Light emitting diode driver architecture for driving display panel and operating method thereof

Abstract

A light-emitting diode driver architecture for driving a display panel and an operation method thereof, comprising at least one light-emitting diode driver group, the light-emitting diode driver group comprising a plurality of light-emitting diode driving circuits connected in series. Moreover, all the light-emitting diode driving circuits in the group receive a data input signal together, so that after the control signal is received, an output signal is generated to drive the display panel. The light emitting diode driver architecture disclosed herein may employ, as required, a multi-point drive circuit in whole or in part. In addition, each light-emitting diode driving circuit is respectively driven by adopting an enabling signal, so that the use of a traditional first-in first-out temporary memory can be omitted. Therefore, the power loss and the circuit layout area of the known light-emitting diode driving circuit can be effectively saved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an LED driver architecture and an operating method thereof, and more particularly to providing an LED driving circuit suitable for driving a display panel and an operating method for driving the display panel, wherein a multi-point LED driving circuit and a differential pulse embedded interface are adopted, thereby reducing the power consumption and circuit layout area of ​​the LED driving circuit and improving its data transmission efficiency. Background Art

[0002] As is known, a light-emitting diode (LED) display is a screen display device that uses an array of light-emitting diodes as its image display pixels. In recent years, in addition to providing general visual display and lighting functions, LED displays have a rich brightness variation that allows them to be widely used in outdoor commercial advertising displays and even for stage or other decorative lighting purposes. Compared with traditional projection screens, LED displays can provide higher image contrast, so they have been able to fully replace traditional projection screens and are adopted by the public. Nowadays, LED displays are not only commonly used for destination signs on public transportation, information signs on highways, but also for large and uninterrupted image video walls.

[0003] When considering the detailed configuration of the light-emitting diode display panel device, it is known that the existing light-emitting diode display panel device mainly includes: a plurality of source driver circuits for providing data voltages to the data lines of the light-emitting diode display panel, a plurality of gate driver circuits for providing gate pulses (or scan pulse signals) to the gate lines of the light-emitting diode display panel, and a timing controller for controlling the above-mentioned source driver circuits and gate driver circuits. Generally speaking, the timing controller provides digital image data and samples the digital image data through a clock signal, and the timing controller generates a control signal and can control these source driver circuits through, for example, a mini low voltage differential signaling (mini LVDS) interface. Therefore, the source driver circuit can convert the digital image data received from the timing controller into an analog data voltage and transmit it to the data line for transmission. In addition, between the timing controller and the source driver circuit, there are multiple red (R) data transmission lines, green (G) data transmission lines, blue (B) data transmission lines, control lines for controlling the output operation timing and polarity conversion operation of the source driver circuit, and clock transmission lines, etc. It is known that in the existing mini LVDS interface, R, G, B digital image data and their clock signals are transmitted in the form of a set of differential signals. It can be seen that when the existing technology transmits R, G, B digital image data, a large number of data transmission lines must be configured between the timing controller and the source driver circuit, which also makes it impossible to further miniaturize the line width of the printed circuit board (PCB).

[0004] In addition, in the existing light-emitting diode display panel, these source driver circuits and gate driver circuits are connected in series through data input pulse signals and data output pulse signals. Therefore, it is worth noting that each driver circuit must receive a data input pulse signal and / or a trigger clock signal from the driver circuit of the previous level before it can be triggered to start. After that, the driver circuit can transmit its data output pulse signal to the driver circuit of the next level. Under such an architecture, when data transmission is required between drivers, not only additional pins need to be configured, but also additional transceiver circuit layout area is required. Overall, these greatly increase the circuit cost of the existing light-emitting diode display panel.

[0005] In view of this, in order to improve the long-standing deficiencies in the above-mentioned many known technologies, how to properly improve and optimize the existing LED driving circuit is still extremely challenging and absolutely necessary. Therefore, in view of the above, it can be clearly seen that the technical personnel in this field do have an urgent need to develop a novel and creative LED driver architecture that can be used to drive a display panel, so that the above-mentioned problems existing in the prior art can be solved by the architecture and its innovative operation method, so that the overall performance of the LED display panel device can be further optimized. Summary of the invention

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned deficiencies, an object of the present invention is to provide an innovative light emitting diode (LED) driver architecture suitable for driving a display panel. According to the technical solution disclosed in the present invention, the LED driver architecture is designed through a multi-point architecture, making it a multi-point LED driving circuit.

[0007] The LED driver architecture disclosed in the present invention can be applied to drive a display panel. The LED driver architecture is electrically coupled to a plurality of scan lines and receives a first data input signal to generate a plurality of output signals for driving the display panel. The LED driver architecture includes a first LED driver group.

