Low latency data transfer method for LED backlight driving system

Abstract

The application discloses a low-latency data transmission method for an LED backlight driving system, which comprises the following steps: a backlight controller BCON receives backlight image data transmitted by an upper computer SOC, and analyzes the backlight image data to obtain luminance driving data for driving an LED lamp string connected to each LED driving chip; when the backlight controller BCON analyzes the luminance driving data of an LED driving chip at a specific position, the communication data frame transmission of a single bus series communication link where the LED driving chip at the specific position is located is started; the mapping relationship data between the physical order of the LED driving chip on the single bus series communication link and the arrangement order of a plurality of luminance driving data packets in the luminance driving data instruction part in the control command part in the communication data frame are contained.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of LED backlight driving, and in particular to a low-latency data transmission method for an LED backlight driving system. Background Art

[0002] With the development of display technology, Mini-LED, OLED, and Micro-LED displays have gradually become the three main directions of display technology development, building on the foundation of traditional LCD displays. However, OLED display technology is limited by material properties, and pixel burn-in remains a difficult problem to solve. Micro-LED technology still needs to improve the efficiency of mass transfer technology to enable more cost-effective application in large-scale displays. Therefore, for the current situation, LCD displays using direct-lit Mini-LED backlight panels are the best display solution. Direct-lit Mini-LED backlight panels are composed of a high-density LED array made of even finer Mini-LED beads (with dimensions reduced to less than 100 microns). The entire backlight panel can be divided into multiple backlight zones, with the number of LEDs in each zone increasing from tens of traditional LEDs to hundreds or even thousands. Therefore, how to drive and control these numerous Mini-LED beads so that their brightness matches the display of the LCD panel becomes a core issue in Mini-LED backlight panel applications.

[0003] In existing LED driver systems, a single-bus serial communication chain is an efficient and optional method for driving LEDs. This chain involves LED driver chips connecting in a sequential manner, passing communication data frames one by one along the chain. The backlight controller (BCON) transmits the communication data frame to the leading LED driver chip in the chain, and the last LED driver chip returns the communication data frame to the backlight controller (BCON). The communication data frame contains the brightness drive data for the LED string connected to each LED driver chip in the chain.

[0004] However, in the existing single-bus serial communication link communication method, the backlight controller BCON is required to receive backlight drive data sent by the host computer and parse this backlight drive data to derive the brightness drive data for each LED driver chip on the backlight panel. Furthermore, the backlight controller BCON only begins transmitting communication data frames to a single-bus serial communication link after fully acquiring the brightness drive data for all LED driver chips on the single-bus serial communication link. This approach significantly limits the data communication rate, and the backlight controller BCON must always buffer the brightness drive data for all LED driver chips on the single-bus serial communication link.

[0005] Therefore, certain application scenarios, such as variable refresh rate VR, require a high refresh rate (above 120Hz) and a short response time (1ms). This requires a backlight controller (BCON) to address multi-channel data transmission delays and dynamic refresh rate switching. Existing communication transmission methods cannot meet these requirements.

[0006] It can be seen that the prior art requires a new low-latency data transmission method for an LED backlight driving system, which can achieve the delay in transmitting data from the backlight controller BCON to the LED driver chip. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The technical purpose to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a low-latency data transmission method for an LED backlight driving system, which can reduce the delay in transmitting data from the backlight controller BCON to the LED driver chip, and at the same time reduce the data cache space required by the backlight controller BCON when parsing backlight image data.

[0008] Based on the above technical objectives, the present invention provides a low-latency data transmission method for an LED backlight driving system, wherein the LED backlight driving system includes a backlight controller BCON and multiple single-bus serial communication links connected to the backlight controller BCON; the single-bus serial communication links include multiple LED driver chips connected in series step by step; the low-latency data transmission method includes:

[0009] The backlight controller BCON receives the backlight image data transmitted by the host computer SOC and parses the backlight image data to obtain the brightness driving data for driving the LED light string connected to each LED driver chip;

[0010] When the backlight controller BCON parses the brightness driving data of the LED driver chip at a specific position, it starts the communication data frame transmission of the single bus serial communication link where the LED driver chip at the specific position is located;

[0011] The control command portion of the communication data frame includes mapping relationship data between the physical sequence of the LED driver chip on the single bus serial communication link and the arrangement order of multiple brightness drive data packets in the brightness drive data instruction portion of the communication data frame.

[0012] In one embodiment, each of the LED driver chips is provided with at least one first data transmission port DI and one second data transmission port DO.

[0013] In one embodiment, the single bus serial communication link means that the first data transmission port DI of each LED driver chip is connected to the second data transmission port DO of the LED driver chip of the previous level adjacent to the LED driver chip, and the second data transmission port DO of each LED driver chip is connected to the first data transmission port DI of the LED driver chip of the next level adjacent to the LED driver chip.

[0014] In one embodiment, the first LED driver chip in the single bus serial communication link is connected to the transmission port TX of the backlight controller BCON.

