Granted Patent B2

US 10,708,993 · App. 16/014,095 · Granted Jul 7, 2020

Abstract

Claims (45)

1. A driver for driving a load, comprising: a front-end stage, a back-end stage, and an intermediate controller, wherein

the front-end stage comprises a front-end main circuit and a front-end controller, and is configured to rectify an AC input voltage from an external power supply and output a DC bus voltage through output terminals;

the back-end stage comprises a buck circuit, and configured to receive the DC bus voltage from the front-end stage and output a desired DC drive voltage to the load according to an operating voltage of the load, wherein the DC bus voltage is greater than the desired DC drive voltage; and

the intermediate controller is configured to obtain a difference voltage signal indicative of an electric potential difference between the bus voltage and the drive voltage, and provide a feedback signal which is generated based on the difference voltage signal to the front-end controller, wherein the front-end controller controls the front-end main circuit based on the feedback signal to change the bus voltage with change of the drive voltage.

2. The driver as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the buck circuit comprises a controllable switch, a diode and an inductor;

wherein the buck circuit adopts a switch floated topology structure or an output floated topology structure.

3. The driver as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the intermediate controller comprises a first module configured to generate the difference voltage signal, and the first module comprising:

a differential sampling circuit, wherein a first electrode of the controllable switch is connected with one input terminal of the differential sampling circuit and a second electrode of the controllable switch is connected with the other input terminal of the differential sampling circuit and the differential sampling circuit outputs a scaled potential difference between the first electrode of the controllable switch and the second electrode of the controllable switch; and

a filter circuit which filters an output of the differential sampling circuit and outputs the difference voltage signal.

4. The driver as claimed in claim 3 , wherein

the difference voltage signal is directly provided to the front-end controller as the feedback signal; and

the front-end controller is configured to control the difference voltage signal to follow a predefined difference voltage reference based on the difference voltage signal and the predefined difference voltage reference, so as to maintain the electric potential difference between the bus voltage and the drive voltage within a predetermined range.

5. The driver as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the intermediate controller further comprises a second module configured to receive the difference voltage signal as input and produce a modulated bus voltage signal;

wherein the modulated bus voltage signal is provided to the front-end controller as the feedback signal; and

wherein the front-end controller is configured to control the modulated bus voltage signal to follow a predefined bus voltage reference based on the modulated bus voltage signal and the predefined bus voltage reference, so as to maintain the electric potential difference between the bus voltage and the drive voltage within a predetermined range.

6. The driver as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the second module comprises a first circuit coupled to the first module and a second circuit comprising a transistor,

wherein the first circuit is configured to receive the difference voltage signal and provide a base control signal which is generated based on the difference voltage signal to a base electrode of the transistor; and

wherein the second circuit is configured to generate the modulated bus voltage signal based on the base control signal.

7. The driver as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the first circuit comprises a closed-loop compensation circuit for receiving a potential difference reference between the bus voltage and the drive voltage, and the difference voltage signal, and generating the base control signal.

8. The driver as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the second circuit comprises a first resistor, a second resistor connected in series with the first resistor and a third resistor connected in series with the transistor, the first resistor and the second resistor are connected in parallel with the output terminals, a common terminal of the first resistor and the second resistor is connected with the front-end controller, and the third resistor and the transistor are connected in parallel with the second resistor.

9. The driver as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the driver comprises the intermediate controller configured to receive a sensing signal of the bus voltage and a sensing signal of the drive voltage as input and generate the difference voltage signal.

10. The driver as claimed in claim 9 , wherein

the difference voltage signal is directly provided to the front-end controller as the feedback signal; and

the front-end controller is configured to control the difference voltage signal to follow a predefined difference voltage reference based on the difference voltage signal and the predefined difference voltage reference, so as to maintain the electric potential difference between the bus voltage and the drive voltage within a predetermined range.

11. The driver as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the intermediate controller further comprises a second module configured to receive the difference voltage signal as input and produce a modulated bus voltage signal;

wherein the modulated bus voltage signal is provided to the front-end controller as the feedback signal; and

wherein the front-end controller is configured to control the modulated bus voltage signal to follow a predefined bus voltage reference based on the modulated bus voltage signal and the predefined bus voltage reference, so as to maintain the electric potential difference between the bus voltage and the drive voltage within a predetermined range.

12. The driver as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the second module comprises a first circuit coupled to the first module and a second circuit comprising a transistor,

wherein the first circuit is configured to receive the difference voltage signal and provide a base control signal which is generated based on the difference voltage signal to a base electrode of the transistor; and

wherein the second circuit is configured to generate the modulated bus voltage signal based on the base control signal.

13. The driver as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the first circuit comprises a closed-loop compensation circuit for receiving a potential difference reference between the bus voltage and the drive voltage, and the difference voltage signal, and generating the base control signal.

14. The driver as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the second circuit comprises a first resistor, a second resistor connected in series with the first resistor and a third resistor connected in series with the transistor, the first resistor and the second resistor are connected in parallel with the output terminals, a common terminal of the first resistor and the second resistor is connected with the front-end controller, and the third resistor and the transistor are connected in parallel with the second resistor.

15. An LED lamp for connecting to an external power supply, comprising:

a lighting source including a plurality of LEDs; and

a driver, configured for driving the lighting source, the driver comprising:

a front-end stage comprising a front-end main circuit and a front-end controller, and configured to rectify an AC input voltage from the external power supply and output a DC bus voltage through output terminals,

a back-end stage comprising a buck circuit, and configured to receive the DC bus voltage from the front-end stage and output a desired DC drive voltage to the load according to an operating voltage of the load, wherein the DC bus voltage is greater than the desired DC drive voltage, and

an intermediate controller, configured to obtain a difference voltage signal indicative of an electric potential difference between the bus voltage and the drive voltage, and provide a feedback signal which is generated based on the difference voltage signal to the front-end controller, wherein the front-end controller controls the front-end main circuit based on the feedback signal to change the bus voltage with change of the drive voltage.

16. A driver for driving a load, comprising: a front-end stage, a back-end stage, and an intermediate controller, wherein

the front-end stage comprises a front-end main circuit and a front-end controller, and is configured to rectify an AC input voltage from an external power supply and output a DC bus voltage through output terminals;

the back-end stage comprises a buck circuit, and configured to receive the bus voltage from the front-end stage and output a desired DC drive voltage to the load according to an operating voltage of the load, wherein the buck circuit comprises a controllable switch, a diode and an inductor, and the buck circuit adopts a switch floated topology structure or an output floated topology structure; and

the intermediate controller is configured to obtain a difference voltage signal indicative of an electric potential difference between the bus voltage and the drive voltage, and provide a feedback signal which is generated based on the difference voltage signal to the front-end controller, wherein the front-end controller controls the front-end main circuit based on the feedback signal to change the bus voltage with change of the drive voltage;

wherein the intermediate controller comprises a first module configured to generate the difference voltage signal, and the first module comprising:

a differential sampling circuit, wherein a first electrode of the controllable switch is connected with one input terminal of the differential sampling circuit and a second electrode of the controllable switch is connected with the other input terminal of the differential sampling circuit and the differential sampling circuit outputs a scaled potential difference between the first electrode of the controllable switch and the second electrode of the controllable switch; and

a filter circuit which filters an output of the differential sampling circuit and outputs the difference voltage signal.

Assignments (6)