone. On this GUI, the left-hand portion contains icons representing groups or keypads. When a group icon is selected, a series of groups A, B, C, etc., can appear, as indicated. According to one embodiment, a series of group icons 90 appear. According to one embodiment, the group icons are not named until the user provides a name. Therefore, for example, group A could be the name given to the group icon, or it could simply be the default name given to the group icon. Groups shown as icons on the GUI of the remote control 64 can have predefined names, such as a bedroom underlight or a bedroom nightstand. In the latter embodiment, those predefined names can also have predefined scenes or displays. For example, a bedroom underlight can have a predefined scene or display uniquely assigned to the underlight or lighting fixtures in the bedroom, as content stored in that group of lighting fixtures. For example, the uniquely assigned scene / display is preferably different from the predetermined scene or display associated with the bedroom nightstand group of lighting fixtures. Figure 9As shown, after all lighting devices have been discovered and appear as virtual lighting devices 39 or icons in the right-hand section of GUI 85, one or more lighting devices can be grouped by clicking on the virtual lighting devices in the GUI, and the virtual lighting device icon 39 can blink or change to a different color. For example, the corresponding physical lighting device or lamp 38 in the bedroom will also change color or blink, as indicated by the blinking of the physical lighting device corresponding to the blinking of the virtual lighting device icon 39. In this way, the user will know the correspondence between the virtual lighting device icons and the physical lighting devices so that when he or she performs the grouping process, he or she knows which lighting device (virtual icon and physical) is assigned to each group, such as... Figure 9 As shown, the bedroom downlight 38, which corresponds to the virtual lighting device 39, is assigned to group A.

[0086] As an example, if there are three rooms, each with a small keyboard, then in the bedroom, there might be two A20 lighting fixtures on the bedside table and two PAR38 lighting fixtures in the ceiling. The user might want to control these two sets of physical lighting fixtures independently to create two groups called Bedroom Downlights and Bedroom Bedside Tables, and these groups would be displayed as another group name in Group 90 of GUI 85. In the living room, there could be three A20 lighting fixtures and four PAR38 lighting fixtures. The user might want to create three named group icons 90, including one A20 on the end table next to the chair, two A20s on either end of the sofa, and four PAR38s in the ceiling, thus creating three groups called Living-Downlights, Living-End Table-Chair, and Living-End Table-Sofa. The named group icons can be named by the user or predefined using predefined scenes and their associated displays. In the kitchen, four PAR38 lights can be controlled together in the ceiling, thus creating a group called Kitchen-Underlight, or they can be pre-existing with associated scenes / displays.

[0087] Using the example above, there are six groups of virtual lighting device icons on the left side of the GUI, and ten PAR38 light icons (virtual lighting devices) and five A20 light icons (virtual lighting devices) on the right side. All the lights are initially blue. When a user clicks a light icon, the corresponding physical light and its associated MAC address instantly change color, as shown when a virtual lighting device icon is clicked. The user will enter, for example, a bedroom and will notice the corresponding physical lighting device changing color or flashing, indicating its correspondence with the virtual lighting device. The user then, for example, drags and drops two virtual light icons into a group on the left called Group A or "Bedroom - Bedside Table". This process can continue to other groups; for example, the user can click on PAR38 virtual light icons until two icons in the bedroom are recognized, and then drag and drop those virtual light icons into a group called, for example, Group B or "Bedroom - Underlight". For example, when a virtual light icon is placed into a group, the associated physical light reverts to its default color. The user can perform the same grouping process in the living room, kitchen, or throughout the entire structure.

[0088] At this point, all the virtual lighting device icons on the right side of the GUI disappear because they have been dragged and dropped, for example, into the corresponding group named Group Icon 90. Furthermore, all physical lighting devices are now emitting white light. The next step is to configure the physical keypad in each room. The configuration of the virtual keypad using, for example, a mobile phone control device will be described later. However, for now, the configuration of the physical keypad is described. When configuring the keypad, the user can click on different tabs, such as tab B, instead of tab A at the top of the GUI. By clicking on another tab associated with the keypad, the buttons on each keypad can be configured to produce specific brightness, color, spectral settings, and visual attribute settings for the lighting devices in a specific group. Refer to Figures 10a, 10b, and 10c for a more detailed illustration of the device control process of configuring specific buttons on the physical keypad.

[0089] For example, configuring a specific keypad begins by selecting the keypad, as shown in Figure 10a, i.e., selecting the virtual keypad icon 92 after clicking the keypad icon in the left-hand section of the GUI 85. Once the virtual keypad icon 92 is recognized, it can be assigned to one or more group icons 90 to be named, or predefined named group icons. Subsequently, as shown in Figure 10b, the GUI 85 changes its display and presents the virtual keypad 92, which has corresponding virtual trigger buttons 98. The virtual buttons 98 can be replaced by virtual sliders, all of which belong to the trigger category. Five virtual buttons are shown, but more or fewer can be used as needed. Scenes or displays can be associated with the selected virtual scene / display icon 100 and dragged and dropped onto the corresponding trigger button 98. In this way, each button on the virtual keypad 92 can act as a trigger slider. The longer the button is pressed, the larger the slider position. Each trigger button can have associated control over one or more groups of physical lighting devices 38 within the structure, and a corresponding scene or display assigned to each of those groups of lighting devices 38 by downloading corresponding content to the physical lighting devices 38. Group or scene / display assignment can also be performed from a drop-down menu instead of drag-and-drop technology.

