Interference-resistant compensation for illumination devices having multiple emitter modules

1. A method for controlling an illumination device comprising multiple emitter modules, wherein each emitter module comprises multiple emission light emitting diode (LED) elements and one or more photodetectors, the method comprising:

operating one or more of the multiple emission LED elements in each of the multiple emitter modules to produce illumination substantially continuously by supplying a respective drive current at an operative drive current level to each of the one or more of the multiple emission LED elements;

bringing the respective drive currents of all except one of the emission LED elements within a first emitter module of the multiple emitter modules to a non-operative drive current level, which is insufficient to produce illumination, for the duration of a measurement interval within a first series of measurement intervals interspersed with periods of said illumination; and

bringing the respective drive currents of all except one of the emission LED elements within a second emitter module of the multiple emitter modules to a non-operative drive current level, which is insufficient to produce illumination, for the duration of a measurement interval within a second series of measurement intervals interspersed with periods of said illumination, wherein the first series of measurement intervals and the second series of measurement intervals are separated by a respective first offset and second offset from a timing reference.

2. The method of claim 1 , for either of the first and second emitter modules, further comprising:

during the measurement interval within the respective first or second series of measurement intervals, applying an operative drive current level, which is sufficient to produce illumination, to the one of the emission LED elements; and

during said applying an operative drive current level to the one of the emission LED elements, monitoring a respective first or second measurement photocurrent induced in the one or more photodetectors included within the emitter module.

3. The method of claim 2 , for either of the first or second emitter modules, further comprising bringing the drive current applied to the one of the emission LED elements to a non-operative drive current level, which is insufficient to produce illumination, for a portion of the respective measurement interval, such that the respective drive currents of all of the emission LED elements within the respective emitter module are at a non-operative drive current level for the portion of the respective measurement interval.

4. The method of claim 3 , for either of the first or second emitter modules and during the portion of the respective measurement interval, further comprising monitoring a respective first or second background photocurrent induced in the one or more photodetectors included within the emitter module.

5. The method of claim 4 , for either of the first or second emitter modules, further comprising subtracting the respective first or second background photocurrent from the respective first or second measurement photocurrent.

6. The method of claim 5 , for either of the first or second emitter modules, further comprising storing a result of said subtracting as a respective first or second corrected photocurrent.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein said storing a result of said subtracting is in response to a determination that the result is within an expected range.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the timing reference comprises a periodic timing signal.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the timing reference is derived from an AC mains signal.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the multiple emitter modules consist of one or more sets of three emitter modules, and wherein each emitter module within a set uses a respective series of measurement intervals having a different offset from the timing reference than that used by the other emitter modules within the set.

11. An illumination device comprising:

multiple emitter modules, wherein each emitter module comprises multiple emission light emitting diode (LED) elements and one or more photodetectors; and

a control circuit operably coupled to the multiple emitter modules, wherein the control circuit is adapted to:

operate one or more of the multiple emission LED elements within each of the multiple emitter modules to produce illumination substantially continuously by supplying a respective drive current at an operative drive current level to each of the one or more of the multiple emission LED elements;

bring the respective drive currents of all except one of the emission LED elements within a first emitter module of the multiple emitter modules to a non-operative drive current level, which is insufficient to produce illumination, for the duration of a measurement interval within a first series of measurement intervals interspersed with periods of said illumination; and

bring the respective drive currents of all except one of the emission LED elements within a second emitter module of the multiple emitter modules to a non-operative drive current level, which is insufficient to produce illumination, for the duration of a measurement interval within a second series of measurement intervals interspersed with periods of said illumination, wherein the first series of measurement intervals and the second series of measurement intervals are separated by a respective first offset and second offset from a timing reference.

12. The illumination device of claim 11 , further comprising a timing reference generator operatively coupled to the control circuit and adapted to generate the timing reference.

13. The illumination device of claim 12 , wherein the timing reference comprises a periodic timing signal and the timing reference generator comprises a phase-locked loop.

14. The illumination device of claim 11 , further comprising multiple driver circuits operably coupled to respective emitter modules of the multiple emitter modules and to the control circuit, and wherein the control circuit is configured to adjust a drive current of an LED element within an emitter module by providing a drive current setting to a respective driver circuit for the emitter module.

15. The illumination device of claim 11 , wherein, for each of the first and second emitter modules, the control circuit is further adapted to:

during the measurement interval within the respective first or second series of measurement intervals, apply an operative drive current level, which is sufficient to produce illumination, to the one of the emission LED elements; and

during said applying the operative drive current level to the one of the emission LED elements, monitor a respective first or second measurement photocurrent induced in the one or more photodetectors included within the emitter module.