[0008] The first LED driver group includes M LED driver circuits connected in series, where M is a positive integer. Each LED driver circuit receives a first data input signal as its input, so that the first LED driver group is a multi-point architecture. Therefore, after receiving the first data input signal, the M LED driver circuits electrically coupled to the scan lines can generate the output signals for driving the display panel.

[0009] Furthermore, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the LED driver architecture further includes a second LED driver group, which is connected in series with the first LED driver group. The second LED driver group includes N LED driver circuits connected in series with each other, where N is a positive integer. Each LED driver circuit receives a second data input signal as its input, so that the second LED driver group is a multi-point architecture. Therefore, after receiving the second data input signal, the N LED driver circuits electrically coupled to the scan lines can generate the output signals for driving the display panel.

[0010] In one embodiment, the second data input signal received by the second LED driver group may be an independent data input signal. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. In another optional embodiment, the second data input signal received by the second LED driver group may also be generated and provided by the signal data output terminal of the first LED driver group. In other words, in such an implementation, the N LED driving circuits in the second LED driver group jointly receive the data output signal from the last LED driving circuit connected in series in the first LED driver group as their input signal.

[0011] Furthermore, the LED driver architecture disclosed in the present invention can selectively include more than one LED driver group and the driving circuits therein. Therefore, in order to accurately determine and judge which driving circuit should be triggered (started), the present invention also proposes a technical solution regarding an enable signal.

[0012] For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the light emitting diode driving circuit may be configured with a data enable input terminal and a data enable output terminal, and receive an enable signal through the data enable input terminal.

[0013] With this design, when the enable signal forms a high level, it drives the LED driving circuit connected thereto, so that the LED driving circuit is triggered and driven, thereby receiving a data packet from its data input signal. Therefore, when the enable signal of each LED driving circuit forms a high level in sequence, it drives each LED driving circuit in sequence, so that the data packet can be transmitted in the LED driver architecture including the first and second LED driver groups.

[0014] On the other hand, the present invention also proposes an operating method suitable for the LED driver architecture, so as to drive a display panel through the operating method of the LED driver architecture.

[0015] The operating method provided by the present invention can also be applied to other existing known circuit architectures of light emitting diode drivers. Once the disclosure of this application is known, other alternative and modified examples will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

[0016] At the same time, it should be understood that the foregoing technical summary and the following detailed description are exemplary and are intended to provide further explanation of the protection claimed in the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1It is a circuit structure diagram of a light emitting diode driver architecture according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2 It is public Figure 1 A flowchart of the steps of a method of operation of the illustrated architecture.

[0019] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram disclosing the detailed configuration of each enabling signal of the light emitting diode driving circuit in the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 4 It is public Figure 3 Timing diagram of each operation signal in the embodiment.

[0021] Figure 5 It is a circuit structure diagram of a light emitting diode driver architecture according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 6 It is public Figure 5 A flowchart of the steps of a method of operation of the illustrated architecture.

[0023] Figure 7 The disclosure of the present invention is based on Figure 5 The architecture shown is a schematic diagram of a circuit structure where M=2 and N=3.

[0024] Figure 8 It is a circuit structure diagram of a light emitting diode driver architecture according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[0025]

Explanation of symbols

[0026] 100, 100': LED driver architecture

[0027] 10M: First LED driver group

[0028] 20N: Second LED driver group

[0029] L1A, L1B, L1C, L1(M-1), L1M: LED drive circuit

[0030] L2A, L2B, L2C, L2N: LED drive circuit

[0031] S0, S1, SN: scan line

[0032] DATA: First data input signal

[0033] DATA': Second data input signal

[0034] OUTR, OUTG, OUTB: output signal

[0035] SDIN: Signal data input terminal

[0036] SDOUT: signal data output terminal

[0037] DE_IN: Data enable input

[0038] DE_OUT: Data enable output terminal

[0039] DE1: First enable signal

[0040] DE2: Second enable signal

[0041] DE3: The third enable signal

[0042] DEM: Mth enable signal

[0043] SCLK: clock signal

[0044] S202, S204, S206: Steps

[0045] S602, S604, S606: Steps DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] The embodiments of the present invention will be further explained below with reference to the accompanying drawings. As much as possible, the same reference numerals represent the same or similar components in the drawings and the specification. In the drawings, shapes and thicknesses may be exaggerated for simplicity and convenience. It is understood that the components not specifically shown in the drawings or described in the specification are known to those skilled in the art. Those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications based on the contents of the present invention.

[0047] Unless otherwise specified, some conditional sentences or words, such as "can", "could", "might", or "may", are generally intended to express that the embodiments of the present application have, but may also be interpreted as features, elements, or steps that may not be required. In other embodiments, these features, elements, or steps may not be required.