[0090] As an example, if there are two buttons controlling the bedroom-underlight group and the bedroom-bedside table group, then the top two buttons can control each of those groups. The user assigns a specific color temperature, brightness, or any visual attribute to each of the various buttons, and in this case, to the virtual buttons on the virtual keypad 92. For example, the bottom button can be assigned to all groups controlled by the corresponding physical keypad, and the bottom button can be assigned to turn off all lights associated with the respective groups attributable to that keypad. The process of grouping buttons to bedrooms can be repeated for the living room, kitchen, and all remaining physical keypads within the structure. Grouping is performed via virtual keypad configuration, which then corresponds to the appropriate physical keypad. Trigger buttons are selected and assigned to predefined or non-predefined lighting device groups, along with the scenes and displays controlling those groups.

[0091] After programming the various virtual buttons on the virtual keypad displayed on the controller 64GUI, the corresponding group address, assigned scene, and displayed content are downloaded from the virtual keypad 92. Figure 1The corresponding physical keypad 40 operates exactly like the virtual keypad 92, because touching any of the five buttons corresponding to the virtual keypad will send a multicast control message to the physical lighting device controlled by the physical keypad. Furthermore, similar to identifying physical lighting devices when performing grouping of virtual light icons, the physical keypad 40 associated with the virtual keypad 92 will flash when the virtual keypad is selected. For example, when the virtual keypad 92 is selected within the GUI of the controller 64, the corresponding physical keypads 40a, 40b, etc., will flash, indicating to the user which keypad within the structure has been selected.

[0092] As shown in Figure 10b, along with the five virtual buttons 98 of the virtual keypad 92, there is also an up / down button 104. The up / down trigger button can be programmed in the virtual keypad 92 and has a corresponding similar programming effect in the physical keypad 40. For example, once the corresponding button on the physical keypad 40 is actuated after programming with the virtual buttons on the GUI, the corresponding physical lighting fixture group is turned on. The physical keypad 40 or the virtual keypad 92 may have buttons or touch lights corresponding to the virtual trigger slider up / down buttons 104, operable on both the virtual and physical keypads to adjust the brightness of the light controlled by the last button pressed on the physical / virtual keypad. For example, if the top button of the physical or virtual keypad associated with the bedroom sets the bedroom downlight to half brightness red, then after the top button of the physical / virtual keypad is pressed, the up / down arrow will adjust the brightness of the bedroom downlight. For example, after pressing another button associated with the bedroom bedside table group, the up / down arrow will control the brightness of the bedroom bedside table. When the up / down arrow is pressed, multicast addressing is used to send a message to the physical lighting device group associated with the keypad button. Alternatively, the up / down trigger 104 can control all lighting device groups that can be controlled by the keypad. For example, all groups associated with the virtual or physical keypad are dimmed or reversed together, not just the group controlled by the last pressed button 98. Moreover, as described above, the trigger can include button 98 or the up / down button 104. The duration of pressing button 98 serves as the trigger slider operation, or, for example, the appropriate up / down button 104 in one of the five groups can also serve as the trigger slider operation for the last pressed button 98 or for all buttons 98 assigned to all lighting devices in one or more rooms controlled by those buttons 98.

[0093] According to one embodiment, groups of virtual buttons assigned to the virtual keypad and thus to physical buttons on the physical keypad can also be assigned to predefined scenes or displays using drop-down icons. The drop-down icons record predefined scenes or displays applied to the group, and via the GUI of controller 64, the group and its corresponding scene or display are applied to, for example, virtual buttons on the virtual keypad 92, and then that group, scene, or display is downloaded to the corresponding flashing physical button on the physical keypad to indicate that it has been selected for programming. After all buttons have been programmed with their corresponding predefined group names with predefined scenes and displays, or, according to another embodiment, programmed with any user-defined and undefined group names or scenes and displays, the physical keypad can stop flashing during the discovery / configuration process. Once the virtual keypad icon is dragged and dropped to the left side of the GUI screen, the user can enter the name of that keypad, such as "Bedroom_1". To program the buttons on the virtual / physical keypad, the user selects the virtual keypad on the left side of the GUI screen 85, which is preferably pre-named something recognizable to the user.

