CN111965581A - Method for calibrating energy metering of driver - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for calibrating a drive, comprising: measuring, by a power analyzer, first metrology data of the driver; sending the first metering data to a processor; communicating second metering data measured by the driver to the processor over a communication link; calculating, by the processor, a calibrated driver measurement coefficient based on the first metrology data measured by the power analyzer and the second metrology data measured by the driver; and sending the calibrated driver measurement coefficients to the driver.

Description

Method for calibrating energy metering of driver

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of energy meter calibration, and more particularly, the present disclosure relates generally to a method for energy meter calibration of a drive.

Background

In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for control systems for lighting devices to acquire more input and output data that are passed to higher layers for analysis to save consumers with electrical energy and money. For example, drivers for lighting devices (including, but not limited to, LEDs) often require energy calibration features so that the drivers for the lighting devices can drive and control the lighting devices in a more accurate manner.

Calibration is a better method to achieve better energy metering accuracy. Each drive will be calibrated during manufacture so that accuracy can be ensured even with larger tolerance components. Typical calibration items may include, for example, input voltage and/or output current measurements, etc.

For example, FIG. 1 illustrates one exemplary prior art system for implementing energy metering calibration of a driver. The calibration module 101 is a module inside the driver of the lighting device (e.g., LED load). The calibration module 101 needs to be calibrated separately before it is assembled into the drive. For example, the calibration module 101 is connected to an additional high-precision calibration source 103, wherein the high-precision calibration source 103 has a higher precision. Subsequently, the calibration module 101 is calibrated by comparing data (e.g., input/output data, such as current or voltage) from the calibration module 101 to data from the high-precision calibration source 103. Therefore, a separate calibration process needs to be performed on the calibration module 101 using the additional high precision calibration source 103 before the calibration module 101 is assembled into the drive.

For lighting devices, accuracy and cost are always factors of common consumer concern. However, in the prior art of energy metering calibration of drivers for lighting devices, additional equipment and wiring is required to assist in the calibration process, as described above in connection with fig. 1. Such a procedure makes the production cycle of the device longer and therefore less simple and efficient, which in turn leads to higher production costs.

It is therefore becoming increasingly important to propose a simple, low-cost but efficient calibration method.

Disclosure of Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for calibrating a driver, comprising: measuring, by a power analyzer, first metrology data of the driver; sending the first metering data to a processor; communicating second metering data measured by the driver to the processor over a communication link; calculating, by the processor, a calibrated driver measurement coefficient based on the first metrology data measured by the power analyzer and the second metrology data measured by the driver; and sending the calibrated driver measurement coefficients to the driver.

In some embodiments of the invention, the driver may comprise a driver for a lighting device. The communication link may be based on the DALI communication protocol. Each of the first metering data and the second metering data may include input/output data of the driver. More specifically, each of the first metering data and the second metering data may include at least one of: input/output voltage, input/output current, input/output power, input/output energy, input/output power factor, total harmonic distortion of the driver. Calculating the calibrated driver measurement coefficient may be based on an average of the data point or points measured by the power analyzer and an average of the data point or points measured by the driver. The first metrology data measured by the power analyzer may have a higher accuracy than the second metrology data measured by the driver.

The method according to the first aspect of the present invention may further comprise: measuring, by the driver, third metrology data using the calibrated driver measurement coefficients; transmitting the third metering data to the processor over the communication link; determining, by the processor, a difference between the first metering data and the third metering data; and determining, by the processor, whether the difference is within a predetermined error limit.

In some embodiments of the invention, the predetermined error limit may be set to 1%. The method may be performed during a functional circuit test phase of the driver. The method may be performed without using additional equipment for calibrating the drive. The calibrated drive measurement coefficients may be stored within the drive.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to: receiving first metering data of a driver from a power analyzer; receiving second metering data measured by the drive from the drive over a communication link; calculating a calibrated driver measurement coefficient based on the first metrology data measured by the power analyzer and the second metrology data measured by the driver; and sending the calibrated driver measurement coefficients to the driver.

The machine-readable storage medium according to another aspect of the invention may further comprise instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to: receiving, over the communication link, third metrology data from the drive measured by the drive with the calibrated drive measurement coefficients; determining a difference between the first metering data and the third metering data; and determining whether the difference is within a predetermined error limit.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for driver calibration, comprising, with a processor: receiving first metering data of a driver from a power analyzer; receiving second metering data measured by the drive from the drive over a communication link; calculating a calibrated driver measurement coefficient based on the first metrology data measured by the power analyzer and the second metrology data measured by the driver; and sending the calibrated driver measurement coefficients to the driver.

