# US 11,442,312 B2 · Electronic device display with a backlight having light-emitting diodes and driver integrated circuits in an active area > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,442,312 B2 - Document ID: US11442312B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/203,311 - Filed: 2021-03-16 - Published: 2021-11-25 - Granted: 2022-09-13 - Earliest claimed: 2020-05-22 - Assignees: Apple Inc. - Applicants: Apple Inc. - Inventors: David W. Lum; Jingdong Chen; Mingxia Gu; Jun Qi - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11442312B2 ## CPC - G02F 1/133612: {Electrical details} - G02F 1/133601: {for spatial active dimming} - G02F 1/133603: {with LEDs} - G02F 1/133605: {including specially adapted reflectors} - G02F 1/133606: {including a specially adapted diffusing, scattering or light controlling members} - G02F 1/133628: {with cooling means} - G09G 3/3426: {the different display panel areas being distributed in two dimensions, e.g. matrix} - H05B 45/22: using optical feedback - H05B 45/28: using temperature feedback - H05B 45/30: Driver circuits - H05B 47/105: in response to determined parameters - H05B 47/16: by timing means - H10W 90/00: Package configurations - G09G 3/36: using liquid crystals - G09G 2320/041: Temperature compensation - G09G 2320/0626: for control of overall brightness - G09G 2320/0646: Modulation of illumination source brightness and image signal correlated to each other - H10H 20/856: Reflecting means - H10H 20/882: {Scattering means (H10H20/82 takes precedence)} - Y02B 20/40: Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection - G02F: OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS - G09G: ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION (arrangements for transferring data between digital computers and displays G06F3/14; static indicating arrangements comprising an association of a number of separate sources or light control cells G09F9/00; static indicating arrangements comprising integral associations of a number of light sources H01J, H01K, H10H, H05B33/12; scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission, details thereof H04N1/00) - H05B: ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL - H10W: GENERIC PACKAGES, INTERCONNECTIONS, CONNECTORS OR OTHER CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10 - H10H: INORGANIC LIGHT-EMITTING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES HAVING POTENTIAL BARRIERS - Y02B: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS ## Abstract A pixel array may be illuminated with backlight illumination from a backlight. The backlight may include a two-dimensional array of light-emitting diodes, with each light-emitting diode being placed in a respective cell. Different light-emitting diodes may have unique brightness magnitudes based on the content of the given display frame. Driver integrated circuits may control one or more associated light-emitting diodes to have a desired brightness level. The driver integrated circuits may be formed in an active area of the backlight. The driver integrated circuits may be arranged in groups that are daisy chained together. A digital signal (that includes information such as addressing information) may be propagated through the group of driver integrated circuits. To manage thermal performance of the backlight, the backlight may include a thermally conductive layer and/or a heat sink structure. To increase the efficiency of the backlight, the backlight may include one or more reflective layers. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An electronic device comprising: a plurality of pixels; and a backlight configured to produce backlight illumination for the plurality of pixels, wherein the backlight has an active area and comprises: a substrate having a surface; an array of light-emitting diodes mounted on the surface of the substrate in the active area, wherein the array of light-emitting diodes is overlapped by the plurality of pixels; and a plurality of driver integrated circuits mounted on the surface of the substrate in the active area, wherein each driver integrated circuit controls a brightness of a respective subset of the array of light-emitting diodes. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The electronic device defined in claim 1, wherein the substrate is a glass substrate. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The electronic device defined in claim 1, wherein the plurality of driver integrated circuits is arranged in one or more interconnected chains and wherein, within each interconnected chain, an output from each driver integrated circuit is provided as an input to a subsequent driver integrated circuit. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The electronic device defined in claim 1, wherein each driver integrated circuit has a plurality of input-output contacts. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The electronic device defined in claim 4, wherein each one of the plurality of input-output contacts is soldered to a circuitry layer on the surface of the substrate. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The electronic device defined in claim 5, wherein each one of the light-emitting diodes has respective input-output contacts that are soldered to the circuitry layer on the surface of the substrate. ### Claim 7 (depends on 4) The electronic device defined in claim 4, wherein the plurality of input-output contacts for each driver integrated circuit comprises: a first input-output contact that is configured to receive digital address information. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The electronic device defined in claim 7, wherein the plurality of input-output contacts for each driver integrated circuit comprises: a second input-output contact that is configured to receive digital light-emitting diode brightness information. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The electronic device defined in claim 8, wherein the plurality of input-output contacts for each driver integrated circuit comprises: a third input-output contact that is configured to provide digital output address information for a subsequent driver integrated circuit and that is electrically connected to the respective subset of the array of light-emitting diodes for that driver integrated circuit. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The electronic device defined in claim 9, wherein the plurality of input-output contacts for each driver integrated circuit comprises: a fourth input-output contact that is electrically connected to ground. ### Claim 11 (depends on 4) The electronic device defined in claim 4, wherein the plurality of input-output contacts for each driver integrated circuit comprises: a first input-output contact that is coupled to a bi-directional data bus. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The electronic device defined in claim 1, wherein each driver integrated circuit includes one output pin and wherein the light-emitting diodes in the respective subset of the array of light-emitting diodes for that driver integrated circuit are coupled in series between the output pin and a power supply line. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The electronic device defined in claim 1, wherein each driver integrated circuit includes at least two output pins and wherein the light-emitting diodes in the respective subset of the array of light-emitting diodes for that driver integrated circuit include at least first and second groups of light-emitting diodes that are each coupled between a respective output pin of the at last two output pins and a power supply line. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The electronic device defined in claim 1, wherein the plurality of pixels comprises a plurality of liquid crystal display pixels. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The electronic device defined in claim 1, wherein each light-emitting diode in the array of light-emitting diodes is soldered to the surface of the substrate and wherein each driver integrated circuit of the plurality of driver integrated circuits is soldered to the surface of the substrate. ### Claim 16 An electronic device comprising: a plurality of pixels; and a backlight configured to produce backlight illumination for the plurality of pixels, wherein the backlight comprises: a glass thin-film circuitry layer including at least one conductive layer on a glass substrate; a two-dimensional array of light-emitting diodes mounted on an upper surface of the glass thin-film circuitry layer, wherein the two-dimensional array of light-emitting diodes is arranged in a two-dimensional array of respective cells; and driver integrated circuits mounted on the upper surface of the glass thin-film circuitry layer, wherein the driver integrated circuits are interspersed amongst the two-dimensional array of light-emitting diodes. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The electronic device defined in claim 16, wherein the backlight comprises: a plurality of digital signal lines configured to provide digital signals to the driver integrated circuits. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The electronic device defined in claim 16, wherein the backlight further comprises a power supply line, wherein the two-dimensional array of light-emitting diodes is arranged in a plurality of light-emitting diode groups, and wherein each light-emitting diode group is coupled between a respective driver integrated circuit and the power supply line. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The electronic device defined in claim 16, wherein each driver integrated circuit is soldered to the upper surface of the glass thin-film circuitry layer. ### Claim 20 (depends on 16) The electronic device defined in claim 16, wherein each driver integrated circuit is a surface mount technology component. ### Claim 21 An electronic device comprising: a substrate; a two-dimensional array of light-emitting diodes mounted on an upper surface of the substrate; and driver integrated circuits mounted on the upper surface of the substrate, wherein the driver integrated circuits are positioned within a footprint defined by the two-dimensional array of light-emitting diodes, wherein each driver integrated circuit controls at least one light-emitting diode of the two-dimensional array of light-emitting diodes and wherein the driver integrated circuits are arranged in a plurality of daisy-chained groups. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The electronic device defined in claim 21, wherein the substrate is a glass substrate.