[0094] According to one embodiment, if the scenes and displays are not predefined and assigned to predefined group names, but are defined by the user to allow the button to present any possible, substantially unlimited number of scenes or displays, the user can choose to create scene or display button 106, as shown in Figure 10b. The corresponding GUI then appears on remote control 64, as shown in Figure 10c. The GUI allows the user to manually control any color temperature, brightness, or visual attribute to be assigned by clicking manual control 108. Manual control can then bring up a blackbody curve 110 to allow the user to select any color temperature along the blackbody curve 110, or use slider 112 to manually select visual attributes, color temperature (CCT), and / or brightness for each group. Furthermore, the user can assign time (in increments or time of day 114) for each attribute, color temperature, or brightness to produce an automatically changing color temperature for the display. The time can be programmed, for example, daytime, to automatically and dynamically change the color temperature throughout the day from sunrise to sunset. The display can also extend to sunset and into the night. Depending on the display stored in the corresponding set of one or more lighting devices, the change in color temperature output from the set of one or more lighting devices assigned to the resulting display is automatic. The color temperature change can also be implemented as a series of scenes triggered by multiple time signals of the day sent from a timer within the remote control (virtual keypad 92 or physical keypad 40). Therefore, the remote control 64 includes a real-time clock that generates multiple time signals of the day based on the calendar day and the time of day during the daytime. These time signals of the day can be synchronized via a connection to a crystal oscillator, via a connection to the Internet, or via satellite. Depending on which of the multiple time signals of the day is sent, the color temperature output from the corresponding set of lighting devices responds via a multicast signal sent to a grouped set of lighting device MAC addresses. Different time signals of the day are sent at different times throughout the day to trigger different color temperatures output from the addressed set of lighting devices. Therefore, a user can program the bedroom group of lighting devices to operate with different simulated daylight than, for example, the kitchen group of lighting devices. Even when the same time signal is sent to both the bedroom and kitchen (e.g., mid-morning), the display stored in the bedroom lighting fixtures can produce a lower color temperature of 2300 Kelvin, or be off, while the kitchen lighting fixtures can produce a higher color temperature close to 6000 Kelvin. Alternatively, the user can program the time signal for the kitchen and bedroom at different times. For example, the sunrise time signal could be earlier in the bedroom than in the kitchen. The remote control for the kitchen is separate from the one for the bedroom, and each is programmed with its timer in a different way, allowing selective modification of the display and subsequent selective manual overriding of each display.

[0095] Now go to Figure 11This diagram shows the spectral sensitivity curves for brightness at different color wavelengths. While lighting devices of equal power are physically equivalent across wavelengths, the visual system's sensitivity varies. For example, even though equal power light should produce the same effect across all spectral wavelengths to express luminance or brightness, in reality, not all wavelengths appear equally bright. Visual luminance is defined as L = c∫P(λ)V(λ)dλ, where P is the spectral power and V is the standard observer's spectral sensitivity. Figure 11 As shown, luminance can be expressed as the fact that lighting devices of the same power but different wavelengths do not appear equally bright to a standard observer. Further details regarding the relationship between color temperature as a function of luminance and time of day will be discussed later. Figure 15 Description. However, according to one embodiment, it is sufficient to recognize that lower color temperatures are more affected by changes in brightness and time of day than higher color temperatures. However, according to another embodiment, variable brightness throughout the day can produce the same color temperature change throughout the day if the brightness changes for the same amount of time. Figure 12 The illustration shows what happens when a remote control 64, such as a virtual / physical keypad, receives user actuation on, for example, a trigger slider to generate different intensity values ​​sent to interface 52. The intensity values ​​correspond to trigger position values. The relationship between trigger position / state and lumen output has… Figure 12 The features shown are illustrated. Controller 54 converts the trigger position / state position into lumen output and color temperature using tables and interpolation. Those conversion functions differ at different times of the day. Once the desired lumen output and color temperature are known, controller 54 calculates the required drive current for each LED chain. The value applied to all LED chains is the current or power value required to change the brightness output from all LED chains.

[0096] like Figure 12 As shown, changes in slider movement are used to produce changes in intensity on the virtual / physical keypad or a triac dimmer associated with the physical keypad, resulting in a non-linear change in brightness. In other words, there is a non-linear relationship between the intensity output and the brightness output of the slider movement. Therefore, storage medium 56 contains a non-linear first mapping from intensity values ​​to brightness values, such that each incremental change in the slider position on the virtual / physical keypad or dimmer will be correlated with the brightness output according to the changes along the slider movement. Figure 12 The brightness values ​​corresponding to a series of points on the nonlinear curve shown are mapped to each other. The mapping between the intensity and brightness nonlinear curves or... Figure 1 This is generally referred to as the brightness dimming curve and is mapped to a first mapping within the storage medium. The brightness output is generated by the user's movement of the trigger slider, and the first mapping is then established using the recording of the gradual movement and brightness output, and then stored in the storage medium 56 for later use.

