Apparatus with optical functionality and power management and associated methods

A method of sensing light using a sensor integrated circuit (IC), the method comprising:

• (i) running the sensor integrated circuit (IC) in a sleep mode;
• (ii) running the sensor integrated circuit (IC) in a convert mode upon occurrence of at least one condition, wherein during the convert mode the sensor integrated circuit (IC) converts at least one signal related to ambient light sensing (ALS) and/or proximity detection to at least one digital signal while suspending a controller of the sensor integrated circuit (IC);
• and
• (iii) running the sensor integrated circuit (IC) in a process mode to process the at least one digital signal.

A method of sensing light using a sensor integrated circuit (IC), the method comprising:

• running a light emitting diode (LED) driver to drive at least one light emitting diode (LED);
• sensing ambient light and/or reflected light from an object for proximity detection to generate at least one analog signal;
• and
• running with a low duty cycle an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to convert the at least one analog signal into at least one digital signal and suspending a controller of the sensor integrated circuit (IC).