Average light sensing for PWM control of RGB LED based white light luminaries

摘要

An LED array is controlled by determining a constant relating the peak light output of an LED to the peak driving current of a PWM pulse driving the LED, and multiplying the average current of the PWM pulse by the constant to obtain a value of average light output for the LED. The constant may be determined by simultaneously measuring peak light output of the LED and peak current of a PWM pulse driving the LED. The constant is then calculated by dividing the peak light output by the peak current of the PWM pulse. By making the simultaneous measurements at a time during the duration of the PWM pulse where the pulse has reached its full magnitude, rise and fall times of the pulse do not affect the measurements. The average current of the PWM pulse may be determined by a variety of methods including integrating current in the PWM pulse over time, or passing the PWM current through a low pass filter configured for providing an average value of PWM current. Determining average current in this manner further reduces the effect of rise and fall time on determining the average light output of the LED.