Infrared light emitting diode control circuit

• US 9,999,113 B2
• Filed: 12/16/2015
• Issued: 06/12/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Sarangdhar, Nitin V., Moore, Victoria C., Dwarakanath, Kumar N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Owens, Douglas W
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHO, JAMES HYONCHOL
• Application Number:
  US14/971,525
• Publication Number:
  US 20170181248A1
• Time in Patent Office: 909 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/82 Protecting input, output or interconnection devices
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/182 Level alarms, e.g. alarms responsive to variables exceeding a threshold
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 5/36 using visible light sources
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/33 Transforming infrared radiation cameras or camera modules for generating image signals from infrared radiation H04N23/20; circuitry of SSIS for transforming infrared radiation into image signals H04N25/20
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/00 Circuit arrangements for operating light-emitting diodes [LED]
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/115 by determining the presence or movement of objects or living beings
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/16 by timing means
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/40 Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection

Abstract

Disclosed in some examples are devices, methods, and machine-readable mediums for reliable control of IR LEDs. In some examples, a microcontroller running firmware controls whether the LED is activated or not by use of a disable signal. The microcontroller enables or disables the operation of the LED based upon a user'"'"'s proximity to the LED, a watchdog timer, and a confirmation that only trusted software is executing.

Claims

1. A system for controlling a light emitting diode (LED), the system comprising:

a central processing unit (CPU);

a power management integrated circuit (PMIC); and

an integrated sensor hub microcontroller (ISH);

wherein the PMIC is communicatively coupled to the LED, the CPU and the ISH and is configured to;

send an activation signal to the LED in response to receipt of an enable signal from a software application executing on the CPU and responsive to determining that a disable signal from the ISH is not present; and

wherein the ISH is configured to;

generate the disable signal to the PMIC responsive to determining that a deactivation condition has been met; and

start a watchdog timer when the LED transitions from an ON state to an OFF state, wherein a running watchdog timer being the deactivation condition.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the deactivation condition additionally comprises one of:

a proximity signal from a proximity sensor indicating an object is within a predetermined distance from the LED, and an indication from the CPU that the integrity of the software application is compromised.

3. The system of claim 1 comprising

a proximity sensor configured to:

generate a proximity signal to the ISH in response to a determination that an object is closer than a predetermined distance to the LED, the signal to the ISH from the proximity sensor being an additional deactivation condition.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the CPU is configured to:

provide a protected environment for a platform attestation enclave; and

using the platform attestation enclave, provide an attestation of the integrity of the software application to the ISH, an attestation that the integrity of the software application is compromised being an additional deactivation condition.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein to provide the attestation of the integrity of the software application to the ISH comprises a comparison of a measurement of software executing on the CPU with a known good measurement.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the protected environment is a trusted execution environment.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the trusted execution environment is a Software Guard Extension (SGX) enclave.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the PMIC comprises a discrete voltage regulator output with a series resister.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the LED emits light in an infrared wavelength.

10. A method for controlling a light emitting diode (LED), the method comprising:

using a power management integrated circuit (PMIC) that is communicatively coupled to an light emitting diode (LED), a central processing unit (CPU), and an integrated sensor hub microcontroller (ISH) to;

send an activation signal to the LED in response to receipt of an enable signal from a software application executing on the CPU and responsive to determining that a disable signal from the ISH is not present; and

using the ISH to;

generate the disable signal to the PMIC responsive to determining that a deactivation condition has been met; and

start a watchdog timer when the LED transitions from an ON state to an OFF state, wherein a running watchdog timer being the deactivation condition.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the deactivation condition additionally comprises one of:

a proximity signal from a proximity sensor indicating an object is within a predetermined distance from the LED, and an indication from the CPU that the integrity of the software application is compromised.

12. The method of claim 10 comprising

using a proximity sensor to:

generate a proximity signal to the ISH in response to a determination that an object is closer than a predetermined distance to the LED, the signal to the ISH from the proximity sensor being an additional deactivation condition.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising using the CPU to:

provide a protected environment for a platform attestation enclave; and

using the platform attestation enclave to provide an attestation of the integrity of the software application to the ISH, an attestation that the integrity of the software application is compromised being an additional deactivation condition.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein to provide the attestation of the integrity of the software application to the ISH comprises a comparison of a measurement of software executing on the CPU with a known good measurement.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the protected environment is a trusted execution environment.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the trusted execution environment is a Software Guard Extension (SGX) enclave.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the PMIC comprises a discrete voltage regulator output with a series resister.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the LED emits light in an infrared wavelength.