Patent Abstract:
Various methods of manufacturing a lighting apparatus and embodiments of a modular networked lighting apparatus are disclosed. One method defines a mechanical form factor with a minimum set of electrical connections for a networking module, builds a subassembly of the networked lighting apparatus, the subassembly comprising attachment points compatible with the mechanical form factor for the networking module and contacts for the minimum set of electrical connections for the networking module, installs a networking module into the subassembly of the networked lighting apparatus, the networking module compatible with a selected networking protocol for the networked lighting apparatus, completes the final assembly of the networked lighting module, and marks the networked lighting apparatus to indicate the selected networking protocol for the networked lighting apparatus. In some embodiments, the lighting apparatus may function without the networking module installed. One embodiment of the modular, networked light bulb has means for supporting and holding an electronics module conforming with a predetermined form factor in place, and means for allowing the electronics module to control at least a brightness level of the at least one LED. The modular networked light bulb may have a networked controller conforming with the predetermined form factor used as the electronics module. The networked controller is able to connect to a network and may be positioned and held by the means for supporting and holding an electronics module.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Prov. Appl. No. 61/254,709 entitled “HYBRID LIGHT” filed on Oct. 25, 2009, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Technical Field 
         [0003]    The present subject matter relates to LED lighting. It further relates to a method of design and manufacture of networked LED light bulbs. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    Providing home automation functionality using networking means is well known in the art. Control of lighting and appliances can be accomplished using systems from many different companies such as X10, Insteon® and Echelon. 
         [0006]    In U.S. Pat. No. 6,528,954, inventors Lys and Mueller describe a smart light bulb which may include a housing, an illumination source, disposed in the housing, and a processor, disposed in the housing, for controlling the illumination source. The housing may be configured to fit a conventional light fixture. The illumination source may be an LED system or other illumination source. The processor may control the intensity or the color of the illumination source. The housing may also house a transmitter and/or receiver. The smart light bulb may respond to a signal from another device or send a signal to another device. The other device may be another smart light bulb or another device. They go on to describe a modular LED unit which may be designed to be either a “smart” or “dumb” unit. A smart unit, in one embodiment, includes a microprocessor incorporated therein for controlling, for example, a desired illumination effect produced by the LEDs. The smart units may communicate with one another and/or with a master controller by way of a network formed through the mechanism for electrical connection described above. It should be appreciated that a smart unit can operate in a stand-alone mode, and, if necessary, one smart unit may act as a master controller for other modular LED units. A dumb unit, on the other hand, does not include a microprocessor and cannot communicate with other LED units. As a result, a dumb unit cannot operate in a stand-alone mode and requires a separate master controller. The smart light bulb may be associated with a wide variety of illumination applications and environments. 
         [0007]    Ducharme et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 7,014,336, describe systems and methods for generating and/or modulating illumination conditions to generate high-quality light of a desired and controllable color, for creating lighting fixtures for producing light in desirable and reproducible colors, and for modifying the color temperature or color shade of light within a prespecified range after a lighting fixture is constructed. In one embodiment, LED lighting units capable of generating light of a range of colors are used to provide light or supplement ambient light to afford lighting conditions suitable for a wide range of applications. They go on to describe a networked lighting system. U.S. Pat. No. 7,651,245 invented by Thomas, et al., shows an LED light fixture with internal power supply. They describe some embodiments where a radio frequency control unit can receive commands from a centralized controller, such as that provided by a local network, or from another control module positioned in a fixture in close proximity. Thus, the range of the lighting network could be extended via the relaying and/or repeating of control commands between control units. 
         [0008]    Neither Lys and Mueller, Ducharme et al. nor Thomas, et al. discuss the way that the networking function is included in the light. They also do not address how a single design might be able to address a plurality of network environments. A variety of different networks are being used for home automation. So a need exists to easily be able to address different networking requirements with a single overall networked light bulb design. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0009]    Various embodiments of the present subject matter disclose methods of manufacturing a lighting apparatus and embodiments of a modular networked lighting apparatus. One embodiment is a method comprising defining a mechanical form factor with a minimum set of electrical connections for a networking module, building a subassembly of the networked lighting apparatus, the subassembly comprising attachment points compatible with the mechanical form factor for the networking module and contacts for the minimum set of electrical connections for the networking module, installing a networking module into the subassembly of the networked lighting apparatus and electrically attaching the minimum set of electrical connections provided by the networking module to the contacts for the minimum set of electrical connections on the subassembly, the networking module compatible with a selected networking protocol for the networked lighting apparatus, completing the final assembly of the networked lighting module, and marking the networked lighting apparatus to indicate the selected networking protocol for the networked lighting apparatus. In some embodiments the lighting apparatus is a networked light bulb and in others it is a networked light fixture. Some embodiments may include a user input device accessible to the user through an opening in an outer casing of the lighting apparatus. And some embodiments may select a networking protocol using radio frequency communication. In some embodiments, the lighting apparatus may function without the networking module installed. 
