PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-12131712-B2
Application Number: US-202217980252-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Tile passive matrix for display backlight systems

Abstract:
Large sized electronic displays may include a backlight that generates light to illuminate a display panel. The backlight is divided into tiles that each includes a set of backlight elements that are driven by respective tile driver circuitry. Based on receiving brightness data and/or control signals from a backlight controller (BCON) of the backlight, the respective tile driver circuitry drives corresponding backlight elements such that the backlight elements suitably illuminate the display panel.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device, comprising:
 a processor configured to provide brightness data corresponding to a plurality of backlight elements of a two-dimensional backlight; 
 a display panel; and 
 the two-dimensional backlight, wherein the two-dimensional backlight is divided into at least two columns of tiles and at least two rows of tiles, wherein each tile of the at least two columns of tiles and the at least two rows of tiles respectively include a subset of the plurality of backlight elements and respective driver circuitry configured to drive the plurality of backlight elements to illuminate the display panel using the brightness data, wherein the respective driver circuitry comprises respective row driver circuitry and respective column driver circuitry, wherein the respective driver circuitry is configured to drive the plurality of backlight elements via the respective row driver circuitry at a first time interval and the respective column driver circuitry at a second time interval, and wherein the first time interval and the second time interval are different. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the two-dimensional backlight comprises a printed circuit board, wherein the plurality of backlight elements is disposed on a first side of the printed circuit board, and wherein the respective driver circuitry is disposed on a second side of the printed circuit board. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the two-dimensional backlight comprises a printed circuit board and an interposer board, wherein the plurality of backlight elements is disposed on the printed circuit board, and wherein the respective driver circuitry is disposed on the interposer board. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device of  claim 3 , wherein the interposer board is smaller in area than the printed circuit board by a threshold amount. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the two-dimensional backlight comprises a connector configured to supply the brightness data and power to the respective driver circuitry. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the two-dimensional backlight comprises a connector that is disposed centrally on the two-dimensional backlight. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the two-dimensional backlight comprises a connector, and wherein the connector and the respective driver circuitry are disposed along two adjacent columns of tiles of the at least two columns of tiles. 
     
     
       8. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the two-dimensional backlight comprises a connector configured to provide the brightness data and power using rib-cage routing or H-routing. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the two-dimensional backlight comprises a connector, and wherein an equal number of driver circuitry is disposed on either side of the connector. 
     
     
       10. A backlight of an electronic display, comprising:
 at least two columns of tiles and at least two rows of tiles, wherein each tile of the at least two columns of tiles and the at least two rows of tiles comprises a plurality of backlight elements; and 
 respective driver circuitry associated with respective tiles of the at least two columns of tiles and the at least two rows of tiles, wherein the respective driver circuitry comprises respective row driver circuitry and respective column driver circuitry, and wherein the respective driver circuitry is configured to receive brightness data corresponding to the plurality of backlight elements and drive respective backlight elements associated with each of the respective tiles of the at least two columns of tiles and the at least two rows of tiles via the respective row driver circuitry at a first time interval and the respective column driver circuitry at a second time interval, wherein the first time interval and the second time interval are different. 
 
     
     
       11. The backlight of  claim 10 , comprising a backlight timing controller configured to supply one or more timing signals to the respective driver circuitry and control the respective tiles of the at least two columns of tiles and the at least two rows of tiles via the respective driver circuitry. 
     
     
       12. The backlight of  claim 10 , comprising a first backlight timing controller configured to control a first set of the at least two columns of tiles and the at least two rows of tiles and a second backlight timing controller configured to control a second set of the at least two columns of tiles and the at least two rows of tiles. 
     
     
       13. The backlight of  claim 10 , comprising one or more connectors configured to supply the brightness data and power to one or more backlight timing controllers. 
     
     
       14. The backlight of  claim 10 , wherein the respective driver circuitry associated with each tile of the at least two columns of tiles and the at least two rows of tiles and a connector are disposed along a spine of the backlight. 
     
     
       15. The backlight of  claim 10 , comprising a connector disposed along a spine of the backlight, wherein the respective driver circuitry associated with each tile of the at least two columns of tiles and the at least two rows of tiles is disposed centrally on each tile of the at least two columns of tiles and the at least two rows of tiles. 
     
     
       16. The backlight of  claim 10 , comprising a connector disposed along a spine of the backlight, wherein the respective driver circuitry associated with each tile of the at least two columns of tiles and the at least two rows of tiles is disposed closer to other respective driver circuitry associated with another tile of the at least two columns of tiles and the at least two rows of tiles than a central location of that tile. 
