U.S. patent application number 14/942210 was filed with the patent office on 2017-03-02 for led and laser light coupling device and method of use.
The applicant listed for this patent is Flextronics AP, LLC. Invention is credited to Martin Walter John Burmeister, Peter Chester, Armando J. Lucrecio, Jiayin Ma.
Application Number | 20170059763 14/942210 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 58098000 |
Filed Date | 2017-03-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170059763 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lucrecio; Armando J. ; et
al. |
March 2, 2017 |
LED and Laser Light Coupling Device and Method of Use
Abstract
Techniques for light coupling are provided. Specifically,
systems and methods to provide coupling of light emitted from one
or more LEDs with light received by an optical fiber are
presented.
Inventors: |
Lucrecio; Armando J.;
(Fremont, CA) ; Ma; Jiayin; (Palo Alto, CA)
; Burmeister; Martin Walter John; (Cupertino, CA)
; Chester; Peter; (Sunnyvale, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Flextronics AP, LLC |
San Jose |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
58098000 |
Appl. No.: |
14/942210 |
Filed: |
November 16, 2015 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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62210303 |
Aug 26, 2015 |
|
|
|
62212844 |
Sep 1, 2015 |
|
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62216861 |
Sep 10, 2015 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G02B 6/428 20130101;
H02J 7/35 20130101; H04B 10/27 20130101; G02B 6/0006 20130101; H04B
10/503 20130101; G02B 6/4298 20130101; H02J 7/00 20130101; G02B
6/4204 20130101; H04B 10/807 20130101; H04B 10/502 20130101; G02B
6/0008 20130101; H04B 10/806 20130101 |
International
Class: |
F21V 8/00 20060101
F21V008/00 |
Claims
1. An LED and light coupling device comprising: at least one LED
configured to receive power and control signals, the at least one
LED emitting a first light with a first numerical aperture; a light
coupler in optical communication with the at least one LED, the
light coupler receiving the first light and emitting a second
light; and an optical fiber comprising an acceptance angle, the
optical fiber in optical communication with the light coupler;
wherein the light coupler alters the first light with the first
numerical aperture to a second light with a second numerical
aperture less than the first numerical aperture.
2. The device of claim 1, further comprising an electronic driver
controlling the at least one LED.
3. The device of claim 2, wherein the control of the at least one
LED comprises power modulation.
4. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one LED is a
surface-emitting LED.
5. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one LED is three
surface-emitting LEDs.
6. The device of claim 4, wherein the second light is received by
the optical fiber within the acceptance angle of the optical
fiber.
7. The device of claim 1, wherein the light coupler comprises an
optical integrating sphere.
8. The device of claim 1, wherein the light coupler comprises a
ball lens.
9. The device of claim 5, wherein the light coupler is an optical
sphere and the three surface-emitting LEDs are disposed at 0
degree, 90 degree and 180 degree radials about an equatorial
circumference of the optical sphere, wherein a coupling efficiency
between the first light and the second light is at least 95%.
10. A method of LED light coupling comprising: providing an LED
light coupling device comprising: i) at least one LED configured to
receive power and receive control signals, the at least one LED
emitting a first light with a first numerical aperture; ii) a light
coupler in optical communication with the at least one LED, the
light coupler receiving the first light and emitting a second
light; and iii) an optical fiber comprising an acceptance angle,
the optical fiber in optical communication with the light coupler;
engaging the LED light coupling device with a power source;
providing power to the at least one LED from the power source;
activating the at least one LED; emitting the first light to the
light coupler; altering, within the light coupler, the first light
wherein the first light with the first numerical aperture alters to
a second light with a second numerical aperture less than the first
numerical aperture; and providing the optical fiber with the second
light.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising an electronic driver
controlling the at least one LED.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the control of the at least one
LED comprises power modulation.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein the control of the at least one
LED comprises power modulation.
14. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one LED is a
surface-emitting LED.
15. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one LED is three
surface-emitting LEDs.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein the second light is received by
the optical fiber within the acceptance angle of the optical fiber,
wherein a coupling efficiency between the first light and the
second light is at least 95%.
17. The method of claim 10, the light coupler comprises an optical
integrating sphere.
18. The method of claim 10, wherein the light coupler comprises a
ball lens.
19. The method of claim 15, wherein the light coupler is an optical
sphere and the three surface-emitting LEDs are disposed at 0
degree, 90 degree and 180 degree radials about an equatorial
circumference of the optical sphere.
20. An LED fiber optics device comprising: at least one LED
configured to receive power and control signals, the at least one
LED emitting a first light with a first emission cone; a light
coupler in optical communication with the at least one LED, the
light coupler receiving the first light and emitting a second
light; and an optical fiber comprising an acceptance angle, the
optical fiber in optical communication with the light coupler;
wherein the light coupler alters the first light with the first
emission cone to a second light with a second emission cone less
than the first emission cone; wherein a coupling efficiency between
the first light and the second light is at least 95%.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims the benefits of and priority,
under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119(e), to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.
