AC-driven light-emitting diode systems

1. An integrated circuit comprising:

a first power line and a second power line configured for connection to an alternating-current (AC) power source;

a plurality of light-emitting diode (LED) stages, wherein each LED stage comprises a plurality of LED devices that are serially connected between an input terminal and an output terminal of the LED stage, and wherein the LED stages are coupled in a chain with the input terminal of at least one LED stage coupled to the output terminal of another LED stage;

switching circuitry coupled to the first and second power lines and to the input and output terminals of each LED stage; and

switch control circuitry configured to control the switching circuitry to (i) selectively connect the first power line and the second power line to the input terminal and the output terminal, respectively, of at least one LED stage during a positive half-cycle of AC power applied to the first and second power lines, and (ii) selectively connect the second power line and the first power line to the input terminal and the output terminal, respectively, of the at least one LED stage during a negative half-cycle of the AC power applied to the first and second power lines.

2. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein the switch control circuitry is configured to execute a switch timing control program to synchronize operation of the switching circuitry to empower one or more LED stages based on a voltage level of the applied AC power.

3. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein:

the plurality of LED stages comprises a first LED stage and a second LED stage, wherein the input terminal of the second LED stage is coupled to the output terminal of the first LED stage; and

the switch control circuitry is configured to control the switching circuitry to (i) selectively connect the first power line to the input terminal of the first LED stage and selectively connect the second power line to the output terminal of the second LED stage, to thereby concatenate the first and second LED stages between the first and second power lines during a positive half-cycle of the AC power applied to the first and second power lines, and (ii) selectively connect the second power line to the input terminal of the first LED stage and selectively connect the first power line to the output terminal of the second LED stage, to thereby concatenate the first and second LED stages between the second and first power lines during a negative half-cycle of the AC power applied to the first and second power lines.

4. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein:

the plurality of LED stages comprises a first LED stage and a second LED stage; and

the switch control circuitry is configured to control the switching circuitry to (i) selectively connect the first power line to the input terminals of the first and second LED stages and selectively connect the second power line to the output terminals of the first and second LED stages, to thereby connect the first and second LED stages in parallel between the first and second power lines during a positive half-cycle of the AC power applied to the first and second power lines, and (ii) selectively connect the second power line to the input terminals of the first and second LED stages and selectively connect the first power line to the output terminals of the first and second LED stages, to thereby connect the first and second LED stages in parallel between the second and first power lines during a negative half-cycle of the AC power applied to the first and second power lines.

5. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , further comprising:

a zero-crossing detection circuit configured to detect zero-voltage crossings of an AC voltage waveform applied on the first and second power lines and output a detection signal which indicates a zero-crossing event and a direction of polarity transition of the AC voltage waveform;

wherein the switch control circuitry utilizes the output detection signal to control operation of the switching circuitry to empower one or more LED stages based on a voltage level of the applied AC power.

6. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein each LED stage comprises a same number of serially-connected LED devices.

7. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein at least two LED stages have different numbers of serially-connected LED devices.

8. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein each LED device has an operating range from about 2.8V to about 4.2V.

9. An LED lighting system comprising the integrated circuit of claim 1 .

10. A device, comprising:

a semiconductor wafer comprising a monolithic integrated circuit, wherein the monolithic integrated circuit comprises:

alternating-current (AC) power input terminals configured for connection to an AC power source, and a first power line and a second power line coupled to respective ones of the AC power input terminals;

a plurality of light-emitting diode (LED) stages, wherein each LED stage comprises a plurality of LED devices that are serially connected between an input terminal and an output terminal of the LED stage, and wherein the LED stages are coupled in a chain with the input terminal of at least one LED stage coupled to the output terminal of another LED stage;

switching circuitry coupled to the first and second power lines and to the input and output terminals of each LED stage; and

switch control circuitry configured to control the switching circuitry to (i) selectively connect the first power line and the second power line to the input terminal and the output terminal, respectively, of at least one LED stage during a positive half-cycle of AC power applied to the first and second power lines, and (ii) selectively connect the second power line and the first power line to the input terminal and the output terminal, respectively, of the at least one LED stage during a negative half-cycle of the AC power applied to the first and second power lines.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the switch control circuitry is configured to execute a switch timing control program to synchronize operation of the switching circuitry to empower one or more LED stages based on a voltage level of the applied AC power.