[0048] In the following description of "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" refers to a specific element, structure or feature associated with at least one embodiment. Therefore, multiple descriptions of "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" appearing in multiple places below do not refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, specific components, structures and features in one or more embodiments can be combined in an appropriate manner.

[0049] Certain words are used in the specification and claims to refer to specific components. However, those skilled in the art should understand that the same component may be referred to by different nouns. The specification and claims do not use differences in names as a way to distinguish components, but use differences in the functions of the components as a basis for distinction. The term "including" mentioned in the specification and claims is an open-ended term, so it should be interpreted as "including but not limited to". In addition, "coupling" here includes any direct and indirect connection means. Therefore, if the text describes a first component coupled to a second component, it means that the first component can be directly connected to the second component through electrical connection or signal connection methods such as wireless transmission, optical transmission, etc., or indirectly electrically or signal connected to the second component through other components or connection means.

[0050] The disclosure is particularly described with the following examples, which are only used for illustration, because for those skilled in the art, various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure, so the protection scope of the disclosure should be determined by the scope defined in the attached claims. Throughout the specification and claims, unless the content clearly specifies, the meaning of "one" and "the" includes this type of description including "one or at least one" of the elements or components. In addition, as used in the present disclosure, unless it is obvious from the specific context that multiple is excluded, the singular article also includes the description of multiple elements or components. Moreover, when applied in this description and in all the claims below, unless the content clearly specifies, the meaning of "in which" may include "in which" and "on it". The terms used in the specification and claims throughout the text, unless otherwise specified, generally have the ordinary meaning of each term used in this field, in the content disclosed herein and in the special content. Certain terms used to describe the present disclosure will be discussed below or elsewhere in this specification to provide practitioners with additional guidance in describing the present disclosure. The use of examples anywhere throughout the specification, including examples of any term discussed herein, is for illustrative purposes only and certainly does not limit the scope and meaning of the present disclosure or any exemplified term. Likewise, the present disclosure is not limited to the various embodiments set forth in this specification.

[0051] In the following paragraphs, the present invention will provide a light-emitting diode driver architecture suitable for driving a display panel, and an operating method of the light-emitting diode driver architecture. By adopting the technical solution disclosed in this application, it is possible to achieve optimized performance in terms of power consumption and circuit layout area when driving a display panel. Generally speaking, the disclosed technology of the light-emitting diode driver architecture and its operating method provided in the following description can also be applied to other circuit configurations. The present invention is not limited to the following implementation.

[0052] One purpose of the present invention is to disclose a light emitting diode driver (LED) architecture and its operation method, and the display panel can be driven by such LED driver architecture and its operation method, thereby effectively saving the circuit layout area and redundant power waste of the traditional LED driver architecture. At the same time, the LED driver architecture adopted by the present invention is a multi-point light emitting diode driver circuit and a differential pulse embedded interface, and the data signal transmission efficiency thereof can also be optimized at the same time. In this way, when the technical solution disclosed by the present invention is used to drive the display panel, the optimization result of power efficiency and circuit layout consumption can naturally be achieved.

[0053] In order to fully explain the technical features of the present invention, first, please refer to Figure 1 , which is a schematic diagram of the circuit structure of a light emitting diode driver architecture according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 It is public Figure 1 Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2 at the same time, the first embodiment of the present invention is to disclose a light emitting diode driver architecture 100 and its operation method, and drive a display panel through the light emitting diode driver architecture 100 and its operation method.

[0054] According to the first embodiment of the present invention, the LED driver architecture 100 includes a first LED driver group 10M, wherein the first LED driver group 10M includes M LED driver circuits, which are represented by L1A, L1B...L1M as shown in the figure, and these LED driver circuits L1A, L1B...L1M are electrically coupled to a plurality of scan lines S0, S1...SN. Figure 1 As shown, these LED driving circuits L1A, L1B ... L1M are connected in series, and M is a positive integer. Each of the LED driving circuits L1A, L1B ... L1M has a signal data input terminal SDIN, and receives a data input signal DATA through the signal data input terminal SDIN. In order to distinguish that the data input signal DATA is received by the first LED driver group 10M, the data input signal DATA is described as "first data input signal" when introducing it below.

[0055] Therefore, through this circuit configuration, when the first data input signal DATA is provided to the first LED driver group 10M for reception, each of the LED driving circuits L1A, L1B...L1M therein jointly receives the first data input signal DATA as its input signal, and the first LED driver group 10M is a multi-point (multidrop) circuit architecture.

[0056] Figure 2 The invention discloses an operation method of a first LED driver group 10M, including steps S202, S204, and S206. As mentioned above, the first LED driver group 10M is composed of M LED driver circuits L1A, L1B, ..., L1M connected in series, where M is a positive integer, for example, M = 1, 2, 3, ...