     
     
       17. A method, comprising:
 receiving brightness data corresponding to a plurality of backlight elements of a first tile of at least two columns of tiles and at least two rows of tiles of a backlight; 
 distributing the brightness data to first tile driver circuitry associated with the first tile of the at least two columns of tiles and at least two rows of tiles, wherein the first tile driver circuitry comprises respective first row driver circuitry and respective first column driver circuitry, and wherein each tile of the at least two columns of tiles and the at least two rows of tiles is associated with respective tile driver circuitry; and 
 driving the plurality of backlight elements of the first tile driver circuitry to emit light from the backlight to illuminate a display panel of an electronic display via the respective first row driver circuitry at a first time interval and the respective first column driver circuitry at a second time interval, wherein the first time interval and the second time interval are different. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17 , comprising supplying the brightness data and power to the first tile driver circuitry using a connector of the backlight disposed on an opposite side of a printed circuit board from the first tile.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/288,309, filed Dec. 10, 2021, entitled “Tile Passive Matrix for Display Backlight Systems,” the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. 
    
    
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure relates generally to electronic devices with display panels, and more particularly, to the architecture of backlight systems associated with the display panels. 
     A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below. 
     Numerous electronic systems—such as computers, mobile phones, portable media devices, tablets, televisions, virtual-reality headsets, and vehicle dashboards, among many others often include or use electronic displays. Some electronic displays may include a display panel, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, and a corresponding backlight (e.g., a 0-dimensional backlight, 1-dimensional backlight, a 2-dimensional backlight). Display panels on electronic displays may display images that present visual representations of information. In any case, a display panel may generally display an image by actively controlling light emission from its display pixels based on receiving light from the corresponding backlight. By adjusting the brightness of different color components of the display pixels of the display panel, a variety of different colors may be generated that collectively produce a corresponding image. 
     The backlight may include backlight elements that generate light that exits the backlight towards the display panel. The backlight may illuminate the display panel based on brightness data corresponding to backlight elements of the backlight. The backlight may include driver circuitry (e.g., row driver, column drivers, and/or backlight controller (BCON)) that controls the backlight elements. In response to receiving light from the backlight, the display panel may selectively allow some or all of the light from the backlight to pass through the display pixels, and thereby generating display light visible to a user of the electronic display. The backlight elements, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs), may be arranged in rows and columns. The light-emitting diodes (LEDs) may be controlled to illuminate a portion of the display pixels in the display panel. 
     Separate driver circuitry may control each backlight element or a collection of backlight elements. However, driving individual backlight elements of a large-sized display (e.g., electronic displays with a size greater than or equal to 24 inches or displays that are smaller but have an especially high resolution) via separate driver circuitry may not be cost effective nor resource effective. Instead, the backlight may divided into regions or tiles, where each tile includes respective backlight elements driven by driver circuitry. Rather than separate row and column drivers controlling each backlight element, the same row and column driver may drive backlight elements of respective tiles of the backlight based on time signals from a backlight timing controller (e.g., backlight controller (BCON)). That is, backlight elements within a tile may be controlled by a respective row and column driver. Dividing the backlight into a tiled matrix and reducing the number of driver circuits (e.g., row and column drivers) may improve routing between backlight elements, provide signal and power integrity (SIPI) benefits, and reduce the cost of manufacturing electronic displays (e.g., large-sized or high-resolution displays). 
     Accordingly, the present disclosure provides techniques for illuminating large sized displays based on tile-based backlights. A tile-based backlight may include any suitable number of tiles, where each tile includes any suitable number of backlight elements and is driven by respective tile driver circuitry. Components (e.g., tile driver circuitry, off-board connector) of the backlight may be arranged in various configurations to reduce ground loop and improve signal and power integrity (SIPI). In some embodiments, the tile driver circuitry may be disposed along a spine of the backlight. In other embodiments, the tile driver circuitry may be disposed centrally on a respective tile. Further, the backlight may include a printed circuit board, where the backlight elements are disposed on the printed circuit board and the driver circuitry of the respective tiles is disposed on an interposer board. The interposer board may be smaller in size compared to the printed circuit board, and may be disposed on top or bottom of the printed circuit board. In other embodiments, the backlight may include the printed circuit board and an interposer board. 