[0015] In one embodiment, in a unidirectional communication mode, the second data transmission port of the last LED driver chip is connected to the transmission port RX of the backlight controller BCON to transmit the return data back to the controller.

[0016] In one embodiment, in a bidirectional communication mode, the last LED driver chip transmits the returned data in reverse phase to the preceding LED driver chip through the first data transmission port, and transmits the returned data to the controller through the first data transmission port of the first LED driver chip step by step.

[0017] In one embodiment, the LED driver chip at the specific position is an LED driver chip corresponding to a starting row when the backlight image data is scanned line by line.

[0018] Other features and advantages of the present invention will be described in the following description, and in part will become apparent from the description, or will be understood by practicing the present invention. The purposes and other advantages of the present invention can be realized and obtained by the structures particularly pointed out in the description, claims and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the present invention and constitute a part of the specification. Together with the embodiments of the present invention, they are used to explain the present invention and do not constitute a limitation of the present invention. In the accompanying drawings:

[0020] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the LED backlight panel structure of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the communication data frame format of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more clear, the present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0023] It should be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being "on," "adjacent to," "connected to," or "coupled to" another element or layer, it can be directly on, adjacent to, connected to, or coupled to the other element or layer, or there can be intervening elements or layers. Conversely, when an element is referred to as being "directly on," "directly adjacent to," "directly connected to," or "directly coupled to" another element or layer, there can be no intervening elements or layers. It should be understood that while the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used to describe various elements, components, regions, layers, and / or parts, these elements, components, regions, layers, and / or parts should not be limited by these terms. These terms are merely used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer, or part from another. Thus, without departing from the teachings of the present invention, a first element, component, region, layer, or part discussed below may be represented as a second element, component, region, layer, or part. Furthermore, when a second element, component, region, layer, or part is discussed, it does not necessarily mean that the first element, component, region, layer, or part is present in the present invention.

[0024] Spatially relative terms such as "under," "beneath," "below," "under," "above," "above," etc., may be used herein for convenience of description to describe the relationship of an element or feature shown in the figures to other elements or features. It should be understood that in addition to the orientations shown in the figures, the spatially relative terms are intended to include different orientations of the device in use and operation. For example, if the device in the drawings is flipped, then the elements or features described as "under the other elements" or "under it" or "under it" will be oriented as "on" the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary terms "under" and "under" may include both upper and lower orientations. The device may be oriented otherwise (rotated 90 degrees or in other orientations) and the spatial descriptors used herein are interpreted accordingly.

[0025] The purpose of the terms used herein is only to describe specific embodiments and is not intended to limit the present invention. When used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the terms "comprising" and / or "comprising", when used in this specification, determine the presence of the features, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or parts, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, parts and / or groups. When used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of the relevant listed items.

[0026] Example 1

[0027] like Figure 1 The LED backlight driver panel of the present invention shown in the figure has an LED backlight driver system comprising a backlight controller BCON and multiple single-bus serial communication links (i.e., multiple Chains) connected thereto. The single-bus serial communication links comprise multiple LED driver chips connected in series, such as the IC shown in the figure.

[0028] In this embodiment, each LED driver chip is provided with at least one first data transmission port DI and one second data transmission port DO. The single-bus serial communication link refers to the connection between the first data transmission port DI of each LED driver chip and the second data transmission port DO of the LED driver chip immediately preceding it, and the connection between the second data transmission port DO of each LED driver chip and the first data transmission port DI of the LED driver chip immediately following it. The leading LED driver chip in the single-bus serial communication link is connected to the transmission port TX of the backlight controller BCON. In a unidirectional communication mode, the second data transmission port of the last LED driver chip is connected to the transmission port RX of the backlight controller BCON to transmit return data back to the controller. Alternatively, in a bidirectional communication mode, the second data transmission port of the last LED driver chip is not connected to the controller. Instead, the return data is inverted and transmitted to the preceding LED driver chip via the first data transmission port. The return data is then transmitted to the controller via the first data transmission port of the leading LED driver chip, thereby conserving pins on the backlight controller BCON.

[0029] In this embodiment, the backlight controller BCON receives the backlight image data transmitted by the host computer SOC and parses the backlight image data to obtain the brightness driving data for driving the LED light string connected to each LED driver chip. The backlight image data transmitted by the host computer SOC is synchronized with the display image data, that is, the backlight image data is also transmitted in a line-by-line scanning manner. At the same time, the brightness driving data parsed by the backlight controller BCON is also generated line by line, such as Figure 1 In the panel structure shown, the backlight controller BCON first parses out the brightness driving data of the ICs in the first row and the first column, then parses out the brightness driving data of the ICs in the first row and the second column, then parses out the brightness driving data of the ICs in the first row and the third column, and so on. If the data transmission method in the prior art is used, it is necessary to wait for the backlight controller BCON to parse out the brightness driving data of the ICs in the last row and the last column before starting to transmit the brightness driving data to each Chain. In order to improve the data transmission efficiency of the backlight controller in this embodiment, it is stipulated that when the backlight controller parses out the brightness driving data of the ICs in the first row and the first column of Chain1, it starts to transmit the communication data frame to Chain1. Similarly, when the backlight controller parses out the brightness driving data of the ICs in the first row and the third column of Chain2, it starts to transmit the communication data frame to Chain2, and so on.

