Shared Register Circuits in Gate Driver Circuitry

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing display technologies face challenges in minimizing the footprint of gate driver circuitry, leading to increased inactive border regions and inefficient use of space in electronic devices, particularly in displays with organic light-emitting diode (OLED) or liquid crystal displays.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of a gate driver circuitry arrangement where shift registers are shared across multiple rows of pixels, with scan and emission drivers using different clock frequencies to ensure synchronous operation, and the option to omit one emission driver, allowing for a single emission driver to provide control signals to multiple rows, thereby reducing the space occupied by the gate driver circuitry in the inactive area.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If traditional gate driver circuitry is implemented with dedicated register circuits for each pixel row, then reliable pixel control is achieved, but the footprint area increases and inactive border region enlarges

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepixel control reliabilityVSAvoidgate driver circuitry footprint

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSArea of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

Multiple scan drivers share common register circuits to control different pixel rows. Specifically, first and second scan drivers share first and second register circuits, allowing reduced circuitry footprint while maintaining independent control of multiple pixel rows through shared resources

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

Register circuits are designed to serve multiple functions by being shared among different scan drivers and pixel rows. The same register circuit can be accessed by multiple scan drivers at different time periods, making the circuit universal and reducing the total number of dedicated circuits needed

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Manufacturing precision

If multiple emission drivers are implemented for independent row control, then precise emission timing is achieved, but device complexity and space consumption increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveemission timing precisionVSAvoidgate driver circuitry complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

First and second emission drivers share a common third register circuit. The register circuit is accessed by the first emission driver during a first time period and by the second emission driver during a second time period, reducing overall circuit complexity while maintaining precise emission control

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The shared register circuit is accessed periodically by different emission drivers at different time periods. This time-division multiplexing approach allows precise control timing while reducing the number of simultaneous circuit resources needed

Inventive Principle:

Principle #19Periodic action

3Stability of the object's composition

If dedicated register circuits are assigned to each pixel row, then signal synchronization is maintained, but the inactive area and border region size increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesignal synchronizationVSAvoidinactive area size

Core Design Contradiction:

Stability of the object's compositionVSArea of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

Multiple scan drivers share common register circuits with proper timing control. The first scan driver accesses the first register circuit during a first time period while the second scan driver accesses the second register circuit during a second time period, maintaining synchronization while reducing area

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces time as an additional dimension for resource allocation. By allowing register circuits to be shared across different time periods by different scan drivers, the system reduces spatial requirements while maintaining functional integrity through temporal separation

Inventive Principle:

Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

Data Source

PatentUS20210035499A1Displays with Gate Driver Circuitry Having Shared Register Circuits

Publication Date: 2021.02.04 APPLE INC

AI summary

Electronic devices may include displays having organic light-emitting diode pixels, display driver circuitry, and gate driver circuitry. To reduce the amount of space occupied in the inactive area of a display by the gate driver circuitry, one or more of the shift registers in the gate driver circuitry may include register circuits that are shared by multiple rows of pixels. Different drivers may use different clock frequencies to ensure synchronous operation of the display even when some register circuits share pixel rows. For increased flexibility in the arrangement of the register circuits in the shift registers, one or more of the shift registers may be split across the active area of the display. In some cases, one of the emission drivers may be omitted from the gate driver circuitry and a single emission driver may provide multiple emission control signals for the pixels.