GOA Circuit Transistor Reduction for Display IC Scale

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Solution Overview

Problem

The challenge in display manufacturing is to reduce the scale of Gate Drive on Array (GOA) ICs while maintaining performance to lower production costs, as existing solutions struggle to integrate gate switching circuits efficiently on array substrates.

Innovation Solution

The proposed solution involves a GOA unit with a first node control unit, a second node control unit, and an output unit, which control voltages at specific nodes to generate a gate driving signal, reducing the number of transistors and capacitors required, thereby minimizing the IC scale and production costs.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the GOA circuit is implemented by a large scale integrated circuit IC, then the performance of the GOA circuit is ensured, but the scale of the IC increases and production cost increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveperformance of GOA circuitVSAvoidscale of IC
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent divides the GOA circuit into multiple GOA units, where each unit corresponds to a gate line and includes specific transistor components. This segmentation allows the circuit to be implemented with a reduced number of transistors per unit while maintaining overall performance, thereby reducing the IC scale and production cost without sacrificing reliability

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies different transistor configurations to different parts of the GOA circuit based on functional requirements. Specifically, the input unit, pull-up module, and pull-down module use optimized transistor arrangements that reduce the total transistor count while ensuring each local section performs its required function effectively, thus reducing overall IC scale while maintaining performance

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Reliability

If more transistors and capacitors are used in the GOA unit, then the performance is improved, but the IC scale and production cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveperformance of GOA unitVSAvoidnumber of transistors and capacitors
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and eliminates redundant components from the GOA unit structure. By carefully analyzing the functional requirements of each module (input unit, pull-up module, pull-down module), the design removes unnecessary transistors and capacitors while retaining only the essential components needed to achieve the required performance, thus reducing the quantity of components without compromising reliability

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent designs transistors and capacitors to serve multiple functions where possible. For example, certain transistors are configured to perform both switching and signal transmission functions, and capacitors are designed to serve both coupling and timing functions. This multi-functionality reduces the total number of components required while maintaining the performance of the GOA unit

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentEP3214616B1GOA unit and drive method, GOA circuit, and display device
Publication Date: 2023.04.26 BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO LTD
  • EP3214616B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3214616B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP3214616B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

Provided is a GOA unit comprising a first node control unit (31), a second node control unit (32) and an output unit (33). The first node control unit (31) is configured to pull a voltage at a first node (PU) to a voltage at a first level terminal (CN) under the control of a signal at a first input terminal (IN), or pull the voltage at the first node (PU) to a voltage at a second level terminal (CNB) under the control of a signal at a second input terminal (INPUT). The second node control unit (32) is configured to pull a voltage at a second node (PD) to a voltage at a third level terminal (VGH) under the control of the first level terminal (CN), the second level terminal (CNB), a second clock signal terminal (CK2) and a third clock signal terminal (CK3), or pull the voltage at the second node (PD) to a voltage at a fourth level terminal (VGL) under the control of the first node (PU). The output unit (33) is configured to output a signal at the first clock signal terminal (CK1) at an output terminal (OUTPUT) under the control of the first node (PU), or pull the voltage at the output terminal (OUTPUT) to the voltage at the fourth level terminal (VGL) under the control of the second node (PD). Further provided are a GOA circuit, a display apparatus and a GOA driving method.