Abstract:
A bi-directional shift-register circuit for outputting data in different sequence. A first shift-register unit includes a first-stage control terminal and a first-stage output terminal outputs a first output signal. A second shift-register unit includes a second-stage input terminal coupled to the first-stage output terminal and a third-stage output terminal, a second-stage control terminal and a second-stage output terminal outputs a second output signal. The second-stage control terminal is selectively coupled to the first-stage output terminal and the third-stage output terminal and disables the second shift-register unit according to the first output signal or a third output signal. A third shift-register unit includes a third-stage control terminal and the third-stage output terminal outputs the third output signal. A switching circuit connects the third-stage output terminal with the second-stage control terminal when receiving the forward-scan control signal, and connects the first-stage output terminal with the second-stage control terminal upon receiving the backward-scan control signal.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates in general to a shift-register circuit. In particular, the present invention relates to a bi-directional shift-register circuit for driving a liquid crystal display.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    A frame of a liquid crystal display (LCD) is generated by a plurality of pixels in a matrix. Thus, sequential pulses are basic signals driving the LCD. In addition, the sequential pulses are generated by a shift-register circuit, thus the shift register circuit is a general unit for the driving circuit of an LCD.  
           [0005]    [0005]FIG. 1 shows a conventional shift-register circuit. Only three stages of shift-register units are shown in FIG. 1 and a plurality of shift-register units comprise a shift-register circuit. The input signals of the (N−1)th-stage shift-register unit  100  are the output signal (N−2)OUT of the (N−2)th-stage shift-register unit and the output signal (N)OUT of the (N)th-stage shift-register unit  102 . The input signals of the (N)th-stage shift-register unit  102  are the output signal (N−1)OUT of the (N−1)th-stage shift-register unit  100  and the output signal (N+1)OUT of the (N+1)th-stage shift-register unit  104 . The input signals of the (N+1)th-stage shift-register unit  104  are the output signal (N)OUT of the (N)th-stage shift-register unit  102  and the output signal (N+2)OUT of the (N+2)th-stage shift-register unit. In addition, the adjacent shift-register units receive inverted clock signals (CK or CK*). Accordingly, each shift-register unit operates in response to the output signal of the pre-stage shift-register unit and the next-stage shift-register unit and outputs data according to the voltage-level of the clock signal.  
           [0006]    [0006]FIG. 2 shows a timing chart of the conventional shift-register unit. The output of the shift-register unit  100  is labeled (N−1)OUT, the output of the shift-register unit  102  is labeled (N)OUT and the output of the shift-register unit  104  is labeled (N+1)OUT. The data output from each shift-register unit is delayed by a half clock period. Thus, the requirement of the shift-register circuit is achieved.  
           [0007]    However, a single sequence does not satisfy the requirement of LCD products. For example, some displays of digital cameras are rotated according to the placement angle of the camera. In addition, some LCD monitors provide a monitor rotation function so LCD displays with different scanning sequences are required. Therefore, a shift-register circuit with different signal output sequences is also required.  
           [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,296 (Maekawa 1999) discloses a bi-directional signal transmission network and bi-directional signal transfer shift register.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    The object of the present invention is to provide another a bi-directional shift-register circuit comprising a plurality of shift-register units connected in serial. Each shift-register unit is connected to the pre-stage and the next stage shift-register unit. The direction of the data output sequence of the shift-register circuit is switched by controlling the switches and the control gate of the shift-register units.  
           [0010]    To achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a bi-directional shift-register circuit comprising thin film transistors for outputting data in different turns according to a forward-scan control signal and a backward-scan control signal output by a scanning-sequence control circuit. The first shift-register unit with first-stage input terminal, a first-stage control terminal, and a first-stage output terminal outputs a first output signal. The second shift-register unit with second-stage input terminal coupled to the first-stage output terminal and a third-stage output terminal, a second-stage control terminal and a second-stage output terminal outputs a second output signal. The second-stage control terminal is selectively coupled to one first-stage output terminal and the third-stage output terminal and disables the second shift-register unit according to one first output signal and a third output signal. The third shift-register unit with third-stage input terminal, a third-stage control terminal, and a third-stage output terminal that outputs the third output signal. The switching circuit is coupled to the scanning-sequence control circuit for connecting the third-stage output terminal with the second-stage control terminal when receiving the forward-scan control signal, and connecting the first-stage output terminal with the second-stage control terminal when receiving the backward-scan control signal.  