[0057] Therefore, as shown in step S202, the present invention first provides a first data input signal DATA to the first LED driver group 10M, so that each LED driver circuit L1A, L1B ... L1M can receive the first data input signal DATA through its signal data input terminal SDIN. In this embodiment, each LED driver circuit L1A, L1B ... L1M in the first LED driver group 10M receives the first data input signal DATA as its input signal, forming a multi-point LED driver circuit architecture.

[0058] Then, as shown in step S204, the present invention provides a plurality of scan lines and electrically couples the light emitting diode driving circuits L1A, L1B . . . L1M to the scan lines. Figure 1 As shown, based on the fact that these LED driving circuits L1A, L1B ... L1M are commonly electrically coupled to the scan lines S0, S1 ... SN and commonly receive the first data input signal DATA as their input signal, each LED driving circuit L1A, L1B ... L1M in the first LED driver group 10M can generate a plurality of output signals OUTR, OUTG, OUTB, and use the output signals OUTR, OUTG, OUTB to drive a display panel (see Figure 2 (as shown in step S206).

[0059] For example, the generated output signal OUTR can be transmitted via a red (R) output data transmission line, the generated output signal OUTG can be transmitted via a green (G) output data transmission line, and the generated output signal OUTB can be transmitted via a blue (B) output data transmission line. Thus, by using the output signals OUTR, OUTG, OUTB and the control signals for controlling their operation timing and polarity conversion, the display panel device connected thereto can be successfully driven.

[0060] For example, in one embodiment, the display panel device that can be driven and started by the present invention can be a light board, or a part of any screen on the display panel. The display panel can be, for example: a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, a light-emitting diode (LED) display panel, or a micro-LED display panel. In addition, the data or clock signal transmitted between the driving circuits may include display data and / or control signals for controlling various parameters on the display panel, such as various parameters related to image display, optical characteristics, audio characteristics, etc. Alternatively, these data or clock signals can also be used to generate display data and / or control signals. No matter which method is used, the transmission of these signals is transmitted from the previous level to the next level in a serial manner, that is, the data signal must be received by the driving circuit of the previous level before it can be transmitted to the driving circuit of the next level and received by the driving circuit of the next level; in this way, each driving circuit must be synchronized to make the driving signal used by the driving circuit to control the display panel have a synchronized output timing with the corresponding display device. Based on the fact that such related panel driving technology is already common knowledge known in the technical field, the related description is omitted in the present invention, and the applicant does not make redundant discussion or description.

[0061] It is obvious that according to the technical solution disclosed in the present invention, the conventional transceiver circuit for receiving and sending data signals in the prior art can be successfully omitted. Therefore, the circuit layout area and power consumption in the prior art can be significantly minimized. In addition, since the driver group including multiple light-emitting diode driving circuits disclosed in the present invention is a multi-point design architecture, which is provided and designed in an integral body, when it is used to drive a display panel, the speed and efficiency of data transmission therein can also be improved.

[0062] Furthermore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, based on the LED driver group including a plurality of LED driver circuits L1A, L1B...L1M connected in series, in order to accurately control which LED driver circuit should be triggered and receive the data input signal, the present invention further provides a data enable input terminal and a data enable output terminal. Figure 1 As shown, each light emitting diode driving circuit L1A, L1B ... L1M is equipped with a data enable input terminal DE_IN and a data enable output terminal DE_OUT. For a clearer explanation of the technical solution, please refer to Figure 3The applicant provides a detailed description of the structure shown below.

[0063] In detail, Figure 3 As shown, the light-emitting diode driving circuit L1A receives a first enable signal DE1 through its data enable input terminal DE_IN, and the light-emitting diode driving circuit L1B receives a second enable signal DE2 through its data enable input terminal DE_IN. The second enable signal DE2 is generated and output by the data enable output terminal DE_OUT of the light-emitting diode driving circuit L1A. In general, the data enable input terminal DE_IN of a light-emitting diode driving circuit is electrically connected to the data enable output terminal DE_OUT of the previous light-emitting diode driving circuit.

[0064] Based on this configuration relationship, the data enable output terminal DE_OUT of the LED driving circuit L1B is electrically connected to the data enable input terminal DE_IN of the LED driving circuit L1C, so that the LED driving circuit L1C receives a third enable signal DE3. The third enable signal DE3 is generated and output by the data enable output terminal DE_OUT of the LED driving circuit L1B.

[0065] Similarly, the data enable input terminal DE_IN of the LED driving circuit L1M is suitable for receiving an Mth enable signal DEM. The Mth enable signal DEM is generated and outputted by the data enable output terminal DE_OUT of the previous stage LED driving circuit L1(M-1).

