Color Wheel Driving Circuit Segmentation for Laser Projector Cost Reduction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In laser projector systems, the integration of power conversion and driving circuits on the same modular chip leads to inefficiency and increased cost when multiple color wheels need to be driven, as additional chips are required, resulting in idle power conversion circuits.
Innovation Solution
The color wheel system employs separate chips for power conversion and driving circuits, with an image processing circuit providing configuration and drive signals to each driving circuit to control the rotation speeds of multiple color wheels, utilizing standards like I2C or SPI for communication and allowing for independent operation of each chip.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If power conversion and driving circuits are integrated on the same modular chip, then device complexity is reduced, but cost increases and efficiency decreases when multiple color wheels need to be driven
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the integrated circuit into separate functional modules: power conversion circuits and driving circuits are placed on different chips. This segmentation allows each chip to be optimized independently and enables flexible configuration when driving multiple color wheels, avoiding the need for additional idle power conversion circuits while reducing overall system cost.
2Adaptability or versatility
If additional chips are added to drive multiple color wheels, then driving capability is improved, but idle power conversion circuits increase cost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the driving circuit chip with universal driving capability that can control multiple color wheels. The single driving circuit chip incorporates multiple driving channels that can independently control different color wheels, eliminating the need for separate chips for each color wheel and avoiding idle power conversion circuits.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the power conversion function from the driving circuit chip, placing it on a separate dedicated power conversion chip. This extraction allows the driving circuit chip to focus solely on driving multiple color wheels efficiently without incorporating unused power conversion resources, thereby reducing hardware cost.
3Ease of manufacture
If separate chips are used for power conversion and driving circuits, then cost is reduced and flexibility is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an image processing circuit as an intermediary that coordinates between the power conversion chip and the driving circuit chip. This intermediary manages the separation of functions, handles signal routing, and synchronizes operations, thereby managing the increased complexity from separate chips without significantly impacting the overall system architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
A color wheel system and a control method of a color wheel are provided. The color wheel system includes a first driving circuit, a second driving circuit, and an image processing circuit. The first driving circuit and the second driving circuit are utilized for driving a first color wheel and a second color wheel, respectively. The image processing circuit is coupled to the first driving circuit and the second driving circuit. The image processing circuit is configured to provide first configuration information having address information of the first driving circuit to the first driving circuit and provide second configuration information having address information of the second driving circuit to the second driving circuit; provide a first adjustment signal to the first driving circuit and provide a second adjustment signal to the second driving circuit to respectively control rotation speeds of the first and second color wheels.