16. The illumination device of claim 15 , wherein, for each of the first and second emitter modules, the control circuit is further adapted to:

bring the drive current applied to the one of the emission LED elements to a non-operative drive current level, which is insufficient to produce illumination, for a portion of the respective measurement interval, such that the respective drive currents of all of the emission LED elements within the respective emitter module are at a non-operative drive current level for the portion of the respective measurement interval; and

during the portion of the respective measurement interval, monitor a respective first or second background photocurrent induced in the one or more photodetectors included within the emitter module.

17. The illumination device of claim 16 , wherein, for each of the first and second emitter modules, the control circuit is further adapted to subtract the respective first or second background photocurrent from the respective first or second measurement photocurrent.

18. The illumination device of claim 17 , further comprising a plurality of storage locations accessible by the control circuit, and wherein the control circuit is further adapted to store a result of subtracting the first or second background photocurrent from the first or second measurement photocurrent in one or more of the storage locations as a first or second corrected photocurrent.

19. The illumination device of claim 18 , wherein the control circuit is further adapted to determine whether the result is within an expected range and store the result in response to a determination that the result is within an expected range.

20. The illumination device of claim 11 , wherein the multiple emitter modules consist of one or more sets of three emitter modules, and wherein the control circuit is further adapted to use, for each emitter module within a set, a respective measurement interval having a different offset from the timing reference than that of the other emitter modules within the set.

21. The illumination device of claim 11 , wherein the control circuit comprises a respective module control circuit for each emitter module within the illumination device.

22. The illumination device of claim 21 , wherein the control circuit further comprises a device control circuit adapted to provide to each of the module control circuits a respective offset from the timing reference for the respective series of measurement intervals used by the respective emitter module.

23. A method for controlling an illumination device comprising first and second light emitting diode (LED) elements, the method comprising:

operating one or more of the first and second LED elements to produce illumination by supplying a respective drive current at an operative drive current level to each of the one or more of the first and second LED elements;

bringing the respective drive currents of all except the first LED element to a non-operative drive current level for a duration of a first measurement interval within a first series of measurement intervals; and

bringing the respective drive currents of all except the second LED element to a non-operative drive current level for a duration of a second measurement interval within a second series of measurement intervals,

wherein the first series of measurement intervals and the second series of measurement intervals are separated by a respective first offset and second offset from a timing reference.

24. The method of claim 23, for either of the first or second LED elements, further comprising:

during the measurement interval within the respective first or second series of measurement intervals, applying an operative drive current level, which is sufficient to produce illumination, to the respective one of the LED elements; and

during the applying the operative drive current level to the respective one of the LED elements, monitoring a respective first or second measurement photocurrent induced in at least one photodetector.

25. The method of claim 24, for either of the first or second LED elements, further comprising:

bringing the drive current applied to the respective one of the LED elements to a non-operative drive current level for a portion of the respective first or second measurement interval, such that the respective drive currents of all of the LED elements are at a non-operative drive current level for the portion of the respective measurement interval; and

during the portion of the respective measurement interval, monitoring a respective first or second background photocurrent induced in the at least one photodetector.

26. The method of claim 25, for either of the first or second LED elements, further comprising:

subtracting the respective first or second background photocurrent from the respective first or second measurement photocurrent; and

storing a respective result of the subtracting in response to a determination that the respective result is within an expected range.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein the timing reference is derived from an AC mains signal.

28. An illumination device comprising:

first and second light emitting diode (LED) elements; and

a control circuit operably coupled to the first and the second LED elements, wherein the control circuit is adapted to:

operate the first and second LED elements to produce illumination by supplying a respective drive current at an operative drive current level to each of the first and second LED elements;

bring the respective drive currents of all except the first LED element to a non-operative drive current level for a duration of a first measurement interval within a first series of measurement intervals; and

bring the respective drive currents of all except the second LED element to a non-operative drive current level for a duration of a second measurement interval within a second series of measurement intervals,

wherein the first series of measurement intervals and the second series of measurement intervals are separated by a respective first offset and second offset from a timing reference.

29. The illumination device of claim 28, further comprising a timing reference generator operatively coupled to the control circuit and adapted to generate the timing reference from an AC mains signal.

30. The illumination device of claim 28, wherein, for each of the first and second LED elements, the control circuit is further adapted to:

during the measurement interval within the respective first or second series of measurement intervals, apply an operative drive current level, which is sufficient to produce illumination, to the respective one of the LED elements; and

during the applying the operative drive current level to the respective one of the LED elements, monitor a respective first or second measurement photocurrent induced in at least one photodetector.