The method according to still another aspect of the present invention may further comprise: receiving, over the communication link, third metrology data from the drive measured by the drive with the calibrated drive measurement coefficients; calculating a difference between the first metering data and the third metering data; and determining whether the difference is within a predetermined error limit.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-implemented system comprising: means for receiving first metering data for the driver from a power analyzer; means for receiving second metering data measured by the drive from the drive over a communication link; means for calculating a calibrated driver measurement coefficient based on the first metrology data measured by the power analyzer and the second metrology data measured by the driver; and means for sending the calibrated driver measurement coefficients to the driver.

The computer-implemented system according to still another aspect of the present invention may further include: means for receiving, from the drive over the communication link, third metrology data measured by the drive with the calibrated drive measurement coefficients; means for calculating a difference between the first metering data and the third metering data; and means for determining whether the difference is within a predetermined error limit.

This summary is intended to provide an overview of the subject matter described in this disclosure. It is not intended to provide an exhaustive or exhaustive explanation of the devices and/or methods described in detail in the following accompanying drawings and description. The details of one or more aspects of the disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below.

Drawings

The disclosure may be better understood from the following description of various embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary prior art system for implementing energy metering calibration of a drive;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary functional block diagram for implementing energy metering calibration of a driver according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram of energy metering calibration of a driver according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

It should be understood that the drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not for all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Unless defined otherwise, technical and scientific terms used herein shall have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. The terms "first," "second," "third," and the like in the description and in the claims of this application do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one item from another. Also, the terms "a," "an," and the like, do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one. The terms "comprising," "including," and the like mean that the elements or objects preceding the terms "comprising," "including," and "including" cover the elements or objects and equivalents thereof shown after the terms "comprising," "including," and "including," but not excluding others. The terms "coupled," "connected," and the like are not limited to being physically or mechanically connected, but may include electrical connection, whether direct or indirect.

Some embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. Some embodiments may also be implemented as instructions stored on a machine-readable medium, which may be read and executed by a computing platform to perform the operations described herein. A machine-readable medium may include any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine-readable medium may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memory devices, or an electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of propagation medium, such as carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, or other interfaces that transmit and/or receive signals.

An embodiment is an implementation or example. Reference in the specification to "an embodiment," "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "various embodiments," or "other embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments is included in at least some embodiments, but not necessarily all embodiments, of the technology. The various appearances "an embodiment," "one embodiment," or "some embodiments" are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiments. Elements or aspects from one embodiment may be combined with elements or aspects of another embodiment.

Not all components, features, structures, characteristics, etc. described and illustrated herein need be included in a particular embodiment or embodiments. For example, if the specification states a component, feature, structure, or characteristic "may", "might", "could", or "could" be included, that particular component, feature, structure, or characteristic is not required to be included. If the specification or claims refer to an element or an element, that does not mean there is only one of the element. If the specification or claims refer to "an additional" element, that does not preclude there being more than one of the additional element.

It should be noted that although some embodiments have been described with reference to particular implementations, other implementations are possible according to some embodiments. Additionally, the arrangement and/or order of circuit elements or other features illustrated in the drawings and/or described herein need not be arranged in the particular way illustrated and described. Many other arrangements are possible according to some embodiments.

In each system shown in the various figures of the present disclosure, elements in some cases may each have the same reference number or a different reference number to indicate that the elements represented may be different and/or similar. However, the elements may be flexible enough to have different implementations and work with some or all of the systems shown or described herein. The various elements shown in the various figures of the present disclosure may be the same or different. Which is referred to as a first element and which is referred to as a second element is arbitrary.

As introduced previously, currently, during the production of lighting devices (e.g., LEDs), energy metering calibration of the lighting control system (e.g., driver) of the lighting device is generally required in order to ensure that the driver can accurately control and drive the LEDs to emit light in a desired manner.

The present disclosure provides an intelligent driver calibration method that calibrates input and output data in a lower cost scheme using a simple but efficient manner.

Fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary functional block diagram for implementing energy metering calibration of a driver according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. In fig. 2, a lighting device, such as an LED load 205, is coupled to a driver 201. The driver 201 may be, for example, a power conditioning electronics for driving the LED to emit light or the LED module assembly to operate normally. The driver 201 may include those available as known in the art. It should be noted that although in fig. 2 of the present disclosure, the driver 201 is shown primarily for driving the LED load 205, the driver 201 may be any driver that may be used for driving other types of lighting devices.

