Electronic paper multicolor driving device

Abstract

The utility model discloses an electronic paper multicolor driving device, and relates to the technical field of electronic paper. The electronic paper multi-color driving device comprises a main controller, a driving circuit and a driving circuit, the temperature sensor is electrically connected with the main controller and used for detecting the current environment temperature in real time; the external storage module is electrically connected with the main controller and is used for storing the driving waveform of the full-temperature area of the electronic ink screen; the electronic ink screen driving chip is electrically connected with the main controller; and the display module is electrically connected with the electronic ink screen driving chip. According to the utility model, the following problems are solved: 1, the number of digits needing to be processed by the chip for pixel color processing is increased when the chip is used for processing various colors at present; and 2, the more the colors are, the larger the influence of the external environment temperature on the particles is, and the larger the use of a storage unit in the chip is, so that the chip cannot meet more color requirements.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of electronic paper, in particular to an electronic paper multi-color driving device. Background Technique

[0002] With the increasing number of colors of the colored charged particles of electronic ink, in the application of electronic ink screens in the electronic price tag market, consumers have higher requirements for the color richness of electronic ink screens.

[0003] Currently, when existing chips process multiple colors, they are subject to the following limitations: 1. The number of bits required for the chip to process pixel colors also increases; 2. The more colors there are, the greater the influence of the particles by the external environmental temperature, and the greater the use of the internal storage unit of the chip, resulting in the problem that the chip cannot meet the requirements of more colors. For the above problems, no effective solutions have been proposed yet. Content of the Utility Model

[0004] Purpose of the utility model: To provide an electronic paper multi-color driving device to at least solve one of the problems existing in the above-mentioned prior art.

[0005] Technical solution: An electronic paper multi-color driving device includes: a main controller; a temperature sensor electrically connected to the main controller for real-time detection of the current ambient temperature; an external storage module electrically connected to the main controller for storing the full-temperature range driving waveform of the electronic ink screen; an electronic ink screen driving chip electrically connected to the main controller; and a display module electrically connected to the electronic ink screen driving chip; wherein, the main controller pairs the temperature signal fed back by the temperature sensor with the pre-stored full-temperature range driving waveform of the electronic ink screen in the external storage module, and transmits the paired electronic paper driving waveform to the electronic ink screen driving chip to refresh the screen.

[0006] Preferably, the main controller is an MCU, an SOC or a PLC.

[0007] Preferably, several temperature regions of the temperature sensor respectively correspond one-to-one to several full-temperature range driving waveforms of the electronic ink screen in the external storage module.

[0008] Preferably, the external storage module is a flash memory, an EEPROM or other non-volatile memories.

[0009] Preferably, the electronic ink screen driving chip uses OTP or MTP storage.

[0010] Preferably, the storage space of the OTP or MTP is 4 - 8k.

[0011] Preferably, when the full-temperature range driving waveform of the electronic ink screen is refreshed for the Nth time, the total number of colors is 4 + (N - 1) * 3.

[0012] Preferably, the relationship interval between the number M of the full-temperature range driving waveforms of the electronic ink screen and the refreshed colors is 2 + (M - 1) * 3 - 4 + (M - 1) * 3.

[0013] Preferably, the number of the full-temperature range driving waveforms of the electronic ink screen is consistent with the number of color refreshes.

[0014] Beneficial effects: In the embodiment of the present application, by adding an external storage module, the main controller pairs the temperature signal fed back by the temperature sensor with the pre-stored full-temperature range driving waveforms of the electronic ink screen in the external storage module, and transmits the paired electronic paper driving waveforms to the electronic ink screen driving chip to refresh the screen, achieving the purpose of refreshing multiple times and storing the huge waveform driving data in the external storage module, thereby realizing the technical effect of presenting more colors, and further solving the following limitations of the existing chips when processing multiple colors: 1. The number of bits required for the chip to perform pixel color processing also increases; 2. The more colors there are, the greater the influence of the particles by the external environmental temperature, and the greater the use of the internal storage unit of the chip, resulting in the chip being unable to meet the requirements of more colors. Description of the Drawings

[0015] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of the electronic paper multi-color driving device of the present invention; and

[0016] Figure 2 is another schematic structural diagram of the electronic paper multi-color driving device of the present invention.