No. 62/210,303, filed on Aug. 26, 2015, entitled "Diffusive Optical
Fiber as Ambient Light Sensors, Optical Signal Transceiver,
Proximity Sensor," the entire disclosure of which is hereby
incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety, for all that it
teaches and for all purposes.
[0002] This application is also related to U.S. Provisional
Application Ser. No. 62/214,362, filed on Sep. 4, 2015, entitled
"Laser Charging and Optical Bi-Directional Communications Using
Standard USB Terminals," 62/212,844, filed on Sep. 1, 2015,
entitled "Diffusive Optical Fiber as Ambient Light Sensors, Optical
Signal Transceiver, Proximity Sensor," 62/216,861, filed on Sep.
10, 2015, entitled "Diffusive Optical Fiber as Ambient Light
Sensors, Optical Signal Transceiver, Proximity Sensor," 62/193,037,
filed on Jul. 15, 2015, entitled "Remote Device Charging,"
62/195,726, filed on Jul. 22, 2015, entitled "Remote Device
Charging," and 62/197,321, filed on Jul. 27, 2015, entitled "Device
Communication, Charging and User Interaction." The entire
disclosures of the applications listed above are hereby
incorporated by reference, in their entirety, for all that they
teach and for all purposes.
FIELD
[0003] The disclosure relates generally to light coupling, such as
systems and methods to couple light emitted from Light Emitting
Diodes (LEDs) with light received by an optical fiber.
BACKGROUND
[0004] Existing systems to couple light emitted from an LED or
other largely incoherent sources to optical fiber are of low
coupling efficiency. Typical coupling efficiencies of such
relatively large numerical aperture light sources are well below
5%. In contrast, coupling efficiencies of lasers or other largely
coherent light sources is commonly above 95%. It is advantageous to
use LEDs rather than lasers as fiber optical light sources because
LEDs are typically less expensive to operate and maintain. However,
the use of LEDs as light sources in fiber optics has been limited
because of the afore-mentioned coupling efficiencies. Therefore,
there is a need for a system and method to couple light emitted
from LEDs with light received by an optical fiber. This disclosure
solves those needs.
[0005] By way of providing additional background, context, and to
further satisfy the written description requirements of 35 U.S.C.
.sctn.112, the following references are incorporated by reference
in their entireties: U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2007/0031089 to Tessnow and
U.S. Pat. No. 7,621,677 to Yang.
SUMMARY
[0006] The disclosure provides systems and methods to provide
coupling of light emitted from one or more LEDs with light received
by an optical fiber.
[0007] In one embodiment, an LED and light coupling device is
disclosed, the device comprising: at least one LED configured to
receive power and control signals, the at least one LED emitting a
first light with a first numerical aperture; a light coupler in
optical communication with the at least one LED, the light coupler
receiving the first light and emitting a second light; and an
optical fiber comprising an acceptance angle, the optical fiber in
optical communication with the light coupler; wherein the light
coupler alters the first light with the first numerical aperture to
a second light with a second numerical aperture less than the first
numerical aperture.
[0008] In another embodiment, a method of LED light coupling is
disclosed, the method comprising: providing an LED light coupling
device comprising: i) at least one LED configured to receive power
and receive control signals, the at least one LED emitting a first
light with a first numerical aperture; ii) a light coupler in
optical communication with the at least one LED, the light coupler
receiving the first light and emitting a second light; and iii) an
optical fiber comprising an acceptance angle, the optical fiber in
optical communication with the light coupler; engaging the LED
light coupling device with a power source; providing power to the
at least one LED from the power source; activating the at least one
LED; emitting the first light to the light coupler; altering,
within the light coupler, the first light wherein the first light
with the first numerical aperture alters to a second light with a
second numerical aperture less than the first numerical aperture;
and providing the optical fiber with the second light.
[0009] In yet another embodiment, an LED fiber optics device is
disclosed, the device comprising: at least one LED configured to
receive power and control signals, the at least one LED emitting a
first light with a first emission cone; a light coupler in optical
communication with the at least one LED, the light coupler
receiving the first light and emitting a second light; and an
optical fiber comprising an acceptance angle, the optical fiber in
optical communication with the light coupler; wherein the light
coupler alters the first light with the first emission cone to a
second light with a second emission cone less than the first
emission cone; wherein a coupling efficiency between the first
light and the second light is at least 95%.
[0010] In some alternative embodiments, the device and/or method of
use further comprises: an electronic driver controlling the at
least one LED; wherein the control of the at least one LED
comprises power modulation; wherein the at least one LED is a
surface-emitting LED; wherein the at least one LED is three
surface-emitting LEDs; wherein the second light is received by the
optical fiber within the acceptance angle of the optical fiber;
wherein the light coupler comprises an optical integrating sphere;
wherein the light coupler comprises a ball lens; wherein the light
coupler is an optical sphere and the three surface-emitting LEDs
are disposed at 0 degree, 90 degree and 180 degree radials about an
equatorial circumference of the optical sphere, wherein a coupling
efficiency between the first light and the second light is at least
95%.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure
and its advantages, reference is now made to the following
description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in
which like reference numerals represent like parts:
[0012] FIG. 1 block diagram of the embodiment of the light coupling
system;
[0013] FIG. 2 provides a representation of one embodiment of the
LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG.
