# US 12,120,788 B2 · Interfaces and techniques for cost effective control of light emitting diodes in a vehicle > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,120,788 B2 - Document ID: US12120788B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/228,299 - Filed: 2021-04-12 - Published: 2022-10-13 - Granted: 2024-10-15 - Earliest claimed: 2021-04-12 - Assignees: Infineon Technologies AG - Applicants: Infineon Technologies AG - Inventors: Gernot Unterweger; Mathias Sedner; Andrea Scenini; Hans-Peter Kreuter - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12120788B2 ## CPC - H05B 45/30: Driver circuits - B60Q 1/1415: {Dimming circuits} - B60Q 3/80: Circuits; Control arrangements (for dashboards B60Q3/16; for mass transit vehicles B60Q3/47) - H05B 47/125: by using cameras - B60Q 2300/054: Variable non-standard intensity, i.e. emission of various beam intensities different from standard intensities, e.g. continuous or stepped transitions of intensity - H05B: ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL - B60Q: ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL ## Abstract A control circuit may be configured to control light emitting diode (LED) driver circuits. The control circuit may be configured to generate a multicast of pixel intensity values based on data in memory or data received from a data source, and output the multicast on an interface, which may comprise a one-wire uni-directional interface. In some examples, a plurality of drivers may receive the multicast, and each of the plurality of drivers may drive different sets of LEDs based on the multicast. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A control circuit configured to simultaneously control a plurality of different light emitting diode (LED) driver circuits, wherein the control circuit is configured to: generate a multicast of pixel intensity values based on data in memory or data received from a data source, wherein the multicast of pixel intensity values comprises a plurality of luminance values to be used by the plurality of different LED driver circuits to drive different sets of LEDs; and output the multicast of pixel intensity values simultaneously to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits on an interface that connects the control circuit to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits, wherein the interface comprises a one-wire uni-directional interface, wherein the interface is a second interface and the control circuit is configured to: receive video data via a first interface in a video frame-by-video frame manner; and output the multicast via the second interface in a row-by-row manner. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The control circuit of claim 1, wherein the multicast comprises different sets of the pixel intensity values that are defined for use by different ones of the plurality of LED drivers. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The control circuit of claim 1, wherein the multicast comprises first and second sets of the plurality of pixel intensity values that are defined respectfully for a first LED driver associated with external lighting and a second LED driver associated with internal lighting. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The control circuit of claim 1, wherein the plurality of different driver circuits is configured to drive different vehicle lights within a vehicle, and wherein the multicast includes different pixel intensity values for the different vehicle lights within the vehicle. ### Claim 5 A control circuit configured to simultaneously control a plurality of different light emitting diode (LED) driver circuits, wherein the control circuit is configured to: generate a multicast of pixel intensity values based on data in memory or data received from a data source, wherein the multicast of pixel intensity values comprises a plurality of luminance values to be used by the plurality of different LED driver circuits to drive different sets of LEDs; and output the multicast of pixel intensity values simultaneously to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits on an interface that connects the control circuit to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits, wherein the multicast comprises rows of data, wherein each of the rows includes a header, a cyclical redundancy check (CRC) code, and a plurality of the pixel intensity values. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The control circuit of claim 5, wherein the interface comprises a one-wire uni-directional interface. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The control circuit of claim 6, wherein the interface is a second interface and the control circuit is configured to: receive video data via a first interface in a video frame-by-video frame manner; and output the multicast via the second interface in a row-by-row manner. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) The control circuit of claim 5, wherein the multicast comprises rows of data, wherein at least some of the rows of data correspond to rows of LEDs within a matrix of LEDs that are driven by the one or more LED driver circuits. ### Claim 9 (depends on 5) The control circuit of claim 5, wherein the multicast comprises rows of data, wherein at least some of the rows of data correspond to clusters of LEDs within a matrix of LEDs that are driven by the one or more LED driver circuits. ### Claim 10 A control circuit configured to simultaneously control a plurality of different light emitting diode (LED) driver circuits, wherein the control circuit is configured to: generate a multicast of pixel intensity values based on data in memory or data received from a data source, wherein the multicast of pixel intensity values comprises a plurality of luminance values to be used by the plurality of different LED driver circuits to drive different sets of LEDs; and output the multicast of pixel intensity values simultaneously to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits on an interface that connects the control circuit to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits, wherein the control circuit is configured to generate the multicast using pixel reordering of either the data in a memory or the data received from a data source. