Patent Publication Number: US-2013241406-A1

Title: Method and system for remotely controlling an led bulb

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to controlling light and, more particularly, to a system and method for providing control to a lighting environment illuminated by a plurality of light emitting diode bulb assemblies. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Conventional lighting systems are known in the prior art, but most such systems control only the brightness, or intensity level, of a lighting installation. With the advent of light emitting diode, a more efficient and longer-lasting source of illumination was available, but the new technology lacked the means to remotely control the brightness and color of LED lighting bulbs. 
     What is needed is a method for controlling the color of ambiance LED lighting. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one aspect of the present invention, a light-emitting diode bulb assembly comprises: a light-emitting diode board, the light-emitting diode board having disposed thereon at least one light-emitting diode; a driver module in electrical communication with the light-emitting diode board, the driver module including a driver for each light-emitting diode disposed on the light-emitting diode board; a microcontroller board in electrical communication with the driver module, the microcontroller board including a memory having a unique individual stored serial number identifier for the light emitting diode bulb assembly; and an RF module in electrical communication with the microcontroller board, the RF module including an RF antenna for receiving operating signals either directly from a remote wireless control device or indirectly via a gateway. 
     In another aspect of the present invention, a method of controlling a light-emitting diode bulb assembly comprises: assigning a serial number to the light-emitting diode bulb assembly; and remotely communicating with the light-emitting diode bulb assembly using a wireless signal encoded with the serial number. 
     The additional features and advantage of the disclosed invention is set forth in the detailed description which follows, and will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description or recognized by practicing the invention as described, together with the claims and appended drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The foregoing aspects, uses, and advantages of the present invention will be more fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood from the following detailed description of the present invention when viewed in conjunction with the accompanying figures, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded diagrammatical illustration of interior components of an LED bulb assembly, in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagrammatical view of communication devices functioning to control components of an LED bulb assembly; and 
         FIG. 3  is a diagrammatical illustration of a handheld communication device remotely controlling operation of a plurality of LED bulb assemblies. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention. 
     The present invention relates generally to a system and method for providing remotely controllable, artificial lighting for living and working environments 
     There is shown in  FIG. 1  a diagrammatical illustration of a remotely controllable light emitting diode (LED) bulb assembly  10 , in accordance with the present invention. Although the LED bulb assembly  10  is typically housed in an enclosure, the enclosure is not shown, for clarity of illustration. The LED bulb assembly  10  comprises an LED board  20 , a driver assembly  22 , a microcontroller board  24 , and an RF module  26 . The LED board  20  includes a plurality of LEDs, wherein two or more of the LEDs may operate in the same color or in different colors, in accordance with design specifications. In the example provided, the LED board includes a red LED  32 , a green LED  34 , and a blue LED  36 . 
     In an exemplary embodiment, a first LED driver  42  (here denoted as ‘Driver R’) may be used to provide an electrical current to power and control the red LED  32  via a first electrical conductor  52 . Similarly, a second LED driver  44  (here denoted as ‘Driver G’) may be used to provide an electrical current to power and control the green LED  34  via a second electrical conductor  54 , and a third LED driver  46  (here denoted as ‘Driver B’) may be used to provide an electrical current to power and control the blue LED  36  via a third electrical conductor  56 . It should be understood that the electrical conductors  52 ,  54 ,  56  may comprise insulated copper conductors, or conductive traces on a circuit board. 
     It can be appreciated by one skilled in the art that a substantially white light can be produced by controlling the relative output intensities of the red LED  32 , the green LED  34 , and the blue LED  36  by means of the first LED driver  42 , the second LED driver  44 , and the third LED driver  46 . Alternatively, the aggregate light output of the LED board  20  may be varied from white to another spectral color that may be produced by appropriately adjusting the relative radiation outputs of the individual LEDs  32 ,  34 , and  36 . It should be further understood that the LED board may comprise a greater number of LEDs, selected so as to allow a user to “dial in” a particular aggregate color output, ranging from the primary and secondary colors, to substantially white light of different Kelvin temperatures (e.g., from a “yellowish” light at 3500° K to a “pure” white light at 5000° K). 
     The drivers  42 ,  44 , and  46  may be controlled by the microcontroller board  24 . The LED bulb assembly  10  may be assigned a unique individual  128 -bit serial number  72  stored in a non-volatile MCU memory  70  on the microcontroller board  24 , Electrical current levels provided to the LEDs  32 ,  34 , and  36  may be controlled by a microcontroller  78  on the microcontroller board  24  and the first LED driver  42  (Driver R), the second LED driver  44  (Driver G), and the third LED driver  46  (Driver B). 