         [0010]    One embodiment of the modular light emitting apparatus has a light emitting device, a casing at least partially surrounding the light emitting element and having a support structure able to position and hold an electronics module, the electronics module conforming with a predetermined form factor, at least two external electrical terminals situated externally to the casing, and circuitry driving the light emitting device, and a first and a second internal electrical contact accessible to the electronics module if the electronics module is positioned and held by the support structure the circuitry is electrically connected to, and receives power from, the at least two external electrical terminals. The circuitry is electrically connected to the light emitting device, has at least one control input and at least one electrical power output. The first internal contact is electrically connected to the at least one electrical power output of the circuitry driving the light emitting device, and the second internal contact is communicatively coupled to the at least one control input of the circuitry driving the light emitting device. In at least one embodiment, the casing is substantially symmetric about an axis and the casing is bulbous in shape at a distal end of the axis of symmetry with the at least two external electrical terminals situated on an Edison screw fitting base attached to the casing and located at a proximal end of the axis of symmetry. The predetermined form factor of the electronics module is substantially circular in shape in some embodiments. The modular light emitting apparatus may have a networked controller is assembled into the modular light emitting apparatus as the electronics module. The networked controller positioned and held by the support structure, receiving power from the first internal contact, able to connect to a network, and electrically connected to the second internal contact so that the networked controller is able to control an aspect of the operation of the circuitry driving the light emitting device. The modular light emitting apparatus may be marked so that a user can ascertain a network protocol for the network. In some embodiments, the networked controller supports a network protocol utilizing radio frequency communication. In some embodiments, the network controller includes a controller, a network adapter, a circuit board, and a user input device communicatively connected to the controller and accessible to the user through an opening in the casing of the modular light emitting apparatus. In some cases the circuit board may be substantially circular in shape. In some embodiments the casing is substantially the same size and shape as a typical incandescent light bulb and the at least two external electrical terminals are situated on an Edison screw fitting base attached to the casing. 
         [0011]    Another embodiment of the modular, networked light bulb comprises at least one LED, means for connecting to an AC power source, means for converting AC power to DC power, means for driving the at least one LED, means for supporting and holding an electronics module conforming with a predetermined form factor in place, and means for allowing the electronics module to control at least a brightness level of the at least one LED. The modular networked light bulb may have a networked controller conforming with the predetermined form factor used as the electronics module. The networked controller is able to connect to a network and may be positioned and held by the means for supporting and holding an electronics module. It may use the means for allowing the electronics module to control at least a brightness level of the at least one LED to control the brightness level of the at least one LED. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of the specification, illustrate various embodiments of the invention. Together with the general description, the drawings serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  shows a stylized view of a home with a plurality of networked home automation devices; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  a block diagram view of a network of home automation devices; 
           [0015]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  show a modular networked light bulb; 
           [0016]      FIGS. 3C and 3D  show a non-networked light bulb utilizing portions of the modular networked light bulb; 
           [0017]      FIG. 3E  shows a cross-section of a partially assembled networked light bulb; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3F  shows a top view of a partially assembled networked light bulb; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  shows a block diagram of the electronics utilized in one embodiment of the modular networked light bulb; 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  shows mechanical designs for two printed circuit boards of one embodiment of a modular networked light bulb; 
           [0021]      FIG. 6A  and  FIG. 6B  shows a schematic for an LED driver board for a modular networked light bulb; 
           [0022]      FIG. 7  a schematic for an LED board for a modular networked light bulb; 
           [0023]      FIGS. 8A and 8B  show schematics for two different embodiments of a networked controller board for a modular networked light bulb; 
           [0024]      FIG. 9  shows a flow chart diagram for a manufacturing process for a modular networked light bulb. 
           [0025]      FIG. 10  shows a block diagram for an alternative embodiment of a modular networked light bulb; and 
           [0026]      FIG. 11  shows a ventilation scheme for a modular networked light bulb. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0027]    In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth by way of examples in order to provide a thorough understanding of the relevant teachings. However, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present teachings may be practiced without such details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures and components have been described at a relatively high-level, without detail, in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the present concepts. A number of descriptive terms and phrases are used in describing the various embodiments of this disclosure. These descriptive terms and phrases are used to convey a generally agreed upon meaning to those skilled in the art unless a different definition is given in this specification. Some descriptive terms and phrases are presented in the following paragraphs for clarity. 
         [0028]    The term “LED” refers to a diode that emits light, whether visible, ultraviolet, or infrared, and whether coherent or incoherent. The term as used herein includes incoherent polymer-encased semiconductor devices marketed as “LEDs”, whether of the conventional or super-radiant variety. The term as used herein also includes organic LEDs (OLED), semiconductor laser diodes and diodes that are not polymer-encased. It also includes LEDs that include a phosphor or nanocrystals to change their spectral output. 
         [0029]    The term “network” refers to a bidirectional communication medium and protocol to allow a plurality of devices to communicate with each other. 
         [0030]    The term “networked device” refers to any device that can communicate over a network. 
         [0031]    The terms “networked light fixture”, “networked lighting apparatus” and “networked light bulb” all refer to a networked device capable of emitting light. While there are subtle differences in the generally agreed upon embodiments for these terms, they may be used interchangeably in this disclosure unless additional detail is provided to indicate that a specific embodiment is being discussed. 
         [0032]    Reference now is made in detail to the examples illustrated in the accompanying drawings and discussed below. 