1;
[0014] FIG. 3a provides a representation of another embodiment of
the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of
FIG. 1;
[0015] FIG. 3b provides a representation of another embodiment of
the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of
FIG. 1;
[0016] FIG. 3c provides a representation of another embodiment of
the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of
FIG. 1;
[0017] FIG. 4a provides a representation of another embodiment of
the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of
FIG. 1;
[0018] FIG. 4b provides a representation of another embodiment of
the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of
FIG. 1;
[0019] FIG. 4c provides a representation of another embodiment of
the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of
FIG. 1;
[0020] FIG. 4d provides a representation of another embodiment of
the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of
FIG. 1;
[0021] FIG. 4e provides a representation of another embodiment of
the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of
FIG. 1;
[0022] FIG. 4f provides a representation of another embodiment of
the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of
FIG. 1;
[0023] FIG. 4g provides a representation of another embodiment of
the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of
FIG. 1;
[0024] FIG. 5 provides a representation of another embodiment of
the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of
FIG. 1;
[0025] FIG. 6 provides a representation of another embodiment of
the LED/coupler/fiber components of a light coupling system;
and
[0026] FIG. 7 provides a flow chart of a method of use of the light
coupling system of FIG. 1.
[0027] It should be understood that the drawings are not
necessarily to scale. In certain instances, details that are not
necessary for an understanding of the invention or that render
other details difficult to perceive may have been omitted. It
should be understood, of course, that the invention is not
necessarily limited to the particular embodiments illustrated
herein.
[0028] To assist in the understanding of the present invention the
following list of components and associated numbering found in the
drawings is provided herein:
TABLE-US-00001 Number Component 100 Device 200 Electronics 210
Electronics First End 220 Electronics Second End 230 PCB 284
Electronics/LED Input/Output 300 LED Module 310 LED Module First
End 320 LED Module Second End 330 LED Module Output 331 LED One 332
LED Two 333 LED Three 336 LED Shelf 341 LED One Output 342 LED Two
Output 343 LED Three Output 351 Micro LED 361 Micro LED Output 400
Coupler 410 Coupler First End 420 Coupler Second End 430 Optical
Nozzle 441 Ball Lens First 442 Ball Lens Second 450 Integrating
Sphere 461 Ball Lens One 462 Ball Lens Two 463 Ball Lens Three 470
Integrating Hemisphere 480 Diffractive Element 486 Coupler Output
490 Focusing Lens 492 Reflective Lens 500 Fiber Optic 510 Fiber
Optic First End 520 Fiber Optic Second End 540 Coating 600 Power
Supply 682 Power Supply Power
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0029] In the following detailed description, numerous specific
details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding
of the disclosed techniques. However, it will be understood by
those skilled in the art that the present embodiments may be
practiced without these specific details. In other instances,
well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not
been described in detail so as not to obscure the present
disclosure.
[0030] Although embodiments are not limited in this regard,
discussions utilizing terms such as, for example, "processing,"
"computing," "calculating," "determining," "establishing",
"analyzing", "checking", or the like, may refer to operation(s)
and/or process(es) of a computer, a computing platform, a computing
system, a communication system or subsystem, or other electronic
computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented
as physical (e.g., electronic) quantities within the computer's
registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented as
physical quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories
or other information storage medium that may store instructions to
perform operations and/or processes.
[0031] Although embodiments are not limited in this regard, the
terms "plurality" and "a plurality" as used herein may include, for
example, "multiple" or "two or more". The terms "plurality" or "a
plurality" may be used throughout the specification to describe two
or more components, devices, elements, units, parameters, circuits,
or the like.
[0032] The term "LED" means Light-Emitting Diode and refers to a
semiconductor that converts an electrical current into light, and
includes all available LEDs types such as surface-emitting LEDs and
edge-emitting LEDs.
[0033] The term "light coupling" means providing or supplying light
to or into a fiber.
[0034] The term "waveguide" means a structure that guides waves of
light.
[0035] The term "coupling efficiency" means the efficiency of power
transfer between two optical components.
[0036] The term "incoherent light" means light with frequent and
random changes of phase between the photons resulting in a spread
of light. I contrast, "coherent light" means a beam of photons that
have the same frequency and are all at the same frequency,
producing a stream or beam of light.
[0037] The term "numerical aperture" means a dimensionless number
that characterizes the range of angles over which the system can
accept or emit light.
[0038] The term "emission cone" or "emitting cone" or "acceptance
cone" means a defined geometric cone within which light will be
accepted and outside of which light will not be accepted.
[0039] The term "angle of acceptance" means a defined geometric
angle within which light will be accepted and outside of which
light will not be accepted.
[0040] The term "fiber optics" or "optical fiber" means a flexible,
transparent fiber made by drawing glass/silica or plastic.
