Patent Application
20220061137
This application claims priority to China Application Serial Number 202010837697.3, filed Aug. 19, 2020, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The present invention relates to a driving technology. More particularly, the present invention relates to an operating method of a driver.
Under the current trend of energy conservation and carbon reduction, various electric systems including, for example, intelligence light control systems need to monitor power consumptions to perform controlling according to the power consumptions. Current practices include two methods: (1) Installing an electric meter directly on the external of the system to measure the power consumption of the system. (2) Integrating an electric meter integrated circuit (IC) in the internal of the system, installing the electric meter IC at a primary side to calculate the power consumption of the system and transmitting the power consumption to a microcontroller unit (MCU) via an internal communication interface. However, device/element costs and the installation costs of the two methods are more expensive. Thus, developments of related technology to overcome problems described above are important topics in this field.
The present disclosure provides a driver configured to provide an output voltage and an output current to a load according to an input voltage. The driver includes a power converter, a first detecting device, a second detecting device and a controller. The power converter is configured to receive the input voltage and convert the input voltage to the output voltage and the output current. The first detecting device configured to detect the input voltage to generate a first signal. The second detecting device configured to detect the output voltage to generate a second signal, and detect the output current to generate a third signal. The controller configured to perform a calculation to the second signal and the third signal according to one of lookup tables corresponding to the first signal to generate at least one power value.
The present disclosure provides an operating method of a driver including: converting an input voltage to an output voltage and an output current by the driver; driving a load by the output voltage and the output current; detecting the input voltage, the output voltage and the output current; generating a first signal, a second signal and a third signal corresponding to the input voltage, the output voltage and the output current, respectively; selecting a first lookup table in a plurality of lookup tables according to the first signal; searching in the first lookup table according to the second signal and the third signal to generate at least one power value.
The present disclosure provides a light source system including a light emitting diode string and a driver. The driver is coupled to the light emitting diode string, and configured to receive an input voltage to provide an output voltage and an output current to drive the light emitting diode string. The driver includes a power converter, a first detecting device, a second detecting device and a controller. The power converter is configured to receive the input voltage and convert the input voltage to the output voltage and the output current. The first detecting device configured to detect the input voltage to generate a first signal. The second detecting device configured to detect the output voltage to generate a second signal, and detect the output current to generate a third signal. The controller configured to perform a calculation to the second signal and the third signal according to one of lookup tables corresponding to the first signal to generate at least one power value.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are by examples, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
The invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to the accompanying drawings as follows:
Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
Furthermore, as illustratively shown in
In some embodiments, the voltage level LDC depends on the voltage level LAC. For example, the voltage level LDC is proportional to the voltage level LAC. In some embodiments, the driver 100 is configured to drive the load 109 according to the voltage signal VOUT and the current signal IOUT. In which in some embodiments, the load 109 includes a light emitting diode (LED) string, but embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to this. The driver 100 can also be configured to drive other types of devices. In some embodiments, the driver 100 is included in an intelligence light control system.
As illustratively shown in
In some embodiments, the controller 140 is implemented by a microcontroller unit (MCU) or a single chip microcomputer or other types of devices having calculating and storing functions. In some embodiments, the driver 100 further includes a resistor R1 configured to measure a current value of the current signal IOUT.
In some embodiments, the power converter 110 includes a power factor correction (PFC) circuit 112 and a half bridge series resonant converter (HBSRC) circuit 114. The PFC circuit 112 and the HBSRC circuit 114 are configured to improve stability and power consuming efficiency of the driver 100.
In some embodiments, the transforming device 120 includes a primary side winding 122 and a secondary side winding 124. The primary side winding 122 is configured to transmit the voltage signal V1 to the secondary side winding 124. The secondary side winding 124 is configured to convert the voltage signal V1 to output the voltage signal VOUT and the current signal IOUT. Due to the voltage signal VOUT and the current signal IOUT are the voltage signal and the current signal corresponding to secondary side winding 124, the voltage signal VOUT and the current signal IOUT are referred as a secondary side voltage signal and a secondary side current signal. In some embodiments, the primary side winding 122 and the secondary side winding 124 are implemented by coils or other types of winding elements.