         [0033]      FIG. 1  shows a stylized view of a home  100  with a plurality of home networked devices  111 - 127 . In the embodiment shown, the networked devices communicate over a wireless mesh network such as Z-wave or Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4). Other wireless networks such as Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) might be used in a different embodiment. In other embodiments, a power line network such as X10 or HomePlug. In additional embodiments, a wired network could be used such as Ethernet (IEEE 802.3). In other embodiments, an optical network might be employed and some embodiments may utilize a heterogeneous network with multiple types of networks. This exemplary home has five rooms. The kitchen  101  has a networked light fixture  111 , a networked coffee maker  121  and an networked refrigerator  123 . The bedroom  102  has a networked light fixture  112 , and a networked clock radio  122 . The hallway  130  has a networked light bulb  113 . The home office  104  has a networked light fixture  114 , a network controller  120 , and a home computer  140  connected to a network gateway  124 . The living room  105  has two networked light fixtures  115 ,  116  and a networked television  125 . External to the home is a networked floodlight  117  and a networked electric meter  126 . Homeowner  106  is returning to her home with a networked remote control  127  and decides to turn on a networked floodlight  117  to light her way. 
         [0034]      FIG. 2  shows a block diagram view of the automated home  100  showing only those devices involved with this particular instance of turning on the networked floodlight  117 . The network  130  in this embodiment is a wireless mesh network meaning that individual devices can communicate with each other and that messages may be passed between intermediate devices to be able to reach its intended destination. In some cases, a message may be passed to a central network controller for processing but in other cases, a message may pass from an initiating device directly to a target device without involving the network controller. In the particular instance where the homeowner  106  presses a button  127   u  on the remote control  127 , a controller  127   c  within the remote control  127  interprets the button press and creates a network message describing the task being requested. In this embodiment, the network message needs to be routed through the network controller  120  so the message created by the remote control controller  127   c  sets that up as the target of the message and passes the message to the network adapter  127   n  of the remote control  127 . The network adapter  127   n  is unable to send the message directly to the network controller  120  so it sends a radio frequency network message  131  to the nearest networked device that is within range, is currently powered on, and has the capability to route the message  131  to another networked device to get it to the network controller  120 . In this case, the coffee maker  121  happens to be off and the refrigerator  123  does not happen to have routing capability, so the radio frequency message  131  is accepted by the network adapter  111   n  of networked light fixture  111 . The controller  116   n  in the networked light fixture  111  determines that the message  131  is not intended to turn on its LEDs  116   b  and it needs to be routed to the network controller  120  but the networked light fixture  111  and the network controller  120  are not able to directly communicate due to distance or interference so the controller  111   c  uses network adapter  111   n  to pass the message  131  to networked light bulb  113  as radio frequency message  132 . The network adapter  113   n  and controller  113   c  determine that the message is not meant to turn on the LEDs  113   b  in the networked light bulb  113 , and it is able to directly communicate with the network controller  120 , so the controller  113   c  uses the network adapter  113   n  to send a radio frequency message  133  to the network controller  120 . 
         [0035]    The network adapter  102   n  of the network controller  120  accepts the message  133  and passes it to the controller  120   c . It then interprets the command which may have multiple functions to perform such as adjusting the temperature of the home, disarming an alarm or other functions that are not specified here. But one function that is required is to turn on floodlight  117 . So the controller  120   c  creates a message telling the floodlight  117  to turn on and has the network adapter  120   n  sends it to the light fixture  116  because the floodlight  117  is out of range of the network controller  120 . So the message is passed to the light fixture  116  using its network adapter  116   n  and controller  116   c  and without turning on its light  116   b . The light fixture  116  is within communication range of the floodlight  117  so it send the message to the floodlight  117 . The network adapter  117   n  receives the message and passes it to the controller  117   c  which interprets the message and turns on the light  117   b  so that the homeowner  106  can find her way to the door. 
         [0036]      FIG. 3A  shows a front view (with inner structure not shown) and  FIG. 3B  shows a side view (with selected inner structure shown in broken lines) of a modular networked light bulb  300 . In this embodiment a networked light bulb  300  is shown but other embodiments of the present subject matter could be a permanently installed light fixture with a socket for a standard light bulb, or a light fixture with embedded LEDs or any other sort of light emitting apparatus. The light bulb  300  is AC powered but other embodiments could be battery powered or solar powered. The networked light bulb  300  of this embodiment has a base with a power contact  301  and a neutral contact  302 , a middle housing  303  and an outer bulb  304 . Each section  301 ,  302 ,  303 ,  304  can be made of a single piece of material or be assembled from multiple component pieces. In some embodiments, the power contact  301  and the neutral contact  302  are situated on an Edison screw fitting base as shown in  FIG. 3  to allow the light bulb to be screwed into a standard light socket. The outer bulb  304  is at least partially transparent and may have ventilation openings in some embodiments, but the other sections  301 ,  302 ,  303  can be any color or transparency and be made from any suitable material. The middle housing  303  has an indentation  305  with a slot  306  and an aperture  307 . A color wheel  221  is attached to the shaft of rotary switch  206  which is mounted on a networked controller circuit board  207 . The networked controller circuit board  207  with the color wheel  221  is mounted horizontally so that the edge  202  of the color wheel protrudes through the slot  306  of the middle housing  303 . This allows the user to apply a rotational force to the color wheel  221 . As the color wheel  221  rotates, different sections of the colored area of the color wheel  221  are visible through an aperture  307 . In  FIG. 3 , the current position of the color wheel  221  is such the color section with color  4  is visible through the aperture  307 , indicating that the user has selected color  4  at this time. The color selection mechanism  428  may be designed to provide a detent at each section of the colored area to make it clear what color is currently selected. 