[0041] Before undertaking the description of embodiments below, it
may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and
phrases used throughout this document: the terms "include" and
"comprise," as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without
limitation; the term "or," is inclusive, meaning and/or; the
phrases "associated with" and "associated therewith," as well as
derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within,
interconnect with, interconnected with, contain, be contained
within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable
with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be
bound to or with, have, or the like; and the term "controller"
means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one
operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, circuitry,
firmware or software, or combination of at least two of the same.
It should be noted that the functionality associated with any
particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether
locally or remotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are
provided throughout this document and those of ordinary skill in
the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such
definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined
words and phrases.
[0042] For purposes of explanation, numerous details are set forth
in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present
techniques. It should be appreciated however that the present
disclosure may be practiced in a variety of ways beyond the
specific details set forth herein. Furthermore, while the exemplary
embodiments illustrated herein show various components of the
system collocated, it is to be appreciated that the various
components of the system can be located at distant portions of a
distributed network, such as a communications network, node, and/or
the Internet, or within a dedicated secured, unsecured, and/or
encrypted system and/or within a network operation or management
device that is located inside or outside the network. As an
example, a wireless device can also be used to refer to any device,
system or module that manages and/or configures or communicates
with any one or more aspects of the network or communications
environment and/or transceiver(s) and/or stations and/or access
point(s) described herein.
[0043] Thus, it should be appreciated that the components of the
system can be combined into one or more devices, or split between
devices.
[0044] Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various
links, including the communications channel(s) connecting the
elements can be wired or wireless links or any combination thereof,
or any other known or later developed element(s) capable of
supplying and/or communicating data to and from the connected
elements. The term module as used herein can refer to any known or
later developed hardware, circuit, circuitry, software, firmware,
or combination thereof, that is capable of performing the
functionality associated with that element. The terms determine,
calculate, and compute and variations thereof, as used herein are
used interchangeable and include any type of methodology, process,
technique, mathematical operational or protocol.
[0045] With attention to FIGS. 1-6, embodiments of the light
coupling system 100 are depicted.
[0046] Generally, the device 100 comprises electronics 200, LED
module 300, coupler 400 and fiber optic 500. Electronics 200
comprises electronics first end 210 and electronics second end 220.
Electronics 200 may comprise an LED drive circuit. Electronics 200
receives power supply power 682 from power supply 600. LED module
300 comprises LED module first end 310, LED module second end 320
and communicates with electronics 200 by electronics/LED
input/output 284. LED module 300 may comprise LED one 331, LED two
332 and LED three 333. LED module 300 outputs an LED module output
330 (aka a first light) to coupler 400. Coupler 400 comprises
coupler first end 410 and coupler second end 420, and outputs a
coupler output 486 (aka a second light) to fiber optic (aka optical
fiber) 500. Fiber optic 500 comprises a fiber optic first end 510
and a fiber optic second end 520. Broadly, LED module 300 emits
non-coherent light (e.g. a "first light") of large emission cone
into coupler 400, wherein the coupler 400 alters the received light
to a narrow or smaller emission cone (e.g. a "second light") for
receipt by the fiber optic 500. The coupler 400 alters the first
light relatively large light emission cone to a narrower or smaller
emission cone that is within the angle of acceptance of the fiber
optic 500. Without the coupler 400 operating on the first light,
most of the first light would not fall within the angle of
acceptance of the fiber optic 500 (yielding a very low coupling
efficiency, e.g. below 5%). In contrast, with the coupler 400, a
high coupling efficiency is obtained, e.g. above 95%).
[0047] FIG. 2-5 provide various embodiments of the light coupling
system 100 of FIG. 1. Most of the embodiments optically couple,
through the use of one or more optical components, one or more LEDs
so as to provide more focused light to a fiber optic.
[0048] In the embodiment of FIG. 2, a series of two ball lens are
employed as a coupler. More specifically, LED Module 300 emits LED
module output 330 light from LED module second end 320 so as to be
received by ball lens first 441, which in turn outputs light to
ball lens second 442. Ball lens second 442 emits light as coupler
output 486 to fiber optic 500.
[0049] Conventionally, in laser to optical fiber coupling, two
equal size ball lenses are placed symmetrically between the laser
source and optical fiber. This configuration does not work well
with LED sources due to source to optical fiber core size ratio and
incoherency. In FIG. 2, the light from LED sources directly couple
with a smaller ball lens inside the polished metal cavity. The
highly reflective metal cavity surface is used as the first stage
beam concentrator to reflect light rays from LED source towards the
small ball lens. The small ball lens has strong ray bending power
due to its large curvature. The small ball lens uses this high
bending power to coarsely focus the light rays toward the optical
fiber core. Another large ball lens with less bending power
provides fine focus to the light rays toward the optical fiber core
area. The size ratio between the two ball lenses has a direct
relationship with the LED size and fiber core diameter ratio. The
optical materials of the two ball lenses are not limited to the
same material.
[0050] In the embodiment of FIG. 3a, the LED module 300 comprises a
micro LED 351. More specifically, micro LED 351 emits LED module
output 330 light from LED module second end 320 so as to be
received directly by fiber optic 500 at fiber optic first end 510.
Such a configuration, devoid of a coupler 400, is termed a
butt-coupling arrangement.