[0017] Reference numerals are:

[0018] 10, main controller;

[0019] 20, temperature sensor;

[0020] 30, external storage module;

[0021] 40, electronic ink screen driving chip;

[0022] 50, display module. Detailed Embodiments

[0023] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the solution of this application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this application, rather than all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of this application.

[0024] It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", etc. in the description and claims of this application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and do not necessarily need to be used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such data can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances for the embodiments of this application described herein. In addition, the terms "comprising" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units does not necessarily have to be limited to those steps or units clearly listed, but may include other steps or units not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0025] In addition, the terms "installed", "set up", "provided with", "connected", "connected to", "socketed" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral structure; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be directly connected, or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or there can be internal communication between two devices, components or parts. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in this utility model can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0026] It should be noted that, without conflict, the embodiments in this application and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other. The following will detail this application with reference to the drawings and in conjunction with the embodiments.

[0027] As Figure 1-2 shown, this application relates to an electronic paper multi-color driving device. As Figure 1As shown in the figure, an electronic paper multi-color driving device includes: a main controller 10; the main controller 10 is mainly responsible for managing and coordinating various functions of the device; it has functions including but not limited to the following: Temperature management, the performance of the electronic paper is affected by the ambient temperature. The main controller 10 adjusts the driving waveform by reading the data of the temperature sensor 20 to ensure good display effects at different temperatures. Storage management, the main controller 10 is responsible for storing the driving waveform, image data, and other necessary data into an external storage unit or internal memory, and reading these data when needed to update the display content. Communication and interface management, the main controller 10 communicates with other external devices through various communication interfaces (such as I2C, SPI, UART, etc.). For example, it is connected to sensors, user input devices (such as touch screens), computers, or mobile devices, receives instructions for display content, and executes them. Power management, the main controller 10 is also responsible for managing the power of the device to ensure that the electronic paper device operates in a low-power mode, thereby extending the battery life. This includes controlling the power switch, adjusting the power mode, etc.

[0028] A temperature sensor 20, electrically connected to the main controller 10, is used to detect the current ambient temperature in real time; by setting the temperature sensor 20, the effect of real-time temperature acquisition can be achieved, providing the basis and guarantee for the subsequent accurate call of the driving waveform by the main controller 10; at the same time, electrically connecting the temperature sensor 20 and the main controller 10 can ensure good electrical signal transmission effects, so that the collected temperature signal can be transmitted to the main controller 10.

[0029] An external storage module 30, electrically connected to the main controller 10, is used to store the driving waveforms of the electronic ink screen in the full temperature range; it can achieve good external storage effects, so that more driving waveforms can be stored, and then the effect of displaying multiple colors can be achieved; at the same time, by using the external storage module 30, it will not affect the performance and storage of the electronic paper itself, thus ensuring good processing effects.

[0030] An electronic ink screen driving chip 40, electrically connected to the main controller 10; it can achieve good driving control effects for the electronic ink screen, thereby realizing good screen refresh effects.

[0031] A display module 50, electrically connected to the electronic ink screen driving chip 40; by setting the display module 50, good display effects can be achieved, so that multiple colors can be presented and displayed.

[0032] Among them, the main controller 10 pairs the temperature signal fed back by the temperature sensor 20 with the driving waveforms of the full temperature range of the electronic ink screen pre-stored in the external storage module 30, and transmits the paired driving waveforms of the electronic paper to the electronic ink screen driving chip 40 to refresh the screen. The temperature sensor 20 detects the current ambient temperature in real time, converts the detected temperature signal into a signal recognizable by the main controller 10, and sends it to the main controller 10. The main controller 10 pairs the fed-back temperature signal with the driving waveforms of the full temperature range of the electronic ink screen stored in the external storage module 30, so as to obtain the driving waveforms corresponding to the temperature signals, and sends the paired driving waveforms of the electronic paper to the electronic ink screen driving chip 40 for refreshing and displaying, thus achieving the effect of presenting multiple colors.