[0066] Please also read Figure 4 As shown, it is publicly Figure 3 The operation signals in the embodiment include: a timing diagram of a clock signal SCLK, a first data input signal DATA, a first enable signal DE1 of the light-emitting diode driving circuit L1A, a second enable signal DE2 of the light-emitting diode driving circuit L1B, a third enable signal DE3 of the light-emitting diode driving circuit L1C, and an Mth enable signal DEM of the light-emitting diode driving circuit L1M.

[0067] like Figure 4As shown, first, the first enable signal DE1 of the LED driving circuit L1A is always maintained at a high voltage level, indicating that the LED driving circuit L1A is always maintained in the turned-on state. After that, after the LED driving circuit L1A receives its data packet Data Packet 1, the second enable signal DE2 of the LED driving circuit L1B is raised to a high level, thereby driving the LED driving circuit L1B, and allowing the LED driving circuit L1B to subsequently receive the data packet. When the second enable signal DE2 of the LED driving circuit L1B forms a high level, the LED driving circuit L1B receives the data packet Data Packet 2. Similarly, after the LED driving circuit L1B receives its data packet Data Packet 2, the third enable signal DE3 of the LED driving circuit L1C is raised to a high level, thereby driving the LED driving circuit L1C, and allowing the LED driving circuit L1C to receive its data packet.

[0068] In short, the present invention provides a data enable input terminal DE_IN for receiving an enable signal in the LED driving circuit. When the enable signal is controlled to form a high level, the LED driving circuit connected thereto can be triggered and driven, so that the LED driving circuit can receive a data packet from its data input signal. Through this design configuration, when the enable signals DE1, DE2, DE3...DEM of each of the M LED driving circuits L1A, L1B, L1C...L1M form a high level in sequence, the present invention can sequentially start the LED driving circuits L1A, L1B, L1C...L1M and make them receive the data packet in sequence, so that the transmitted data packet can be transmitted in sequence in the first LED driver group 10M.

[0069] In summary, overall, the present invention can successfully eliminate the first-in-first-out (FIFO) register used in the prior art by further configuring the data enable input terminal DE_IN and the data enable output terminal DE_OUT in the LED driving circuit, thereby greatly reducing the circuit layout area of ​​the existing LED driving circuit. In addition, in these LED driving circuits connected in series, the LED driving circuit of the subsequent stage can only be activated after the LED driving circuit of the previous stage completes receiving its data input, thereby receiving the data packet, and the present invention also saves unnecessary power consumption. In view of this, it is obvious that by adopting a multi-point LED driver architecture and its operating method disclosed in the present invention, it can achieve the best optimization performance of the power consumption and circuit layout area of ​​the overall display panel.

[0070] Looking further, see Figure 5 , which is a schematic diagram of the circuit structure of a light emitting diode driver architecture according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 It is public Figure 5 A flowchart of the steps in the operation of the architecture shown. Please also refer to Figures 5-6 As shown, the second embodiment of the present invention is to disclose another LED driver architecture 100 ′ and an operating method thereof, and drive a display panel through the LED driver architecture 100 ′ and the operating method thereof.

[0071] According to the second embodiment of the present invention, the LED driver architecture 100' includes not only the aforementioned first LED driver group 10M, but also a second LED driver group 20N. The second LED driver group 20N includes N LED driver circuits, which are represented by L2A, L2B...L2N as shown in the figure, and these LED driver circuits L2A, L2B...L2N are electrically coupled to a plurality of scan lines S0, S1...SN and generate a plurality of output signals OUTR, OUTG, OUTB, and these output signals OUTR, OUTG, OUTB are used to drive the display panel. Figure 5As shown, these light-emitting diode driving circuits L2A, L2B ... L2N are connected in series, N is a positive integer, N = 1, 2, 3 .... Each of the light-emitting diode driving circuits L2A, L2B ... L2N has a signal data input terminal SDIN, and receives a data input signal DATA' through the signal data input terminal SDIN. In order to distinguish that the data input signal DATA' is different from the aforementioned first data input signal DATA, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the data input signal DATA' is received by the second light-emitting diode driver group 20N, and the data input signal DATA' is described as "the second data input signal" when introducing it below.

[0072] Therefore, through this circuit configuration, when the second data input signal DATA' is provided to the second LED driver group 20N for reception, each of the LED driver circuits L2A, L2B ... L2N therein receives the second data input signal DATA' as its input signal, and the second LED driver group 20N disclosed in the second embodiment of the present invention is also a multi-point circuit architecture. In addition, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, each of the LED driver circuits L2A, L2B ... L2N in the second LED driver group 20N receives the data output signal of the last LED driver circuit connected in series from the M LED driver circuits L1A, L1B ... L1M of the first LED driver group 10M as its input signal.