[0097] Figures 13a and 13b illustrate what happens when a user actuates a trigger at different times of the day, times sent from a timer within, for example, a physical / virtual keypad on a remote control. The first time of day could be before sunrise, followed by a second time that triggers the sunrise event. Each of the pre-sunrise, sunrise, morning, and midday times addresses a different dataset or content stored within a corresponding set or more sets of lighting devices. For example, the pre-sunrise time output from a timer triggers the automatic display of the first content or dataset, sending an appropriate ratio of current to the LED chain to produce a relatively low color temperature. Thus, the timer triggers the first content, which includes a relatively low lumen output and color temperature. Before the automatic change to a higher color temperature occurs in the display, for example, in the morning when it typically produces 3200 Kelvin, manual adjustment of a trigger, such as a dimmer or physical keypad, will reduce the brightness by an amount of 120, and importantly, for a brightness reduction of 120, the color temperature, which typically reaches 3200 Kelvin, will drop far below 3200 Kelvin. A 120-degree reduction in brightness and a significant reduction in color temperature can maintain the timeout period until the time signal for the next day is sent, or the time signal after the time signal for the next day, or when the trigger is actuated again to release the manual overdrive mode.

[0098] A significant decrease in color temperature during manual over-dimming (or an increase in color temperature during reverse dimming) when the trigger is actuated can occur without any fade-in. However, it is desirable for a fade-in to occur during automatic color temperature changes, both during the display and before manual over-dimming. Furthermore, it is desirable to send fewer time signals throughout the day from the timer to minimize the amount of automatic fade-in during color temperature changes. As shown in Figure 13b, for example, a first time signal of the day is sent one hour after sunrise to increase the color temperature in multiple steps 121, linearly 123, or exponentially 125 over a fixed period preferably less than two hours and more preferably less than one hour. To minimize the number of time signals throughout the day, there may also be a second time signal throughout the day that decreases the color temperature in multiple steps, linearly, or exponentially, one or two hours before sunset. Having only two time signals throughout the day and sending those signals twice a day will significantly reduce the amount of communication required to perform the display and will reduce the amount of content that needs to be stored in one or more sets of lighting devices.

[0099] Figure 13b also illustrates the same brightness reduction 120 as shown in Figure 13a, for example, if a user actuates the slider on the dimmer or physical keypad to the same amount he or she adjusted it to one hour after sunrise (i.e., in the morning) in Figure 13a. However, in Figure 13b, if the slider is actuated at midday, the same brightness reduction 120 produces a significantly smaller color temperature reduction than shown at sunrise in Figure 13a. At midday, the color temperature automatically and dynamically set at midday, for example 6500 Kelvin, decreases to slightly below 6500 Kelvin (<6.5 Kelvin), and this decrease is much smaller than the color temperature reduction that occurs in the morning or at sunrise (<<<3.2 Kelvin). Therefore, the effect of brightness changes on color temperature depends on the time of day, because, as shown above, the spectral sensitivity of LED chains producing lower color temperatures is more profound than that of LED chains producing higher color temperatures. Even if the power or current supplied to all LED chains changes by the same amount based on the change in intensity value, the color temperature of cool white, which has the advantage of blue spectral output during, for example, noon, will change less than the red spectral output that is mainly produced during sunrise or pre-sunrise.

[0100] A circadian rhythm display can be used to simulate daylight at different times of the day and can be continued across different groups of lighting fixtures within a structure. However, if a particular group of lighting fixtures requires a specific task, or if the simulation needs to be changed to more closely resemble outdoor daylight conditions, the user can manually modify the circadian rhythm display to have a more profound impact on color temperature at certain times of the day than at other times. A significant benefit of this invention is that, for example, changes in brightness one hour after sunrise and one hour before sunset have a greater impact on color temperature than at any other time in between.

[0101] Even when dimming occurs manually, it is desirable that the impact on color simulation is reduced at higher color temperatures compared to lower color temperatures, so that the circadian rhythm display, which occurs automatically throughout the day, is not significantly disrupted. In other words, it is more advantageous to change the circadian rhythm display to a warmer color temperature during warm white lighting output periods than during cool white lighting output periods, which typically occur during peak daylight hours. In this way, the manual adjustments required to perform tasks or to more closely approximate actual outdoor daylight conditions remain more consistent with real-world outdoor daylight conditions. Warm white remains a warmer white, while cool white remains a cool white, and so on.

[0102] Manual reverse dimming is also possible. At night, a user can actuate a trigger to manually override the automatically changing color temperature display, which can be programmed to have no lighting output regardless of the time signal sent for the day (or, in this case, the time signal sent for the night). For example, a user might want to actuate a trigger button or up / down button on a physical keypad in the bedroom to override the no-lighting-output display, thereby increasing the brightness and color temperature within the bedroom's lighting system. Reverse dimming advantageously results in a lower color temperature output to simulate incandescent lighting output, which typically occurs when a user wakes up from bed and turns on incandescent lights at nighttime. Manual override of reverse dimming at night is similar to that during the day because changes in brightness have a greater effect at lower color temperatures than at higher color temperatures. Therefore, the invention is applicable to circadian rhythm displays that extend beyond daytime, and manual override is equally applicable to any change in brightness, with a greater effect on lower color temperatures than on higher color temperatures.

[0103] Now go to Figure 14 Storage medium 56 may contain content or datasets associated with the lighting device containing storage medium 56. Possibly, depending on... Figure 9 Each of the lighting device groups described in Figure 10 can contain the same content for the corresponding lighting device group. For example, content in the color temperature settings for various times of day 124 or various conditions 126 that can be sensed by the sensor. The various times of day 124 or sunlight conditions 126 stored in each of the lighting device groups having storage medium 56 are triggered by a time message in the case of time 124 of the day or by a sensor reading in the case of sunlight conditions 126.

