Design of An Intelligent Universal Driver Circuit for LED Lights

LED 램프를 위한 지능형 범용 드라이버 회로 설계

저자 Md. Tanvir Hossan, Amirul Islam, Yeong Min Jang

(Authors)

출처 한국통신학회논문지 42(8), 2017.8, 1621-1628 (8 pages)

(Source) The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences 42(8), 2017.8,
1621-1628 (8 pages)

한국통신학회
발행처
Korea Institute Of Communication Sciences
(Publisher)

URL http://www.dbpia.co.kr/Article/NODE07234679

APA Style Md. Tanvir Hossan, Amirul Islam, Yeong Min Jang (2017). Design of An Intelligent Universal Driver
Circuit for LED Lights. 한국통신학회논문지, 42(8), 1621-1628.

이용정보 국민대학교
210.123.42.***
(Accessed) 2017/09/19 21:06 (KST)

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논문 17-42-08-17 The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences '17-08 Vol.42 No.08
https://doi.org/10.7840/kics.2017.42.8.1621

LED 램프를 위한 지능형 범용 드라이버 회로 설계

Design of An Intelligent Universal Driver Circuit for LED Lights

Md. Tanvir HossanŠ, Amirul Islam*, Yeong Min Jang°

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a universal driver circuit for light emitting diode (LED) using linear current regulation
technology. The proposed driver circuit has a unique feature (i.e., universality) which operates in both alternating
current (AC) or direct current (DC) domain of the supply. Additional features, such as improved power factor,
lower self-power consumption, lower cost, design simplicity for higher load makes it distinctive than existing
LED driver circuits in the market. To verify the feasibility of the proposed driver circuit, a laboratory prototype
has been designed and checked from lighter load (3 watt) to the higher load (30 watt).

Key Words : Universal driver circuit (UDC), LED driver, DPDT, SPDT, constant load current

Ⅰ. Introduction rapidly in wireless communication as a transmitter

due to its fast switching time that human eye cannot
[3,4]
Light emitting diode (LED) has attracted attention detect . It is used in vehicle-to-vehicle
in next generation industry due to the revolution of communication[5], smart digital signage system,
[6]
the lighting industry and its versatile use in both indoor positioning system .
indoor and outdoor illuminations. This revolution LEDs can be connected in parallel and/or series as
starts from tungsten bulb to incandescent bulb, later load, is driven by either constant voltage or constant
compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) and finally LED current. Constant voltage LED driver and constant
lights. The efficiency of LED light is around 30% current LED driver are used for low power LED and
whereas conventional CFL and the incandescent bulb high power LED respectively. The lumen of LED is
[1]
has 8% and 2% respectively . Additionally, LED directly proportional to the current. The overall
light has many advanced features such as less efficiency of LEDs can be affected by adjusting its
[7]
mercury radiation, production of less heat, higher brightness . However, the operating current can
light projection in solicited way, and improvised to control the brightness of the LEDs. Therefore, in
shock, vibration or quick environment changes. It is constant voltage LED driver system, an excess
compact, long life, and easy to install on printed forward current would result in an extra heat for
circuit board (PCB) which makes it more friendly LED, which can reduce its lifespan. So, constant
[2].
lighting source Moreover, application of LED light current LED driver is most promising over constant
is no more confined to indoor and outdoor lighting voltage driver.
purpose. Recently, a demand of LED is growing On the other hand, it is required to choose the

※ This research work was supported by Institute for Information & communications Technology Promotion (IITP) grant funded by
the Korea government (MSIP).
Š First Author : Department of Electronics Engineering, Kookmin University, tanvir.hossan.shaon@gmail.com, 학생회원
° Corresponding Author : Department of Electronics Engineering, Kookmin University, yjang@kookmin.ac.kr, 종신히ㅗ원
* Department of Electronics Engineering, Kookmin University, amirul.0903118@gmail.com
논문번호：KICS2017-05-160, Received May 30, 2017; Revised August 14, 2017; Accepted Revised August 14, 2017