[0030] To achieve the above effect, the backlight controller BCON analyzes the brightness driving data of the IC at a specific position and then starts the communication data frame transmission to the Chain where the IC at the specific position is located. This requires a special agreement on the communication data frame. Figure 2 The communication data frame format diagram of this embodiment is shown in the control command portion of the communication data frame, which contains the mapping relationship data between the physical sequence of the LED driver chip on the single bus serial communication link and the arrangement order of multiple brightness drive data packets in the brightness drive data instruction portion of the communication data frame. The physical sequence of the LED driver chip on the single bus serial communication link specifically refers to the position of the LED driver chip on the single bus serial communication link, such as the position of the LED driver chip on the single bus serial communication link. Figure 1As shown, the physical order of the LED driver chip in the first row and first column is the 5th on Chain 1, and the physical order of the LED driver chip in the first row and second column is the 6th on Chain 1. The multiple brightness drive data packets in the brightness drive data instruction portion each correspond to brightness drive data for a single LED driver chip. In this embodiment, since the backlight controller BCON first parses the brightness drive data for the ICs in the first row and first column, the mapping data in the communication data frame sent by the backlight controller BCON to Chain 1 specifies that the LED driver chip with the 5th physical order corresponds to the 1st brightness drive data packet in the brightness drive data instruction portion, the LED driver chip with the 6th physical order corresponds to the 2nd brightness drive data packet in the brightness drive data instruction portion, the LED driver chip with the 4th physical order corresponds to the 3rd brightness drive data packet in the brightness drive data instruction portion, the LED driver chip with the 7th physical order corresponds to the 4th brightness drive data packet in the brightness drive data instruction portion, and so on. At the same time, when the backlight controller BCON parses the brightness drive data for the IC in the first row and first column, it initiates the transmission of communication data frames to Chain 1. When the backlight controller BCON parses the brightness drive data for the IC in the first row and third column, it initiates the transmission of communication data frames to Chain 2. This significantly reduces the buffer space required when the backlight controller BCON parses backlight image data and also reduces the data output latency of the backlight controller BCON.

[0031] As described above, the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the above embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, these modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A low-latency data transmission method for an LED backlight driver system, the LED backlight driver system comprising a backlight controller (BCON) and multiple single-bus serial communication links connected to the backlight controller (BCON); the single-bus serial communication links comprising multiple LED driver chips connected in series step by step; characterized in that: The low-latency data transmission method includes: The backlight controller BCON receives the backlight image data transmitted by the host computer SOC and parses the backlight image data to obtain the brightness driving data for driving the LED light string connected to each LED driver chip; When the backlight controller BCON parses the brightness driving data of the LED driver chip at a specific position, it starts the communication data frame transmission of the single bus serial communication link where the LED driver chip at the specific position is located; The control command portion of the communication data frame includes mapping relationship data between the physical sequence of the LED driver chip on the single bus serial communication link and the arrangement order of multiple brightness drive data packets in the brightness drive data instruction portion of the communication data frame; The single bus serial communication link means that the first data transmission port DI of each LED driver chip is connected to the second data transmission port DO of the LED driver chip of the previous level adjacent to the LED driver chip, and the second data transmission port DO of each LED driver chip is connected to the first data transmission port DI of the LED driver chip of the next level adjacent to the LED driver chip; the first LED driver chip in the single bus serial communication link is connected to the transmission port TX of the backlight controller BCON.

2. The low-latency data transmission method according to claim 1, wherein: Each of the LED driver chips is provided with at least one first data transmission port DI and one second data transmission port DO.

3. The low-latency data transmission method according to claim 1, wherein: In the unidirectional communication mode, the second data transmission port of the last LED driver chip is connected to the transmission port RX of the backlight controller BCON to transmit the return data back to the controller.

4. The low-latency data transmission method according to claim 1, wherein: In the bidirectional communication mode, the last LED driver chip transmits the returned data in reverse phase to the preceding LED driver chip through the first data transmission port, and transmits the returned data to the controller through the first data transmission port of the first LED driver chip step by step.

5. The low-latency data transmission method according to claim 1, wherein: The LED driver chip at the specific position is an LED driver chip corresponding to a starting row when the backlight image data is scanned line by line.

6. An LED backlight panel, wherein the LED backlight panel uses the low-latency data transmission method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 to transmit brightness driving data.

7. A display system, wherein the display system uses the LED backlight panel according to claim 6 for backlighting.

8. A computer-readable storage medium having computer instructions stored thereon, wherein: When the computer instructions are executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 are implemented.

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