subject: Differentiating Your Led Design [print this page] Currently, when most illumination customers think most differentiation, they think most using colouration LEDs for mixing light. These RGB, RGBA, etc. applications fit an interesting niche in both architectural and stage illumination designs. However, a lack of imagination has gripped the market in terms of attractive many of these same principles and attacking the substantially larger White Light market.
Most engineers are currently creating me-too albescent light designs by attractive x sort of albescent LEDs from a manufacturer such as Lumileds, adding up the lumens to equal or outgo that of a fluorescent, hooking it up to a ballast, and calling it good. This does not appear to be a recipe for long-term success. There are few technological advances that stop at the replacement level, and as customers gain a new perspective on the added features of LEDs, it would be unfortunate to assume that there would be no further utilization.
This article will explore several examples of differentiating what appears at face continuance to be a ultimate LED design. Each of these examples deserves far more space than crapper be devoted to here, but should serve as a starting saucer for added creativity. The key to this step is the constituent of basic intelligence to the circuit, generally in the modify of a microcontroller. Intelligence is necessary to take advantage of what LEDs offer as much to albescent light designs as to color.
Tune to Temperature
The first warning of a key differentiating feature is the ability to tune colouration temperature along the black body locus. It is relatively ultimate to imagine why digit wants to mix color, and still there has yet to be substantial progress made towards the same principles with albescent light. As illumination customers become more discerning, the option of some specific colouration temperature between 3000K and 6500K is appealing. This also means that designers crapper maintain a single albescent light fixture design that avoids the need for constant revision dependent on a Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) specification. What is interesting to note most tuning albescent light is that it actually is normally done through mixing colouration LEDs. This originally was done with a ultimate RGB interface, but designers quickly noticed that the Color Rendering Index (CRI) was extremely poor. CRI is essential in order to reproduce an items colouration as it would be low natural light, especially vital in such applications as pass lighting. A merchant doesnt want good jewelry looking bland. To alleviate this concern, designers hit tried RGBA, RGGB, and RGBW, and each configuration has their advocates. Intelligence crapper ensure that whatever LED configuration a specializer selects will hit the best possible CRI by calculating the dimming percentages required to drive the LEDs efficiently. Companies such as Future Electronics hit done superior work in assisting designers with this often difficult process. Even if a high CRI is not a crowning design requirement, some sort of ultimate tuning crapper be beneficial, this time only with two strings of albescent LEDs, cool and warm white. This approach crapper provide the same sort of lumens patch also allowing the specializer an easy way to differentiate the product, especially from standard fluorescent bulbs.Intelligence through Communication A secondary modify of intelligence and secernment is in the modify of communication. Even in static albescent applications, the process of retrofitting illumination fixtures in an existing infrastructure gives designers the unique ability to inform networking features without the need for added wiring. This last advantage is important, because few designers want to require that installation, as it is quite cost prohibitive. Yet the secernment potential of communication crapper be tremendous, as the setup allows for dimming and colouration temperature control to be controlled through a central hub.Power Line Communication (PLC) is a profession that takes a carrier signal and routes it through existing noesis wiring, thus saving on installation costs. In digit example, PLC is a 2.4 kbps FSK modem which crapper be robust over 100m distance, suitable for most home/office applications. Since PLC crapper be voltage agnostic, it does not require substantial board redesigns for separate usages. It should be mentioned that PLC crapper encompass far higher bandwidths as well, as it is being pushed by some companies up to the 200 mbps level, which could be over noesis lines or also over Ethernet.
The use of various wireless communication technologies crapper also eliminate the need for home/office rewiring. The robustness of RF solutions has continued to improve, to the saucer of eliminating the interference from certain home objects such as the dreaded microwave. Integrating wireless is less of a chore than in the past, as suppliers hit introduced module solutions that apply a ultimate serial programme for communication to a main microcontroller, eliminating the need to go through the challenge of such design steps as FCC certification. Wireless options are especially interesting for the entertainment illumination market, where the light placement crapper then take full priority over added wiring concerns.
Peripheral Functionality
Even without turning to tuning or communication techniques, creative designers are still finding ways to make their products stand out in the market through the last discussed differentiating feature; peripheral functionality.
As energy costs continue to rise, companies are searching for added ways to find value. One key regulation that has
become a selling feature is the EnergyStar requirement, and has pushed designers to search for unique ways to manage
energy usage. Obviously this has been a standard selling feature for LEDs in general, as their efficiency crapper be up to four times that of standard replacement bulbs. Adding some peripheral controls to increase that efficiency crapper genuinely help a company stand apart. This crapper be done cheaply using an ambient light sensor or PIR sensor.
The basic functionality of an ambient light sensor or PIR sensor is fairly substantially known, so it will not be discussed here. The saucer is that tracking light or abidance crapper dramatically decrease total energy practice of the fixture.
Below are a few examples.
The ambient light sensor crapper track the available light depending on the time of day and adjust the dimming of an duty illumination network accordingly. A PIR sensor crapper act as an abidance sensor in an automobile, cubicle, or home, and invoke on/off a light depending on the feedback. Even something as ultimate as the light on the front of a albescent goods appliance crapper apply a ultimate sensor in order to only invoke on when needed. One final peripheral function that crapper be a key differentiating factor is the constituent of capacitive control. This refers to the replacement of mechanical buttons or switches with a capacitive trace programme that has advantages in aesthetic appeal and in being hermetically sealed. The explosion in popularity of this type of programme in the MP3 and cell phone market makes it an intriguing feature for lighting. Also, the sort of capacitive solution providers is rapidly expanding, so the ability of a specializer to find the right fit for their solution has improved. There are two easy examples of ways this profession crapper be used in the illumination market. The first is as a ultimate on/off switch or dimming slider. This is a basic low-pain constituent to a companys first LED wall wash or table lamp. The slider crapper also be paired with the tuning albescent lights discussed earlier to select a specific colouration temperature.
An on/off switch crapper also become a proximity switch as the sensitivity of the capacitive loop is increased. Then a hand would only hit to be waved near a light to invoke it on. Again, this is a great feature that doesnt needs hit to require some added design work with the LEDs themselves. All the options discussed in this article, from tuning albescent light to communication to peripheral functionality, crapper be integrated into a current design using existing application notes and firmware from microcontroller companies such as Cypress Semiconductor. Adding secernment does not hit to be a huge aching for a design team unused to semiconductor integration and crapper add features and continuance to an end product.
The LED market is a terrific opportunity for creative designers to carve a unique niche for themselves against their growing competition, and the features of LEDs means the applications in illumination are virtually limitless. Designers who grasp these features will hit a large advantage over their competition. The above differentiating concepts are the tip of the iceberg, and it will be exciting to see what another ideas drive the market moving forward.
