U.S. patent application number 16/114223 was filed with the patent office on 2019-11-28 for optical wireless communication system.
The applicant listed for this patent is ACER INCORPORATED. Invention is credited to Chih-Chiang Chen, Jui-Chieh Hsiang.
Application Number | 20190363790 16/114223 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 67764595 |
Filed Date | 2019-11-28 |
![](/patent/app/20190363790/US20190363790A1-20191128-D00000.png)
![](/patent/app/20190363790/US20190363790A1-20191128-D00001.png)
![](/patent/app/20190363790/US20190363790A1-20191128-D00002.png)
![](/patent/app/20190363790/US20190363790A1-20191128-D00003.png)
United States Patent
Application |
20190363790 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hsiang; Jui-Chieh ; et
al. |
November 28, 2019 |
OPTICAL WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Abstract
An optical wireless communication system includes a display
panel, a frame rate controller, a backlight module, and a timing
controller. The display panel includes a glass substrate, and the
frame rate controller is configured to modulate multiple
frequencies. The timing controller is configured to drive different
scan regions of the glass substrate using at least a first
frequency and a second frequency among the multiple frequencies
and/or drive different backlight regions of the backlight module
using at least a third frequency and a fourth frequency among the
multiple frequencies for transmitting optical data. The first
frequency is different from the second frequency, the third
frequency is different from the fourth frequency, the value of the
second frequency is a multiple of the value of the first frequency,
and the value of the fourth frequency is a multiple of the value of
the third frequency.
Inventors: |
Hsiang; Jui-Chieh; (New
Taipei City, TW) ; Chen; Chih-Chiang; (New Taipei
City, TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
ACER INCORPORATED |
New Taipei City |
|
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
67764595 |
Appl. No.: |
16/114223 |
Filed: |
August 28, 2018 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04B 10/1141 20130101;
H04B 10/502 20130101; H04B 10/116 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04B 10/116 20060101
H04B010/116; H04B 10/50 20060101 H04B010/50; H04B 10/114 20060101
H04B010/114 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 28, 2018 |
TW |
107118080 |
Claims
1. An optical wireless communication system, comprising: a display
panel including a glass substrate; a backlight module configured to
provide light for operating the display panel; a frame rate
controller configured to modulate multiple frequencies; a scan
driving circuit; and a timing controller configured to: instruct
the scan driving circuit to drive a first scan region and a second
scan region of the glass substrate using at least a first frequency
and a second frequency among the multiple frequencies so as to
transmit an optical data; and instruct the backlight module to
drive a first backlight region of the backlight module using a
third frequency and drive a second backlight region of the
backlight module using a fourth frequency, wherein the first
frequency is different from the second frequency, the third
frequency id different from the fourth frequency, a value of the
second frequency is a multiple of a value of the first frequency,
and a value of the fourth frequency is a multiple of a value of the
third frequency.
2. The optical wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein
the scan driving circuit comprises: a first integrated circuit
configured to refresh images of the first scan region using the
first frequency so as to transmit the optical data; and a second
integrated circuit configured to refresh images of the second scan
region using the second frequency so as to transmit the optical
data.
3. (canceled)
4. The optical wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein
the frame rate controller is disposed on a graphics processing unit
terminal, and the timing controller, the scan driving circuit and
the display panel are disposed on a panel control terminal.
5. The optical wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein
the frame rate controller, the timing controller, the scan driving
circuit and the display panel are disposed on a panel control
terminal.
6. (canceled)
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority of Taiwan Application No.
107118080 filed on May 28, 2018.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention is related to an optical wireless
communication system, and more particularly, to an optical wireless
communication system with low power consumption, high data capacity
and low image flicker.
2. Description of the Prior Art
[0003] Compared to traditional incandescent bulbs, light-emitting
diodes (LEDs) are advantageous in low power consumption, long
lifetime, small size, no warm-up time, fast reaction speed, and the
ability to be manufactured as small or array devices. In addition
to outdoor displays, traffic signs, and liquid crystal display
(LCD) backlight for various electronic devices such as mobile
phones, notebook computers or personal digital assistants (PDAs),
LEDs are also widely used as indoor/outdoor lighting devices in
place of fluorescent of incandescent lamps.
[0004] With the development in global communication, optical
wireless communication technologies proliferate and become
essential in deploying communication networks. An optical wireless
communication system may take advantage of LEDs which can be pulsed
at very high speeds without noticeable effect on the lighting
output and human eyes, thereby transmitting optical date. In
addition to high data capacity, a visible light optical wireless
communication can provide more secure communications over a radio
wave wireless system by using narrow and highly-directional beams
for data transmission. Also, the operation of the visible light
optical wireless communication does not pose hazards to human
bodies or interfere with surrounding equipment, and can function as
a secure wireless base station.