     Various refinements of the features noted above may exist in relation to various aspects of the present disclosure. Further features may also be incorporated in these various aspects as well. These refinements and additional features may exist individually or in any combination. For instance, various features discussed below in relation to one or more of the illustrated embodiments may be incorporated into any of the above-described aspects of the present disclosure alone or in any combination. The brief summary presented above is intended only to familiarize the reader with certain aspects and contexts of embodiments of the present disclosure without limitation to the claimed subject matter. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Various aspects of this disclosure may be better understood upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which: 
         FIG.  1    is a block diagram of an electronic device with an electronic display, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  2    is a front view of a handheld device representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  3    is a front view of another handheld device representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  4    is a perspective view of a notebook computer representing an embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  5    is a front view and side view of a wearable electronic device representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  6    is a front view of a desktop computer representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  7    is a block diagram of a side view of an electronic display of the electronic device of  FIG.  1    having a display panel and a backlight, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  8    is a block diagram of components within the backlight of  FIG.  7   , in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  9    is a flow diagram of a process for illuminating a display panel by controlling backlight elements of the backlight of  FIG.  7   , in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  10    is a schematic illustration of the backlight of  FIG.  7    divided into tiles, where each tile is controlled by driver circuitry, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  11    is a schematic illustration of the backlight of  FIG.  7    divided into tiles, where each tile includes a set of backlight elements, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  12 A  is a schematic illustration of the backlight of  FIG.  7    associated with spine routing, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  12 B  is a schematic illustration of the backlight of  FIG.  7    associated with rib-cage routing or H-routing, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  13    is a block diagram of a side view of the backlight of  FIG.  7   , in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  14 A  is a schematic illustration of the backlight of  FIG.  7    associated with spine routing and including a single off-board connector, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  14 B  is a schematic illustration of the backlight of  FIG.  7    associated with spine routing and including multiple off-board connectors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  14 C  is a schematic illustration of the backlight of  FIG.  7    associated with rib-cage routing or H-routing and including a single off-board connector, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  14 D  is a schematic illustration of the backlight of  FIG.  7    associated with rib-cage routing or H-routing and including multiple off-board connectors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  15    is a schematic illustration of routing between tile-based row drivers and column drivers of the backlight of  FIG.  7   , in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  16 A  is a schematic illustration of a top view of the backlight of  FIG.  7    having a printed circuit board and an interposer board, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  16 B  is a schematic illustration of a side view of the backlight of  FIG.  7    having a printed circuit board and an interposer board, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG.  17    is a schematic illustration of a top view of the backlight of  FIG.  7    associated with spine routing and reduced ground loop inductance, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     One or more specific embodiments will be described below. In an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, not all features of an actual implementation are described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions are made to achieve the developers&#39; specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure. 
     When introducing elements of various embodiments of the present disclosure, the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. Additionally, it should be understood that references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Furthermore, the phrase A “based on” B is intended to mean that A is at least partially based on B. Moreover, the term “or” is intended to be inclusive (e.g., logical OR) and not exclusive (e.g., logical XOR). In other words, the phrase A “or” B is intended to mean A, B, or both A and B. 
     With the preceding in mind and to help illustrate, an electronic device  10  including an electronic display  12  is shown in  FIG.  1   . As is described in more detail below, the electronic device  10  may be any suitable electronic device, such as a computer, a mobile phone, a portable media device, a tablet, a television, a virtual-reality headset, a vehicle dashboard, and the like. Thus, it should be noted that  FIG.  1    is merely one example of a particular implementation and is intended to illustrate the types of components that may be present in an electronic device  10 . 
     The electronic display  12  may be any suitable electronic display that has a display panel that is illuminated based on light generated from backlight elements of a backlight  13 . The backlight  13  may include any number of backlight elements (e.g., light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and any suitable arrangement of the backlight elements. The backlight  13  may include driver circuitry such as row drivers, column drivers, and/or backlight controller (BCON) to drive the backlight elements. As described below, the backlight may be arranged based on tiled regions (e.g., tiles), and backlight elements of each tile may be driven by respective driver circuitry (e.g., row and column drivers). 
     The electronic device  10  includes the electronic display  12 , one or more input devices  14 , one or more input/output (I/O) ports  16 , a processor core complex  18  having one or more processing circuitry(s) or processing circuitry cores, local memory  20 , a main memory storage device  22 , a network interface  24 , and a power source  26  (e.g., power supply). The various components described in  FIG.  1    may include hardware elements (e.g., circuitry), software elements (e.g., a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing executable instructions), or a combination of both hardware and software elements. It should be noted that the various depicted components may be combined into fewer components or separated into additional components. For example, the local memory  20  and the main memory storage device  22  may be included in a single component. 