     These individual, unique, and different 128-bit serial numbers may be used as identifiers to one or more wireless communication device, as explained in greater detail below. In an exemplary embodiment, the microcontroller board  24  may operate in accordance with a Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI) lighting system interface, such as specified in IEC Standard 60929, or in accordance with any other wireless communications protocol, as known in the art. Accordingly, the microcontroller board  24  may communicate one or more commands to one or more of the LEDs  32 ,  34 ,  36  on the LED board  20  so as to provide a complete wireless, remote control of the LED bulb assembly  10 . 
     This configuration enables a remote wireless user to have complete automation of one or more LED bulb assemblies  10 , with functions and features including: (i) a dimmer; (ii) a timing dimmer; (iii) a custom “light scene;” (iv) one or more blinking LEDs, (v) aggregate color change of the emission from the LED board  20 ; (vi) a security mode, (vii) an “alert” mode; and (viii) a “savings” mode where “on” and “off” times are controlled to minimize electricity usage. The LED bulb assembly  10  may further include means for tracking and calculating energy consumption by one or more LEDs, for example, and may include means for recording cumulative operating time, or for recording periods of energy consumption for LEDs that may be operated on an intermittent basis. 
     Wireless remote control of the LED bulb assembly  10  may be provided by a transceiver  80  and antenna  84  integrated into the RF module  26 . The RF module  26  may communicate with the microcontroller board  24  by sending control signals via a connecting cable  82 . In an exemplary embodiment, remote communication with the RF module  26  may be enabled in accordance with communication signals operating in the 2.4 GHz frequency range, such as specified by the ZigBee high-level communication protocols based on the IEEE 802 standard for personal area networks. 
     In an exemplary embodiment, an LED bulb assembly  90  may be remotely and wirelessly controlled by any of a number of communication devices, such as a SMARTPHONE  110  or a local laptop computer  120 , shown in  FIG. 2 . In the configuration shown, the LED bulb assembly  90  comprises an LED board  92 , a combined driver and microcontroller board  96 , and an RF board  98 . The LED board  92  may include a plurality of LEDs  94  of different or similar light outputs, and may include more or fewer than the six LEDs  94  shown in the illustration. The LED bulb assembly  90  may also be housed in an enclosure with an optic face (such as shown in  FIG. 3 ) to maintain the integrity of the boards  92 ,  96 ,  98 . 
     The SMARTPHONE  110  may communicate directly with the LED bulb assembly  90  via an RF transceiver  102  and an RF antenna  104  fabricated on the RF board  98 . A communication link  112  between the SMARTPHONE  110  and the RF transceiver  102  may function in accordance with the DALI standard, as noted above. In an exemplary embodiment, the laptop computer  120  may likewise communicate with the LED bulb assembly  90  via the RF antenna  104 , in accordance with the wireless DALI protocol. 
     The LED bulb assembly  90  may also be operated from a remote location, as shown in the illustration. A remote computer  130  may access a network, such as the Internet  134 , via a Wi-Fi connection  132 . There is provided a gateway  138  within the range of the LED bulb assembly  90  that may be used to receive communication indirectly from the remote computer  130  via a local Wi-Fi link  136 . The remote computer  130  may communicate directly with the gateway  138 , and may thus communicate indirectly with the LED bulb assembly  90  via a DALI link  140  established between the gateway  138  and the RF antenna  104 . 
       FIG. 3  shows a personal wireless communication device  160  being used to control a set of LED bulbs  152 ,  154 ,  156  mounted in a fixture  158 . In the example provided, each LED bulb  152 ,  154 ,  156  includes a housing or enclosure  146 , where an optic element  148  is provided in the enclosure  146  to modify the output light beam as specified by a designer of the LED bulbs  152 ,  154 ,  156 . 
     As explained above, each LED bulb  152 ,  154 ,  156  includes a respective unique 128-bit serial number or identifier. Accordingly, the first LED bulb  152  may respond only to a first wireless signal  162  transmitted by the personal wireless communication device  160 . Similarly, the second LED bulb  154  may respond only to a second wireless signal  164 , and the third LED bulb  156  may respond only to a third wireless signal  166 . It should be understood that the individual wireless signals  162 ,  164 ,  166  are shown for convenience of illustration only, and that the personal wireless communication device  160  may function by sending out a single encoded signal to which only one or a select few LED bulbs will respond. 
     With this configuration, the personal wireless communication device  160  controls not only the relative intensity of illumination being emitted by each of the LED bulbs  152 ,  154 ,  156 , but may also control the dimming and “blinking” of each of the LED bulbs  152 ,  154 ,  156 . In an exemplary embodiment, the LED bulbs  152 ,  154 ,  156  may send operating data (e.g., power consumption, bad LED, operating efficiency) back to a control device, such as the personal wireless communication device  160 . 
     It is to be understood that the description herein is exemplary of the invention only and is intended to provide an overview for the understanding of the nature and character of the disclosed illumination systems. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of various features and embodiments of the method and devices of the invention which, together with their description serve to explain the principles and operation of the invention.