Methods and apparatus for providing a controllably variable power to a load
DCFirst Claim
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- at least one energy transfer element to store input energy derived from a power source and to provide output energy to at least one LED;
at least one switch coupled to the at least one energy transfer element to control at least the input energy stored to the at least one energy transfer element; and
at least one switch controller controlling the at least one switch using a discontinuous mode switching technique to perform multiple switching operations in at least one time period, each switching operation transferring a predetermined quantum of the input energy to the at least one energy transfer element,wherein the at least one switch controller comprises a processor to receive at least one control signal representing a desired power to the at least one LED, the processor controlling, based on a relative range of the desired power to the at least one LED, the multiple switching operations to vary at least one of;
the predetermined quantum of the input energy for at least two switching operations in the at least one time period; and
a number of the multiple switching operations in the at least one time period,so as to provide a controllably variable power to the at least one LED.
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus for providing and controlling power to at least some types of loads. In one example, a controlled predetermined power is provided to a load without requiring any feedback information from the load (i.e., without monitoring a load voltage and/or load current). In another example, a “feed-forward” power driver for an LED-based light source combines the functionality of a DC-DC converter and a light source controller, and is configured to control the intensity of light generated by the light source based on modulating the average power delivered to the light source in a given time period, without monitoring and/or regulating the voltage or current provided to the light source. In various examples, significantly streamlined circuits having fewer components, higher overall power efficiencies, and smaller space requirements are realized. Based on various power driver configurations, lighting apparatus incorporating one or more power drivers for one or more LED-based loads may be implemented, and multiple such lighting apparatus may be coupled together to form a lighting network in which operating power is efficiently provided throughout the network.
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Citations
45 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
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at least one energy transfer element to store input energy derived from a power source and to provide output energy to at least one LED; at least one switch coupled to the at least one energy transfer element to control at least the input energy stored to the at least one energy transfer element; and at least one switch controller controlling the at least one switch using a discontinuous mode switching technique to perform multiple switching operations in at least one time period, each switching operation transferring a predetermined quantum of the input energy to the at least one energy transfer element, wherein the at least one switch controller comprises a processor to receive at least one control signal representing a desired power to the at least one LED, the processor controlling, based on a relative range of the desired power to the at least one LED, the multiple switching operations to vary at least one of; the predetermined quantum of the input energy for at least two switching operations in the at least one time period; and a number of the multiple switching operations in the at least one time period, so as to provide a controllably variable power to the at least one LED. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method, comprising acts of:
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A) storing input energy derived from a power source to at least one energy transfer element; B) providing output energy from the at least one energy transfer element to a load; C) controlling at least the input energy stored to the at least one energy transfer element via at least one switch coupled to the at least one energy transfer element; and D) controlling the at least one switch using a discontinuous mode switching technique to perform multiple switching operations in at least one time period, each switching operation transferring a controllably variable predetermined quantum of the input energy to the at least one energy transfer element, wherein the act D) comprises acts of; receiving at least one control signal representing a desired power to the load as at least one addressed control signal; and controlling the multiple switching operations to vary, based on a relative range of the desired power to the load, at least one of; the predetermined quantum of the input energy for at least two switching operations in the at least one time period; and a number of the multiple switching operations in the at least one time period, so as to provide a controllably variable power to the load. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification