GB2449949A

GB2449949A - Driving apparatus for reporting states of light emitting diode channels in a binary mode

Info

Publication number: GB2449949A
Application number: GB0714805A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Chi-Chang Hung; Yung-Sheng Wei
Original assignee: Macroblock Inc
Current assignee: Macroblock Inc
Priority date: 2007-06-08
Filing date: 2007-07-30
Publication date: 2008-12-10
Anticipated expiration: 2027-07-30
Also published as: TW200849173A; TWI318389B; GB2449949B; AU2007203351B2; GB0714805D0; AU2007203351A1

Abstract

A driving apparatus for reporting states of a light-emitting diode (LED) channels in a binary mode comprises a plurality of channel points (NCHm), at least one controller 112, a plurality of detectors 114, and a signal converter (fig 2, 130). The controller controls operation of the connected LED channels and the signal converter receives a detecting signal Sm generated by each detector 114 and corresponding to the state of the LED channel, and computes the received detecting signal to generate a report signal with N bits in a binary mode, wherein N is an integer greater than 1, and the number of the channel points is less than 2<N>. The number of channels is preferably greater than or equal to 2<N-1>. The detector 114 may comprise voltage comparators 115,116 comparing the channel voltage with voltage references Vrefo and Vrefs corresponding to error states such as an open circuit and a short circuit, and logic element such as gate 117 to aggregate the state into detecting signal Sm. Error states may also comprise over temperature or electric leakage and the controller 112 may comprise a switch SW1/SW2 and regulating unit 113 to control turn-on of the switch. The apparatus may drive the light emitting diodes of a LED area display, such as one used for image display.

Description

DRIVING APPARATUS FOR REPORTING STATES OF

LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE CHANNELS IN A BINARY MODE

BACKGROUND

Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a driving apparatus for a light emitting diode (LED).

More particularly, the present invention relates to a driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode.

Related Art LEDs are solid electroluminescent devices capable of converting electric energy into light energy. In recent years, LEDs have been widely applied in many fields such as screen displays, traffic signs, household appliances, instruments and meters. Along with the quick development of semiconductor light-emitting technology, various LEDs of high efficiency and high stability have been developed.

Conventionally, a driving apparatus of the LED is usually fabricated into one integrated circuit (IC) chip which has a plurality of control output pins for driving the LED on an LED channel, and one error report pin for generating a series of error flags according to an open/short error of the LED in each channel. In this manner, whether the open/short error of the LED in the channel exists or not can be acquired; however, the number of the channels where the open/short error of the LED occurs cannot be known.

Therefore, referring to FiG 1A, a clock output pin is further designed on a conventional driving apparatus 10, for generating a clock signal CLK corresponding to the number of the driven channels, so that a processor can perform interpretation according to the error flag Flag and the clock signal CLK output by the driving apparatus 10 to decode the number of the channels where the open/short error of the LED Occurs. Referring to FIG. I B, a relationship diagram of error flags and clock signals of 8 channels CH1-CH8 in a conventional error report technology is shown. It can be seen from the diagram that there are two channels where the open/short error of the LED occurs. However, this determination method requires a clock signal serving as a reference which must be additionally provided and then decodes this clock signal to find the channel where the error occurs. Thus, the determination is difficult.

SUMMARY

In view of the above problems, the present invention is mainly directed to a driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode, which is used to provide a report signal with n bit in the binary mode to simply acquire the number of the LED channels where error of an LED (e.g. openlshort, electric leakage, or over-high temperature) occurs.

The present invention seeks to overcome or ameliorate at least one of the problems of the

prior art.

In order to achieve the above objectives, the driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode provided by the present invention includes channel points, controller(s), detectors, and a signal converter.

Each channel point provides an LED channel for the disposal of at least one LED.

The controller(s) is/are connected to the channel points to control the operation of the LEDs connected to the channel points. Here, each channel point corresponds to and is connected to a controller, so as to drive the LEDs thereon through control of the connected controller. Alternatively, one controller controls the operation (e.g. lighting on, not lighting on, or luminance) of the LEDs connected to all the channel points. Thus, the controllers can drive the LEDs connected to the channel points by controlling currents flowing through the channel points or voltages of the channel points. In an embodiment, a controller can have a switch and a regulating unit.

Each detector is connected to a channel point, and detects a state of the connected channel point to generate a detecting signal corresponding to the state of the LED channel.

The signal converter receives the detecting signal generated by each detector, and generates the report signal with n bit in the binary mode after performing operation on the received detecting signals. The n is an integer greater than I, and the number of the channel points is less than 2. Furthermore, the number of the channel points can be less than 2, and greater than or equal to The detecting signal can have a first level or a second level. The first level represents a normal state of the LED channel connected thereto, and the second level represents an error state (e.g. over-high temperature, open, short, electric leakage, or the like) of the LED channel connected thereto.

Herein, each detector compares the voltage of the connected channel point with at least one reference voltage to generate a detecting signal.

The reference voltage can include an open voltage and a short voltage, and the open voltage is less than the short voltage. When the voltage of the channel point is between the open voltage and the short voltage, the detecting signal has the first level to indicate the normal state of the LED channel. Otherwise, the detecting signal has the second level to indicate the error state of the connected LED channel.

In an embodiment, each detector can include an open detecting unit, a short detecting unit, and a logic element.

The open detecting unit can generate a first signal according to the voltage of the connected channel point, and the first signal corresponds to the open of error state of the channel point The short detecting unit can generate a second signal according to the voltage of the connected channel point, and the second signal corresponds to the short of error state of the channel point The open detecting unit and the short detecting unit can be achieved by comparators which compare the voltage of the connected channel point with the open voltage and the short voltage to generate the first signal and the second signal, respectively.

The logic element receives the first signal and the second signal and performs a logical operation on the first signal and the second signal to generate the detecting signal.

In addition, the signal converter can include one or more logic elements. In an embodiment, the signal converter includes at least one logic element and n signal outputs.

The logic element can generate a report signal through logically aggregating the detecting signals, and each signal output can output the report signal with 1 bit.

In view of the above, the driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode in the present invention can detect the operation state of the LED(s) in the LED channels and report the state with the report signal with n bit in the binary mode. Thus, the processor can captures the report signals and perform meaning interpretation of the captured report signals. Therefore, it is easily to know the number of the LED channels where the error state occurs on the entire system.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafler. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed

description

BRIEF DESCRJPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below for illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein: FIG IA is a schematic view of a conventional driving apparatus with 8 LED channels; FiG lB is a relationship diagram of error flags and clock signals in the driving apparatus with 8 LED channels of FIG IA; FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG 3 is a comparison table of report signals and meanings, for example 8 LED channels, in the dnving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to the present invention; FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a driving circuit in the driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to the present invention; FIG. 5 is a schematic view of another embodiment of a driving circuit in the driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to the present invention, FIG 6 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a signal converter in the driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to the present invention; and FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an embodiment of an application system of the driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRiPTION

Referring to FIG. 2, a driving apparatus 100 for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to the present invention includes a driving circuit 110 and a signal converter 130.

A driving circuit 110 can provide a plurality of LED channels CHI-CH8 for the disposal of LEDs. For the convenience of illustration, as shown in FIG 2, the driving circuit 110 provides 8 LED channels CHI-CH8. However, the present invention is not limited to this; the driving circuit can provide more than two LED channels according to practical requirements.

At least one LED can be disposed in each LED channel CHI/CH2/CH3/CH4/cH5/CH6/cH7/CH8 The driving circuit 110 can control the operation of the LED channels Cl-I 1-CH8, i.e. control the operation (e.g. lighting on, not lighting on, and luminance) of the LEDs disposed in the LED channels CHI-CH8, and can detect the state of the LED channels CH1-CH8, i.e. detect the operation state of the LEDs disposed in the LED channels CHI-CH8, so as to generate detecting signals S1-S8. The signal converter 130 receives the detecting signals Sl-S8, and computes the detecting signals Sl-S8 to generate a report signal with n bit BitO-Bit3 in the binary mode. Therefore, the number of the LED channels where the LED error (e.g. open/short, elcctnc leakage, and over-high temperature) occurs is directly acquired by the report signal. Herein, n is an integer greater than 1, and the number of the LED channels is less than 2, i.e. the number of the channel points is less than 2'. Perfectly, the number of the LED channels is less than 2, and greater than or equal to 2n1 I e., the number of the channel points can be less than 2 and greater than or equal to 2'.