           [0011]    In addition, the present invention provides another bi-directional shift-register circuit having a plurality of shift-register units connected in serial for a clock signal, an inverse clock signal and a ground level. The or-logic gate receives signals output by output terminals of a pre-stage shift-register unit and a next-stage shift-register unit, respectively, and outputs an or-gate logic signal. The PMOS transistor includes a first gate, a first drain and a first source coupled to the or-gate logic signal. The first inverter is coupled between the first source and the first gate. The first NMOS transistor includes a second gate coupled to the first gate, a second drain coupled to the first drain and a second source. The switching circuit selectively outputs the signals of the output terminals of the pre-stage shift-register unit and the next-stage shift-register unit. The second inverter inverts the output signals. The and-logic gate is coupled to the first drain and the second inverter for outputting an and-gate logic signal. The second NMOS transistor includes a third gate coupled to the and-logic gate, a third drain coupled to the clock signal and a third source. The capacitor is coupled between the third gate and the third source. The third NMOS transistor includes a fourth gate coupled to the third gate, a fourth drain coupled to the inverse clock signal and a fourth source. The fourth NMOS transistor includes a fifth gate coupled to the first source, a fifth drain coupled to the third source and a fifth source coupled to the ground level. The fifth NMOS transistor includes a sixth gate coupled to the fourth source, a sixth drain coupled to the second source and a sixth source coupled to the ground level. The third inverter is coupled to the third source to output an inverted output signal. The fourth inverter is coupled to the third inverter to output the output signal.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings, given by way of illustration only and thus not intended to be limitative of the present invention.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 shows a conventional shift-register circuit of an LCD.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 shows a timing chart of the output of the conventional shift-register circuit.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIGS. 3A and 3B show circuits of the bi-directional shift-register circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 shows the circuit of the shift-register unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 shows a timing chart of the bi-directional shift-register circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0018]    [0018]FIGS. 3A and 3B show circuits of the bi-directional shift-register circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention. only three stages of shift-register units are shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, and a plurality of shift-register units connected in serial comprise a shift-register circuit. The dotted lines in the figures represent an open connection.  
         [0019]    In FIG. 3A, the signal received by the input terminal of the (N−1) th-stage shift-register unit  302  is output from the or-logic gate  310  after performing logic operations on the output signals output from the output terminals of the (N−2)th-stage shift-register unit  300  and the (N)th-stage shift-register unit  304 . The signal received by the input terminal of the (N)th-stage shift-register unit  304  is output from the or-logic gate  312  after performing logic operations on the output signals output from the output terminals of the (N−1)th-stage shift-register unit  302  and the (N+1)th-stage shift-register unit  306 . In addition, the signal received by the input terminal of the (N+1)th-stage shift-register unit  306  is output from the or-logic gate  314  after performing logic operations on the output signals output from the output terminals of the (N)th-stage shift-register unit  304  and the (N+2)th-stage shift-register unit  308 .  
         [0020]    In addition, the control terminal of each shift-register unit is connected to the output terminals of the pre-stage or the next stage shift-register unit through switches. For example, the control gate of the (N)th-stage shift-register unit  304  is connected to the output terminals of the (N−1)th-stage shift-register unit  302  and the (N+1)th-stage shift-register unit  306  through the switches  322 A and  322 B, respectively.  
         [0021]    The switching circuit comprises switches  320 A˜ 324 A and  320 B˜ 324 B. The switching of the switches is controlled by a scanning sequence control circuit (not shown). The switches in one switch group comprising the switches  320 A˜ 324 A or  320 B˜ 324 B are turned on according to the forward-scan control signal and the backward-scan control signal provided by the scanning sequence control circuit. Here, the switches can be the transmission gates composed by a PMOS transistor and an NMOS transistor having drains and sources connected to each other.  