     The processor core complex  18  is operably coupled with local memory  20  and the main memory storage device  22 . Thus, the processor core complex  18  may execute instructions stored in local memory  20  or the main memory storage device  22  to perform operations, such as generating or transmitting image data to display on the electronic display  12  or brightness data to control light output by the backlight  13 . As such, the processor core complex  18  may include one or more general purpose microprocessors, one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more field programmable logic arrays (FPGAs), or any combination thereof. 
     In addition to program instructions, the local memory  20  or the main memory storage device  22  may store data to be processed by the processor core complex  18 . Thus, the local memory  20  and/or the main memory storage device  22  may include one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media. For example, the local memory  20  may include random access memory (RAM) and the main memory storage device  22  may include read-only memory (ROM), rewritable non-volatile memory such as flash memory, hard drives, optical discs, or the like. 
     The network interface  24  may communicate data with another electronic device or a network. For example, the network interface  24  (e.g., a radio frequency system) may enable the electronic device  10  to communicatively couple to a personal area network (PAN), such as a Bluetooth network, a local area network (LAN), such as an 802.11x Wi-Fi network, or a wide area network (WAN), such as a 4G, Long-Term Evolution (LTE), or 5G cellular network. The power source  26  may provide electrical power to one or more components in the electronic device  10 , such as the processor core complex  18  or the electronic display  12 . Thus, the power source  26  may include any suitable source of energy, such as a rechargeable lithium polymer (Li-poly) battery or an alternating current (AC) power converter. The I/O ports  16  may enable the electronic device  10  to interface with other electronic devices. For example, when a portable storage device is connected, the I/O port  16  may enable the processor core complex  18  to communicate data with the portable storage device. 
     The input devices  14  may enable user interaction with the electronic device  10 , for example, by receiving user inputs via a button, a keyboard, a mouse, a trackpad, or the like. The input device  14  may include touch-sensing components in the electronic display  12 . The touch sensing components may receive user inputs by detecting occurrence or position of an object touching the surface of the electronic display  12 . 
     In addition to enabling user inputs, the electronic display  12  may include a display panel with one or more display pixels. The electronic display  12  may control light emission from the display pixels to present visual representations of information, such as a graphical user interface (GUI) of an operating system, an application interface, a still image, or video content, by displaying frames of image data. To display images, the electronic display  12  may include display pixels implemented on the display panel. The display pixels may represent sub-pixels that each control a luminance of one color component (e.g., red, green, or blue for an RGB pixel arrangement or red, green, blue, or white for an RGBW arrangement). 
     The electronic display  12  may display an image by controlling light emission from its display pixels based on pixel or image data associated with corresponding image pixels (e.g., points) in the image. In some embodiments, pixel or image data may be generated by an image source, such as the processor core complex  18 , a graphics processing unit (GPU), or an image sensor. Additionally, in some embodiments, image data may be received from another electronic device  10 , for example, via the network interface  24  and/or an I/O port  16 . Similarly, the electronic display  12  may display frames based on pixel or image data generated by the processor core complex  18 , or the electronic display  12  may display frames based on pixel or image data received via the network interface  24 , an input device, or an I/O port  16 . 
     The electronic device  10  may be any suitable electronic device. To help illustrate, an example of the electronic device  10 , a handheld device  10 A, is shown in  FIG.  2   . The handheld device  10 A may be a portable phone, a media player, a personal data organizer, a handheld game platform, or the like. For illustrative purposes, the handheld device  10 A may be a smart phone, such as any IPHONE® model available from Apple Inc. 
     The handheld device  10 A includes an enclosure  30  (e.g., housing). The enclosure  30  may protect interior components from physical damage or shield them from electromagnetic interference, such as by surrounding the electronic display  12 . The electronic display  12  may display a graphical user interface (GUI)  32  having an array of icons. When an icon  34  is selected either by an input device  14  or a touch-sensing component of the electronic display  12 , an application program may launch. 
     The input devices  14  may be accessed through openings in the enclosure  30 . The input devices  14  may enable a user to interact with the handheld device  10 A. For example, the input devices  14  may enable the user to activate or deactivate the handheld device  10 A, navigate a user interface to a home screen, navigate a user interface to a user-configurable application screen, activate a voice-recognition feature, provide volume control, or toggle between vibrate and ring modes. 
     Another example of a suitable electronic device  10 , specifically a tablet device  10 B, is shown in  FIG.  3   . The tablet device  10 B may be any IPAD® model available from Apple Inc. A further example of a suitable electronic device  10 , specifically a computer  10 C, is shown in  FIG.  4   . For illustrative purposes, the computer  10 C may be any MACBOOK® or IMAC® model available from Apple Inc. Another example of a suitable electronic device  10 , specifically a watch  10 D, is shown in  FIG.  5   . For illustrative purposes, the watch  10 D may be any APPLE WATCH® model available from Apple Inc. As depicted, the tablet device  10 B, the computer  10 C, and the watch  10 D each also includes an electronic display  12 , input devices  14 , I/O ports  16 , and an enclosure  30 . The electronic display  12  may display a GUI  32 . Here, the GUI  32  shows a visualization of a clock. When the visualization is selected either by the input device  14  or a touch-sensing component of the electronic display  12 , an application program may launch, such as to transition the GUI  32  to presenting the icons  34  discussed in  FIGS.  2  and  3   . 
     Turning to  FIG.  6   , a computer  10 E may represent another embodiment of the electronic device  10  of  FIG.  1   . The computer  10 E may be any computer, such as a desktop computer, a server, or a notebook computer, but may also be a standalone media player or video gaming machine. By way of example, the computer  10 E may be an iMac®, a MacBook®, or other similar device by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California. It should be noted that the computer  10 E may also represent a personal computer (PC) by another manufacturer. A similar enclosure  36  may be provided to protect and enclose internal components of the computer  10 E, such as the electronic display  12 . In certain embodiments, a user of the computer  10 E may interact with the computer  10 E using various peripheral input structures  14 , such as the keyboard  14 A or mouse  14 B (e.g., input structures  14 ), which may connect to the computer  10 E. 
     With the foregoing in mind,  FIG.  7    is a schematic block diagram of a side view of the electronic display  12  having the backlight  13  and a display panel  15 . As mentioned above, the backlight  13  may include any suitable number of backlight elements (e.g., light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that are controlled by driver circuitry (e.g., row and column drivers, backlight controller (BCON)). In some embodiments, the driver circuitry may include a backlight controller (BCON) that controls various row and column drivers based on time signals. A row and column driver may drive respective backlight elements. For example, every backlight element of a tiled region of the backlight  13  may be driven by a respective row and column driver. As used herein, a tiled region (also referred to in this disclosure as a tile) is an area of the backlight  13  that includes any suitable number of backlight elements. For example, there may be an M×N matrix of tiles including any suitable number M columns of tiles and any suitable number N rows of tiles. The backlight  13  may operate as a two-dimensional backlight. 
     The backlight  13 , via row and column drivers associated with the backlight elements, may receive brightness data  50  from the backlight controller (BCON) or processing circuitry (e.g., image processing circuitry). The brightness data  50  may indicate display color (e.g., green light, blue light, red light) and target luminance (e.g., brightness level) of the backlight elements. For example, based on the brightness data  50  and/or control signals received from the backlight controller (BCON), the row and column drivers may drive various backlight elements such that the backlight elements provide a desired amount of light  52  for the display pixels of the display panel  15 . This allows the backlight  13  to achieve a high dynamic range where dark areas of the image on the display panel  15  may receive much less light than bright areas of the image on the display  15 , which may receive much more light. Further, the backlight controller (BCON) may be communicatively coupled to the row and column drivers. 
     The backlight  13  emits the light  52  in the direction of the display panel  15 . As illustrated, in some embodiments, the display panel  15  may be disposed above the backlight  13 . Based on the light  52 , the display panel  15  may selectively allow some or all of the light  52  to pass through the display pixels of the display panel  15 , where the display panel  15 , via the display pixels, generates display light  54  that is visible to a user of the electronic display  12 . The light  52  from the backlight  13  serves to illuminate the display panel  15  based on the brightness data  50 . 
       FIG.  8    is a block diagram of non-limiting components within the backlight  13 , such as a backlight controller (BCON)  62 , an off-board connector  64 , a row driver  66 , and a column driver  68 . As mentioned above, the backlight controller (BCON)  62  may be communicatively coupled to row and column driver circuitry  70  (e.g., the row driver  66  and the column driver  68 ). In some embodiments, the backlight controller (BCON)  62  may simultaneously control various row and column driver circuitry  70 . In other embodiments, the backlight controller (BCON)  62  may drive various row and column driver circuitry  70  at different time intervals. The backlight controller (BCON)  62 , the off-board connector  64 , and the row and column driver circuitry  70  (e.g., the row driver  66  and the column driver  68 ) may each be communicatively coupled to each other. As used herein, the off-board connector  64  is a coupling that connects the backlight  13  to a component external to the backlight  13  (e.g., power supply). For example, processing circuitry of the electronic device  10  may supply the brightness data  50  and power to respective driver circuitry (e.g., tile driver circuitry) using the off-board connector  64  of the backlight  13 . The backlight  13  may include any number of off-board connectors  64 , and each off-board connector  64  may connect to a respective external component. 