[0104] like Figure 14As shown, a time message can activate or execute content stored in storage medium 56 depending on its value. For example, it might execute on a dataset 124 of noon times for the day, in which case the time message would most likely be at or near the local noon time of the timer within the remote control. A timer or real-time clock with remote control 64 can send appropriate time messages to address the appropriate content for the current time 124 of the day. The time message will change the color output of the corresponding lighting device group with similar stored time content or datasets. Alternatively, a button for a specific display, such as button 1 for display A, can be invoked, causing display A to be initiated when button 1 is pressed. This will result in the sending of an appropriate time message, or alternatively, a timer can be found in each lighting device to automatically change the retrieved content at regular periodic intervals, for example, by simply initiating display A. Regardless of whether the time message is sent from a remote control timer or the timer exists within the lighting device group of the programmable display, the control circuit controller 54 executes a periodically changing, automatically altered sequence of content or datasets to simulate the changing sunlight along a daytime trajectory, from as low as 2000 Kelvin at early sunrise to a maximum of over 6000 Kelvin at midday, and then dropping back to less than 2000 Kelvin at sunset. According to an alternative embodiment, a sensor similar to temperature sensor 58 can be used to measure sunlight inside or outside the structure, and then the extracted and executed content or dataset can be automatically and dynamically changed based on the sensor readings, so that the sensed sunlight can be simulated not only along the daytime trajectory but also at any chromaticity point or spectrum.

[0105] Figure 15 This is a color curve, specifically a color temperature (CCT) curve, which changes as a function of both time of day and brightness. For the reasons mentioned above, the color temperature changes automatically and dynamically throughout the day. As shown, the color temperature output from multiple LED chains automatically changes to replicate actual daylight conditions outside the structure, and, for example, simulates natural daylight needed to treat circadian rhythm disorders. During off-peak hours, such as before sunrise, morning sunrise, and evening and sunset, the color temperature can simulate sunrise and sunset times along the daytime trajectory. Preferably, during the morning and evening periods, the target color temperature is less than, for example, 3200 or 3000 Kelvin, and near midday, the target color temperature can be as high as 6000 or 6500 Kelvin. 6000-6500 Kelvin can simulate a clear blue sky at midday, while 3500 or less than 3000 Kelvin can simulate a predominantly yellow morning or evening sky with some red. Figure 15 The diagram illustrates different times of day (TOD), starting from TOD1 to TOD6, and possibly more.

[0106] Figure 15The diagram also illustrates a change in brightness from, for example, full brightness BR1 to a brightness less than full brightness (or BR2). According to one embodiment, the brightness changes from a level BR1 that is constant throughout the day to another level BR2 that is also constant throughout the day. According to another embodiment, the brightness changes from a level BR1 that varies throughout the day to another level BR2 that also varies throughout the day. In either embodiment, the change in brightness from BR1 to BR2 results in an effect on color temperature that varies depending on the time of day, with a relatively small effect at TOD4, but a larger effect at TOD1-3 and TOD5 and TOD6. The color temperature differences for the same brightness change are shown by different arrows 130 and 132. Arrow 130 indicates a color temperature change greater than arrow 132, but the change in brightness from BR1 to BR2 is the same. The change in brightness is achieved by adjusting the intensity of a remote control or dimmer. When the trigger on the remote control or dimmer is reduced to, for example, half its adjustment amount, the intensity can be halved, and according to… Figure 12 The first mapping from brightness to intensity shown allows brightness to be reduced non-linearly by nearly half the amount of the previous brightness. If BR2 represents half brightness relative to BR1, then the color temperature changes not only with brightness but also with time of day. For example, at midday, the color temperature remains relatively unaffected even if the slider has been moved to indicate, for example, half brightness. This effect is valuable because at midday, when a user wants to perform a task and manually adjust the slider to reduce brightness, the simulated daylight is expected to be placed under natural daylight conditions of 6000 Kelvin or higher, even if the slider is moved. This ensures that the simulated daylight conditions after manual overclocking still appear normal to what is happening outside. In other words, even if the user dims along the dimming curve to lower the brightness, the natural daylight conditions simulated by the multiple LEDs remain near the peak daylight hours. Conversely, if the user dims along the dimming curve at sunrise or early morning, the color temperature will drop more than at midday, advantageously because actual daylight conditions are more pronounced at warm white temperatures during those times, and any changes to the dimming will be more preserved than under the warm white conditions outside.

[0107] Figure 15 Also shown in dashed lines, according to the second embodiment, the brightness changes from one level BR1 that changes throughout the day to another level BR2' that also changes throughout the day. In this embodiment, any actuation of the trigger slider to invoke manual overdrive will have the same effect on the color temperature changes throughout the day, as indicated by arrows 130 and 132' indicating equal amounts of change at different times of the day.