[0033] Specifically, the main controller 10 writes the optimized and compressed driving waveform data into the external storage module 30. This is usually accomplished by writing to the storage cells byte by byte or page by page.

[0034] Of course, during the writing process, attention needs to be paid to the management of addresses to ensure that all data can be correctly written to the corresponding storage locations.

[0035] Read the current ambient temperature: When the device is running, the main controller 10 obtains the current ambient temperature through the temperature sensor 20 built in the driving chip. The obtained temperature value will be used as the basis for selecting the corresponding driving waveform data.

[0036] Read the driving waveform data from the storage unit: The main controller 10 reads the driving waveform data of the corresponding temperature range from the external storage unit according to the current ambient temperature.

[0037] To improve the reading efficiency, the storage addresses corresponding to each interval are usually preset according to the temperature range, so that they can be quickly located and read when needed.

[0038] Transmit the waveform data to the driving chip: The main controller 10 transmits the read driving waveform data to the driving chip of the electronic ink screen.

[0039] After receiving these waveform data, the driving chip refreshes the display content of the electronic ink screen according to the control signals of the waveform data.

[0040] Exemplarily, in an e - book reader, the driving waveform data is stored in an external EEPROM. First, the driving waveform data for different temperature ranges is preset and written into the EEPROM at one time. During device operation, the main controller 10 reads the driving waveform data corresponding to the temperature range from the EEPROM according to the real - time obtained ambient temperature and transmits it to the driving chip. The driving chip controls the display of the electronic ink screen based on this data, thus ensuring the best display effect at different temperatures.

[0041] Another exemplarily, when the electronic ink screen needs to display three colors: black, white, and red, according to experimental data, the temperature is divided into several ranges, and each range corresponds to a different driving waveform. First, calculate and determine the number of driving waveforms required for each temperature range, and store this waveform data in an external storage unit. During system operation, the current temperature is obtained through a temperature sensor, and the main controller 10 reads the corresponding driving waveform from the external storage module 30 and transmits it to the driving chip for display.

[0042] This application can refresh more colors beyond the pixel control bits of the chip and solve the problem of insufficient internal storage space of the chip.

[0043] This application uses the main controller 10 to write the driving waveform data into the external storage module 30, which can store huge waveform data and freely retrieve data at any address in the storage unit.

[0044] The main control of this application uses the temperature sensor 20 inside the driving chip to link the data in the storage unit with all the driving waveforms in different temperature zones; it can hand over the work of retrieving the driving waveform to the main controller 10, and the driving chip is only responsible for refreshing the screen, so that more waveform data can be added using the external storage unit.

[0045] From the above description, it can be seen that this application achieves the following technical effects:

[0046] In the embodiment of this application, by adopting the method of adding an external storage module 30, the main controller 10 pairs the temperature signal fed back by the temperature sensor 20 with the full - temperature - zone driving waveforms of the electronic ink screen pre - stored in the external storage module 30, and transmits the paired electronic paper driving waveforms to the electronic ink screen driving chip 40 to refresh the screen, achieving the purpose of refreshing multiple times and storing huge waveform driving data in the external storage module 30, thus realizing the technical effect of presenting more colors, and further solving the following limitations of the existing chips when processing multiple colors: 1. The number of bits required for the chip to perform pixel color processing also increases; 2. The more colors there are, the greater the influence of particles by the external environmental temperature, and the greater the use of the internal storage unit of the chip, resulting in the chip being unable to meet the requirements of more colors.

[0047] Further, the main controller 10 is an MCU, an SOC or a PLC. It can be understood that the effect of multiple selectable main controllers 10 can be achieved, so as to achieve the effect of flexible use.

[0048] Of course, the MCU can be the STM32 series, and through its low-power characteristics and rich peripheral interfaces, the refresh and display of the electronic paper screen are controlled.

