Modular LED Driver and Light Engine Memory
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Solution Overview
Problem
LED-based lighting fixtures require unique drive data for each solid-state light source to achieve specific lighting characteristics, and existing solutions lack a straightforward method for updating or replacing driver and light engine modules in the field to accommodate these variations.
Innovation Solution
The lighting fixture design includes a driver module and a separate light engine module with built-in memory, allowing the driver module to access and use stored drive data from the light engine memory to control the solid-state light source, enabling easy replacement and adaptation of modules to ensure proper operation with different light sources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If LED-based lighting fixtures use separate driver modules and light engine modules with unique drive data, then adaptability to different solid-state light sources is improved, but device complexity increases due to the need for memory storage and data retrieval mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The lighting fixture is divided into separate driver module and light engine module, each with independent functions. The driver module contains memory for storing drive data, while the light engine module contains the solid-state light source. This segmentation allows each module to be optimized independently and facilitates replacement of either module without affecting the other, thereby improving adaptability while managing complexity through functional separation.
Solution Approach 2:
The driver module is designed with universal compatibility to work with different types of solid-state light sources by storing and retrieving appropriate drive data from its memory. The standardized interface and calibration data storage enable the same driver module to adapt to various light engine modules, providing multi-functionality and improving versatility without requiring multiple specialized driver designs.
2Ease of operation
If drive data is stored in the driver module memory, then ease of operation for replacing light engine modules is improved, but reliability may worsen due to potential data loss or corruption in volatile memory
Solution Approach 1:
The driver module is pre-configured with memory capability to store and retrieve calibration data for different solid-state light sources. This preliminary preparation of the memory system enables the driver module to automatically adapt when a light engine module is replaced, improving ease of operation by eliminating manual recalibration while the non-volatile nature of the memory ensures data persistence and reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A lighting fixture includes a driver module and a separate light engine module having a solid-state light source and light engine memory. The driver module is electrically coupled to the light engine module and configured to drive the solid-state light source based on drive data. The drive data defines how the driver module should drive the solid-state light source to generate light with at least one defined lighting characteristic. The drive data may define or be used to identify signal characteristics, such as drive currents, voltages, waveforms, and the like that must be provided by the driver module to drive the solid-state light source. The drive data is stored in light engine memory of the light engine module, and the driver module is configured to retrieve the drive data from the light engine memory and drive the solid-state light source based on the drive data.