# US 11,306,887 B2 · Systems and methods for an adaptive power drive in an illumination system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,306,887 B2 - Document ID: US11306887B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/169,872 - Filed: 2021-02-08 - Published: 2021-09-02 - Granted: 2022-04-19 - Earliest claimed: 2020-02-27 - Assignees: Zebra Technologies Corporation - Applicants: Zebra Technologies Corporation - Inventors: Joseph S. Slowik; Christopher P. Klicpera - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11306887B2 ## CPC - F21S 9/02: the power supply being a battery or accumulator - H05B 45/30: Driver circuits - F21Y 2115/10: Light-emitting diodes [LED] - F21S: NON-PORTABLE LIGHTING DEVICES; SYSTEMS THEREOF; VEHICLE LIGHTING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLE EXTERIORS - H05B: ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL - F21Y: INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES F21K, F21L, F21S and F21V, RELATING TO THE FORM OR THE KIND OF THE LIGHT SOURCES OR OF THE COLOUR OF THE LIGHT EMITTED ## Abstract Systems and methods for an adaptive power drive in an illumination system are disclosed herein. An example method includes (1) analyzing, by one or more processors data in a memory to determine a configuration of one or more LEDs; (2) obtaining, by one or more processors, illumination control instructions for operating the one or more LEDs during one or more illumination cycles; (3) controlling, by one or more processors, one or more switches of an illumination unit in accordance with illumination control instructions; (4) determining, by one or more processors, a current requirement for operating the one or more LEDs in accordance with the illumination control instructions; and (5) setting, by one or more processors, a current control set point of an LED driver to the current requirement. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A power drive for an illumination system for an imaging assembly comprising: an illumination port adapted to receive an illumination unit that includes one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs) and a memory storing data indicative of the LEDs; an LED driver; and at least one processor operatively connected to the illumination port and the LED driver, the at least one processor being configured to: analyze the data in the memory to determine a configuration of the one or more LEDs; obtain illumination control instructions for operating the one or more LEDs during one or more illumination cycles; control one or more switches of the illumination unit in accordance with illumination control instructions; determine a current requirement for operating the one or more LEDs in accordance with the illumination control instructions; and set a current control set point of the LED driver to the current requirement. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The power drive of claim 1, wherein: the illumination unit includes two or more banks of LEDs; and to control the one or more switches, the at least one processor is configured to control a switch that prevents current flow into a bank of LEDs. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The power drive of claim 1, wherein: the illumination unit includes a string of LED groups, wherein the LED groups include one or more LEDS; and to control the one or more switches, the at least one processor is configured to control a switch that bypasses current flow to a group of one or more LEDs. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The power drive of claim 1, wherein to control the one or more switches, the at least one processor comprises: one or more general purpose input/output (GPIO) ports operatively connected to respective sets of the one or more switches. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The power drive of claim 1, wherein the one or more switches are transistors. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The power drive of claim 1, wherein data stored at the memory of the illumination unit includes one or more of a category voltage, a category current, a category temperature, a number of LEDs, an LED color, an LED position, an LED grouping arrangement, or an LED binning. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The power drive of claim 1, further comprising: an active discharge circuit connected in parallel to the one or more LEDS, wherein the active discharge circuit is configured to discharge a voltage at the illumination port. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The power drive of claim 7, wherein the active discharge circuit comprises: an input port operatively connected to the at least one processor that controls when the active discharge circuit is active. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The power drive of claim 8, the at least one processor is configured to: analyze the illumination control instructions to determine that a subsequent illumination pulse requires less forward voltage than a current illumination pulse; and after executing the current illumination pulse, activating the active discharge circuit by sending a signal to the input port of the active discharge circuit. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The power drive of claim 1, wherein the voltage input is a voltage supplied by a capacitor. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The power drive of claim 10, further comprising: a voltage controller configured to minimize a voltage used to charge the capacitor. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The power drive of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is operatively connected to an operator device executing an illumination design application that enables the operator to design the illumination control instructions. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The power drive of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: provide the configuration of the one or more LEDs to the illumination design application for display by the illumination design application. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The power drive of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: obtain, from the memory of the illumination unit, a maximum current rating for the illumination unit; and provide the maximum current rating to the illumination design application. ### Claim 15 (depends on 12) The power drive of claim 12, wherein to obtain the illumination control instructions, the at least one processor is configured to: receive, from the illumination design application, the illumination control instructions. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The power drive of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: obtain, from the memory of the illumination unit, a maximum current rating for the illumination unit; determine that the current requirement exceeds the maximum current rating; set the current control set point to the maximum current rating; and increase a pulse duration of the illumination cycle based on a difference between the current requirement and the maximum current rating. ### Claim 17 A method of adaptive power drive for an illumination system for an imaging assembly, the method comprising: analyzing, by one or more processors, data to determine a configuration of one or more LEDs of an illumination unit; obtaining, by the one or more processors, illumination control instructions for operating the one or more LEDs during one or more illumination cycles; controlling, by the one or more processors, one or more switches of the illumination unit in accordance with illumination control instructions; determining, by the one or more processors, a current requirement for operating the one or more LEDs in accordance with the illumination control instructions; and setting, by the one or more processors, a current control set point of an LED driver to the current requirement. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein: the illumination unit includes two or more banks of LEDs; and controlling the one or more switches comprises controlling, by the one or more processors, a switch that prevents current flow into a bank of LEDs. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein: the illumination unit includes a string of LED groups, wherein the LED groups include one or more LEDS; and controlling the one or more switches comprises controlling, by the one or more processors, a switch that bypasses current flow to a group of one or more LEDs. ### Claim 20 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein controlling the one or more switches comprises: sending, by the one or more processors, control signals over one or more general purpose input/output (GPIO) ports operatively connected to respective sets of the one or more switches. ### Claim 21 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, further comprising: analyzing, by the one or more processors, the illumination control instructions to determine that a subsequent illumination pulse requires less forward voltage than a current illumination cycle; and after executing the current illumination pulse, activating an active discharge circuit configured to discharge the voltage at the illumination port. ### Claim 22 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, further comprising: controlling, by the one or more processors, a voltage controller connected to a capacitor that supplies power to the LED driver to minimize a voltage used to charge the capacitor. ### Claim 23 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, further comprising: providing, by the one or more processors, at least one of the configuration or a maximum current rating of the one or more LEDs to an illumination design application executing on an operator device. ### Claim 24 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein obtaining the illumination control instructions comprises: receiving, from an operator device, the illumination control instructions. ### Claim 25 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, further comprising: obtaining, by the one or more processors, a maximum current rating for the illumination unit; determining, by the one or more processors, that the current requirement exceeds the maximum current rating; setting, by the one or more processors, the current control set point to the maximum current rating; and increasing, by the one or more processors, a pulse duration of the illumination cycle based on a difference between the current requirement and the maximum current rating.