[0108] A key advantage of the preferred embodiment of the invention is that simulated natural daylight conditions are preserved even when a task is being performed, for example, when brightness is reduced by a dimming curve manually adjusted by the user. This continued simulation of daylight conditions throughout the waking hours, even during manual dimming or reverse dimming, is beneficial for psychological and aesthetic reasons, such as the fact that lighting may be more suitable for simulating incandescent lighting, such as halogens, that produces a warmer white temperature, shortly after sunrise and before sunset. Therefore, color simulation is best suited for astronomical display implementations because natural light varies most significantly depending on whether the sun is facing upwards or downwards (specifically, the length of the sun's path). However, when performing certain tasks, it is not necessary to couple brightness to a time-based display; therefore, the preferred embodiment allows the user to adjust brightness as needed. For example, changing the brightness at midday alters the simulated sun's brightness under its peak daylight conditions while maintaining peak daylight or high color temperature conditions. Conversely, changing the brightness in the morning or evening alters the simulated incandescent brightness, where a lower color temperature is more desirable than at midday. Therefore, the preferred embodiments of the present invention are not necessarily plotted for automatic and dynamic changes in color temperature throughout the day, but rather for task lighting conditions that the user needs periodically throughout the day, wherein brightness can be changed but the effect on color temperature depends on the time of day the user actuates the dimmer.

[0109] Figure 16 The illustration shows the effect of manually adjusting brightness at different times of day (TOD3 and TOD4) in the morning and midday on color temperature or CCT. Specifically, Figure 16 This indicates the greater change in color temperature when the brightness is manually changed from BR1 (shown as a solid line) to BR2 (shown as a dashed line) during the morning hours of TOD3 and the midday hours of TOD4. In TOD3, the color temperature substantially decreases when the brightness changes from BR1 to BR2, as shown by arrow 134. However, as shown by arrow 136, the color temperature in midday TOD4 decreases almost as much when the brightness changes from BR1 to BR2 as it does in the morning of TOD3. Of course, Figure 16 These are examples of various TODs and do not imply that only two TODs might be used: one hour after sunrise and one hour before sunset, and possibly at sunset or night. Furthermore, Figure 16 There is no illustration of the TOD after sunset, nor of reverse dimming that may occur after day or night. Furthermore, Figure 16 There is no illustration of the automatic color temperature change that will occur at each TOD during the fade-in.

[0110] Figure 17The illustration shows how user input from a manually activated trigger (such as a slider) on a triac dimmer or associated with a physical or virtual keypad generates an intensity value fed into a brightness dimming curve module 140, which includes a non-linear first mapping of intensity values ​​to brightness values ​​stored in a storage medium, and maps the brightness value corresponding to the intensity value input to the dimming curve module 140. A color simulation module 142 receives brightness values ​​and a time of day message or TOD value from, for example, a timer 144. The combination of the TOD value and the brightness (BR) value is received via a second mapping of color temperature as a function of time of day and the brightness input. Therefore, the color simulation module 142 performs a second mapping of color temperature based on the time of day and the brightness level input to it. The color simulation module 142 generates the corresponding color temperature along the X / Y chromaticity diagram (specifically, along the blackbody curve of the color temperature). Knowing the appropriate chromaticity, the chromaticity module 146 may include control circuitry and LED driver circuitry for controlling each LED chain by sending an appropriate drive current to each of a plurality of LED chains. Therefore, the chromaticity module 146 includes controlling and driving multiple LED chains to generate appropriate illumination from each of the multiple LED chains. Through the brightness dimming curve module 140 and the color simulation module 142, a combination of the first and second mappings generates appropriate drive current within the chromaticity module to maintain daylight simulation that depends on the time of day and changes in brightness.

[0111] Those skilled in the art, benefiting from this disclosure, will understand that the present invention is intended to provide improved lighting devices, systems, and methods that not only simulate daylight throughout the day but also, when lighting tasks are required, can maintain this simulation, for example, by advantageously reducing the color temperature more during the morning and evening hours than during midday. In view of this specification, further modifications to alternative embodiments of various aspects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the following claims are intended to be interpreted as encompassing all such modifications and changes, and thus the specification and drawings should be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.

Claims

1. A lighting device, comprising: Multiple light-emitting diode (LED) chains, each of which is configured to produce illumination for a lighting device with a chromaticity consistent with a chromaticity setting; A driving circuit, coupled to the plurality of LED chains, automatically changes the color temperature output from the lighting equipment according to the time of day; A control module, coupled to the driving circuit, is used to send brightness values ​​to the driving circuit. The control module includes: The interface is coupled into a received signal strength value; The storage medium includes a first non-linear mapping from intensity values ​​to luminance values, and a second mapping of color temperature as a function of luminance values ​​and time of day; and The controller is coupled to receive changes in intensity values ​​from the interface and obtain nonlinear first and second maps from the storage medium to produce a greater color temperature change near sunrise or sunset than at midday, even if the brightness changes caused by the intensity values ​​are equal at sunrise, sunset, and midday.