     With the preceding in mind,  FIG.  9    is a flow diagram of a process  100  for illuminating the display panel  15  by controlling backlight elements of the backlight  13 . While the process  100  is described using steps in a specific sequence, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed in different sequences than the sequence illustrated, and certain described steps may be skipped or not performed altogether. At block  102 , driver circuitry (e.g., backlight controller (BCON)  62 ) may receive the brightness data  50 . For example, the backlight controller (BCON)  62  may receive the brightness data  50  from processing circuitry of the electronic device  10  via the off-board connector  64 . As mentioned above, the brightness data  50  may indicate, for example, a display color (e.g., green light, blue light, red light) and target luminance (e.g., brightness level) of backlight elements of the backlight  13 . 
     At block  104 , the backlight controller (BCON)  62  distributes the brightness data  50  data to respective tile driver circuitry (e.g. the row driver  66  and the column driver  68 ). As mentioned above, the backlight  13  may be divided into tiles, where each tile includes a suitable number of backlight elements. Backlight elements of each tile may be controlled by a respective tile driver circuitry. For example, the same tile driver circuitry may drive each backlight element within a tile, but each tile may be associated with a different tile driver circuitry. 
     At block  106 , the backlight controller (BCON)  62  may instruct the respective tile driver circuitry to program selected backlight elements based on the brightness data  50  and/or control signals. As mentioned above, each backlight element may be associated with a switch. And the tile driver circuitry may program selected backlight elements by turning on or off respective switches associated with the selected backlight elements based on the brightness data  50  and/or control signals received from the backlight controller (BCON)  62 . In some embodiments, the tile driver circuitry may also adjust an amount of current going through selected backlight elements by adjusting amplitude and/or pulse width based on the brightness data  50  and/or control signals received from the backlight controller (BCON)  62 . 
     At block  108 , based on programming the selected backlight elements, the backlight controller (BCON)  62  may cause the backlight  13  to emit light  52  to illuminate the display panel  15  (e.g., display pixels). 
       FIG.  10    is a schematic illustration of the backlight  13  divided into tiles  120 , where each tile  120  is controlled by tile driver circuitry. As illustrated, the backlight  13  is divided into eighteen tiles  120 , and each of the eighteen tiles  120  is driven by a respective tile driver circuitry (e.g., row driver  66 , column driver  68 , and/or row and column driver circuitry  70 ). Driving each tile  120  via a respective row and column driver circuitry  70  rather than driving each backlight element via a respective row and column driver circuitry  70  reduces the quantity of separate driver circuits within the backlight  13 , thereby reducing the overall manufacturing cost of large-sized displays as well as the size of all of the circuitry used to drive the backlight elements. 
       FIG.  11    is a schematic illustration of the backlight  13  divided into tiles  120 , where each tile  120  includes a set of backlight elements  122 . Each tile  120  may include any suitable number of backlight elements  122  (e.g., 25, 50, 100 backlight elements). In some embodiments, the backlight  13  may include at least two rows and two columns of tiles  120 . 
     The row and column driver circuitry  70  of a backlight may be arranged in various configurations (e.g., spine arrangement, tile center arrangement). The backlights in  FIGS.  12 A and  12 B  are both divided into tiles  120  but are different in arrangement with respect to row and column driver circuitry  70 .  FIG.  12 A  is a schematic illustration of the backlight  13  associated with spine routing  125 . As illustrated, the respective row and column driver circuitry  70  associated with each tile  120  and the off-board connector  64  are disposed along a spine of the backlight  13 . In contrast,  FIG.  12 B  is a schematic illustration of the backlight  13  associated with rib-cage routing or H-routing  127  (e.g., tile center arrangement). With respect to rib-cage routing or H-routing  127 , respective row and column driver circuitry  70  associated with each tile  120  disposed centrally (e.g., approximately equidistant from two edges of the tile  120 , approximately equidistant from all edges of the tile  120 , approximately equidistant from the outermost backlight elements of the tile  120 ) on each tile  120 . The off-board connector  64  may be disposed along the spine of the backlight  13 . As illustrated, the off-board connector  64  is disposed along the spine of the backlight at a central location of the backlight  13 . In additional and/or alternative embodiments, the off-board connector  64  may be disposed on an edge of the tile  120  or centrally on the tile  120 . In some embodiments, components of the backlight  13  may be arranged according to a combination of the spine routing  125  and the rib-cage routing or H-routing  127 . That is, multiple columns of tiles  120  of the backlight  13  may be associated with the rib-cage routing or H-routing  127  from a central location of the backlight  13  to respective spines of two different columns of the backlight  13 . For example, the backlight may include four columns of tiles  120  (e.g., column 1, column 2, column 3, and column 4). For example, the backlight  13  may include the rib-cage routing or H-routing  127  from a central location of the backlight  13  to a first spine between column 1 and column 2. Further, the backlight  13  may include the rib-cage routing or H-routing  127  from a central location of the backlight  13  to a second spine between column 3 and column 4. In this way, the backlight  13  may incorporate the spine routing  125  and the rib-cage routing or H-routing  127  to arrange components (e.g., row and column driver circuitry  70 , off-board connector  64 ). 
