High temperature LED system using an AC power source

1. An LED system for coupling to an AC power source comprising:

a rectifier module electrically coupled to the AC power source and configured to provide a rectified output;

a first group of LED devices electrically coupled to the rectifier module and configured to receive the rectified output;

a second group of LED devices electrically coupled to the first group of LED devices;

a current monitor module electrically coupled to the first group and second group of LED devices, the current monitor module being configured to determine a first current level using a drawn current level signal associated with the first group of LED devices and a second current level using a reference current level signal associated with the second group of LED devices; and

a temperature sensing module electrically coupled to the current monitor module and configured to generate a at least one compensation factor based at least in part on a temperature.

2. The LED system of claim 1 further comprising a low pass filter electrically coupled to the current monitor module and the temperature sensing module.

3. The LED system of claim 1 wherein the first group of LED devices is electrically coupled to the second group of LED devices in series.

4. The LED system of claim 1 further comprising a first switch and a second switch, the first switch being configured to control the first group of LED devices in response to the compensation factor signal.

5. The LED system of claim 1 wherein the temperature sensing module comprises a divider module.

6. The LED system of claim 1 wherein the temperature sensing module comprises a differential operational amplifier.

7. The LED system of claim 1 wherein the rectifier module is mounted to a printed circuit board.

8. The LED system of claim 1 , further comprising an LED submount having a front surface and a back surface, the front surface comprising an inner region and an outer region, the inner region being characterized by a reflectivity of at least 80%, the first and second groups of LED devices being disposed on the inner region.

9. The LED system of claim 8 wherein the first and second group of LED devices are configured for being operable at 100 degrees Celsius or higher.

10. The LED system of claim 8 further comprising a heat sink directly coupled to the back surface of the LED submount, the heat sink being characterized by a thermal emissivity of at least 0.5.

11. The LED system of claim 10 wherein the outer region of the heat sink is substantially non-reflective.

12. The LED system of claim 10 further comprising an MR-16 housing.

13. The LED system of claim 10 wherein the outer region of the heat sink is coated with anodized aluminum material and characterized by a thermal emissivity of at least 0.8.

14. The LED system of claim 10 wherein the heat sink is coated by a non-reflective material, a surface of the heat sink being characterized by an emissivity of at least 0.9.

15. The LED system of claim 10 wherein at least 10% of the front surface area is characterized an emissivity of 0.6 or greater.

16. The LED system of claim 10 further comprising a reflector positioned within an inner region of the front surface.

17. The LED system of claim 10 wherein a thermal resistance from the LED submount to the high-emissivity surface area is less than 8 C/W.

18. The LED system of claim 10 wherein the outer surface of the heat sink is coated by a substantially black coating.

19. An LED system for coupling to an AC power source comprising:

a rectifier module being electrically coupled to the AC power source and configured to provide a rectified output;

a first group of LED devices electrically coupled to the rectifier module and configured to receive the rectified output;

a second group of LED devices electrically coupled to the first group of LED devices;

a current monitor module electrically coupled to the first group and second group of LED devices, the current monitor module being configured to determine a first current level using a drawn current level signal associated with the first group of LED devices and a second current level using a reference current level signal associated with the second group of LED devices;

a temperature sensing module electrically coupled to the current monitor module and configured to generate a at least one compensation factor based at least in part on a temperature; and

an LED submount having a front surface and a back surface, the front surface comprising an inner region and an outer region, the inner region being characterized by a reflectivity of at least 80%.

20. An LED system for coupling to an AC power source comprising:

a rectifier module being electrically coupled to the AC power source and configured to provide a rectified output;

a first group of LED devices electrically coupled to the rectifier module and configured to receive the rectified output;

a second group of LED devices electrically coupled to the first group of LED devices;

a current monitor module electrically coupled to the first group and second group of LED devices, the current monitor module being configured to determine a first current level using a drawn current level signal associated with the first group of LED devices and a second current level using a reference current level signal associated with the second group of LED devices;

a temperature sensing module electrically coupled to the current monitor module and configured to generate a at least one compensation factor based at least in part on a temperature;

an LED submount having a front surface and a back surface, the front surface comprising an inner region and an outer region, the inner region being characterized by a reflectivity of at least 80%.the first and second groups of LED devices being disposed on the inner region; and

a heat sink coupled to the LED submount, the heat sink being characterized by a thermal emissivity of at least 0.5.