[0005] Existing optical wireless communication systems adopt an LED
backlight signal modulation scheme in which a transmitting display
is configured to transmit fast-pulsed digital signals (logic 1 and
logic 0) by adjusting the refresh frequency of a backlight module,
while a receiving device is configured to receive and identify the
digital signals unperceivable to human eyes using an image sensor
equipped with a specific application program. However, the
above-mentioned backlight signal modulation scheme operates at high
frequencies which may increase the power consumption of the
backlight module and reduce image brightness. When required to
operate in a low-brightness backlight mode, the backlight module
may not be able to adjust the brightness of an image to a
designated low value when implemented with the backlight signal
modulation scheme. Therefore, there is a need for to an optical
wireless communication system with low power consumption and high
data capacity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The present invention provides an optical wireless
communication system which includes a display panel, a frame rate
controller, a scan driver and a timing controller. The display
panel includes a glass substrate. The frame rate controller is
configured to modulate multiple frequencies. The timing controller
is configured to instruct the scan driving circuit to drive a first
scan region and a second scan region of the glass substrate using
at least a first frequency and a second frequency among the
multiple frequencies so as to transmit an optical data. The first
frequency is different from the second frequency, and a value of
the second frequency is a multiple of a value of the first
frequency.
[0007] The present invention also provides an optical wireless
communication system which includes a display panel, a backlight
module, a frame rate controller, and a timing controller. The
backlight module is configured to provide light for operating the
display panel. The frame rate controller is configured to modulate
multiple frequencies. The timing controller is configured to
instruct the backlight module to drive a first backlight region of
the backlight module using at least a first frequency among the
multiple frequencies and drive a second backlight region of the
backlight module using at least a second frequency. The first
frequency is different from the second frequency, and a value of
the second frequency is a multiple of a value of the first
frequency.
[0008] These and other objectives of the present invention will no
doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after
reading the following detailed description of the preferred
embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a functional diagram illustrating an optical
wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the
present invention.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a functional diagram illustrating an optical
wireless communication system according to another embodiment of
the present invention.
[0011] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a method of performing
optical wireless communication according to an embodiment of the
present invention.
[0012] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a method of performing
optical wireless communication according to another embodiment of
the present invention.
[0013] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a method of performing
optical wireless communication according to another embodiment of
the present invention.
[0014] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a method of performing
optical wireless communication according to another embodiment of
the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] FIG. 1 is a functional diagram illustrating an optical
wireless communication system 100 according to an embodiment of the
present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional diagram illustrating an
optical wireless communication system 200 according to another
embodiment of the present invention. Each of the optical wireless
communication systems 100 and 200 includes a graphics processing
unit (GPU) terminal 10 and a panel control panel 20. In the optical
wireless communication system 100, the GPU terminal 10 includes a
scaler 11, while the panel control panel 20 includes a frame rate
controller (FRC) 22, a timing controller (TCON) 24, a backlight
module 26, a data driving circuit 27, a scan driving circuit 28,
and a display panel 30. In the optical wireless communication
system 200, the GPU terminal 10 includes a scaler 11 and a frame
rate controller 12, while the panel control panel 20 includes a
timing controller 24, a backlight module 26, a data driving circuit
27, a scan driving circuit 28, and a display panel 30.
[0016] In an embodiment of the present invention, the backlight
module 26 may include multiple LEDs in order to provide the light
for operating the display panel 30. The display panel 30 may be a
liquid crystal display (LCD) panel which includes a liquid crystal
layer, glass substrates, polarizers, filters, and diffuser films.
The liquid crystal layer is disposed between two glass substrates.
Micro-structures of red, green, blue and black colors are
fabricated on the surface of the upper glass substrate so as to
form color filters. A plurality of transistors are fabricated on
the surface of the lower glass substrate so as to form various
driving circuits such as the data driving circuit 27 and the scan
driving circuit 28. The current flowing through the transistors by
applying different bias voltages results in a variation in
electrical field. The rotation angle of the liquid crystal
molecules may thus be adjusted for changing the polarity of light,
thereby controlling the display of images. However, the structure
of the display panel 30 does not limit the scope of the present
invention.
[0017] In an embodiment of the present invention, a glass substrate
signal frequency modulation scheme may be adopted when performing
optical wireless communication. At least two different frequencies
are modulated for two different signals. Different scan regions of
the glass substrates in the display panel 30 are driven by at least
two different frequencies for transmitting optical signals, wherein
the value of each frequency among the different frequencies is a
multiple of the value of another frequency among the different
frequencies.
