LED driving circuit and driving method thereof
The present embodiment relates to a technology for facilitating an increase of the number of LEDs to be driven by communication of a clock signal between chips forming a daisy chain when driving LEDs. The communication of a clock signal as well as data between chips allows improve the synchronization between the clock signal and data.
1. A light emitting diode (LED) driving unit comprising:
a first LED driving circuit configured to receive a serial clock signal from a microcontroller unit, output the serial clock signal to a second LED driving circuit, and adjust a driving current for a first light emitting diode; and
the second LED driving circuit configured to receive the serial clock signal outputted from the first LED driving circuit, output the serial clock signal to a third LED driving circuit, and adjust a driving current for a second light emitting diode, wherein
the microcontroller unit, the first LED driving circuit, and the second LED driving circuit are configured to sequentially transmit the serial clock signal, and
the first LED driving circuit comprises:
a first switch circuit configured to adjust a level of the driving current for the first light emitting diode according to a duty ratio of a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal; and
a second switch circuit configured to adjust the level of the driving current for the first light emitting diode by receiving a pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) signal.
2. The LED driving unit of claim 1 , wherein
the serial clock signal defines operation timings of the first LED driving circuit and the second LED driving circuit,
a local dimming signal transmitted from the microcontroller unit defines operation conditions of the first LED driving circuit and the second LED driving circuit, and
the first LED driving circuit and the second LED driving circuit each are configured to adjust an edge timing of the serial clock signal so as to be synchronized with a timing of the local dimming signal.
3. The LED driving unit of claim 2 , wherein
the first LED driving circuit is configured to:
receive the local dimming signal from the microcontroller unit; and
output the local dimming signal to the second LED driving circuit,
the second LED driving circuit is configured to:
receive the local dimming signal from the first LED driving circuit.
4. The LED driving unit of claim 1 , wherein
the first LED driving circuit and the second LED driving circuit are electrically connected with light emitting diodes,
the first LED driving circuit and the second LED driving circuit each comprise a plurality of current channels for transferring driving currents for the light emitting diodes, and
the first LED driving circuit and the second LED driving circuit are each configured to control the driving currents for the light emitting diodes flowing in the plurality of current channels based on address information transmitted by the microcontroller unit.
5. The LED driving unit of claim 1 , wherein the second LED driving circuit comprises:
a third switch circuit configured to adjust the level of the driving current for the second light emitting diode according to a duty ratio of another PWM signal; and
a fourth switch circuit configured to adjust the level of the driving current for the second light emitting diode by receiving another PAM signal.
6. The LED driving unit of claim 5 , wherein the second LED driving circuit is configured to control operations of the third switch circuit and the fourth switch circuit in conformity with the timings of the serial clock signal outputted from the first LED driving circuit.
7. The LED driving unit of claim 1 , wherein the first LED driving circuit is configured to:
store data on a delay time of the serial clock signal transmitted from the microcontroller unit, and
determine a timing for transmitting the serial clock signal to the second LED driving circuit.
8. The LED driving unit of claim 1 , wherein each of the first LED driving circuit and the second LED driving circuit comprises communication ports connected in series so that a PWM clock signal and a vertical synchronization signal from the microcontroller unit are sequentially transmitted.
9. The LED driving unit of claim 1 , wherein the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit are connected in series.
10. The LED driving unit of claim 1 , wherein
the first switch circuit comprises a first transistor,
a gate of the first transistor is configured to receive the PWM signal,
the second switch circuit comprises:
a second transistor,
a resistor connected to a drain of the second transistor; and
an amplifier connected to a gate of the second transistor, and
the gate of the second transistor is configured to receive the PAM signal.
11. An LED driving unit comprising:
a first LED driving circuit comprising a plurality of current channels configured to adjust driving currents for a first group of light emitting diodes; and
a second LED driving circuit comprising a plurality of current channels configured to adjust driving currents for a second group of light emitting diodes, wherein
the first LED driving circuit is configured to receive a serial clock signal from a microcontroller unit and output the serial clock signal to the second LED driving circuit,
the second LED driving circuit is configured to receive the serial clock signal from the first LED driving circuit and output the serial clock signal to a third LED driving circuit,
the first LED driving circuit and the second LED driving circuit are connected in series, and
each of the first and the second LED driving circuits is configured to perform a buffering process for adjusting a rising edge timing or a falling edge timing of the serial clock signal.
12. The LED driving unit of claim 11 , wherein
the serial clock signal outputted from the first LED driving circuit is transmitted to the second LED driving circuit, and
the serial clock signal outputted from the second LED driving circuit is transmitted to the third LED driving circuit, and
each of the first and second LED driving circuits is configured to uniformly maintain intervals between data sampling processes by the buffering process.
13. The LED driving unit of claim 11 , wherein each of the plurality of the current channels of the first and the second groups of the light emitting diodes is configured to:
individually operate according to an edge timing of the serial clock signal, and
change an amount of light passing through a color filter of a panel depending on an operation timing or an amplitude of a driving current that the first and the second LED driving circuits control.
14. The LED driving unit of claim 11 , wherein
each of the first and the second LED driving circuits is configured to receive, from the microcontroller unit, an enabling signal indicating operation of an LED driving circuit by its high level and non-operation thereof by its low level, and
the first and the second LED driving circuits are configured to be sequentially determined whether to operate.
15. The LED driving unit of claim 11 , wherein
the first LED driving circuit is configured to transmit, to the second LED driving circuit, a PWM clock signal for determining a duty ratio of a PWM signal of a driving current for a light emitting diode, and
the second LED driving circuit is configured to transmit, to the third LED driving circuit, a PWM clock signal for determining a duty ratio of a PWM signal of a driving current for a light emitting diode.
16. The LED driving unit of claim 11 , wherein each of the first and the second LED driving circuits is configured to determine an operation order of current channels according to a timing of the serial clock signal.
17. A display device comprising:
a panel comprising a color filter and liquid crystals;
light emitting diodes configured to transmit light to the panel;
a plurality of LED driving circuits configured to control driving currents for the light emitting diodes; and
a microcontroller unit configured to transmit a serial clock signal and a local dimming signal to the plurality of LED driving circuits in order to control operations of the plurality of LED driving circuits, wherein
the plurality of LED driving circuits is connected in series to form a daisy chain,
the plurality of LED driving circuits comprises first through N-th LED driving circuits connected in series, and
each of the serial clock signal and the local dimming signal outputted from the first LED driving circuit is provided to the N-th LED driving circuit via the second through (N-1)-th intermediate LED driving circuits.
18. The display device of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of LED driving circuits is configured to:
adjust a timing of the serial clock signal or the local dimming signal so as to synchronize the serial clock signal and the local dimming signal.
19. The display device of claim 17 , wherein
each of the plurality of LED driving circuits is configured to independently operate in respective time periods of the serial clock signal, and
each of the plurality of LED driving circuits is configured to control a driving current flowing in a light emitting diode by changing an operation of an internal switch in accordance with a timing of the serial clock signal.
20. The display device of claim 17 , wherein the local dimming signal is configured to control a duty ratio of a PWM signal for controlling intensity of a driving current for a light emitting diode or control a PAM signal for controlling intensity of a driving current for a light emitting diode.