         [0037]    In this embodiment, a LED driver circuit board  310  is mounted vertically in the base of the networked light bulb  300 . A board-to-board connection  311  is provided to connect selected electrical signals between the two circuit boards  207 ,  310 . A LED board  314  has a plurality of LEDs  313  mounted on it and is backed by a heat sink  315  to cool the plurality of LEDs  313 . In some embodiments the LED board  314  with a plurality of LEDs  313  may be replaced by a single multi-die LED package or a single high output LED. In some embodiments the heat sink  315  may not be needed or could be a completely different configuration than what is shown. A cable  312  connects the networked controller circuit board  207  with the LED board  314 . The cable  312  carries the power for the plurality of LEDs  313 . In some embodiments it may be connect the LED driver circuit board  310  directly to the LED board  314  instead of passing the signals through the networked controller circuit board  207 . 
         [0038]      FIG. 3C  shows a front view (with inner structure not shown) and  3 D shows a side view (with selected inner structure shown in broken lines) of a non-networked light bulb  320  utilizing portions of the modular networked light bulb  300 . The light bulb  320  is AC powered but other embodiments could be battery powered or solar powered. The networked light bulb  320  of this embodiment has a base with a power contact  301  and a neutral contact  302 , a middle housing  303  and an outer bulb  304  in common with the networked light bulb  300 . The indentation  305  with a slot  306  and an aperture  307  may still be in place even though they are not used by the non-networked light bulb  320 . A plug or a sticker to cover the slot  306  and aperture  307  may be put in place to keep foreign material from entering the light bulb  320 . In another embodiment, the non-networked light bulb  320  may utilize a different tool to make a different version of the middle housing, without any slot or aperture. The networked controller circuit board  207  and its associated components are not included in the non-networked light bulb  320 . 
         [0039]    In this embodiment, the LED driver circuit board  310  is mounted vertically in the base of the non-networked light bulb  320 . In the same manner as it is mounted in the networked light bulb  300 . The LED board  314  has a plurality of LEDs  313  mounted on it and is backed by a heat sink  315  to cool the plurality of LEDs  313 . In some embodiments the LED board  314  with a plurality of LEDs  313  may be replaced by a single multi-die LED package or a single high output LED. In some embodiments the heat sink  315  may not be needed or could be a completely different configuration than what is shown. The LED driver circuit board  310  and the LED board  314  may be identical to those used in the networked light bulb  300 . A cable  312  connects the LED driver circuit board  310  with the LED board  314 . The cable  312  carries the power for the plurality of LEDs  313 . 
         [0040]      FIG. 3E  shows a cross-section of a partially assembled network light bulb  350  to show how one embodiment includes a support structure to position and hold an electronics module, in this case the networked controller circuit board  207 . The partial assembly may include an Edison screw fitting base  308  with the power contact  301 , isolated from the neutral contact  302  by an insulator  353 . The middle housing  303  is attached to Edison screw fitting base  308 . In this embodiment, screw threads  354  on middle housing  303  and Edison screw fitting base  308  are used to attach the two pieces together. The LED driver circuit board  310  (shown without components mounted), is attached to the power contact  301  using a power wire  351  and to the neutral contact  302  using a neutral wire  352 . The LED driver circuit board  310  may be held in place in different ways in different embodiments such as board guides, potting compound, or adhesive. It is assembled into the middle housing  303  so that the board-to-board connection  311  is in the proper place to allow the networked controller circuit board  207  to make contact with the board-to-board connection  311  when it is mounted in the subassembly. In this embodiment, the middle housing  303  has a ledge  355  having an inner diameter smaller than the networked controller circuit board  207  so that the networked controller circuit board  207  can sit on the ledge  355  and not slide further into the middle housing  303 . The ledge  355  may have screw holes at locations that line up with notches in the networked controller circuit board  207  so that screws  356  may be used to hold the networked controller circuit board  207  in place. The networked controller circuit board  207  may have a plurality of components mounted on it including, but not limited to, the color wheel  221 . The color wheel  221  in this embodiment slides into the slot and aperture in the indentation  305  of the middle housing  303 . 
         [0041]      FIG. 3F  shows a top view  360  of the network controller circuit board  207  (with all components remove)d mounted into the middle housing  303 . In this embodiment, the networked controller circuit board  207  is substantially round in shape and, from the top, the middle housing  303  is also round with the exception of the indentation  305  on one side which intrudes somewhat into the interior. The networked controller circuit board  207  sits on the ledge  355  in the middle housing  303  and is held in place in this embodiment with three screws  356  at attachment points, the screw holes in the ledge  355 . Other embodiments may use other attachment means including, but not limited to clips, glue, snap-in detents or tabs. 