12. The device of claim 10 , wherein:

the plurality of LED stages comprises a first LED stage and a second LED stage, wherein the input terminal of the second LED stage is coupled to the output terminal of the first LED stage; and

the switch control circuitry is configured to control the switching circuitry to (i) selectively connect the first power line to the input terminal of the first LED stage and selectively connect the second power line to the output terminal of the second LED stage, to thereby concatenate the first and second LED stages between the first and second power lines during a positive half-cycle of AC power applied to the first and second power lines, and (ii) selectively connect the second power line to the input terminal of the first LED stage and selectively connect the first power line to the output terminal of the second LED stage, to thereby concatenate the first and second LED stages between the second and first power lines during a negative half-cycle of AC power applied to the first and second power lines.

13. The device of claim 10 , wherein:

the plurality of LED stages comprises a first LED stage and a second LED stage; and

the switch control circuitry is configured to control the switching circuitry to (i) selectively connect the first power line to the input terminals of the first and second LED stages and selectively connect the second power line to the output terminals of the first and second LED stages, to thereby connect the first and second LED stages in parallel between the first and second power lines during a positive half-cycle of AC power applied to the first and second power lines, and (ii) selectively connect the second power line to the input terminals of the first and second LED stages and selectively connect the first power line to the output terminals of the first and second LED stages, to thereby connect the first and second LED stages in parallel between the second and first power lines during a negative half-cycle of AC power applied to the first and second power lines.

14. The device of claim 10 , wherein the monolithic integrated circuit further comprises:

a zero-crossing detection circuit configured to detect zero-voltage crossings of an AC voltage waveform applied on the first and second power lines and output a detection signal which indicates a zero-crossing event and a direction of polarity transition of the AC voltage waveform;

wherein the switch control circuitry utilizes the output detection signal to control operation of the switching circuitry to empower one or more LED stages based on a voltage level of the applied AC power.

15. The device of claim 10 , wherein each LED stage comprises a same number of serially-connected LED devices.

16. The device of claim 10 , wherein at least two LED stages have different numbers of serially-connected LED devices.

17. The device of claim 10 , wherein each LED device has an operating range from about 2.8V to about 4.2V.

18. The device of claim 10 , wherein the monolithic integrated circuit further comprises at least one of (i) an optical filter disposed over each LED device, and (ii) a lens disposed over each LED device.

19. A method comprising:

applying alternating-current (AC) power to first and second power lines of a light-emitting diode (LED) lighting element, wherein the LED lighting element comprises a plurality of LED stages, wherein each LED stage comprises a plurality of LED devices that are serially connected between an input terminal and an output terminal of the LED stage, and wherein the LED stages are coupled in a chain with the input terminal of at least one LED stage coupled to the output terminal of another LED stage; and

empowering at least one LED stage of the plurality of LED stages during a positive half-cycle and a negative half-cycle of the applied AC power by (i) selectively connecting the first power line and the second power line to the input terminal and the output terminal, respectively, of the at least one LED stage during the positive half-cycle of the applied AC power, and (ii) selectively connecting the second power line and the first power line to the input terminal and the output terminal, respectively, of the at least one LED stage during the negative half-cycle of the applied AC power.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein empowering at least one LED stage of the plurality of LED stages during the positive half-cycle and the negative half-cycle of the applied AC power comprises:

empowering two or more LED stages of the plurality of LED stages during the positive half-cycle and the negative half-cycle of the applied AC power by (i) selectively connecting the first power line to the input terminals of the two or more LED stages and selectively connecting the second power line to the output terminals of the two or more LED stages, to thereby connect the two or more LED stages in parallel between the first and second power lines during the positive half-cycle of applied AC power, and (ii) selectively connecting the second power line to the input terminals of the two or more LED stages and selectively connecting the first power line to the output terminals of the two or more LED stages, to thereby connect the two or more LED stages in parallel between the second and first power lines during the negative half-cycle of the applied AC power; and

empowering two or more LED stages of the plurality of LED stages during the positive half-cycle and the negative half-cycle of the applied AC power by (i) selectively connecting the first power line to the input terminal of a first LED stage and selectively connecting the second power line to the output terminal of the second LED stage, to thereby serially connect a chain of LED stages, which comprises the first and second LED stages, between the first and second power lines during the positive half-cycle of applied AC power, and (ii) selectively connecting the second power line to the input terminal of the first LED stage and selectively connecting the first power line to the output terminal of the second LED stage, to thereby serially connect the chain of LED stages, which comprises the first and second LED stages, between the second and first power lines during the negative half-cycle of applied AC power.