[0073] Please also see Figure 6 As shown, it is disclosed about the present invention Figure 5 The operation method of the LED driver architecture of the second embodiment includes steps S602, S604, and S606. As mentioned above, in addition to the first LED driver group 10M, the LED driver architecture 100' also includes a second LED driver group 20N, and the second LED driver group 20N is composed of N LED driving circuits L2A, L2B...L2N connected in series, where N is a positive integer, for example: N=1, 2, 3...

[0074] Therefore, as shown in step S602, the present invention first provides a first data input signal DATA to the first LED driver group 10M, so that each LED driving circuit L1A, L1B . . . L1M therein can receive the first data input signal DATA as its input signal.

[0075] Afterwards, as shown in step S604, after the LED driving circuits L1A, L1B...L1M jointly receive the first data input signal DATA, the last LED driving circuit connected in series among these LED driving circuits L1A, L1B...L1M, that is, the LED driving circuit L1M, generates and outputs a data output signal. In the second embodiment of the present invention, the data output signal generated and output by the LED driving circuit L1M is the aforementioned second data input signal DATA'.

[0076] Therefore, in step S606, the second data input signal DATA' can be transmitted to the second LED driver group 20N for receiving by the second LED driver group 20N. Through such configuration, each LED driver circuit L2A, L2B ... L2N in the second LED driver group 20N can receive the data output signal from the last LED driver circuit connected in series in the first LED driver group 10M as its input signal.

[0077] Therefore, according to the present invention Figures 5-6 The disclosed technical solution is sufficient to show that the LED driver architecture 100' disclosed in the second embodiment of the present invention includes a first LED driver group 10M and a second LED driver group 20N, and by adopting the first LED driver group 10M and the second LED driver group 20N connected in series, the data signal transmission can be effectively completed, thereby driving a corresponding display panel.

[0078] Also, please refer to Figure 5 As shown, it can be seen that the second data input signal DATA' received by each LED driving circuit L2A, L2B ... L2N in the second LED driver group 20N is generated and provided by the signal data output terminal SDOUT of the last LED driving circuit L1M connected in series in the first LED driver group 10M. Based on this configuration relationship, please refer to Figure 7 As shown, it is disclosed that the present invention is based on Figure 5 The structure shown is a schematic diagram of M=2 and N=3. In this embodiment, the first LED driver group 10M includes LED driver circuits L1A and L1B, and the second LED driver group 20N includes LED driver circuits L2A, L2B, and L2C. The input signal received by the second LED driver group is the output signal of the previous LED driver circuit L1B. In this embodiment, the present invention can adopt a multi-point LED driver circuit in whole or in part, and the present invention covers all equivalent modified examples.

[0079] In view of the technical solution disclosed in the present invention, it is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. That is to say, according to the multi-point light-emitting diode driver architecture disclosed in the present invention, it can be optionally applied in whole or in part to a light-emitting diode driving circuit of a display panel, and includes other types of driving circuits that are not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments of the present invention. According to the multi-point light-emitting diode driver architecture disclosed in the present invention, the driving circuit used can be an integrated circuit (IC) made on a chip, so that the signals between each IC chip can be further synchronized.

[0080] Generally speaking, for those skilled in the art, they can make equal modifications or changes based on the present invention according to different circuit specifications and / or specifications without departing from the technical core of the present invention. In other words, the scope of protection claimed by the present invention is not limited to the above. Moreover, various modifications or variations and / or circuit implementations based on the present invention should still fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

[0081] In addition, it can be seen from the above-mentioned embodiments that in the technical solution disclosed in the present invention, since a transmitter circuit (transmitting circuit, TX) is not required in the light-emitting diode driving circuit to transmit data signals, the present invention also saves the configuration area of ​​the traditional TX circuit layout and suppresses the overall power consumption of the circuit layout.

[0082] On the other hand, see Figure 8 FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a light emitting diode driver architecture according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 and Figure 7 In the embodiment shown, the second data input signal DATA' received by the second LED driver group 20N is generated and provided by the signal data output terminal SDOUT of the last LED driver circuit L1M connected in series in the first LED driver group 10M of the previous stage. That is to say, each LED driver circuit L2A, L2B...L2N receives the data output signal from the last LED driver circuit L1M connected in series in the first LED driver group 10M as its input signal. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Figure 8The configuration relationship of a third embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. In this third embodiment, the second data input signal DATA' received by the second LED driver group 20N can also be an independent data input signal, which can also be used to implement the invention purpose of the present invention. In general, the multi-point LED driver architecture disclosed in the present invention can be universally applied in whole or in part to drive one or more LED driving circuits of a display panel, and the scope of the patent claimed by the present invention also covers such modified examples.