         [0042]      FIG. 4  shows a block diagram of the control electronics  400  used in the networked light bulb  300 . While the following discussion directed primarily at the embodiment of a networked light bulb  300  the same principles and concepts can be applied by one skilled in the art to any other networked device. The block diagram is divided into three sections  410 ,  420 ,  430  corresponding to the three printed circuit boards of  FIG. 3 . Other embodiments may partition the system differently and have more or fewer printed circuit boards or circuit elements. The three sections are the LED Driver section  410  corresponding to the LED driver circuit board  310 , the networked controller section  420  corresponding to the networked controller circuit board  207 , and the LED section  430  corresponding to the LED board  314 , The base with contacts  301 ,  302  provides AC power to the AC to DC rectifier  411  to power the LED driver  412 . The LED driver may be an integrated circuit such as the NXP SSL2101 or similar parts from Texas Instruments or others. Several signals are shared in common between the LED driver section  410  and the networked controller section  420  through a board-to-board connection  311 . The board-to-board connection  311  may be a pin and socket connector system, an edge finger connector system, soldered right angle pins, a cable, or any other method of connecting two boards. The shared signals comprise a ground connection, the LED power signal  441 , a regulated power voltage  442 , a control signal  443  and a serial communication signal  444 . In some embodiments, the regulated power voltage  442  may be sufficient to power all the electronics in the networked controller section  420 . In other embodiments, where more power is needed, a DC to DC converter may be included in the networked controller section  420  running off the LED power signal  441 . The ground signal and the LED power signal  441  are then sent from the networked controller section  420  to the LED section  430  over cable  312 . The LED section  430  may have a plurality of LEDs  313  powered by the LED power signal  441 . The LED driver section  410  and LED section  430  could correspond to other sections that transform and consume electrical power or perform operations of a different embodiment of a networked device  300 , such as the heating element of a networked coffee maker, under the control of the networked controller section  420 . 
         [0043]    The networked controller section  420  may have a wireless network adapter  422  that receives radio frequency signals through antenna  425  and is connected to controller  421  by a digital bus  423 . In some embodiments, the wireless network adapter  422  may connect to a Z-wave, Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4) or Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) wireless network. Other embodiments may use a wired or power line network adapter instead of a wireless network adapter. In some embodiments, the controller  421  is implemented as a microcontroller and in some embodiments, the controller  421 , wireless network adapter  422 , and digital bus  423  may be integrated onto a single chip  424  such as the Zensys ZM3102. In some embodiments a timer or clock function is included in the networked controller  420 . A user interface, such as a color selection mechanism  428 , is also connected to the controller  421  providing rotational position information through an electrical connection  426 . In other embodiments a user interface may be provided using other means such as a graphical user interface on a display or a keypad or buttons or any other device or combination of devices that allows the user to make a selection and provide information on the selection to the controller  421 . A non-volatile memory  426  also may be included in the networked controller section  420 . The non-volatile memory  426  can be a flash memory, an EPROM, a battery-backed up RAM, a hard drive, or any other sort of memory device that retains its contents through a power cycle. The non-volatile memory  426  can be implemented as a single integrated circuit, a set of integrated circuits, a block of memory cells integrated with another function such as the controller  421  or the wireless network adapter  422  or any other implementation. The non-volatile memory  426  is connected to the controller through a digital connection  427 . The digital connection could be an I2C bus, an SPI bus, a parallel connection, an internal bus within an integrated circuit, or any other electrical connections means, using a standard or proprietary protocol. 
         [0044]    In some embodiments, the controller  421  controls the brightness of the plurality of LEDs  313  by driving the control signal  443  back to the LED driver  412 . In one embodiment the controller  421  may simply drive the control signal  443  low to turn the plurality of LEDs  313  on and drive the control signal  443  high to turn the plurality of LEDs  313  off. In other embodiments, the controller  421  may drive the control signal  443  with a pulse-width modulated signal to control the brightness of the plurality of LEDS  313 . In some embodiments, the LED driver section  410  is designed to accept power that has been controlled by a standard thyristor-based light dimmer which varies the phase where the AC power is active. This can interact with the dimming control taking place over the network. To determine the current dimming level of the LEDs  313 , the networked controller section  420  may, in some embodiments, include circuitry to monitor the LED power signal  441  to determine the amount of dimming taking place. In other embodiments, the controller  421  may communicate with the LED driver  412  over the serial communications signal  444  to query and perhaps override the current dimming level. The serial communication signal  444  may also be used to communicate the current operating condition of the networked light bulb  300 , actual measured power used if the additional circuitry to measure power is included in the networked light bulb  300 , color temperature control, device temperature information or any other status or control information that might need to be communicated between the controller  421  and the LED driver  412  in a particular embodiment. The serial communication signal  444  may be implemented with a unidirectional or a bidirectional communication protocol such as RS-232, I2C, USB, SPI or any other standard or proprietary protocol. In some embodiments, it may be a multi-pin communication link utilizing serial or parallel communication protocols. 
         [0045]      FIG. 5  shows the mechanical drawings  500 ,  510  of printed circuit boards for a particular embodiment of the networked light bulb  300 . Mechanical drawing  500  is for an embodiment of the LED driver circuit board  310  used for the LED driver section  410 . The exact shape and dimensions may vary in different embodiments but the dimensions for one embodiment are given here. The width  511  is 26 mm. The overall height  514  is 47 mm with the distance  516  from the bottom to the notches at 19 mm and the distance  515  from the notches to the top at 28 mm. The width  512  at the bottom is 18 mm with a notch width  513  on both sides of 4 mm. The LED driver circuit board  310  has two connection points, TP 28   517  and TP 29   518  that are used to connect to the power contact  301  and neutral contact  302  of the base  301 . At the opposite end of the LED driver circuit board  310  is the connection J 24   519  for the board-to-board connection  311 . In this embodiment, 5 contacts are provided and a right angle 2.54 mm spacing header is used. The LED driver circuit board  310  consistent with mechanical drawing  500  can be installed into a partially assembled light bulb with the base and middle housing  303 . Some embodiments might include contacts for the cable  314  to the LED board  314  but in this embodiment, the cable  312  can be directly soldered to connection points  4  and  5  of J 24   519  if no networked controller circuit board  207  will be used. 
