Multi-mode LED illumination system

A camera device that operates in two or more modes, comprising:

• a camera portion;
• and
• an LED illumination system that operates in a first mode and a second mode of the two or more modes of the camera device, including:
• a plurality of LEDs that are coupled to form an LED string;
• a plurality of bypass elements, each bypass element being configured to bypass a subset of the LEDs;
• a microcontroller unit that controls the plurality of bypass elements to select one of a plurality of LED subsets in the second mode, wherein at least two of the plurality of LED subsets include distinct LED members to illuminate different regions of a field of view;
• and
• a boost converter coupled to the microcontroller and the plurality of LEDs, wherein the boost converter is configured to generate a drive voltage to drive the plurality of LEDs;
• wherein in the first mode the boost converter is configured to drive the LED string by a boosted drive voltage, and in the second mode the boost converter is configured to drive the selected one of the plurality of LED subsets by a regular drive voltage that is lower than the boosted drive voltage.

A method of manufacturing an LED illumination system that operates in a first mode and a second mode, comprising:

• providing a plurality of LEDs that are coupled to form an LED string;
• providing a plurality of bypass elements, each bypass element being configured to bypass a subset of the LEDs;
• providing a microcontroller unit that controls the plurality of bypass elements to select one of a plurality of LED subsets in the second mode, wherein at least two of the plurality of LED subsets include distinct LED members to illuminate different regions of a field of view;
• and
• providing a boost converter coupled to the microcontroller and the plurality of LEDs, wherein the boost converter is configured to generate a drive voltage to drive the plurality of LEDs;
• wherein in the first mode the boost converter is configured to drive the LED string by a boosted drive voltage, and in the second mode the boost converter is configured to drive the selected one of the plurality of LED subsets by a regular drive voltage that is lower than the boosted drive voltage.