[0018] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a method of performing
optical wireless communication according to an embodiment of the
present invention. When transmitting digital optical signals, the
frame rate controller 12 or 22 is configured to modulate multiple
frequencies so that the timing controller 24 may instruct M
integrated circuits IC.sub.1.about.IC.sub.M in the scan driving
circuit 28 to drive M scan region SCAN.sub.1.about.SCAN.sub.M of
the glass substrates in the display panel 30 using frequencies
F.sub.1.about.F.sub.M, respectively. The values of the frequencies
F.sub.1.about.F.sub.M have a relationship of
F.sub.M=A.sub.i*F.sub.i, wherein M is an integer larger than 1, i
is an integer between 0 and M, A.sub.1.about.A.sub.i are positive
integers, and at least one of A.sub.1.about.A.sub.i is larger than
1. FIG. 3 depicts an embodiment of M=4 in which the scan driving
circuit 28 includes 4 integrated circuits IC.sub.1.about.IC.sub.4
corresponding to the scan region SCAN.sub.1.about.SCAN.sub.4 of the
glass substrates in the display panel 30, respectively. The
integrated circuit IC.sub.1 is configured to drive the scan region
SCAN.sub.1 with an image refresh frequency F.sub.1=30 Hz. The
integrated circuit IC.sub.2 is configured to drive the scan region
SCAN.sub.2 with an image refresh frequency F.sub.2=60 Hz. The
integrated circuit IC.sub.3 is configured to drive the scan region
SCAN.sub.3 with an image refresh frequency F.sub.3=120 Hz. The
integrated circuit IC.sub.4 is configured to drive the scan region
SCAN.sub.4 with an image refresh frequency F.sub.4=240 Hz. In other
words, A.sub.1=8, A.sub.2=4, and A.sub.3=2.
[0019] In another embodiment of the present invention, a backlight
module frequency modulation scheme may further be adopted when
performing optical wireless communication. At least two different
frequencies are modulated for two different signals. Different
backlight regions of the backlight module 26 are driven by at least
two different frequencies for transmitting optical signals, wherein
the value of each frequency among the different frequencies is a
multiple of the value of another frequency among the different
frequencies.
[0020] FIGS. 4.about.6 are diagrams illustrating methods of
performing optical wireless communication according to embodiments
of the present invention. The backlight module 26 includes N
backlight regions BL.sub.1.about.BL.sub.N with refresh frequencies
F.sub.BL1.about.F.sub.BLN, respectively. The values of the
frequencies F.sub.BL1.about.F.sub.BLN have a relationship of
F.sub.BLN=B.sub.j*F.sub.BLj, wherein N is an integer larger than 1,
j is an integer between 0 and N, B.sub.1.about.B.sub.j are positive
integers, and at least one of B.sub.1.about.B.sub.j is larger than
1. FIGS. 4.about.6 depict the embodiments of N=4 in which the
backlight module 26 includes 4 backlight regions
BL.sub.1.about.BL.sub.4 with refresh frequencies
F.sub.BL1.about.F.sub.BL4. The refresh frequencies F.sub.BL1 of the
backlight region BL.sub.1 is 10 MHz. The refresh frequencies
F.sub.BL2 of the backlight region BL.sub.2 is 20 MHz. The refresh
frequencies F.sub.BL3 of the backlight region BL.sub.3 is 30 MHz.
The refresh frequencies F.sub.BL4 of the backlight region BL.sub.4
is 80 MHz. In other words, B.sub.1=8, B.sub.2=4, and B.sub.3=2.
[0021] In another embodiment of the present invention, the
backlight regions BL.sub.1.about.BL.sub.N may be vertically-striped
regions (FIG. 4), horizontally-striped regions (FIG. 5) or
equally-divided regions (FIG. 6) of the backlight module 26.
However, the embodiments depicted in FIGS. 4.about.6 are merely for
illustrative purposes and do not limit the scope of the present
invention.
[0022] In another embodiment of the present invention, the glass
substrate signal frequency modulation scheme depicted in FIG. 3 and
the backlight module frequency modulation scheme depicted in FIGS.
4.about.6 maybe combined to further increase data capacity when
performing optical wireless communication.
[0023] In conclusion, the present invention provides an optical
wireless communication system with low power consumption and high
data capacity. At least one of the glass substrate signal frequency
modulation scheme and the backlight module frequency modulation
scheme is adopted so as to modulate at least two different
frequencies for two different signals. Different scan regions of
the glass substrates in the display panel or different backlight
regions of the backlight module are driven by at least two
different frequencies for transmitting optical signals, thereby
increasing data capacity when performing optical wireless
communication. Meanwhile, the value of each frequency among the
different frequencies is a multiple of the value of another
frequency among the different frequencies, thereby reducing image
flicker and signal discontinuity. Also, the glass substrate signal
frequency modulation scheme of the present invention does not
require high-frequency operation of the backlight module or reduce
the brightness of the backlight module, it does not increase the
power consumption of the backlight module or influence the
low-brightness operation of the backlight module.
[0024] Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous
modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made
while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the
above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes
and bounds of the appended claims.
* * * * *