         [0046]    Mechanical drawing  500  is for an embodiment of the networked controller circuit board  207 . It is substantially round in shape to fit best within the shape of a conventional light bulb. The exact dimensions may vary between embodiments, but for one embodiment the diameter  501  is 34 mm. The outline of the board  500  has three semicircular cutouts  502  located at 120 degree spacing around the board  500 , each semi-circular cutout having a diameter of about 3.5 mm. One possible placement of key components is shown. Connections  503  to an external antenna and connections  505  for the cable  312  to the LED board  314  could move to different locations in different embodiments. Some embodiments may use printed circuit antenna directly on the networked controller circuit board  207  and may not need an external antenna connection  503 . The location for the rotary switch  206  is determined by the exact dimensions of the color wheel  221  so that the edge  202  can properly protrude through the slot  306  and a section of the colored area can be seen through the aperture  307 . Some embodiments may incorporate different user interface means and not need a rotary switch  206  at all but this embodiment locates it at the SW 1  location  504 . The location  509  for the J 25  board-to-board connection  311  on the networked controller circuit board  207  is shown. Its exact location is determined by the board-to-board connection  311  means chosen for a particular embodiment to allow the common signals  441 - 442  make the connection between the LED driver circuit board  310  and the networked controller circuit board  207 . 
         [0047]      FIGS. 6A and 6B  together constitute a schematic for one particular embodiment of a LED driver circuit board. The first schematic section  600  and the second schematic section  601  have 6 connections in common. Two connections are explicitly shown with connectors A  602  and B  603 . The other connections are implicitly shown using signal names VCC, GND, LED_CNTRL and PWM_Limt. The schematic  600 ,  601  uses industry standard symbols and component designations which are used in the following high level discussion of the schematic  600 ,  601 . Low level details are not discussed so as to not obfuscate the overall functionality as they should be easily understood by one skilled in the art. AC power comes in at TP 28  and TP 29  and is then rectified using a full-wave rectifier D 1 . The rectified power is fed into U 1 , a switched mode power supply controller IC that operates in combination with a phase cut dimmer directly from rectified mains. It is designed to drive LED devices. The device includes a high-voltage power switch and a circuit to allow start-up directly from the rectified mains voltage. Furthermore the device includes high-voltage circuitry to supply the phase cut dimmer. The device used in this embodiment is an integrated circuit from NXP called the SSL2101. The data sheet of the NXP SSL2101, revision 04, released Aug. 28, 2009 © NXP B.V. 2009, is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Application note AN10754, revision 03, released Oct. 16, 2009© NXP B.V 2009 gives application information on the use of the NXP SSL2101 and is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. U 1  utilizes a flyback circuit with T 3  as the flyback transformer to isolate the LED drive signals LED+ and LED− from the AC mains. U 1  uses its Drain pin to control the flyback circuit and thereby the brightness of the LEDs  313 . U 1  directly generates a VCC voltage at pin  3 . The VCC voltage can vary depending on the current brightness level of the LED drive signals but will be less than 40V. The SSL 2101 has two control inputs: a BRIGHTNESS input that controls the output frequency and a PWMLIMIT pin the controls the on-time of the switch. The BRIGHTNESS input is driven from LED_CTRL which is the control signal  443  from the networked controller board  207 . If LED_CTRL is high, transistor Q 5  is turned on the BRIGHTNESS input is pulled to ground putting the output frequency down to fmin. Q 5  also pulls PWMLIMIT low through a 10 kΩ resistor. Those two conditions drive the LED drive to its minimum level effectively turning the LEDs  313  off. The additional circuitry on the second page of the schematics  601  monitors the duty cycle of the LED drive signal and drives and optically isolated PWM_Limt signal back into the PWMLIMIT pin of the SSL2101. This allows the SSL2101 to dim the LEDs in response to a thyrister based dimmer on the incoming AC line. The board-to-board connection  311  is accomplished by soldering a right angle header into connector J 24  with the VCC, Ground, LED_CTRL, LED+ and LED− signals to connect to the networked controller board  310  in this embodiment. 
         [0048]      FIG. 7  shows a schematic for the LED board  314 . In this embodiment, the LED board  314  has five high power white LEDs connected in series between the LED+ and LED− signals. 
         [0049]      FIG. 8A  and  FIG. 8B  show two different embodiments of a networked controller board  207 .  FIG. 8  shows an embodiment of a Z-wave networked controller board  207  and  FIG. 9  shows an embodiment of a Zigbee networked controller board  207 . Both boards have a debugging port J 23  for use during development and test that has signals specific to each embodiment. Both boards also have a BCD encoded rotary switch SW 1  for user entered configuration information. Each of the four outputs is a switch that is either open circuit or is connected to the common pins. In this embodiment, the common pins are tied to 3.3V and each output has a separate resistor to ground. The four outputs are named DIP_NO 1 , DIP_NO 2 , DIP_NO 4  and DIP_NO 8 . Both boards also have the same connection to the shared signals  441 - 444  through connector J 25 . Since the VCC signal from the shared pins can vary widely, both boards have a DC-DC converter U 3  that uses a resistor R 36  with the value of 332 kΩ to cause the U 3  to generate a 3.3V regulated DC signal. The Zigbee board  801  also requires 1.8V so a second DV-DC converter U 4  is included in this design using a resistor R 38  with the value of 182 kΩ to create a 1.8V regulated DC signal. 
