ACTIVE CONTROL OF LIGHT EMITTING DIODES AND LIGHT EMITTING DIODE DISPLAYS

20240355992

18/763646

July 03, 2024

Synchronization for light emitting diode (LED) pixels in an LED display is provided so that one or more actions of all LED pixels are able to be initiated at the same time, or within a millisecond. LED displays and corresponding systems may include a controller that is configured for sending communication signals to one or more strings of LED pixels. Active electrical elements within each LED pixel may be configured to receive the communication signals, generate corresponding synchronization signals, and respond in a manner that is coordinated with all other LED pixels in a particular LED display. Failure mitigation of LED pixel failures within an LED string is provided where the controller is configured with bidirectional communication ports for communication with the LED string. In a failure mitigation process, the bidirectional communication ports may switch directions to provide communication signals to both sides of an LED string.

1. A method of controlling a light emitting diode (LED) display, the method comprising: providing a first LED string that comprises a plurality of first LED pixels, wherein each first LED pixel of the plurality of first LED pixels comprises at least one LED chip and an active electrical element; loading a different counter value to the active electrical element of each first LED pixel based on a location of each first LED pixel in the first LED string; and synchronizing operating states of each first LED pixel based on the different counter values.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the loading of the different counter values is performed by a controller that is connected to the first LED string.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing a second LED string that comprises a plurality of second LED pixels, wherein each second LED pixel of the plurality of second LED pixels comprises at least one LED chip and an active electrical element; loading a different counter value to the active electrical element of each second LED pixel based on a location of each second LED pixel in the second LED string; and synchronizing operating states of the plurality of first LED pixels and the plurality of second LED pixels based on the different counter values of the active electrical elements for the first and second LED pixels.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein synchronizing the operating states of the plurality of first LED pixels and the plurality of second LED pixels comprises turning the plurality of first LED pixels and the plurality of second LED pixels on or off.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein synchronizing the operating states of each first LED pixel provides a timeframe where the plurality of first LED pixels are all turned off.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the LED display is a three-dimensional (3D) LED display that requires 3D shutter glasses for a viewer, and the timeframe is determined to allow the 3D shutter glasses to transition from one viewing condition to another viewing condition while the plurality of first LED pixels are off.

7. A light emitting diode (LED) package comprising: at least one LED chip; and an active electrical element electrically connected to the at least one LED chip, the active electrical element configured to: provide a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal to the at least one LED chip, wherein the PWM signal comprises a PWM period and a PWM duty cycle; pause the PWM signal at a portion of the PWM period; and restart the PWM signal from the portion of the PWM period that was paused.

8. The LED package of claim 7, wherein the active electrical element is configured to: receive serial communication from a data stream and determine a synchronization signal that is correlated to recurring patterns of data within the data stream; count down the synchronization signal from a counter start value that corresponds to a location of the at least one LED chip; and initiate a first event signal to pause the PWM signal when the count down reaches a predetermined value.

9. The LED package of claim 8, wherein the active electrical element is further configured to initiate a second event signal to restart the PWM signal when the count down reaches a second predetermined value.

10. A light emitting diode (LED) package comprising: at least one LED chip; and an active electrical element electrically connected to the at least one LED chip, the active electrical element configured to: receive data from a data stream in a communication direction; and respond to a command in the data stream by reversing the communication direction of the data stream.

11. The LED package of claim 10, wherein the active electrical element is configured to transmit the command in the communication direction before reversing the communication direction.

12. The LED package of claim 11, wherein the active electrical element is configured to provide return data to the data stream after reversing the communication direction.

13. The LED package of claim 12, wherein the return data comprises a pulse that is configured to be counted by a controller for the LED package.

14. The LED package of claim 10, further comprising at least one bidirectional communication port that is configured to receive the command and then reverse a direction of the at least one bidirectional communication port to respond to the command.

15. A light emitting diode (LED) display comprising: at least one LED string that comprises a plurality of LED pixels, wherein each LED pixel of the plurality of LED pixels comprises at least one LED chip and an active electrical element; and a controller connected to the at least one LED string, wherein the controller is configured to provide a failure mitigation process that identifies one or more operable LED pixels of the LED string and at least one inoperable LED pixel of the LED string, the failure mitigation process comprising: sending a communication to the at least one LED string, wherein the active electrical element of the one or more operable LED pixels sends a return communication to the controller and the at least one inoperable LED pixel does not respond to the communication.

16. The LED display of claim 15, wherein the communication is a polling communication and the return communication is a return polling communication.

17. The LED display of claim 16, wherein the return polling communication comprises a ping or a pulse from each of the one or more operable LED pixels.

18. The LED display of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to count each ping or pulse to determine to a number of the one or more operable LED pixels.

19. The LED display of claim 16, wherein the controller comprises a first bidirectional communication port and a second bidirectional communication port that are coupled to opposite ends of the at least one LED string.

20. The LED display of claim 19, wherein a communication direction of one of the first and second bidirectional communication ports is reversed to receive the return polling communication.

21. The LED display of claim 15, further comprising a data line tap that is connected between at least one adjacent pair of the LED pixels of the plurality of LED pixels in the at least one LED string.

22. The LED display of claim 21, wherein communication through the data line tap is initiated during the failure mitigation process.

23. The LED display of claim 16, wherein each LED pixel of the plurality of LED pixels comprises at least one bidirectional communication port that is configured to receive the polling communication and then reverse a communication direction of the at least one bidirectional communication port to send the return polling communication to the controller.

24. The LED display of claim 15, wherein a range from 10 to 100 LED pixels of the plurality of LED pixels in the at least one LED string are arranged along a perimeter edge of the LED display.

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edspap.20240355992