Generally, communication between some of the electronics inside the driver 201 may be based on a DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) communication protocol. The DALI protocol is a new control protocol for intelligent lighting systems, and it can implement transmission of parameters, commands, status information and control of some electronic device modules, for example, among electronic device modules in the driver 201, and further implement various control functions of switching on and off of lighting devices, dimming control, and system setting.

During functional circuit testing stages in the LED manufacturing process, the driver 201 is typically connected to a power analyzer 202, and the power analyzer 202 is connected to a computer 204. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, computer 204 may be replaced by any processor-based device for performing the relevant operations in the present disclosure. In one embodiment of the invention, the computer 204 is GUI-enabled. The computer 204 communicates with the driver 201 over the DALI interface to set the driver 201 to different dimming levels or standby modes. The power analyzer 202 may be used to measure or read data of the drive 201, such as input/output data of the drive, and then the power analyzer 202 may transmit the measured data to the computer 204 for further analysis by the computer 204, e.g., the computer 204 may check whether the data is within upper and lower limits.

Some embodiments of the present invention enable calibration of the drive 201 by transmitting parameters related to the drive 201 to the computer 204 using the DALI communication protocol.

Specifically, during a functional circuit testing stage in the LED manufacturing process, the power analyzer 202 may measure or read data (hereinafter, referred to as first metrology data) of the driver 201 and send the measured first metrology data to the computer 204. The drive 201 itself may be used to sense or measure data related thereto (hereinafter, second metering data) and may transmit the measured data to the computer 204 over a communication link.

In one embodiment, the communication link may be a communication link to the computer 204 external to the drive 201. The communication link may be based on the DALI communication protocol. As described above, since the driver 201 can implement internal communication based on the DALI communication protocol, and accordingly, the driver 201 can have DALI modules, DALI interfaces, and the like, the second metering data measured by the driver 201 can be transmitted directly to the computer 204 through DALI communication for further processing and analysis of these data by the computer 204.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for example, the first metering data and the second metering data may be input/output data of the driver 201. In further embodiments of the present disclosure, the first metering data and the second metering data may comprise at least one of: input/output voltage, input/output current, input/output power, input/output energy, input/output power factor, Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of the driver.

The computer 204, after receiving the data, may calculate a calibrated driver measurement coefficient based on the first metrology data measured by the power analyzer 202 and the second metrology data measured by the driver 201. The computer 204 may then send the calculated calibrated drive measurement coefficients to the drive 201.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first metrology data measured by the power analyzer 203 has a higher accuracy than the second metrology data measured by the driver 201. For example, as one non-limiting example, power analyzer 203 may have an accuracy of about one thousandth (1% o) or one-half thousandth (0.5% o). Thus, the calibrated driver measurement coefficients may be used to compensate for errors in the metrology data measured by the driver 201, thereby improving the driver 201 measurement accuracy to meet desired accuracy requirements.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, calculating the calibrated driver measurement coefficient is based on an average of the data point or points measured by the power analyzer 203 and an average of the data point or points measured by the driver 201. In other words, the power analyzer 203 may measure the first metrology data (e.g., input/output data of the driver 201) one or more times, and the driver 201 may also measure the second metrology data (e.g., input/output data of the driver 201) one or more times. These data can then be transmitted to the computer 204. The computer 204 may average the two sets of data and calculate calibrated drive measurement coefficients based on the averaged first and second metrology data to improve the accuracy of the measurements and calculations. In some examples of the disclosure, the computer 204 may analyze and filter the two sets of data to remove more fluctuating data, thereby eliminating systematic errors, etc., before averaging the data.

Next, the computer 204 may send the calibrated driver measurement coefficients to the driver 201, for example, over a communication link (e.g., DALI communication). The calibrated drive measurement coefficients may be stored within the drive 201.

The driver 201 may then measure the third metrology data using the calibrated driver measurement coefficients. As described above, the calibrated driver measurement coefficients may compensate for errors in the metrology data measured by the driver 201. The driver 201 transmits the third metering data to the computer 204 over a communication link (e.g., based on the DALI communication protocol). After receiving the third metering data, computer 204 may determine a difference between the first metering data and the third metering data. That is, the computer 204 may compare the data measured by the power analyzer 202 with calibrated data measured by the driver 201 to determine differences therebetween. Further, the computer 204 may determine whether the determined difference is within a predetermined error limit. The predetermined error limit may be a desired error value that is set in advance according to actual requirements. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the predetermined error limit is 1%. Generally, the third metrology data measured by the driver 201 using the calibrated driver measurement coefficients may have a more accurate value than the first metrology data, which may more realistically reflect parameters of the driver 201, such as input/output data of the driver 201. If the determined error is within the pre-set error limit, the calibration process is passed.