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The control circuit of claim 10, wherein the multicast comprises a set of the pixel intensity values that is configured to be used simultaneously by two or more of the plurality of LED drivers. ### Claim 12 A control circuit configured to simultaneously control a plurality of different light emitting diode (LED) driver circuits, wherein the control circuit is configured to: generate a multicast of pixel intensity values based on data in memory or data received from a data source, wherein the multicast of pixel intensity values comprises a plurality of luminance values to be used by the plurality of different LED driver circuits to drive different sets of LEDs; and output the multicast of pixel intensity values simultaneously to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits on an interface that connects the control circuit to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits, wherein the multicast comprises a first set of the pixel intensity values that is configured to be used simultaneously by two or more of the plurality of LED drivers and a plurality of second sets of the pixel intensity values that are defined for use by different ones of the plurality of LED drivers. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The control circuit of claim 12, further comprising a differential transmitter configured to receive the multicast via the interface and transmit the multicast as a differential signal. ### Claim 14 A light emitting diode (LED) driver circuit configured to drive a plurality of LEDs, wherein the LED driver circuit is configured to: receive a multicast of pixel intensity values via an interface, wherein the multicast of pixel intensity values comprises a plurality of luminance values to be used the LED driver circuit to drive the plurality of LEDs and by one or more different LED driver circuits to drive different sets of LEDs, and drive the plurality of LEDs based on at least some of the luminance values in the multicast, wherein the LED driver circuit includes a plurality of LED drivers, wherein two or more of the plurality of LED drivers are configured to drive different sets of LEDs using a same portion of the multicast. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The LED driver circuit of claim 14, wherein the interface comprises a one-wire unidirectional interface. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The LED driver circuit of claim 14, wherein the LED driver circuit includes a plurality of LED drivers, wherein two or more of the plurality of LED drivers are configured to drive different drive sets of LEDs using different portions of the multicast. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The LED driver circuit of claim 14, wherein the LED driver circuit is configured to receive the multicast from an LED control unit via the one-wire unidirectional interface. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The LED driver circuit of claim 14, wherein the LED driver circuit includes a plurality of LED drivers, the LED driver circuit further comprising a differential receiver circuit configured to: receive a differential signal that comprises the multicast; and communicate the multicast to the plurality LED drivers via the interface. ### Claim 19 (depends on 14) The LED driver circuit of claim 14, wherein the multicast comprises rows of data that are received in a row-by-row fashion, wherein each of the rows includes a header, a cyclical redundancy check (CRC) code, and a plurality of the pixel intensity values. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The LED driver circuit of claim 19, wherein at least some of the rows of data correspond to rows of LEDs within a matrix of LEDs that are driven the LED driver circuit. ### Claim 21 (depends on 19) The LED driver circuit of claim 19, wherein at least some of the rows of data correspond to clusters of LEDs within a matrix of LEDs that are driven the LED driver circuit. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The LED driver circuit of claim 21, wherein the LED driver circuit includes a plurality of LED drivers configured to drive a plurality of clusters of LEDs, wherein each of the plurality of LED drivers corresponds to one of the plurality of clusters of LEDs. ### Claim 23 (depends on 14) The LED driver circuit of claim 14, wherein the multicast comprises a set of pixel intensity values that is used simultaneously the LED driver circuit and one or more additional LED driver circuits. ### Claim 24 (depends on 14) The LED driver circuit of claim 14, wherein the multicast data comprises different sets of pixel intensity values that are defined for a plurality of different LED drivers and wherein the LED driver circuit is configured to identify one or more of the sets of pixel intensity values within the multicast and drive the plurality of LEDs based on the one or more identified sets of pixel intensity values. ### Claim 25 (depends on 14) The LED driver circuit of claim 14, wherein the multicast comprises a first set of pixel intensity values that is used simultaneously by the LED driver circuit and one or more additional LED driver circuits, and the multicast comprises second sets of pixel intensity values that are defined for a plurality of different LED drivers and wherein the LED driver circuit is configured to identify one or more of the second sets of pixel intensity values within the multicast and drive the plurality of LEDs based on the one or more identified sets of pixel intensity values. ### Claim 26 (depends on 14) The LED driver circuit of claim 14, further comprising a plurality of drivers configured to drive different plurality of LEDs, wherein each of the two or more drivers is configured to: receive the multicast; and drive a respective plurality of LEDs based on the multicast. ### Claim 27 (depends on 26) The LED driver circuit of claim 26, wherein each of the plurality of drivers is configured to drive a respective plurality of LEDs based on the multicast in a manner that is unique relative to other drivers of the plurality of drivers. ### Claim 28 (depends on 26) The LED driver circuit of claim 26, wherein at least one of the plurality of drivers corresponds to exterior vehicle lighting and at least one of the plurality of drivers corresponds to interior vehicle lighting. ### Claim 29 A control circuit configured to simultaneously control a plurality of different light emitting diode (LED) driver circuits, wherein the control circuit is configured to: generate a multicast of pixel intensity values based on data in memory or data received from a data source, wherein the multicast of pixel intensity values comprises a plurality of luminance values to be used by the plurality of different LED driver circuits to drive different sets of LEDs; and output the multicast of pixel intensity values simultaneously to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits on an interface that connects the control circuit to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits, wherein the plurality of different driver circuits is configured to drive different subsets of pixels within a matrix of LEDs that forms a vehicle headlamp, and wherein the multicast includes different pixel intensity values for the different subset of pixels within the matrix of LEDs. ### Claim 30 (depends on 29) The control circuit of claim 29, wherein the multicast of pixel intensity values comprises the plurality of luminance values and a plurality of chrominance values.