[0083] Based on the technical solution disclosed in the first embodiment of the present invention, during the data transmission processing of the second LED driver group 20N, each of the LED driver circuits L2A, L2B, L2C ... L2N can also be configured with a data enable input terminal DE_IN and a data enable output terminal DE_OUT, so that by sequentially receiving and transmitting the enable signal, each of the LED driver circuits L2A, L2B, L2C ... L2N is triggered and started in sequence, thereby completing the transmission of the data packet in the second LED driver group 20N. The technical solution is the same as that described in the above embodiment of the present invention, so it will not be repeated.

[0084] In summary, the present invention provides a multi-point light-emitting diode driver architecture and its operation method to drive a display panel, wherein a plurality of series-connected light-emitting diode driver groups are included, which drive or control the display panel by being connected in series to achieve a predetermined function on the display panel, such as controlling the display panel to provide imaging. Since these driving circuits are connected in series with each other, each driving circuit receives a data input or a clock signal from the driving circuit of the previous stage, and transmits the data input or the clock signal to the next stage, so that the driving signals of each stage can be further processed by synchronization to eliminate the time difference therein. For example, in an applicable embodiment, it can be used in conjunction with a replication circuit or a frame circuit for the signal synchronization processing. At the same time, each driving circuit can be an integrated IC circuit implemented on a chip, so that this synchronization mechanism can be applied to the multi-point light-emitting diode driver architecture disclosed in the present invention, thereby effectively achieving synchronization between each IC chip.

[0085] On the other hand, in the multi-point LED driver architecture and its operation method provided by the present invention, it is considered that the signal transmission process of such a multi-point transmission bus interface is usually accompanied by non-ideal factors affecting its transmission rate and signal transmission quality, such as: interference (influences) from signal reflection, cross-talk, signal loss, impedance mismatch, inter-symbol interference (ISI), influences from resistance and / or capacitance element loads, etc. Therefore, in order to reduce the influence of these non-ideal factors, the present invention controls the run length of the first data input signal DATA and the second data input signal DATA' to be less than 20. Generally speaking, a "run length" is defined as: the number of consecutive identical bits (consecutive identical digit, CID) "1" or "0" allowed to appear in the transmission channel. For example, when the run length is 5, it represents the number of consecutive identical bits "1" or "0" allowed to appear in the transmission channel, including: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. When the transmission channel is formed by a combination of more signal waveforms, the aforementioned non-ideal effects will accumulate and multiply, causing a significant decrease in the quality of signal transmission. Therefore, under this consideration, the present invention further requests that the running length of its data input signal (clock embedded data) should be less than 20.

[0086] Therefore, in summary, it is obvious that, compared with the prior art, the present invention significantly reduces the redundant power waste, and at the same time saves the circuit layout area of ​​the redundant emitter circuit in the LED driving circuit used in the prior art to drive the display panel. Therefore, under the premise of effectively reducing the power waste of the driving circuit, the total power consumption of the entire display panel and the display device used therein can also be minimized. Therefore, it can be established that according to the multi-point LED driver architecture and its operating method disclosed in the present invention, it can effectively solve the huge power consumption problem existing in the prior art.

[0087] In view of this, according to the light-emitting diode driver architecture and its operation method disclosed in the present invention, when applied to drive a display panel, its overall power consumption is significantly improved compared with the prior art. In addition, the circuit layout area for receiving and sending data signals is also saved. Therefore, through the embodiments and circuit architecture disclosed in the present invention, compared with the prior art, it can obviously and effectively solve many deficiencies in the prior art, and present more efficient circuit performance, and is widely used in power electronic components and related industries.

[0088] In addition, based on the multi-point LED driver architecture and its operation method provided by the present invention, it adopts a differential pulse embedded interface. Therefore, in addition to effectively reducing power consumption, it can also effectively improve the data transmission rate and transmission signal quality, so that it has better circuit performance.

[0089] In general, the present invention successfully reduces IC power consumption to a minimum through precise design, innovative driving technology, and a multi-point light-emitting diode driving circuit architecture, and successfully overcomes many long-standing defects in the prior art. Therefore, based on the technical solution disclosed in the present invention, it can not only be applied to common electronic components, but also can be widely used in various electronic circuit components such as the semiconductor industry, integrated circuit industry, or power electronics. It is obvious that the technical solution requested by the applicant in this case does have excellent industrial applicability and competitiveness. At the same time, the technical features, methods and technical effects disclosed in the present invention are significantly different from the current solutions, and it is not easy for those skilled in the art to accomplish, but should have patent requirements.