Drivers that meet predetermined error limits may provide more accurate lighting control, e.g., enabling more accurate control of various control functions for switching, dimming, and setting of the system of the lighting device, thereby providing a better user experience.

The above driver 201 calibration technique may be performed during a functional circuit test phase of the driver 201. The method may be performed without using additional equipment for calibrating the drive 201. Thus, this calibration technique improves efficiency and reduces time costs.

Fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram for energy metering calibration of the driver 201 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the steps within the dashed box in fig. 3 are optional steps and not steps that have to be performed by the method of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 3, a method for calibrating a driver according to the present disclosure may include the following operational steps:

at step 301, first metrology data of the drive 201 is measured by the power analyzer 203. In one embodiment of the invention, the driver 201 may comprise a driver 201 for a lighting device, such as, but not limited to, a driver 201 for an LED. In one embodiment of the invention, the communication link between some electronic modules or components inside the driver 201 may be based on the DALI communication protocol.

At step 302, first metering data of the drive 201 measured by the power analyzer 203 is sent to the computer 204.

At step 303, the second metering data measured by the drive 201 is transmitted to the computer 204 over the communication link. In one embodiment of the invention, the communication link may be external to the drive 201. The communication link may be based on the DALI communication protocol. In one embodiment of the invention, each of the first metering data and the second metering data may comprise input/output data of said driver 201. One or more of these data may be measured while the input/output data of the driver 201 is stable. In a more detailed embodiment of the present invention, each of the first metering data and the second metering data comprises at least one of: input/output voltage, input/output current, input/output power, input/output energy, input/output power factor, total harmonic distortion of the driver. In some embodiments of the invention, the first metering data and the second metering data have corresponding data types, for example both being at least one of the items listed above, to facilitate use in later calculations and processing.

At step 304, calibrated drive measurement coefficients are calculated by the computer 204 based on the first metrology data measured by the power analyzer 203 and the second metrology data measured by the drive 201. In one embodiment of the invention, the computer 204 calculating the calibrated driver measurement coefficient may be based on an average of the data point or points measured by the power analyzer 203 and an average of the data point or points measured by the driver 201. In some embodiments of the present invention, the first metrology data measured by the power analyzer 203 has a higher accuracy than the second metrology data measured by the driver 201. Thus, the calibrated driver measurement coefficients may be used to compensate for errors in the metrology data measured by the driver 201, thereby improving the driver 201 measurement accuracy to meet desired accuracy requirements. In this way, the driver 201 can accurately control the lighting device.

At step 305, the calibrated driver measurement coefficients are sent to the driver 201. In one embodiment of the invention, the calibrated drive measurement coefficients may be stored within the drive 201.

At step 306, third metrology data is measured by the drive using the calibrated drive measurement coefficients. In one embodiment of the present invention, similarly, the third metering data may be a data type corresponding to the first metering data and/or the second metering data, for example, the first, second and third metering data are all at least one of the items of metering data listed above.

At step 307, third metering data may be transmitted to the computer 204 over the communication link.

At step 308, a difference between the first metrology data and the third metrology data can be determined by the computer 204.

At step 309, it may be determined by computer 204 whether the difference is within a predetermined error limit. In one non-limiting embodiment of the invention, the predetermined error limit may be set to 1%. If the computer 203 determines that the difference is less than within a predetermined error limit (e.g., 1%), the accuracy of the driver input/output of the lighting device reaches a predetermined production target.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the calibration of the driver 201 is achieved by DALI communication and PC calculation. Thus, the calibration of the driver 201 can be incorporated into the functional circuit test phase without the need for additional calibration equipment and without the need for a separate calibration procedure for the calibration module in the driver. That is, in the embodiment of the present invention, the above operation steps may be performed at an assembly stage (e.g., a functional circuit test stage) of the lighting device. The above operation steps can be performed without using an additional device for calibrating the driver 201. The above methods of the present invention may be implemented using one or a combination of hardware, firmware, software.

It will be appreciated that one or more of the above operational steps may be performed by execution of instructions or program code stored in a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium. Which when executed, enable the processor of the machine to perform one or more of the above operational steps of the method according to the invention.