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effective component and efficient technology to make domain but also efficient in the technical and
the driver circuit more cost effective, simple, commercial point of view. The rest of the paper is
compact, reliable and convenient. There are several organized as follows. Section II presents the I-V
driver circuits is available in the market. It is a characteristics of LED using Taylor series expression.
common practice to use a high-value inductor in Whereas section III of the paper represents the
most of the driver circuits in order to reduce the overall requirements for the proposed architecture
[8]
ripple current through the LEDs successfully . where we point out the design considerations for the
Generally, inductor consumes much energy because LED drivers circuit in a flow diagram. A brief
of high inductive resistance. This energy can be description of practical implementation for proposed
dissipated as heat or developed as voltage or current system is represented in section IV. Before
stress to the connected devices. Henceforth, concluding this paper in section VI, an evaluation of
[9]
efficiency of the driver is affected by inductor . driver performance has discussed in section V.
Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is one of the
favorite techniques for LEDs in switched-mode Ⅱ. I-V Characteristic of LED using Taylor
driver circuits. Traditional non-isolated step-down Series
PWM buck converters may suffer from reduced
efficiency due to the long diode freewheeling time at Taylor series explains the nonlinear I–V
[10]
small duty cycles . The major drawback of PWM characteristics of LEDs [14]. Moreover, current and
based drive circuit is that if all LED strings are conductance of both AC and DC domain is
turned on or off simultaneously, the input–output calculating from the same series (1):
power periodically undergoes abrupt changes, causing
massive pulsating input/output current, decreased   

    
 
  (1)
operating efficiency and increased power bus
[11]
ripple . There is some non-isolated converter used
as power factor pre-regulator, such as buck-boost Where   is LED terminal voltage,   LED
converters, single-ended primary inductor, CUK and forward current through LED,  is saturation
[12]
flyback converters . Usually, these converters are current of LEDs,  is the magnitude of electron
suitable for small power applications .
[1] charge (i.e.,  ×  ),  is Boltzmann’s constant
Conventionally, LED is driven by direct current (i.e.,  ×  ),  is absolute temperature (i.e.,
(DC) power supply. For alternating current (AC)    ). Fig. 1(a). shows, a DC current source  
power supply, the LED driver either use a step-down and a low frequency current source,   connected
transformer or a bridge rectifier. Although there is to a LED. Therefore, (1) can be expressed regarding
available some AC utility source driving LED (e.g., DC and AC components, as shown in (2).
AC-LED) that has some disadvantages notably
conduction angle causes harmonic distortion and low VLED + vLED

[13] I LED + iLED = I Sat (e VT

) (2)
power factor . There is no other available driver
circuit which is operational in both DC and AC
power supply. Therefore, it is required to choose
different driver circuit for individual power domain.
This paper proposes a novel architecture of a
driver circuit for LED light which is operated in a
wide range of power supply by both AC (180V to
240V) and DC (12V to 15V) power domain using
linear current regulation technology. The proposed Fig. 1. (a) A DC current source and a low frequency
current source with LED, (b) DC, and (c) low frequency
driver circuit is not only universal in different power equivalent circuits.

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 논문 / LED 램프를 위한 지능형 범용 드라이버 회로 설계

 Fig. 2 and 3 shows the flow chart and block diagram
Where    . Therefore, the Taylor series can
 of our proposed model respectively.
be expressed as follows (3): The voltage range for AC and DC supply for
UDC is shown in table 1.
VLED n
∞
( )
VT v (v ) 2 (3)
I LED + iLED = I Sat (∑ )(1 + LED + LED .VT2 )
n =1 n! VT 2

To minimize the complexity from the above

equation by neglecting the term    from it, we
can write the equation as the DC and low frequency
components which is shown in (4)

VLED n V
∞
( ) ( LED ) n
VT I Sat * vLED ∞ VT (4)
I LED + iLED = I Sat (∑ )+ (∑ )
n =1 n! VT n =1 n!

The equivalent DC conductance   of the Fig. Fig. 2. Flow diagram of proposed UDC for LED light
1(b), can be calculated in (5):

q.VLED
( )n
I LED I Sat 5 k (273 + Ta ) (5)
GLED = = (∑ )
VLED VLED n =1 n!