         [0050]    The Z-wave design  800  uses a Zensys ZM3102N module U 2  based on the Zensys ZW0301 integrated circuit. The data sheet for the ZW301 Z-Wave™ Single Chip Low Power Z-Wave™ Transceiver with Microcontroller, Revision 1 and the ZM3102N Datasheet, Integrated Z=Wave RF Module, Oct. 1, 2007, are both herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. It gets 3.3V power and uses an RC network using R 20  and C 25  to generate a reset signal. The four signals from the BCD rotary switch are routed to GPIO pins P 1 . 7 , P 1 . 5 , P 1 . 1  and P 0 . 0  to allow the microcontroller inside U 2 , functioning as the controller  421 , to read their state. P 1 . 6 /PWM is routed to ZM_LED_ON_OFF to allow for control the brightness of the LED by the controller  421 . Instructions written for the microcontroller in U 2  allow it to implement the Z-wave network protocol as well as any other functionality required for the specific embodiment of the networked light bulb  300 . 
         [0051]    The Zigbee design  801  uses a SN250 from STMicroelectronics U 2 . The data sheet for the SN250 Single-chip ZigBee® 802.15.4 solution, revision 3, © 2007 STMicroelectronics Oct. 12, 2007 is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. It gets both 1.8V and 3.3V power and uses an RC network using R 4  and C 9  to generate a reset signal. The four signals from the BCD rotary switch are routed to GPIO pins GPIO 12 , GPIO 11 , GPIO 10 , and GPIO 9  to allow the microcontroller inside U 2 , functioning as the controller  421 , to read their state. GPIO 0  is routed to ZM_LED_ON_OFF to allow for control the brightness of the LED by the controller  421 . Instructions written for the microcontroller in U 2  allow it to implement the Zigbee network protocol as well as any other functionality required for the specific embodiment of the networked light bulb  300 . 
         [0052]      FIG. 9  shows a flow chart for a manufacturing process to build two different versions of the networked light bulb. At the start  901  of the manufacturing process, all the various parts required to build the networked light bulb  300  are gathered and staged for manufacturing. A subassembly is created by partially assembling  902  some of the components. In one embodiment, the subassembly comprises the base with contacts  301  and  302 , the middle housing  303  and the LED driver circuit board  310  with the contacts TP 28  and TP 29  electrically connected to the contact  301  and  302  respectively. This leaves the contacts  519  for J 24 , the board-to-board interconnect  311  at the end of the subassembly away from the base of the networked light bulb  300 . A decision  903  then has to be made as to what kind of light bulb will be built. In this example, the light bulb could be built with a Z-wave networked controller  800 , a Zigbee networked controller  801  or no networked controller to build a non-networked light bulb  320 . In some cases, multiple different versions of a networked controller circuit board for the same network protocol may be available for selection to allow for second sourcing of that component. If a networked controller is chosen  904 ,  905 , it is then mounted  906  in the top of the partially assembled light bulb. The semi-circular cutouts  502  fitting around positioning pins in the middle housing  303 . The contacts  509  are then connected to the contacts  519  on the LED driver circuit board  310  fitting right angle header into holes in contacts  509  and soldering the two board together. Other board-to-board connection means, such as a pin and socket connector, may be used for other embodiments. Once the networked controller circuit board  207  has been mounted, or if a non-networked light bulb is being built, with no networked controller circuit board, the assembly  907  of the light bulb is completed. This can included soldering cable  312  to the networked controller circuit board  207  and the LED board  314  and installing the heat sink  315  and the pieces of the outer bulb  304 . Once assembly is completed, in some manufacturing processes, the light bulb is tested. This might include tests targeted at the specific networking controller circuit board  207  selected. The bulb is then marked  908  to indicate the type of bulb, including the protocol supported by the networking controller circuit board  207  that has been mounted in the networked light bulb  300  or the fact that it is a non-networked light bulb  310 . The marking may take the form of a specific part number encoded with information about the networking protocol selected or it may label the bulb with the networking protocol in words from a human readable language such as English. It may use trademarked terms for the network such as Zigbee® or may use a technical specification designation such as IEEE 802.15.4. Once the manufacturing process has been completed  909 , the light bulb may be shipped to a customer, held in inventory, or incorporated into a larger assembly before shipping. 
         [0053]      FIG. 10  shows a part of an embodiment of a networked light bulb  1000 . The power connection is not shown for clarity. The networked controller  420 , in this embodiment uses the shared serial communication link  444  to communicate with the LED driver  1010  which then powers a plurality of LEDs  1011 - 1015 . 
         [0054]    Here, LED&#39;s having different spectral maxima are combined in a single hybrid light to increase the Color Rendering Index. In various embodiments, multiple LED chips are used and LED wafers are mixed in a single package. In an embodiment, all wafers are equivalent to a typical 2700K incandescent light bulb with a Color Rendering Index of about 85%. 
         [0055]    In some embodiments, the LED Driver  1010  provides for separately driven LED&#39;s (as shown) in order to vary the proportions of light originating from the LED&#39;s. And, in some embodiments, varying the warm  1011  and cold  1012  color temperature LED&#39;s using independent pulse width modulation power supplies enables a user to control color temperature. Similar use of separate PWM power supplies for red  1013 , green  1014  and blue  1015  LED&#39;s enable a user to vary color hues. 