It will also be appreciated that one or more of the operational steps of the above methods may be performed by a computer-implemented system. The computer-implemented system may include means for performing each of one or more of the above operational steps.

Additionally or alternatively, a method comprising one or more of the above steps may be performed with a processor.

It should be understood that the flow chart in fig. 3 is not intended to limit the order of specific steps of the method in the present application. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, one or more of the operational steps in fig. 3 may be performed in a different order than that shown in fig. 3. In other embodiments of the present disclosure, two or more of the steps may be performed in parallel. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, not all steps need to be performed, and those skilled in the art may make modifications to the method of the present disclosure, for example, omitting or simplifying some of the steps. These variations above are all within the scope of the present disclosure.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that although some parts of the drawings and description of the present application describe the method according to the present disclosure primarily with respect to drivers for LEDs, the method of the present application may be equally applied to calibration of drivers for other types of lighting devices to simplify the calibration process, improve the efficiency of calibration, and reduce production costs.

The present technology is not limited to the specific details set forth herein. Indeed, those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure will appreciate that many other variations from the foregoing description and drawings may be made within the scope of the present techniques. Accordingly, it is the following claims including any amendments thereto that define the scope of the techniques.

Claims (20)

1. A method for calibrating a driver, comprising:

measuring, by a power analyzer, first metrology data of the driver;

sending the first metering data to a processor;

communicating second metering data measured by the driver to the processor over a communication link;

calculating, by the processor, a calibrated driver measurement coefficient based on the first metrology data measured by the power analyzer and the second metrology data measured by the driver; and

sending the calibrated driver measurement coefficients to the driver.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the driver comprises a driver for a lighting device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication link is based on a DALI communication protocol.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the first metrology data and the second metrology data comprises input/output data of the driver.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the first metering data and the second metering data comprises at least one of: input/output voltage, input/output current, input/output power, input/output energy, input/output power factor, total harmonic distortion of the driver.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating the calibrated driver measurement coefficient is based on an average of the one or more data points measured by the power analyzer and an average of the one or more data points measured by the driver.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first metrology data measured by the power analyzer has a higher accuracy than the second metrology data measured by the driver.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

measuring, by the driver, third metrology data using the calibrated driver measurement coefficients;

transmitting the third metering data to the processor over the communication link;

determining, by the processor, a difference between the first metering data and the third metering data; and

determining, by the processor, whether the difference is within a predetermined error limit.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the predetermined error limit is set to 1%.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed during a functional circuit test phase of the driver.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed without using additional equipment for calibrating the drive.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: storing the calibrated drive measurement coefficients within the drive.

13. A machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

receiving first metering data of a driver from a power analyzer;

receiving second metering data measured by the drive from the drive over a communication link;

calculating a calibrated driver measurement coefficient based on the first metrology data measured by the power analyzer and the second metrology data measured by the driver; and

sending the calibrated driver measurement coefficients to the driver.

14. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the driver comprises a driver for a lighting device.

15. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the communication link is based on a DALI communication protocol.

16. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, further comprising instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:

receiving, over the communication link, third metrology data from the drive measured by the drive with the calibrated drive measurement coefficients;

determining a difference between the first metering data and the third metering data; and

it is determined whether the difference is within a predetermined error limit.

17. A method for driver calibration, comprising:

with a processor:

receiving first metering data of a driver from a power analyzer;

receiving second metering data measured by the drive from the drive over a communication link;

calculating a calibrated driver measurement coefficient based on the first metrology data measured by the power analyzer and the second metrology data measured by the driver; and

sending the calibrated driver measurement coefficients to the driver.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving, over the communication link, third metrology data from the drive measured by the drive with the calibrated drive measurement coefficients;

calculating a difference between the first metering data and the third metering data; and

it is determined whether the difference is within a predetermined error limit.

19. A computer-implemented system, comprising:

means for receiving first metering data for the driver from a power analyzer;

means for receiving second metering data measured by the drive from the drive over a communication link;

means for calculating a calibrated driver measurement coefficient based on the first metrology data measured by the power analyzer and the second metrology data measured by the driver; and

means for sending the calibrated driver measurement coefficients to the driver.

20. The computer-implemented system of claim 19, further comprising:

means for receiving, from the drive over the communication link, third metrology data measured by the drive with the calibrated drive measurement coefficients;

means for calculating a difference between the first metering data and the third metering data; and

means for determining whether the difference is within a predetermined error limit.

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