Switching Regulator Error Correction for LED Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing switching regulators for light-emitting diodes face challenges in achieving precise control and cost-effectiveness due to the need for high-resolution digital-to-analog converters, which are expensive, or low-resolution converters that reduce accuracy.
Innovation Solution
A switching regulator design that uses a control circuit to output a digital value, detects current, and generates analog signals, employing a low-resolution digital-to-analog converter with error correction over time to maintain accuracy, allowing for a cost-effective solution by varying the digital input value to counteract resolution differences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a high-resolution digital-to-analog converter is used, then control precision is improved, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a low-resolution digital-to-analog converter instead of an expensive high-resolution converter. The system accepts the limited precision of the cheap converter and compensates through software-based error correction algorithms that process multiple readings and average the results, effectively achieving high control precision through computational methods rather than expensive hardware
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the resolution parameter of the digital-to-analog converter from high to low, then compensates by changing other system parameters including implementing multi-sample averaging algorithms and error correction techniques. This parameter substitution allows the system to achieve the same effective precision using cheaper components
2Ease of manufacture
If a low-resolution digital-to-analog converter is used, then cost is reduced, but control precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the system continuously monitors the output of the low-resolution digital-to-analog converter and uses error correction algorithms to adjust subsequent conversions. By comparing expected values with actual outputs and applying corrective adjustments, the system compensates for the inherent precision limitations of the low-resolution converter
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs periodic sampling and averaging of multiple converter readings to reduce the impact of quantization errors inherent in low-resolution converters. By taking multiple measurements over time and computing statistical averages, the system recovers precision that would be lost in single readings from the low-resolution device
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables precise control and regulation of light-emitting diodes with a cost-effective design by averaging errors over time, ensuring the mean value corresponds to the higher-resolution target value, thus maintaining accuracy and reducing the need for expensive converters.
Implementation Method 1
a control device controls a fast switch which, when switched on, causes a current to flow through a coil (in the case of a buck converter also through the light-emitting diode)
Implementation Method 2
After switching off, the coil (in the buck converter) continues to drive the current through the light-emitting diode
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a switching regulator for operating one or more illuminants, comprising a control circuit (4) for outputting a digital setpoint value (IpeakD) for driving a switch (5) of the switching regulator (3), said switch being coupled to a coil (6), means (11) for directly or indirectly detecting the current flowing through the coil (6) or the switch (5) and for generating a first analog signal (ISNS) representing said current, a digital-to-analog converter (14) designed to output a second analog signal on the basis of the digital setpoint value (IpeakD) output by the control circuit (4), and a comparator (13) designed to compare the first analog signal (ISNS) with the second analog signal (Ipeak), wherein the resolution of the digital setpoint value (IpeakD) output by the control circuit (4) is higher than the resolution of the digital-to-analog converter, and the switching regulator additionally comprises a regulating device (15) designed to vary the digital input value of the digital-to-analog converter over time in order to counteract the error that occurs as a result of the lower resolution of the digital input value by comparison with the digital setpoint value (IpeakD) on average over time.