2. The lighting device of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of LED chains is configured to generate a spectral wavelength range.

3. The lighting device of claim 1, wherein the driving circuit automatically changes the color temperature by applying a different driving current to each of the plurality of LED chains according to the time of day.

4. The lighting device of claim 3, wherein the different drive currents for each of the plurality of LED chains are automatically changed with the time of day to change the color temperature output, thereby simulating the changes in natural sunlight.

5. The lighting device of claim 3, wherein the different drive currents for each of the plurality of LED chains are automatically changed according to the position of the sun.

6. The lighting device of claim 1, wherein the interface includes a wired or wireless interface for receiving a change in intensity value when a user actuates a button or slider on a remote control, wherein the remote control is wired or wirelessly coupled to the interface.

7. The lighting device of claim 1, further comprising a dimmer coupled to the controller for relaying a change in intensity value from the dimmer when the user actuates a button or slider on the dimmer.

8. A lighting system, comprising: Multiple light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are configured to produce multiple color temperatures along the blackbody curve; A timer used to generate multiple times of the day, including the first time of the day at sunrise or sunset and the second time of the day at noon; A driving circuit, coupled between a timer and multiple LEDs, is used to receive multiple times of the day and send driving currents to the multiple LEDs to generate a first color temperature during a first time of the day and a second color temperature during a second time of the day, wherein the timer is located away from the driving circuit and wirelessly or via a wired connection forwards the multiple times of the day to the driving circuit and the control module, each of the multiple times of the day having a different time value than the other times of the multiple times of the day; The remote control uses coupling to generate a strength value. A control module, coupled between the remote controller and the drive circuit, is used to receive intensity values ​​and send brightness values ​​that have a non-linear relationship with the intensity values ​​to each of the plurality of LEDs. The control module includes: The storage medium includes a first non-linear mapping from intensity values ​​to luminance values, and a second mapping of color temperature as a function of luminance values ​​and time of day; and The controller, coupled to receive changes in intensity values ​​from the remote control, obtains a non-linear first and second mapping from the storage medium, and produces a larger color temperature variation during the first time of day than during the second time of day, even though the brightness changes caused by the intensity values ​​are equal at the first and second times of day. The first time of day is sunrise or sunset, and the second time of day is noon.

9. The lighting system of claim 8, wherein the timer includes a real-time clock that varies according to the location of the remote controller on Earth, and the multiple times of day generated by the timer include regular timing intervals.

10. The lighting system of claim 8, wherein the multiple times of a day are values ​​that vary according to the position of the sun relative to the position of a timer on Earth.

11. The lighting system of claim 8, further comprising a dimmer coupled to the AC trunk, and including a trigger that, when a user actuates the trigger, changes an intensity value generated by the dimmer and correspondingly changes a brightness value non-linearly, and changes a different amount of color temperature according to the time of day.

12. The lighting system of claim 11, wherein when the user actuates the trigger of the dimmer, the trigger reduces the intensity and brightness values, causing the color temperature to drop more during the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset than during the time between those two hours.

13. The lighting system of claim 8, further comprising a dimmer coupled to the AC trunk line, and including a trigger that, when a user actuates the trigger, changes the intensity value generated by the dimmer and accordingly changes the brightness value equally among a plurality of LEDs, and changes the color temperature by different amounts depending on the time of day.

14. The lighting system of claim 8, wherein the remote control includes a trigger that, when a user actuates the trigger, changes the color temperature more during the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset than during the transition period between the two.

15. A method for irradiating a structure, comprising: Color temperature is generated in multiple light-emitting diode (LED) lighting devices within the structure; Based on periodic signals sent from timers located away from the multiple LED lighting devices at different times of the day, the color temperature among the multiple LED lighting devices is automatically changed to simulate the changing natural light produced by the sun. Changes in received signal strength; In response to a received change in intensity value, a first mapping from intensity value to luminance value and a second mapping of color temperature as a function of luminance value and time of day are obtained; as well as The color temperature variation is greater during the first time of day than during the second time of day, even though the brightness variation caused by the intensity value is equal at the first and second times of day. The first time of day is sunrise or sunset, and the second time of day is noon.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the generation comprises forwarding a drive current to each of a plurality of light-emitting diode LED chains within each of the plurality of LED lighting devices to generate a mixture of chromaticity values ​​along a blackbody curve of color temperature.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein receiving a change in intensity value includes detecting actuation of a button or slider on a remote control to reduce the intensity value of the plurality of LED lighting devices.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein a first time of day includes time close to sunrise or sunset, and a second time of day includes time close to noon.