         [0022]    When the scanning sequence control circuit provides the forward-scan control signal, the switches  320 A˜ 320 A are turned off and the switches.  320 B˜ 320 B are turned on. Thus, the shift-register circuit outputs signal in the scan sequences of the (N−1)th-stage, shift-register unit  302 , the (N)th-stage shift-register unit  304  and the (N+1)th-stage shift-register unit  306 . Alternately, the switches  320 A˜ 320 A are turned on and the switches  320 B˜ 320 B are turned off when the scanning sequence control circuit provides the forward-scan control signal. Thus, the shift-register circuit outputs signal in the scan sequences of the (N+1)th-stage shift-register unit  306 , the (N)th-stage shift-register unit  304  and the (N−1)th-stage shift-register unit  302 .  
         [0023]    As shown in FIG. 3A, when the (N+1)th-stage shift-register unit  306  outputs the signal to the (N+2)th-stage shift-register unit  308 , the signal is also output to the input terminal and control terminal of the (N)th-stage shift-register unit  304 . Here, the circuit of the control terminal of the (N)th-stage shift-register unit  304  processes the received signal to avoid interference with the received signal by the operation of the (N)th-stage shift-register unit  304  interfered.  
         [0024]    The circuit of the shift-register unit is described in the following. FIG. 4 shows the circuit of the shift-register unit according to the embodiment of the present invention. The input circuit  40  comprises the PMOS transistor P 401 , the NMOS transistor N 401  and the inverter  403 . The inverter  403  is coupled between the gate and the source of the PMOS transistor P 401 . The source of the PMOS transistor P 401  is coupled to the logic output terminal of the or-logic gate  404 . The input terminal of the or-logic gate  404  receives the signals output from the pre-stage and the next-stage shift-register unit. The gates and the drains of the PMOS transistor P 401  and the NMOS transistor N 401  are connected to each other.  
         [0025]    The control circuit  42  comprises an inverter  421  and an and-logic gate  422 . Using the shift-register unit  304  in FIG. 3A as an example, the output terminal of the inverter  421  is connected to the switches  322 A and  322 B. The input terminal of the and-logic gate  422  is connected to the connection point of the drains of the PMOS transistor P 401  and the NMOS transistor N 401  and the output terminal of the inverter  421 .  
         [0026]    The circuit of the buffer circuit  44  is described in the following. The gate of the NMOS transistor N 441  is coupled to the output terminal of the and-logic gate  422 , and its drain is coupled to the clock signal CK. The capacitor  443  is coupled between the gate and the source of the NMOS transistor  441 . Here, the capacitor can be generated by the parasitic capacitor of the NMOS transistor  441  or provided by an external capacitor. The gate of the NMOS transistor  442  is coupled to the gate of the NMOS transistor N 441  and its drain is coupled to the clock signal CK*. Here, the clock signals CK and CK* are inverted.  
         [0027]    The gate of the NMOS transistor N 445  is coupled to the source of the PMOS transistor P 401 , its drain is coupled to the source of the NMOS transistor N 441  and its source is connected to the ground. The gate of the NMOS transistor N 446  is coupled to the source of the NMOS transistor N 442 , its drain is coupled to the source of the NMOS transistor N 401  and its source is coupled to the ground. The inverter  46 A is an inverse output terminal coupled to the drain of the NMOS transistor N 445  for outputting an inverse output signal. The inverter  46 B is an output terminal coupled to the inverter  46 A for outputting an output signal of the shift-register unit.  
         [0028]    The operation of the shift-register unit according to the embodiment of the present invention is described in the following. First, one of the switches  322 A and  322 B is turned on. As mentioned above, the switch  322 A is turned off when the switch  322 B is turned on. Thus, the shift-register circuit outputs signal in the scan sequences of the (N−1)th-stage shift-register unit  302 , the (N)th-stage shift-register unit  304  and the (N+1)th-stage shift-register unit  306 . Alternately, the switch  322 A is turned on when the switch  322 B is turned off. Thus, the shift-register circuit outputs signal in the scan sequence of the (N+1)th-stage shift-register unit  306 , the (N)th-stage shift-register unit  304  and the (N−1)th-stage shift-register unit  302 . Thus, the requirement of the shift-register circuit output signals in different scan sequences is also achieved by controlling the state of the switches.  