In some embodiments, the detecting device 130 includes a detecting element 132 and a detecting element 134. The detecting element 132 is configured to receive the voltage signal VIN, generate the corresponding signal S1 according to the voltage signal VIN, and transmit the signal S1 to the controller 140 by an isolated transmitting mode or a non-isolated transmitting mode. Similar to the detecting element 132, the detecting element 134 is configured to receive the voltage signal VOUT and the current signal IOUT, generate the corresponding signals S2 and S3 according to the voltage signal VOUT and the current signal IOUT, and transmit the signals S2 and S3 to the controller 140 by the isolated transmitting mode or the non-isolated transmitting mode. Details associated to the isolated transmitting mode and the non-isolated transmitting mode are described below in the embodiments associated with
In some embodiments, the controller 140 includes a processor 142, a memory 144 and a communication interface 146. The processor 142 is configured to receive the signals S1-S3, search a power factor value PF and an efficiency value EFF in lookup tables prestored in the memory 144 according to the signals S1-S3, and then calculate a load side power value P1, an active power value P2 and an apparent power value P3. The power factor value PF and the efficiency value EFF correspond to a voltage value K1 of the voltage signal VIN, a voltage value K2 of the voltage signal VOUT and a voltage value K3 of the current signal IOUT. Equations associated with the load side power value P1, the active power value P2 and the apparent power value P3 are following:
P1=K2×K3;
P2=K2×K3/EFF;
P3=K2×K3/EFF/PF.
In some embodiments, the communication interface 146 is a digital communication interface, serial peripheral interface (SPI), inter-integrated circuit (I2C) or other types of communication interfaces. In some embodiments, a standard apparatus (e.g. WT1600 Digital Power Meter) measures the power factor values PF and the efficiency values EFF corresponding to different voltage values K2 and current values K3, and establishes lookup tables including, for example, lookup tables T1-T3 in
In some embodiments, the controller 140 further includes analog-to-digital converters ADC1-ADC3. The analog-to-digital converters ADC1-ADC3 are configured to convert the signals S1-S3 to the corresponding voltage values K1, K2 and the current value K3, respectively, to transmit the voltage values K1, K2 and the current value K3 to the processor 142.
In some embodiments, the communication interface 146 is configured to receive and display the load side power value P1, the active power value P2 and the apparent power value P3, such that users can refer and monitor situations of the driver 100 consuming electric power according to the load side power value P1, the active power value P2 and the apparent power value P3.
In previous approaches, an electric meter needs to be installed at a primary side of a driver to calculate the electric power consumption, such that the cost is increased.
Comparing to previous approaches, embodiments of the present disclosure estimate power values of the driver 100 by the voltage value K1, K2 and the current value K3 and the lookup tables stored in the memory 144 of the controller 140. The installation of an additional electric meter is not necessary, such that the cost is reduced. Furthermore, embodiments of the present disclosure include methods of transmitting the signals S1-S3 corresponding to the voltage value K1, K2 and the current value K3 by the isolated transmitting mode and the non-isolated transmitting mode.
In some embodiments, the detecting element 202 includes a voltage divider circuit coupled between a node 103 and the controller 140, corresponding to the non-isolated transmitting mode. In some embodiments, the detecting element 204 includes a voltage divider circuit and an optical coupler, corresponding to the isolated transmitting mode. In some embodiments, the controller 140 is configured at a primary side (for example, the node 103) of the power converter 110. The controller 140 is configured to receive the corresponding signal S1 by the detecting element 202, and receive the signals S2 and/or S3 corresponding to a secondary side (for example, the node 105 and/or the node 107) of the power converter 110 with the isolated transmitting mode by the detecting element 204.
In some embodiments, the detecting element 404 includes a voltage divider circuit coupled between a node 105 and the controller 140, corresponding to the non-isolated transmitting mode. In some embodiments, the detecting element 402 includes a voltage divider circuit and an optical coupler, corresponding to the isolated transmitting mode. In some embodiments, the controller 140 is configured at a secondary side (for example, the node 105 and/or the node 107) of the power converter 110. The controller 140 is configured to receive the corresponding signals S2 and/or S3 by the detecting element 404, and receive the signal S1 corresponding to a primary side (for example, the node 103) of the power converter 110 with the isolated transmitting mode by the detecting element 402.
In the embodiment illustratively shown in
Furthermore, the differences between
In some embodiments, the detecting element 602 includes a wire coupled between the node 103 and the controller 140. The detecting element 604 includes a wire coupled between the node 105 and the controller 140, and a wire coupled between the node 107 and the controller 140.
In some embodiments, after the operation S74, the driver repeats the operations from the operation S72 to keep monitoring the power values of the driver 100. In some embodiments, the driver 100 repeats the operations from the operation S72 to the operation S74 once per second.