19. A lighting system comprising: Multiple light-emitting diode (LED) lighting devices are grouped into multiple groups among multiple rooms of the structure, wherein the first group of the multiple LED lighting devices is located in the first room of the structure; A driving circuit is coupled to each of the plurality of LED lighting devices, wherein a first driving circuit is coupled to each of a first group of the plurality of LED lighting devices for automatically changing the color temperature output from only the first group of the plurality of LED lighting devices according to the time of day, and is separate and isolated from the other groups of the plurality of LED lighting devices; A first control module is coupled to a first drive circuit, wherein the first control module includes: A first controller is coupled to receive changes in intensity values ​​from a remote controller, which is located remotely from the first controller and is wirelessly or wiredly connected to the first controller, and wherein the first controller is coupled to receive changes in intensity values ​​and, in response, to generate a change in only a first set of dedicated color temperature outputs for the LED lighting device at a first time of day relative to a second time of day, wherein the color temperature output includes a smaller color temperature change at midday than at sunrise and sunset.

20. The lighting system of claim 19, wherein: The second group of the plurality of LED lighting devices is located in the second room of the structure; and The lighting system also includes: A second driving circuit, coupled to each of the second group of the plurality of LED lighting devices, is used to automatically change the color temperature output from only the second group of the plurality of LED lighting devices according to the time of day, and is separate and isolated from the first group of the plurality of LED lighting devices; and A second control module is coupled to a second drive circuit, wherein the second control module includes: A second controller, coupled to receive changes in intensity values ​​from a second remote controller, which is located remotely from the second controller and is wirelessly or wiredly connected to the second controller, wherein the second controller is coupled to receive changes in intensity values ​​and, in response, generates a change in the color temperature output of the LED lighting device, specifically a second set of colors, at a third time of day relative to a fourth time of day.

21. A lighting device, comprising: Multiple light-emitting diodes (LEDs); One or more driver circuits coupled to multiple LEDs; as well as A control module coupled to one or more drive circuits, the control module comprising: The coupling is the interface for receiving strength; The storage medium includes a first nonlinear mapping from intensity to luminance, and a second mapping of color temperature as a function of luminance and time of day; and The controller is configured as follows: The one or more driving circuits automatically adjust the brightness and color temperature of the plurality of LEDs according to the time of day; Respond to a required change from a first intensity value to a second intensity value, corresponding to the current color temperature and current brightness based on the current time of day, received from a remote control device located away from the lighting equipment, in response to a remote change in the intensity value provided by the lighting equipment; The target brightness is determined using the first mapping and based on the received second intensity value. The target color temperature of the plurality of LEDs is determined using the second mapping, the target color temperature being based on the current time of day and a determined target brightness, wherein the target color temperature includes less color temperature variation at midday than at sunrise and sunset; and The one or more driving circuits adjust the brightness and color temperature of each of at least a portion of the plurality of LEDs to produce illumination at a target color temperature and a determined target brightness. In this process, switching multiple LEDs to a second intensity at different times of the day will result in a corresponding change in the determined target color temperature.

22. A lighting method, comprising: This allows one or more drive circuits to automatically adjust the brightness and color temperature of multiple light-emitting diodes (LEDs) installed in a lighting device according to the time of day. The remote control device, located away from the lighting equipment, receives the required change from a first intensity value corresponding to the current color temperature and current brightness based on the current time of day to a second intensity value provided by the lighting equipment. The target brightness of multiple LEDs is determined using a first nonlinear mapping from intensity to luminance, and the target brightness is determined based on the received second intensity value. The target color temperature of multiple LEDs is determined using a second mapping that uses color temperature as a function of brightness and time of day. The target color temperature is determined based on the time of day and the determined target brightness, wherein the target color temperature includes less color temperature variation at midday than at sunrise and sunset. as well as The controller causes the one or more drive circuits to adjust the brightness and color temperature of each of at least a portion of the plurality of LEDs to produce illumination at a target color temperature and a determined target brightness.

23. A light-emitting diode (LED) lighting controller, operably coupled to one or more LED chains, the LED lighting controller comprising: Communication interface circuit; as well as The controller circuit, in response to receiving an input signal, performs the following operation, wherein the input signal includes data representing a desired brightness change via one or more operatively coupleable LED chains through the communication interface circuit: Determine the current time of day; The current color temperature output of one or more operatively coupleable LED chains is determined using a first color temperature profile, which includes data representing a first color temperature as a function of the time of day. as well as Based on the required brightness variation of one or more operably coupleable LED chains, a second color temperature profile is used to determine the target color temperature output of one or more operably coupleable LED chains as a function of the current time of day. The second color temperature curve includes at least the target color temperature corresponding to the current time of day; and The target color temperature includes less color temperature variation at midday than at sunrise and sunset.

24. A method for controlling LED lighting, comprising: In response to receiving an input signal, the following operation is performed, wherein the input signal includes data representing a desired brightness change of one or more operatively couplerable LED chains: The current time of day is determined by the LED lighting control circuit; The LED lighting control circuit uses a first color temperature profile to determine the current color temperature output of one or more operatively coupleable LED chains, the first color temperature profile including data representing the first color temperature as a function of the time of day; as well as The LED lighting control circuit determines the target color temperature output of one or more operably coupled LED chains as a function of the current time of day, based on the brightness variation required by one or more operably coupled LED chains, using a second color temperature curve. The second color temperature curve includes at least the target color temperature corresponding to the current time of day; and The target color temperature includes less color temperature variation at midday than at sunrise and sunset.

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