[0051] Note that the LED to optical fiber coupling efficiency may
be dramatically improved by reducing the LED size from millimeter
level to micrometer level that is on the same order as multimodal
fiber core diameter. Micrometer size LED may couple with multimodal
optical fiber directly (butt coupling) or by using micro lens on
top of the LED. Micrometer size LED may be a single LED or an array
of LEDs of any configuration. The potential coupling efficiency of
micrometer size LEDs to multimodal fiber could reach 30%+
theoretically.
[0052] In some embodiments, The array of micrometer size LEDs could
be configured with R G and B color micrometer size LEDs at any
mixing ratio. The R G and B color light would be coupled into the
multimodal optical fiber together. Color mixing may occur inside
the optical fiber core area. A mixed RGB micrometer size LEDs
coupling and color mixing mechanism may create any single color
(RGB mixed) light output.
[0053] In the embodiment of FIG. 3b, a cross-sectional view of
light coupling device 100 is shown. In this embodiment, LED Module
300 emits light so as to be reflected within a surrounding collar
or cylinder-shaped coupler 400, wherein more focused light enters
fiber optic 500 at fiber optic first end 510.
[0054] In the embodiment of FIG. 3c, a set of three (3) LEDs, i.e.
LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333 are butt coupled (that
is, placed against or adjacent the entry to fiber optic 500 at
fiber optic first end 510), wherein the light emitted from the
three LEDs enters fiber optic 500 and is focused or altered or
redirected by optical nozzle 430. Upon leaving optical nozzle
(which may comprise a metallic interior or inner surface), the
received light has a lower or narrower emission cone so as to be
received by optical fiber at a greater or increased coupling
efficiency. Optical Nozzle 430 exterior surface may comprise an
optically diffusive material. Interior of fiber optic 500 may
comprise a coating 540, such as a transparent cladding material to
facilitate total internal reflection of light within the fiber
optic 500. Optical nozzle 430 may comprise a waveguide and
optically clear material. In one embodiment, LED one 331, LED two
332 and LED three 333 are selected from the primary colors of red,
green, blue, that is three LEDs are provided, one each of red,
yellow and blue emitted light.
[0055] Traditionally, LEDs have very low coupling efficiency
because the conventional way to couple light from source to fiber
is based on geometric imaging mapping in which the light source's
image spatial information is preserved. Such an approach is limited
by the principle of optical invariance or LaGrange invariance, in
which the product of beam angle and beam waste is an invariant. The
optical invariance shows the relationships between LED source size,
acceptance angles (on both source and optical fiber), and optical
fiber diameter. To solve this dilemma, one must break the source
image's spatial information to improve the coupling efficiency:
putting the light from LED sources through some lossless diffusive
optical component would be the way to break the LED source spatial
pattern, while simultaneously preserve the illumination intensity
(energy) and optical wavelength (color spectrums). One such a
lossless diffusive optical component is an integrating sphere.
[0056] The integrating sphere is a (nearly) lossless diffusive
optical component. The integrating sphere is an optically hollow
(transparent) sphere with its inner wall painted with highly
diffusive white paints. The diffusive paints also have very
reflectivity (>95%.about.99%). The light (from LED source)
entering the integrating sphere would scatter and bounce within the
white diffusive sphere wall until it reaches an exit port (inserted
optical fiber). This process is lossless (almost) and color
spectrums maintained. Inside the optical clear sphere cavity, the
illumination intensity is uniformly distributed in every direction.
The light coupled into the exit port only relates to the sphere
size to exit port surface size ratio. The diffusive and color
spectrums maintained nature of the integrating sphere makes it to
be the ideal optical color-mixing chamber.
[0057] In the embodiment of FIG. 4a, an integrating sphere 450 is a
coupler. More specifically, LED Module 300 emits LED module output
330 light from LED module second end 320 so as to be received by
integrating sphere 450. Integrating sphere 450 emits light as
coupler output 486 to fiber optic 500 at fiber optic first end
510.
[0058] In one embodiment, the integrating sphere may be made by
combining two metal pieces, each forming a half sphere cavity. One
half sphere has a large hole to host the LED active area, and the
other has a small hole (exit port) to host the optical fiber. The
inner sphere surfaces are painted with highly reflective, diffusive
white paint. Light from an LED enters the integrating sphere, is
diffused and mixed, and then exits to exit port to couple directly
into optical fiber.
[0059] In one embodiment, an optical tapper replaces the optical
fiber at the exit port. The optical tapper has a large surface area
at the exit port end. The optical tapper's small end has the same
size as optical fiber core surface. The optical tapper is used to
increase the exit port size to improve the coupling efficiency.
[0060] In the embodiment of FIG. 4b, an integrating sphere 450 is a
coupler. More specifically, LED Module 300, comprising LED one 331,
LED two 332 and LED three 333 each emiting respectively LED one
output 341, LED two output 342 and LED three output 343, provide
light to received by integrating sphere 450. The three LEDs are
configured to generally direct light emissions to a common location
on integrating sphere 450. Integrating sphere 450 emits light as
coupler output 486 to fiber optic 500 at fiber optic first end 510.