[0049] Further, several temperature regions of the temperature sensor 20 respectively correspond one-to-one to several full-temperature-region driving waveforms of the electronic ink screens in the external storage module 30. It can be understood that the effect of accurate data correspondence can be achieved, thus providing guarantee for subsequent retrieval.

[0050] Of course, the one-to-one correspondence methods include but are not limited to: look-up table, mapping, array or database table.

[0051] Further, the external storage module 30 is a flash memory, an EEPROM or other non-volatile memories. It can be understood that the effect of good external data storage can be achieved, thus achieving good expansion and storage effects.

[0052] Further, the electronic ink screen driving chip 40 uses OTP or MTP storage. It can be understood that the effect of good data storage can be achieved.

[0053] It should be known that when the data is stored in the OTP, the data cannot be changed after being written; when the data is stored in the MTP, the data can be erased and updated multiple times.

[0054] Furthermore, the storage space of the OTP or MTP is 4 - 8k.

[0055] Such as Figure 2 As shown, when the full-temperature-region driving waveform of the electronic ink screen is refreshed for the Nth time, the total number of colors is 4+(N - 1)*3. It can be understood that the total number of colors can be controlled by controlling the refresh times of the driving waveform.

[0056] Further, the relationship interval between the number M of the full-temperature-region driving waveforms of the electronic ink screen and the refreshed colors is 2+(M - 1)*3 - 4+(M - 1)*3. It can be understood that the effect of good association can be achieved.

[0057] See Table 1 for details:

[0058] Table 1

[0059]

[0060] Further, for the Abit chip, with B refreshes, the total number of colors is (2^A)+(B - 1)*((2^A)-1), and the total number of waveforms is B.

[0061] Taking 2 refreshes for 7 colors and using a 16K EEPROM as an example.

[0062] The address allocation is carried out including but not limited to as shown in Table 2:

[0063] Table 2

[0064]

[0065] Further, the number of driving waveforms in the full temperature range of the electronic ink screen is consistent with the number of color refreshes. It can be understood that good control effects can be achieved.

[0066] The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the specific details in the above embodiments. Within the scope of the technical concept of the present invention, various equivalent transformations can be made to the technical solutions of the present invention, and these equivalent transformations all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An electronic paper multi-color driving device, characterized in that: include: A main controller (10); A temperature sensor (20), electrically connected to the main controller (10), for detecting the current ambient temperature in real time; An external storage module (30), electrically connected to the main controller (10), and used for storing the full-temperature-range driving waveform of the electronic ink screen; An electronic ink screen driving chip (40) electrically connected to the main controller (10); and A display module (50) electrically connected to the electronic ink screen driving chip (40); The main controller (10) pairs the temperature signal fed back by the temperature sensor (20) with the full-temperature range driving waveform of the electronic ink screen pre-stored in the external storage module (30), and transmits the paired electronic paper driving waveform to the electronic ink screen driving chip (40) to refresh the screen.

2. The electronic paper multi-color driving device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The main controller (10) is an MCU, a SOC or a PLC.

3. The electronic paper multi-color driving device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The plurality of temperature regions of the temperature sensor (20) correspond one-to-one to the plurality of full-temperature-range driving waveforms of the electronic ink screen in the external storage module (30).

4. The electronic paper multi-color driving device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The external storage module (30) is a flash memory, an EEPROM or other non-volatile memory.

5. The electronic paper multi-color driving device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The electronic ink screen driving chip (40) adopts OTP or MTP storage.

6. The electronic paper multi-color driving device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The storage space of the OTP or MTP is 4-8k.

7. The electronic paper multi-color driving device according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the full-temperature driving waveform of the electronic ink screen is refreshed for the Nth time, the total number of colors is 4+(N-1)*3.

8. The electronic paper multi-color driving device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The relationship between the number M of the full-temperature-range driving waveforms of the electronic ink screen and the refresh color is in the range of 2+(M-1)*3-4+(M-1)*3.

9. The electronic paper multi-color driving device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of driving waveforms in the full temperature range of the electronic ink screen is consistent with the number of color refreshes.

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