       FIG.  13    is a block diagram of a side view of the backlight  13 . Non-limiting components of the backlight  13  include backlight elements  122 , a multi-layered board (e.g., printed circuit  130 ), and driver circuitry  70  (e.g., backlight controller (BCON)  62 , row driver  66 , column driver  68 ). As illustrated, the backlight elements  122  may be disposed on a first side of the printed circuit board  130  while the driver circuitry may disposed on a second side of the printed circuit board  130 . The printed circuit board  130  may include any suitable number of metal and dielectric layers and server to electrically connect the backlight elements  122  and the driver circuitry  70 . In some embodiments, the driver circuitry  70  may be disposed on an interposer board that is coupled to the printed circuit board  130 . As used herein, the interposer board is an electrical interface or substrate between the driver circuitry  70  and the printed circuit board  130 . 
     As mentioned above, each tile  120  of the backlight  13  is driven a respective row and column driver circuitry  70 , and the backlight  13  may include any suitable number of backlight controller (BCON)  62  and off-board connectors  64 . As such,  FIGS.  14 A- 14 B  illustrate various arrangements of the respective row and column driver circuitry  70 , the backlight controllers (BCON)  62 , and the off-board connectors  64 . As illustrated in  FIG.  14 A , the backlight  13  is associated with spine routing  125  and includes a single backlight controller (BCON)  62  and a single off-board connector  64 . The respective row and column driver circuitry  70  associated with each tile  120 , the backlight controller (BCON)  62 , the off-board connector  64  are disposed along a spine of the backlight  13 . Further, the backlight controller (BCON)  62  and the off-board connector  64  are disposed at a central location along the spine of the backlight  13 . In some embodiments, the off-board connector  64  and the respective row and column driver circuitry  70  are disposed along two adjacent columns of tiles  120  of the set of tiles  120  of the backlight  13 . 
     The backlight in  FIG.  14 B  is also associated with spine routing but includes more than one off-board connector  64 . As illustrated in  FIG.  14 B , the backlight  13  includes two backlight controllers (BCON)  62  and two off-board connectors  64 . The respective row and column driver circuitry  70  associated with each tile  120 , the two backlight controllers (BCON)  62 , the two off-board connectors  64  are disposed along a spine of the backlight  13 . As depicted, the two backlight controllers (BCON)  62  are disposed in separate tiles equidistant from each other. A first backlight controller (BCON)  62  may control a first set of tiles of the backlight  13 , and a second backlight controller (BCON)  62  may control a second set of tiles the backlight  13 . Similarly, the two off-board connectors  64  are also disposed in separate tiles equidistant from each other. 
     In the spine routing  125  arrangement of  FIGS.  14 A and  14 B , the respective row and column driver circuitry  70  associated with each tile  120  is disposed closer to another respective row and column driver circuitry  70  associated with another tile  120  than a central location of that tile  120 . In some embodiments, the backlight controller (BCON)  62  and the off-board connector  64  may be located in different tiles  120 , as illustrated in  FIGS.  14 A and  14 B . For example, the backlight controller (BCON)  62  may be located in a tile  120  that is adjacent to a tile  120  including the off-board connector  64 . In other embodiments, the backlight controller (BCON)  62  and the off-board connector  64  may be located in the same tile  120 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG.  14 C , the backlight  13  is associated with rib-cage routing or H-routing  127  and includes a single off-board connector  64 . The off-board connector  64  is disposed along the spine of the backlight  13  at a central location of the backlight  13 . In tiles  120  that only include the respective row and column driver circuitry  70 , respective row and column driver circuitry  70  may or may not be disposed centrally on that tile. In a tile  120  that includes both the respective row and column driver circuitry  70  and a backlight controller (BCON)  62 , the backlight controller (BCON)  62  may be disposed centrally on that tile  120  while the respective row and column driver circuitry  70  is disposed adjacent to the backlight controller (BCON)  62  on that tile  120 . 