In one embodiment, LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333 are
selected from the primary colors of red, green, blue, that is three
LEDs are provided, one each of red, yellow and blue emitted
light.
[0061] In the embodiment of FIG. 4c, an integrating sphere 450 is a
coupler. More specifically, LED Module 300, comprising LED one 331,
LED two 332 and LED three 333 each emitting respectively LED one
output 341, LED two output 342 and LED three output 343, provide
light to received by integrating sphere 450. However, in contrast,
to FIG. 4b, each of the three LEDs are positioned at 90 degree
separated radials about an equatorial axis of the integrating
sphere 450 (e.g., at a 0 degree, 90 degree, and 180 deg. radial).
Fiber optic 500 is located at the remaining 270 degree radial. In
one embodiment, LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333 are
selected from the primary colors of red, green, blue, that is three
LEDs are provided, one each of red, yellow and blue emitted
light.
[0062] In one embodiment, the set of three LEDs, when mounted as
depicted in FIG. 4c, serve to maximize thermal dissipation
efficiency.
[0063] In one embodiment, the integrating sphere is used as a mix
chamber to remove any unwanted laser sparking effect.
[0064] In one embodiment, the integrating sphere, when integrated
with the red/green/blue LEDs discussed above (or any set of colored
LEDs), is used as an optical color-mixing chamber to create any
color at an exit port into an optical fiber. Variable color output
into optical fiber is feasible by changing the individual intensity
of input color LEDs' electronically.
[0065] In the embodiment of FIG. 4d, an integrating hemisphere 470
is a coupler and disposed on a PCB 230. More specifically, LED
Module 300, disposed in the lower plane (i.e. a flat surface) of
the integrating hemisphere 470, emits LED module output 330 light
so as to be received by integrating hemisphere 470 and output to
fiber optic 500. The exposed area on the flat surface of the half
sphere would be painted with white, highly reflective, diffusive
paint. This configuration reduces the integrating sphere size and
increases the hosted LED active area surface or the number of LED
on a plane surface. This configuration has advantages on thermal
dissipating and LED's PCB layout.
[0066] In the embodiment of FIG. 4e, an integrating sphere 450 is a
coupler and three (3) LEDs are mounted on LED shelf 336 within
integrating sphere 450. The three (3) LEDs are LED one 331, LED two
332 and LED three 333. Light emitted from integrating sphere 450 is
provided to fiber optic 500 after passing through ball lens first
441. In one embodiment, LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333
are selected from the primary colors of red, green, blue, that is
three LEDs are provided, one each of red, yellow and blue emitted
light.
[0067] In one embodiment, the LED shelf 336 is a transparent PCB
board structure.
[0068] In one embodiment, the LED/LEDs are placed at the center of
the integrating sphere by a supporting rod. The supporting rod is
used to wire the LEDs and dissipate heat. LED/LEDs may mount
vertically to maximize the LED active area.
[0069] In some embodiments, ball lens first 441 is fitted to fiber
optic first end 510, as depicted in FIG. 4e. Stated another way, a
small ball lens is placed at the exit port. The optical fiber end
is placed at the ball lens's focal point. The small ball lens is
used to increase the exit port surface size and focus the light
onto the optical fiber end. This may increase the exit port to
optical fiber coupling efficiency.
[0070] In some embodiments, light received by fiber optic first end
510 is substantially within the fiber optic acceptance cone. In
some embodiments, light received by fiber optic first end 510 is
all within the fiber optic acceptance cone. In some embodiments,
the coupling efficiency between the one or more LEDs of the LED
module 300 and the fiber optic first end 510, as enabled by the
coupler 400, is preferably greater than 90%. In a more preferred
embodiment, the coupling efficiency is greater than 95%. In a most
preferred embodiment, the coupling efficiency is greater than
97%.
[0071] In the embodiment of FIG. 4f, coupler 400 comprises
diffractive element 480 and focusing lens 490. Light emitted by LED
module 300 is received by diffractive element 480, which,
generally, straightens the otherwise broad light cone emitted by
LED module 300. Focusing lens 490 receives light from diffractive
element 480 and focuses or narrows the received light so as to
provide a narrower or tighter cone of light to fiber optic first
end 510.
[0072] In the embodiment of FIG. 4g, a pair of LEDs, i.e. LED One
331 and LED two 332, emit light so as to reflect from reflective
lens 492 so as to be received by focusing lens 490. Focusing lens
490 in turn transmits light to fiber optic 500 at fiber optic first
end 510.
[0073] In the embodiment of FIG. 5, a set of three ball lens are
configured to receive a set of three light emissions from three
LEDs. More specifically, each of three (3) LEDs, that is LED one
331, LED two 332 and LED three 333, emit respective LED one output
341, LED two output 342, and LED three output 343 to respective
ball lens one 461, ball lens two 462 and ball lens three 463,
wherein the three light emissions are focused into one merged
coupler output 486 before entering fiber optic 510 at fiber optic
first end 510. In one embodiment, LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED
three 333 are selected from the primary colors of red, green, blue,
that is three LEDs are provided, one each of red, yellow and blue
emitted light.