[0090] The embodiments described above are only for illustrating the technical ideas and features of the present invention, and their purpose is to enable those skilled in the art to understand the contents of the present invention and implement them accordingly. They cannot be used to limit the patent scope of the present invention. That is, any equivalent changes or modifications made according to the spirit disclosed by the present invention should still be included in the scope of protection required by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A light emitting diode driver architecture, suitable for driving a display panel, the light emitting diode driver architecture comprising: A first light emitting diode driver group includes M light emitting diode driving circuits, wherein the M light emitting diode driving circuits are connected in series and receive a first data input signal together, and M is a positive integer; and The second LED driver group includes N LED driving circuits, wherein the N LED driving circuits jointly receive the data output signal of the last LED driving circuit connected in series among the M LED driving circuits of the first LED driver group as their input signal, and N is a positive integer.

2. The LED driver architecture of claim 1, wherein: Each of the M LED driving circuits has a data enable input terminal and a data enable output terminal, and the data enable input terminal is suitable for receiving an enable signal. When one of the M LED driving circuits is enabled, the LED driving circuit receives a data packet from the first data input signal.

3. The LED driver architecture of claim 2, wherein: When the enable signal of each of the M LED driving circuits forms a high level in sequence, each of the M LED driving circuits receives the data packet in sequence, so that the data packet is transmitted in sequence in the first LED driver group.

4. The LED driver architecture of claim 2, wherein: The data enable input terminal of one of the M light emitting diode driving circuits is electrically connected to the data enable output terminal of the previous light emitting diode driving circuit.

5. The LED driver architecture of claim 1, wherein: Each of the N LED driving circuits has a data enable input terminal and a data enable output terminal. The data enable input terminal is suitable for receiving an enable signal. When the LED driving circuit of one of the N LED driving circuits is enabled, the data packet is received from the data output signal of the last LED driving circuit connected in series among the M LED driving circuits of the first LED driver group.

6. The LED driver architecture of claim 5, wherein: When the enable signal of each of the N LED driving circuits forms a high level in sequence, each of the N LED driving circuits receives the data packet in sequence, so that the data packet is transmitted in sequence in the second LED driver group.

7. The LED driver architecture of claim 5, wherein: The data enable input terminal of one of the N light emitting diode driving circuits is electrically connected to the data enable output terminal of the previous light emitting diode driving circuit.

8. The LED driver architecture of claim 1, wherein: The run length of the first data input signal is less than 20.

9. An operating method of an LED driver architecture, suitable for driving a display panel, the LED driver architecture comprising a first LED driver group and a second LED driver group, wherein: The first LED driver group includes M LED driving circuits connected in series, where M is a positive integer, and the second LED driver group includes N LED driving circuits, where N is a positive integer. The operation method includes: Providing a first data input signal to the first LED driver group so that each of the M LED driving circuits receives the first data input signal; After receiving the first data input signal, the last LED driving circuit connected in series among the M LED driving circuits of the first LED driver group generates a data output signal; and The data output signal is transmitted to the second LED driver group, so that each of the N LED driving circuits receives the data output signal as its input signal.

10. The operating method according to claim 9, wherein: Each of the M LED driving circuits has a data enable input terminal and a data enable output terminal, and the data enable input terminal is suitable for receiving an enable signal. When one of the M LED driving circuits is enabled, the LED driving circuit receives a data packet from the first data input signal.

11. The operating method according to claim 10, wherein: When the enable signal of each of the M LED driving circuits forms a high level in sequence, each of the M LED driving circuits receives the data packet in sequence, so that the data packet is transmitted in sequence in the first LED driver group.

12. The operating method according to claim 10, wherein: The data enable input terminal of one of the M light emitting diode driving circuits is electrically connected to the data enable output terminal of the previous light emitting diode driving circuit.

13. The operating method according to claim 9, wherein: Each of the N LED driving circuits has a data enable input terminal and a data enable output terminal. The data enable input terminal is suitable for receiving an enable signal. When the LED driving circuit of one of the N LED driving circuits is enabled, the data packet is received from the data output signal of the last LED driving circuit connected in series among the M LED driving circuits of the first LED driver group.

14. The operating method according to claim 13, wherein: When the enable signal of each of the N LED driving circuits forms a high level in sequence, each of the N LED driving circuits receives the data packet in sequence, so that the data packet is transmitted in sequence in the second LED driver group.

15. The operating method according to claim 13, wherein: The data enable input terminal of one of the N light emitting diode driving circuits is electrically connected to the data enable output terminal of the previous light emitting diode driving circuit.

16. The operating method according to claim 9, wherein: The run length of the first data input signal is less than 20.

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