Where  is the ambient temperature. The

equivalent small-signal conductance,   of the low
frequency equivalent circuit in Fig. 1(c). can be Fig. 3. Block diagram of UDC

calculated from following (6):

Table 1. Power supply specification for UDC

q.VLED Specification Values

( )n
iLED q.I Sat 5
k (273 + Ta ) (6)
g LED = = (∑ ) AC supply
vLED k (273 + Ta ) n =1 n!
Input voltage 180V~240V
Input line frequency 50Hz
Ⅲ. Proposed Model
DC supply
Input voltage 12V~15V
Our proposed universal driver circuit (UDC) is
consist of two different relays. One of the relays is
double-pole-double-through (DPDT) relay which is Ⅳ. Practical Implementation
driven by AC supply. This DPDT relay is denoted as
relay 1 in Fig. 4. Relay 2 is a 4.1 Working methodology of UDC
single-pole-double-through (SPDT) relay and it is A UDC can be defined as a driver circuit which
driven by DC power supply. These two relay is is adjustable to or appropriates for all requirement of
embedded in UDC. If the UDC connects with the any power supply and not restricted to a single
AC power supply, then the relay 1 is tripped, allows source. To make the driver circuit universal, we are
a rectified and regulated DC voltage to the load. proposed to isolate one power supply (either AC or
Whereas, relay 2 is tripped for DC power supply. DC) for a certain path of the UDC and at the same
time allows to pass through another path of it. There

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The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences '17-08 Vol.42 No.08

are different rows of change over terminals in a relay Henries. Reactance will increase if frequency or
and each row has several terminals. There is a inductance increase. Here, inductance shows
control coil in a row which surrounds an iron core. impedance in AC power supply and short in DC
When the power supply pass through the control coil, power supply. Concurrently, if there is a chance of
it generates a electromagnetic force. This forces any remaining voltage spike after the inductor, then
cause an impact to trip relay. In another row, it can easily abate the by the relay 2 (SPDT relay).
the‘COM’ (Common) terminally connects with the A small and certain rated voltage of DC power
‘NC’ (Normally Closed) terminal. There is another supply, the relay 1 operates. A diode is connected to
terminal named the ‘NO’ (Normally Open) in each the SPDT relay to protect the switching transistor
row. In Fig. 4. there are two change over terminal in from the instantaneous current of the relay coil, and
relay 1. Power path 1 connects with one row of relay the task is done the diode by providing a path for
1. On the other hand, power path 2 connects with that current when the coil is switched off.
another row of the same relay. The construction of Additionally, power path 2 is connected between
SPDT has similarity with the DPDT relay. But the the ‘COM’ and ‘NO’ terminal of the other row of
difference is it has one row instead of two. The relay relay 1. Therefore, AC power can easily pass through
1 has only tripped when the driver circuit is the power path 2. The full bridge rectifier serves to
connected to the AC power supply and remained convert single phase AC input into a DC output;
ineffective when it is connected with the DC power supplies an output of pulsed DC. A capacitor, known
supply. as a reservoir (or smoothing) capacitor is added to
Isolate AC power at power path 1: In Fig. 4. rated lessen the variation in the rectified AC output voltage
AC power energizes control coil of relay 1 and waveform from the bridge. This ripple free pure DC
‘COM’ terminal starts to be attracted with ‘NO’ is then deployed to the load.
terminal. Power path 1 is connected between the Isolate DC power at power path 2: The chosen
‘COM’ and ‘NC’ terminal of this row. Therefore, the range of DC power supply is not enough to energize
probability of passing AC power through the power the control coil of relay 1 compare with AC.
path 1 is near to zero. The switching time for relay Therefore, DC can pass through path 1 but cannot
1 is lying between 5ms to 15ms which cause a high pass through 2. The transistor BC548 is only
transient voltage spike for a very short period of time switching when supply current is above the base
(between 1ms to 1µs). This voltage spike can strike current of this transistor. When the transistor is
to the power path 1. A combination of an inductor, switching, it allows DC power to apply across the
a switching transistor (BC548) and the SPDT relay relay 2. DC power energize control coil of relay 2
are used in the power path 1 to mitigate the chance and ‘COM’ terminal starts to be attracted with ‘NO’
of passing voltage spike through it. The general terminal. Later, DC power is applied to the load
expression of an inductor is      , where f because the load also connects with ‘NO’ terminal of
is the frequency in Hertz and L is the inductance in the relay 2.