         [0029]    When the switch  322 B is turned on, the shift-register circuit outputs signal in the turns of the (N−1)th-stage shift-register unit  302 , the (N)th-stage shift-register unit  304  and the (N+1)th-stage shift-register unit  306 . At this time, the or-logic gate  404  outputs a high voltage-level signal when the or-logic gate  404  of the N-th shift-register unit receives the signal output from the (N−1)th shift-register unit. Thus, the source of the PMOS transistor P 401  receives the high voltage-level signal and the gate of the PMOS transistor P 401  receives a low voltage-level signal output from the inverter  403 . Thus, the PMOS transistor P 401  is turned on and outputs a high voltage-level signal from its drain. In addition, the inverter  421  outputs a high voltage-level signal because the switch  322 B is turned on and low voltage-level signal is output by the next-stage shift-register unit. Thus, the inverter  421  and the drain of the PMOS transistor P 401  output high voltage-level signals to the and-logic gate  422 , and the and-logic gate  422  outputs a high voltage-level signal to charge the capacitor.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 5 is a timing chart of the shift-register circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention. At this point in the procedure, the transistors N 441  and N 445  are turned on, and the clock signal CK is at a low voltage-level. Thus, one terminal of the capacitor  443  connected to the connection point of the transistors N 441  and N 445  is at a low voltage-level, and the voltage-level of the other terminal of the capacitor  443  continues to increase. Thus, a voltage difference is generated between both terminals of the capacitor  443 .  
         [0031]    Next, when the output signal output by the pre-stage shift-register unit, which is the (N−1)th stage, is at a low voltage-level and the next-stage shift-register unit, (N−1)th stage has not yet output a high voltage signal, the or-logic gate  404  outputs a low voltage-level signal to the source of the PMOS transistor P 401 . Here, the gate of the PMOS transistor P 401  receives a high voltage-level signal. Thus, the PMOS transistor P 401  and the NMOS transistor N 445  are turned off. However, the voltage difference between the capacitor  443  turns on the NMOS transistors N 441  and N 442 .  
         [0032]    When the clock signal CK is at a high voltage-level and the NMOS transistor N 441  is turned on, the inverter  46 A outputs low voltage-level signal and the inverter  46 B outputs high voltage-level signal to enable the next-stage shift-register unit. In addition, the clock signal CK* is at a low voltage-level, so the NMOS transistor N 446  is turned off. Thus, even when the NMOS transistor N 401  is turned on, the voltage difference between the capacitor  443  does not decrease.  
         [0033]    Next, the next-stage shift-register unit, (N+1) stage, is enabled, which outputs a low voltage-level signal to the inverter  421  through the switch  322 B and the inverter  421  outputs a low voltage-level signal, thus, the and-logic gate  422  outputs a low voltage-level signal to discharge the capacitor  443 . Therefore, the output terminal  46 B of the shift-register unit becomes a low voltage-level. In FIG. 5, the labels α, β and γ show the voltage-level variation at the terminals labeled α, β and γ in FIG. 4.  
         [0034]    In FIG. 5, the output of the shift-register unit  302  is labeled (N−1)OUT, the output of the shift-register unit  304  is labeled (N)OUT and the output of the shift-register unit  306  is labeled (N+1)OUT. As shown in FIG. 5, each shift-register unit of the shift-register circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention outputs a pulse after the previous stage shift-register unit outputs a pulse in a half clock period. In addition, FIG. 5 only shows the shift-register circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention as it outputs data in a predetermined sequence. The shift-register circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention, however, outputs data in a reversed predetermined order by changing the turned on switches of the switch circuit. Thus, the requirement of the shift-register circuit is achieved, and the requirement of the shift-register circuit output signals in different sequence is also achieved.  
         [0035]    The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of this invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of this invention and its practical application to thereby enable those skilled in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the present invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly, legally, and equitably entitled.