[0074] FIG. 6 provides a design for a diffusive optical fiber 500
which may, for example, be useful for illumination and display
purposes. Any of the above disclosed coupling designs may be
utilized at the paired ends of a fiber optic 500. In FIG. 6, each
of two paired integrating spheres 450 direct light into opposing
ends of fiber optic 500, as generated by each of two respective LED
modules 300. Such a configuration increases the total amount of
light coupled into the fiber core area, or provides a mix of color.
In one embodiment, a mirror or other optical element (e.g. a ball
lens) with high reflectance is disposed at one or more ends of the
fiber optic. The excessive illumination light could be bounced back
for second diffusive radiation along the fiber core.
[0075] Power supply 600 may be any power supply known to those
skilled in the art, such as a standard wall outlet, a personal
computer, or a laptop computer, and may be a wireless connection.
Electronics 200 receives power from power supply used, among other
things, to power and control the one or more LEDs of the LED module
300.
[0076] In one embodiment, the device 100 comprises its own power
supply, such as a battery such as a lithium battery, so as to power
the one or more LEDs and provide any set of functions disclosed
above.
[0077] In one embodiment, a polished (inner surface) metal
tube/cone could be inserted into the optical fiber or taper. The
coned inner surface would guide the light from micrometer size LED
or LED array towards the fiber. This approach may increase the
accommodation of more micrometer size LEDs.
[0078] With reference to FIGS. 1-6, FIG. 7 provides a flow chart
illustrating an exemplary method of use of the light coupling
system 100. Generally, the method 700 starts at step 704 and ends
at step 728.
[0079] At step 708 of the method 700, the device 100 is engaged
with power supply 600 and receives power supply power 682. The
power is received by electronics 200 at electronics first end 210.
At step 712, the one or more LEDs of LED module 300 are activated,
which may comprise power on/off, frequency modulation, and power
modulation. At step 716, light is transmitted by the one or more
LEDs to the coupler 400. The light emitted by LEDs is generally of
large or wide emission cone and/or large numerical aperture.
[0080] At step 720, the LED transmitted light is received by
coupler 400 and processed to, among other things, focus the light
to a narrower or tighter emission cone or smaller numerical
aperture, wherein the processed light is transmitted. At step 724,
the processed light emitted from the coupler 400 is received by the
fiber optic 500 and transmitted through the fiber optic. The method
then ends at step 728.
[0081] In the detailed description, numerous specific details are
set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the
disclosed techniques. However, it will be understood by those
skilled in the art that the present techniques may be practiced
without these specific details. In other instances, well-known
methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been
described in detail so as not to obscure the present
disclosure.
[0082] Although embodiments are not limited in this regard,
discussions utilizing terms such as, for example, "processing,"
"computing," "calculating," "determining," "establishing",
"analysing", "checking", or the like, may refer to operation(s)
and/or process(es) of a computer, a computing platform, a computing
system, a communication system or subsystem, or other electronic
computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented
as physical (e.g., electronic) quantities within the computer's
registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented as
physical quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories
or other information storage medium that may store instructions to
perform operations and/or processes.
[0083] Although embodiments are not limited in this regard, the
terms "plurality" and "a plurality" as used herein may include, for
example, "multiple" or "two or more". The terms "plurality" or "a
plurality" may be used throughout the specification to describe two
or more components, devices, elements, units, parameters, circuits,
or the like. For example, "a plurality of stations" may include two
or more stations.
[0084] It may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain
words and phrases used throughout this document: the terms
"include" and "comprise," as well as derivatives thereof, mean
inclusion without limitation; the term "or," is inclusive, meaning
and/or; the phrases "associated with" and "associated therewith,"
as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included
within, interconnect with, interconnected with, contain, be
contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be
communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be
proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the
like; and the term "controller" means any device, system or part
thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may be
implemented in hardware, circuitry, firmware or software, or some
combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that
the functionality associated with any particular controller may be
centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely.
Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout
this document and those of ordinary skill in the art should
understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions
apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and
phrases.
[0085] For purposes of explanation, numerous details are set forth
in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present
techniques. It should be appreciated however that the present
disclosure may be practiced in a variety of ways beyond the
specific details set forth herein.
[0086] Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links
(which may not be shown connecting the elements), including the
communications channel(s) connecting the elements, can be wired or
wireless links or any combination thereof, or any other known or
later developed element(s) capable of supplying and/or
communicating data to and from the connected elements. The term
module as used herein can refer to any known or later developed
hardware, circuit, circuitry, software, firmware, or combination
thereof, that is capable of performing the functionality associated
with that element. The terms determine, calculate, and compute and
variations thereof, as used herein are used interchangeable and
include any type of methodology, process, technique, mathematical
operational or protocol.
[0087] Moreover, while some of the exemplary embodiments described
herein are directed toward a transmitter portion of a transceiver
performing certain functions, or a receiver portion of a
transceiver performing certain functions, this disclosure is
intended to include corresponding and complementary
transmitter-side or receiver-side functionality, respectively, in
both the same transceiver and/or another transceiver(s), and vice
versa.