4.2 Delivering constant current to the load

We are using a 3-terminal positive voltage
regulator (LM317) which can deliver a constant
current to the load (LED light). By connecting a
fixed resistor between the adjustable and output pins
(   ), the LM317 can deliver a desire fixed current
more than 1.5A. This constant current is calculating
by the following equation:
Fig. 4. Circuit block representation of UDC

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 논문 / LED 램프를 위한 지능형 범용 드라이버 회로 설계

Vref Table 2. Basic circuit parameter

I= (7)
RAdj
Component Value
White LED 3.2V, 300mA, 1W
In (7),   is the voltage difference between
Diode (D1-D5) 600V/0.5A
‘OUT’ pin and ‘ADJ’ pin. If the voltage across the
Zener Diode (1N4744A) 15V
LM317 IC has changed rapidly, the current regulator
Reservoir Cap 330µF/400V
cannot deliver constant current to the LED light.
Inductor 150mH
Therefore, a reversely connect zener diode can
  : 5V;
deliver a constant voltage to LM317. The zener diode Transistor (BC548)
IC : 100mA
protects the regulator from the ripple of the supply
 : 1.2∼37V,
voltage or the load current variation till its current Current Regulator (LM317)
 >1.5A
drops below the reverse breakdown region. The list
  ≤240V;
of component for the driver circuit is listed in the Relay 1 (DPDT)
  ≤ 10A
table 2.
  ≤ 12∼28V;
PCB layout of our proposed UDC for LED light Relay 2 (SPDT)
  ≤15A
are shown in Figure 5.

Ⅴ. Result and discussion

5.1 Performance analysis

From Table 3, input current (   ) is increased with
the increasing demand of load current (  ), but load
voltage (  ) is not varying throughout the whole
performance.   is the resistor connected in series
with the full bridge rectifier. The chosen value of
zener diode voltage (  ) is fixed throughout the
whole operation and a resistor  is connected before
zener diode which is also varying with the load.
Power factor is decreased with the increase of load, Fig. 5. PCB layout of UDC
but it is still near to the unity (up to 30W load).
Fig. 5. shows that drive deliver constant current to the lighter load from a wide range of input AC

Table 3. Performance evaluation for UDC

Load (W)   (Ω)  (Ω)    (A)  (V)  (V)  (A) p.f.

3 470 220 100/400 0.35 15 9.6 0.3 0.998
6 240 100 100/400 0.7 15 9.6 0.6 0.998
9 150 68 330/400 1.1 15 9.6 0.9 0.998
12 130 56 330/400 1.3 15 9.6 1.2 0.996
15 100 47 330/400 1.6 15 9.6 1.5 0.995
18 91 36 330/400 1.9 15 9.6 1.8 0.993
21 75 33 430/400 2.2 15 9.6 2.1 0.993
24 68 27 430/400 2.5 15 9.6 2.4 0.993
27 62 22 430/400 2.8 15 9.6 2.7 0.993
30 51 24 430/400 3.15 15 9.6 3.0 0.991

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(180-240V) or DC (12-15V) voltage and the

performance is little fluctuated for a higher load.
Performance of the driver is almost similar to the
load after 210V AC supply.
Table 4 shows that the load has adjusted by
adjusting   value. Single LM317 can drive up-to
15 LEDs for both (AC and DC) power supply.
Hence, we are connecting two parallel LM317 to
handle 30 LED lights.
Fig. 6. Input AC voltage versus load current for 3W to
30W load
Table 4. Data for single LM317 (3W to 15W load)

 Load         Ⅵ. Conclusions

(V) (LED) (Ω) (V) (V) (A)
15 3W 3.9 1.2 9.6 0.3 A low-cost UDC for high power LED light is
15 6W 2.0 1.2 9.6 0.6 proposed, designed, and constructed. We made 10
15 9W 1.3 1.2 9.6 0.9 different load (3~30W) to evaluate performance. For
15 12W 1.0 1.2 9.6 1.2 all type of load, the driver circuit shows almost
15 15W 0.82 1.2 9.6 1.5 equivalent performance in both AC and DC power
supply. The number of the capacitive component is
5.2 Cost analysis more over inductive component, keeps the power
There are different driver circuit has found in the factor leading at AC domain. Self- power
market which is costly and works only in one consumption of proposed driver is 4%, which makes
[15] it superior to a typical driver circuit. Moreover, the
domain of the power supply . On the contrary, the
components we are used in the driver circuit is unique feature of this driver is universality that gives
available to everywhere and not costly either. The the consumer a choice to connect any type of power
overall cost has been calculated for our proposed supply (either AC or DC) without any trouble.
driver is around $1.5 along with the price of 30
LEDs (1W, 300mA). Table 5 shows, a price References
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Yeong Min Jang

1985년 : 경북대학교 전자공학과
학사
1987년 : 경북대학교 전자공학과
석사
1999년 : University of
Massachusetts 컴퓨터학부 박
사
Research Interest : 6G mobile
communications, optical wireless
communications, optical camera communication,
multiscreen convergence, public safety, and
Internet of Things (IoT).

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