At operation S85, the driver 100 searches the corresponding power factor value PF and the corresponding efficiency value EFF according to the voltage value K2 of the voltage signal VOUT and the current value K3 of the current signal IOUT. At operation S85a, if the voltage value K1 is 120V, then the driver 100 searches the power factor value PF and the efficiency value EFF in a lookup table T1 (not shown) corresponding to 120V. At operation S85b, if the voltage value K1 is 230V, then the driver 100 searches the power factor value PF and the efficiency value EFF in a lookup table T2 (not shown) corresponding to 230V. At operation S85c, if the voltage value K1 is 277V, then the driver 100 searches the power factor value PF and the efficiency value EFF in a lookup table T3 (not shown) corresponding to 277V. It should be understood that the voltage values of K1 are for examples only, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.
At operation S86, the driver 100 calculates the active power value P2 according to the voltage value K2, the current value K3 and the efficiency value EFF. At operation S87, the driver 100 calculates the apparent power value P3 according to the voltage value K2, the current value K3, the efficiency value EFF and the power factor value PF. At operation S88, the driver 100 calculates the load side power value P1 according to the voltage value K2 and the current value K3.
At operation S89, users monitor and control the voltage signal VIN and the AC voltage signal AC1 of the driver 100 according to the load side power value P1, the active power value P2 and the apparent power value P3 obtained according to operations S86-S88. For example, the load side power value P1, the active power value P2 and the apparent power value P3 calculated by the processor 142 are transmitted to the users via the communication interface 146, such that the users can refer and monitor situations of the driver 100 consuming electric power according to the load side power value P1, the active power value P2 and the apparent power value P3.
In some embodiments, after the operation S88, the driver 100 repeats the operations from the operation S83 to keep monitoring the power values of the driver 100. In some embodiments, the driver 100 waits for a period of time before the operations start again from the operation S83.
In some embodiments, the voltage values corresponding to the lookup tables T1-T3 can be voltage value ranges. For example, a range of the voltage value K1 corresponding to the lookup table T1 is 100V-150V, a range of the voltage value K1 corresponding to the lookup table T2 is 150V-220V, and a range of the voltage value K1 corresponding to the lookup table T3 is 220V-297V. The voltage value ranges corresponding to the lookup tables T1-T3 covers 100V-297V, and thus the corresponding power factor value PF and the corresponding efficiency value EFF can be found when the voltage value K1 is in the range of 100V-297V. It should be noted that a number of lookup tables (for example, the lookup tables T1-T3) and the ranges of the corresponding voltage values K1, K2 and the current value K3 are for example only, which can be adjusted according to actual conditions, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.
Table 1 is an embodiment of the lookup table T1 corresponding to the voltage value K1 between 100V-150V. As shown in Table 1, when the voltage value K1 is 120V, the driver 100 can search the corresponding power factor value PF and the corresponding efficiency value EFF in Table 1 according to the voltage value K2 and the current value K3 of the lookup table T1. For example, when the voltage value K2 is 80V and the current value K3 is 80 mA, the corresponding power factor value PF is 0.87 and the corresponding efficiency value EFF is 80%. The driver 100 can calculate the load side power value P1, the active power value P2 and the apparent power value P3 according to the formulas described above.
In some embodiments, the voltage value and the current value of the lookup table T1 shown by Table 1 can be voltage value ranges and current value ranges. For example, as shown in Table 1, a range of the current value K3 corresponding to 100 mA is 76 mA-125 mA, a range of the current value K3 corresponding to 150 mA is 126 mA-175 mA, and so on. Therefore, the corresponding power factor value PF and the corresponding efficiency value EFF can be found for the voltage value ranges of the voltage value K2 and the current value ranges of the current value K3. For example, when the voltage value K2 is 90V and the current value K3 is 125 mA, the corresponding power factor value PF is 0.82 and the corresponding efficiency value EFF is 78%.
As described above, in embodiments of the present disclosure, the driver 100 used in a system (for example, an intelligence light control system) doesn't need additional design of an electric meter or installation of an electric meter at the external of the system. Corresponding lookup tables are found by the controller 140 (for example, a MCU) according to the voltage signal VIN received by the power converter 110. The load side power value P1, the active power value P2 and the apparent power value P3 are calculated according to the voltage signal VOUT and the current signal IOUT which are provided to a load of the system, and the corresponding power factor value PF and the corresponding efficiency value EFF in the corresponding lookup table. The electric power consumption (that is, the electric power consumption of the load) of the system is estimated by the load side power value P1, the active power value P2 and the apparent power value P3. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure have lower costs comparing to some previous approaches.
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202010837697.3 | Aug 2020 | CN | national |