     In an example shown in  FIG.  14 D , the backlight  13  is also associated with rib-cage routing or H-routing  127  but includes more than one off-board connectors  64 . In tiles  120  that only include the respective row and column driver circuitry  70 , respective row and column driver circuitry  70  is disposed centrally on that tile. In a tile  120  that includes the respective row and column driver circuitry  70 , a backlight controller (BCON)  62 , and the off-board connector  64 , the backlight controller (BCON)  62  is disposed centrally on that tile  120  while the respective row and column driver circuitry  70  and the off-board connector  64  are disposed on adjacent sides of the backlight controller (BCON)  62  on that tile  120 . 
       FIG.  15    is a schematic illustration of routing between the row drivers  66  and the column drivers  68  of the backlight  13 , which includes 5 rows and 40 columns. As mentioned above, each tile may include a set of backlight elements  122 , a row driver  66 , and a column driver  68 , where the row driver  66  and the column driver  68  drive the set of backlight elements. The row driver  66  may be coupled to multiple signal lines or traces (e.g., 3, 5, 7 signal lines), and the column driver  68  may also be coupled to multiple signal lines. For each tile of the backlight  13 , the row driver  66  and the column driver  68  may be connected to each other via respective signal lines. In some embodiments, the connection  140  between the row driver  66  and the column driver  68  may include a via (e.g., top and bottom layered connection). 
     With the preceding in mind,  FIG.  16 A  is a schematic illustration of a top view of the backlight  13  that includes the printed circuit board  130  and an interposer board  132 . The printed circuit board  130  may include the backlight elements  122  while the interposer board  132  includes the driver circuitry  70  (e.g., backlight controller (BCON)  62  and the row and column driver circuitry  70 ) and the off-board connector  64 . In some embodiments, a first portion of the interposer board  132  may include a greater number of the driver circuitry  70  and/or the off-board connectors  64  compared to a second portion of the interposer board  132 . In other embodiments, two portion of the interposer board  132  may include an equal number of the driver circuitry  70  and/or the off-board connectors  64 . 
       FIG.  16 B  is a schematic illustration of a side view of the backlight of  FIG.  7    having the printed circuit board  130  and the interposer board  132 . As illustrated in  FIG.  16 B , the interposer board  132  is disposed on top of the printed circuit board  130 , and the interposer board  132  is smaller in area than the printed circuit board  130  by a threshold amount (e.g., the interposer board  132  is 10%, 20%, or 30% of the size of the printed circuit board  130 ). 
       FIG.  17    is a schematic illustration of a top view of the backlight  13  associated with spine routing  125 , in which the off-board connector  64  and the row and column driver circuitry  70  are disposed along. This spine-based arrangement of the backlight  13  helps reduce the area of ground loop within the backlight. Reducing the ground loop reduces noise interference between components (e.g., board connector  64 , row and column driver circuitry  70 ) of the backlight  13 , and thereby improves signal and power integrity (SIPI). 
     It can be appreciated that the backlight of large sized displays may be divided into tiles such that each tile is driven by a respective driver circuitry. By driving a set of backlight elements within a tile via a respective driver circuitry, reduces the total number of driver circuitry within the backlight, and thereby reduces the manufacturing cost of the backlight and the electronic display. Further, components of the backlight such as the respective driver circuitry, backlight controller (BCON), and the off-board connector may be arranged in any suitable configuration (e.g., spine routing, rib-cage routing). Configurations that include spine routing and rib-cage routing may improve routing between backlight elements and provide signal and power integrity (SIPI) benefits. 
     It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled so as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users. 
     The techniques presented and claimed herein are referenced and applied to material objects and concrete examples of a practical nature that demonstrably improve the present technical field and, as such, are not abstract, intangible or purely theoretical. Further, if any claims appended to the end of this specification contain one or more elements designated as “means for [perform]ing [a function] . . . ” or “step for [perform]ing [a function] . . . ”, it is intended that such elements are to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f). However, for any claims containing elements designated in any other manner, it is intended that such elements are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f).

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20221103
Publication Date: 20241029
Grant Date: 20241029
Priority Date: 20211210
Inventors: CALAYIR, Vehbi
JEONG, YOUCHUL
GOLDMAN, JOSHUA D.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "G09G2360/145", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/0626", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/3426", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/3426", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2360/145", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/0626", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/3426", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 86694796