Programmable LED Engine for Driver Programming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Programming LED drivers in luminaires is labor-intensive and prone to errors, especially when done in groups, and adding wireless communication to LED drivers surrounded by grounded metal is challenging due to reduced communication range.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a programmable memory chip or program capacitor within the LED engine, allowing it to program and communicate with the LED driver, reducing the need for direct human intervention and enabling wireless communication by using the LED engine as the vehicle for programming and parameter transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If drivers are programmed one at a time, then programming accuracy is improved, but productivity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The LED engine programs the driver automatically without human intervention. The system performs self-programming by having the LED engine read driver parameters from its memory and transmit them to the driver, eliminating the need for manual programming while maintaining accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
Driver parameters are pre-stored in the LED engine's memory before the driver is installed. This preliminary preparation allows the driver to be programmed automatically upon installation, combining the accuracy of individual programming with the efficiency of batch processing.
2Productivity
If drivers are programmed in a group, then productivity is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to undetected errors
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides automatic feedback verification when the driver reads parameters from the LED engine. The driver can confirm successful parameter reception and the LED engine can verify correct transmission, ensuring programming accuracy even when processing multiple drivers efficiently.
3Ease of operation
If wireless communication is added to drivers, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity worsens due to antenna placement challenges
Solution Approach 1:
The wireless communication functionality is extracted from the driver and relocated to the LED engine. This eliminates the need for antennas and wireless circuitry in the driver, avoiding the complexity of antenna placement around grounded metal while maintaining wireless communication capability through the LED engine.
4Ease of operation
If driver parameters are labeled for identification, then ease of operation is improved, but loss of information worsens due to label degradation
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using physical labels that can degrade, the driver parameters are copied into electronic memory within the LED engine. This digital copy persists without degradation and can be easily read by the driver when needed, eliminating the information loss problem associated with physical labels.
Data Source
AI summary
LED luminaires including an LED engine as the vehicle for programming the LED driver. An example luminaire includes an LED engine including a non-transitory memory having driver parameters and an LED driver coupled to the LED engine. The LED driver is configured to receive the driver parameters from the non-transitory memory and to provide a power based on the driver parameters. The luminaire further includes a plurality of LEDs to be driven by the power from the LED driver.