         [0056]    In an embodiment, five different LED&#39;s contribute to the light output of the hybrid light such that 60% of the of the light is emitted by a 2500K (Warm White) equivalent wafer plus phosphor LED  1011 , 30% of the light is emitted by a 3500K (Cold White) equivalent wafer plus phosphor LED  1012 , 3.3% of the light is emitted by a red (630 nm) LED  1013 , 3.3% of the light is emitted by a green (520 nm) LED  1014  and 3.3% of the light is emitted by a blue (470 nm) LED  1015 . Here, the Color Rendering Index is in a range of about 75 to 85 percent. As will be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art, the above color temperatures, wavelengths, and mixing percentages can be varied in concert to achieve similarly high rendering indexes. 
         [0057]    Some embodiments of the networked light bulb  1000  include a fluorescent lamp  1051  such as a compact fluorescent lamp. Here, a fluorescent lamp power block  1050  is interconnected  1001  with networked controller  420  and on command, adds its light to that of the LED&#39;s. The result of mixing the fluorescent and LED light is an improved Color Rendering Index approaching 100. 
         [0058]    In operation, the networked light bulb  111 - 117 ,  300 ,  1000  can operate as a simple replacement for an incandescent bulb or it can be set to operate as a member of a network such as a home automation network. Where the networked light bulb  111 - 117 ,  300 , 000  is operating in a network, its networked controller  420  provides for exchanging information with the network  130 . Commands received from the network enable one or more of the networked light bulb&#39;s  111 - 117 ,  300 ,  1000  light sources  313 ,  1011 - 1015 ,  1051  to be operated at one or more levels of light output to enable control of light intensity, color rendering index and color hue among other things. 
         [0059]    Information available to the hybrid light may include energy consumption, estimated lifetime, color wheel identification and data inherent to the device that it may make available to other devices on the network. In an embodiment, another connected device such as a gateway device  124  relays a request from a personal computer  140  to the networked light bulb  111 - 117 ,  300 ,  1000  for energy consumption data. In some embodiments, the hybrid light transmits predetermined data items to another connected device such as a personal computer  140  on a regular basis. 
         [0060]      FIG. 14  shows a ventilation scheme for a light bulb  1100 . Light bulbs utilizing LEDs have to keep the LED die cool to maximize lifetime and stabilize their light output. The heat sing  315  is one part of a cooling solution but in order for the heat sink  315  to work, a flow of air must be provided to carry heat away from the heat sink  315  by convection. One embodiment of the light bulb  1100  has a base with contacts  301 ,  302 , a middle housing  303  and an outer bulb  304 . The outer bulb  304  of this embodiment is made up of two parts, the lower section  1101  and the upper section  1102 . The lower section  1101  may be made of a transparent, partially transparent, or an opaque material and has ventilation holes  1111  around its outer surface to allow air to flow through. The upper section  1102  is made of a transparent or partially transparent material and it also has ventilation holes  1112  around its outer surface to allow are to flow through. The area  1103  of the upper section most distant from the base is kept free from ventilation holes  1102 . This is done because most of the light is transmitted through this area of the outer bulb  304  and ventilation holes  1112  could cause shadows or other uneven lighting. The ventilation holes  1111 ,  1112  allow air to flow through the outer bulb  304 , over the heat sink  315 , allow convection to cool the LEDs. 
         [0061]    If the light bulb is designed in the modular fashion discussed above, different versions of the light bulb can be assembled from a common set of parts. Such versions may include (a) a non-networked light bulb, (b) a networked light bulb with a first design of a first networked controller circuit board  207  containing a networked control section  420  supporting a first networking protocol, (c) a networked light bulb with a second, unique, design of a first networked controller circuit board  207  containing a networked control section  420  supporting the first networking protocol, (d) a networked light bulb with a first networked controller circuit board  207  containing a networked control section  420  supporting a second networking protocol, (e) a light bulb (networked or non-networked) with a different LED board  314  containing a different set of LEDs  313  that may be made up with a different selection of warm white  1011 , cold white  1012 , red  1013 , green  1014  and blue  1015  LEDs, (f) a light bulb (networked or non-networked) with a different LED driver section  1010  and different LED board  314  containing a different selection of warm white  1011 , cold white  1012 , red  1013 , green  1014  and blue  1015  LEDs, or many other versions utilizing common components. 
         [0062]    Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities of elements, optical characteristic properties, and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about.” Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the preceding specification and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by those skilled in the art utilizing the teachings of the present invention. At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numerical parameter should at least be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical value, however, inherently contains certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviations found in their respective testing measurements. 
         [0063]    The recitation of numerical ranges by endpoints includes all numbers subsumed within that range (e.g. 1 to 5 includes 1, 1.5, 2, 2.75, 3, 3.80, 4, and 5). 
         [0064]    As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to an element described as “an LED” may refer to a single LED, two LEDs or any other number of LEDs. As used in this specification and the appended claims, the term “or” is generally employed in its sense including “and/or” unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. 
         [0065]    As used herein, the term “coupled” includes direct and indirect connections. Moreover, where first and second devices are coupled, intervening devices including active devices may be located there between. 
         [0066]    Any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means for” performing a specified function, or “step for” performing a specified function, is not to be interpreted as a “means” or “step” clause as specified in 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6. In particular the use of “step of” in the claims is not intended to invoke the provision of 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6. 
         [0067]    The description of the various embodiments provided above is illustrative in nature and is not intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses. Thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the embodiments of the present invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the intended scope of the present invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 5