[0088] While the above-described flowcharts have been discussed in
relation to a particular sequence of events, it should be
appreciated that changes to this sequence can occur without
materially effecting the operation of the embodiment(s).
Additionally, the exact sequence of events need not occur as set
forth in the exemplary embodiments. Additionally, the exemplary
techniques illustrated herein are not limited to the specifically
illustrated embodiments but can also be utilized with the other
exemplary embodiments and each described feature is individually
and separately claimable.
[0089] Additionally, the systems, methods and protocols can be
implemented to improve one or more of a special purpose computer, a
programmed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral
integrated circuit element(s), an ASIC or other integrated circuit,
a digital signal processor, a hard-wired electronic or logic
circuit such as discrete element circuit, a programmable logic
device such as PLD, PLA, FPGA, PAL, a modem, a
transmitter/receiver, any comparable means, or the like. In
general, any device capable of implementing a state machine that is
in turn capable of implementing the methodology illustrated herein
can benefit from the various communication methods, protocols and
techniques according to the disclosure provided herein.
[0090] Examples of the processors as described herein may include,
but are not limited to, at least one of Qualcomm.RTM.
Snapdragon.RTM. 800 and 801, Qualcomm.RTM. Snapdragon.RTM. 610 and
615 with 4G LTE Integration and 64-bit computing, Apple.RTM. A7
processor with 64-bit architecture, Apple.RTM. M7 motion
coprocessors, Samsung.RTM. Exynos.RTM. series, the Intel.RTM.
Core.TM. family of processors, the Intel.RTM. Xeon.RTM. family of
processors, the Intel.RTM. Atom.TM. family of processors, the Intel
Itanium.RTM. family of processors, Intel.RTM. Core.RTM. i5-4670K
and i7-4770K 22 nm Haswell, Intel.RTM. Core.RTM. i5-3570K 22 nm Ivy
Bridge, the AMD.RTM. FX.TM. family of processors, AMD.RTM. FX-4300,
FX-6300, and FX-8350 32 nm Vishera, AMD.RTM. Kaveri processors,
Texas Instruments.RTM. JacintoC6000.TM. automotive infotainment
processors, Texas Instruments.RTM. OMAP.TM. automotive-grade mobile
processors, ARM.RTM. Cortex.TM.-M processors, ARM.RTM. Cortex-A and
ARM926EJ-S.TM. processors, Broadcom.RTM. AirForce BCM4704/BCM4703
wireless networking processors, the AR7100 Wireless Network
Processing Unit, other industry-equivalent processors, and may
perform computational functions using any known or future-developed
standard, instruction set, libraries, and/or architecture.
[0091] Furthermore, the disclosed methods may be readily
implemented in software using object or object-oriented software
development environments that provide portable source code that can
be used on a variety of computer or workstation platforms.
Alternatively, the disclosed system may be implemented partially or
fully in hardware using standard logic circuits or VLSI design.
Whether software or hardware is used to implement the systems in
accordance with the embodiments is dependent on the speed and/or
efficiency requirements of the system, the particular function, and
the particular software or hardware systems or microprocessor or
microcomputer systems being utilized. The communication systems,
methods and protocols illustrated herein can be readily implemented
in hardware and/or software using any known or later developed
systems or structures, devices and/or software by those of ordinary
skill in the applicable art from the functional description
provided herein and with a general basic knowledge of the computer
and telecommunications arts.
[0092] Moreover, the disclosed methods may be readily implemented
in software and/or firmware that can be stored on a storage medium
to improve the performance of: a programmed general-purpose
computer with the cooperation of a controller and memory, a special
purpose computer, a microprocessor, or the like. In these
instances, the systems and methods can be implemented as program
embedded on personal computer such as an applet, JAVA.RTM. or CGI
script, as a resource residing on a server or computer workstation,
as a routine embedded in a dedicated communication system or system
component, or the like. The system can also be implemented by
physically incorporating the system and/or method into a software
and/or hardware system, such as the hardware and software systems
of a communications transceiver.
[0093] Various embodiments may also or alternatively be implemented
fully or partially in software and/or firmware. This software
and/or firmware may take the form of instructions contained in or
on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Those
instructions may then be read and executed by one or more
processors to enable performance of the operations described
herein. The instructions may be in any suitable form, such as but
not limited to source code, compiled code, interpreted code,
executable code, static code, dynamic code, and the like. Such a
computer-readable medium may include any tangible non-transitory
medium for storing information in a form readable by one or more
computers, such as but not limited to read only memory (ROM);
random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical
storage media; a flash memory, etc.
[0094] It is therefore apparent that there has at least been
provided systems and methods for light coupling. While the
embodiments have been described in conjunction with a number of
embodiments, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications
and variations would be or are apparent to those of ordinary skill
in the applicable arts. Accordingly, this disclosure is intended to
embrace all such alternatives, modifications, equivalents and
variations that are within the spirit and scope of this
disclosure.
* * * * *