31. The illumination device of claim 30, wherein, for each of the first and second LED elements, the control circuit is further adapted to:

bring the drive current applied to the one of the LED elements to a non-operative drive current level for a portion of the respective measurement interval, such that the respective drive currents of all of the LED elements are at a non-operative drive current level for the portion of the respective measurement interval; and

during the portion of the respective measurement interval, monitor a respective first or second background photocurrent induced in the at least one photodetector.

32. The illumination device of claim 31, wherein, for each of the first and second LED elements, the control circuit is further adapted to:

subtract the respective first or second background photocurrent from the respective first or second measurement photocurrent; and

store in one or more storage locations a respective result of the subtracting in response to a determination that the respective result is within an expected range.

33. A method for controlling an illumination device comprising first and second lighting emitting diode (LED) elements, the method comprising:

supplying a respective drive current at an operative drive current level to each of the first LED element and the second LED element to produce illumination;

during a measurement interval:

measuring a first photocurrent induced in at least one photodetector while the respective drive current of the first LED element is supplied at an operative drive current level to produce illumination and the respective drive current of the second LED element is supplied at a non-operative drive current level; and

measuring a second photocurrent induced in the least one photodetector while the respective drive current of each of the first LED element and the second LED element is supplied at a non-operative drive current level;

subtracting the second photocurrent from the first photocurrent to obtain a corrected photocurrent; and

at an end of the measurement interval, supplying an operative drive current to the first LED element to produce illumination, wherein supplying the operative drive current to the first LED element comprises adjusting a level of the operative drive current supplied to the first LED element based at least in part on the corrected photocurrent.

34. The method of claim 33,

wherein the method further comprises comparing the corrected photocurrent to an expected value; and

wherein adjusting the level of the operative drive current supplied to the first LED element based at least in part on the corrected photocurrent comprises adjusting the level of the operative drive current level supplied to the first LED element based at least in part on comparing the corrected photocurrent to the expected value.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the second photocurrent is measured before the first photocurrent is measured.

36. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

measuring a third photocurrent induced in the least one photodetector while the respective drive current of the second LED element is supplied at an operative drive current level to produce illumination and the respective drive current of the first LED element is supplied at a non-operative drive current level; and

measuring a fourth photocurrent induced in the least one photodetector while the respective drive current of each of the first LED element and the second LED element is supplied at a non-operative drive current level;

subtracting the fourth photocurrent from the third photocurrent to obtain another corrected photocurrent; and

supplying an operative drive current to the second LED element to produce illumination, wherein supplying the operative drive current to the second LED element comprises adjusting a level of the operative drive current supplied to the second LED element based at least in part on the another corrected photocurrent.

37. An illumination device comprising:

first and second light emitting diode (LED) elements; and

a control circuit operably coupled to the first and the second LED elements, wherein the control circuit is adapted to:

supply a respective drive current at an operative drive current level to each of the first LED element and the second LED element to produce illumination;

during a measurement interval:

measure a first photocurrent induced in at least one photodetector while the respective drive current of the first LED element is supplied at an operative drive current level to produce illumination and the respective drive current of the second LED element is supplied at a non-operative drive current level; and

measure a second photocurrent induced in the least one photodetector while the respective drive current of each of the first LED element and the second LED element is supplied at a non-operative drive current level;

subtract the second photocurrent from the first photocurrent to obtain a corrected photocurrent; and

at an end of the measurement interval, supply an operative drive current to the first LED element to produce illumination, wherein to supply the operative drive current to the first LED element comprises to adjust a level of the operative drive current supplied to the first LED element based at least in part on the corrected photocurrent.

38. The illumination device of claim 37,

wherein the control circuit is further adapted to compare the corrected photocurrent to an expected value; and

wherein to adjust the level of the operative drive current supplied to the first LED element based at least in part on the corrected photocurrent comprises to adjust the level of the operative drive current supplied to the first LED element based at least in part on comparing the corrected photocurrent to the expected value.

39. The illumination device of claim 37, wherein the control circuit is further adapted to measure the second photocurrent before measuring the first photocurrent.

40. The illumination device of claim 37, wherein the control circuit is further adapted to:

measure a third photocurrent induced in the least one photodetector while the respective drive current of the second LED element is supplied at an operative drive current level to produce illumination and the respective drive current of the first LED element is supplied at a non-operative drive current level; and

measure a fourth photocurrent induced in the least one photodetector while the respective drive current of each of the first LED element and the second LED element is supplied at a non-operative drive current level;

subtract the fourth photocurrent from the third photocurrent to obtain another corrected photocurrent; and

supply an operative drive current to the second LED element to produce illumination, wherein to supply the operative drive current to the second LED element comprises to adjust a level of the operative drive current supplied to the second LED element based at least in part on the another corrected photocurrent.