Taking 8 LED channels as an example, the signal converter 130 can generate the report signal with BitO-Bit3 to indicate the number of the LED channels where the LED error occurs. For example, when the signal converter 130 generates the report signal of "001 ", it indicates that one LED channel generates error. Similarly, for 7 channels, the report signal with 3 bit is used for indication.

Referring to FIG. 4, the dnving circuit 110 has a plurality of channel points NCHm (m is an integer greater than 1) corresponding to the LED channels CHM, one or more controller(s) 112, and a plurality of detectors 114. For example, provided that there are 8 LED channels, the driving circuit has 8 channel points (i.e. NCHI-NCH8) corresponding to the LED channels. For the first LED channel CHI, i.e. m is 1, the driving circuit 110 has a first channel point (NCHI) connected to the controller 112 and the detector 114. The controller 112 controls the operation of the first LED channel CHI, and the detector 114 detects the state of the first LED channel CH1 to generate the detecting signal Si accordingly.

Each channel point NCHni can connect one or more LED(s) Dm.

The controller 112 is connected to the channel point NCHm, for controlling the operation of the LEDs Dm connected to the channel points NCHm. Here, a controller 11 2 is provided corresponding to each channel point NCHm respectively, so as to drive the LED Dm thereon. Alternatively, one controller 112 is used to control the operation of the LEDs Dm connected to all the channel points NCHm. Here, the controller 112 can dnve the LEDs Dm in the LED channel by controlling currents flowing through the connected channel points NCHm or voltages of the channel points NCHm.

Taking the current control as an example, referring to FIG 5, in an embodiment, the controller 112 is constituted by switches SW1, SW2 and a regulating unit 113. The switches SWI, SW2 are connected between the channel point NCHm and a ground GND. An output of the regulating unit 113 is connected to a control end of the switch SW1, and an input of the regulating unit 113 is connected to a contact of the switches SWI and SW2 and a reference signal Vref respectively, so as to control the turn-on of the switch SWI. Although the controller constituted by the switches and the regulating unit is illustrated, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to this.

Referring to FIG 4, each detector 114 is connected to the corresponding channel point NCHni corresponding to a LED channel CHm, and detects the state of the corresponding LED channel CHm, i.e. the operation state (e.g. normal, electric leakage, open, short, over-high temperature, or the like) of the LEDs Drn disposed in the LED channel CHm. Here, the detector 114 can detect the state such as operating voltage, temperature, or current of the corresponding LED channel CHni, and generate a detecting signal Sm corresponding to the detected state. For example, the detector 114 can detect the temperature of the corresponding LED channel CHm, and generate the detecting signal Sm corresponding to the over-high temperature (indicating that the temperature of the LED is higher than the normal value, i.e. error) or the normal temperature (indicating that the temperature of the LED is the normal value, i.e. normal).

Taking the voltage detection as an example, referring to FIG 5, one or more LED(s) Dm can be disposed in the LED channel CHm, i.e. connected between the channel point NCHm and a voltage source VDD. When the LED Dm is in the normal state, the voltage of the channel point NCHm is equivalent to a magnitude of a voltage drop passing through the LED Dm, i.e. between 0 volts and the voltage of the LED Dm. When the LED Dm is in short (i.e. the LED Dm is error), the voltage of the channel point NCHm is equivalent to the magnitude of the voltage drop passing through the LED Dm, i.e. close to the voltage of the LED Dm.

When the LED Dm is in open (i.e. the LED Dm is error), the voltage of the channel point NCHm, is equivalent to the magnitude of the voltage drop passing through the LED Dm, i.e. close to 0 volts In this manner, whether the open/short of error state or the normal state of the LED Dm can be detected.

In an embodiment, each detector 114 can include an open detecting unit 115, a short detecting unit 116, and a logic element 117.

An input of the open detecting unit 115 and an Input of the short detecting unit 116 are connected to the corresponding channel point NCHm, and an output of the open detecting unit and an output of the short detecting unit 116 are connected to the logic element 117.

The open detecting unit 115 generates a first signal CS 1 corresponding to the open of error state of the channel point NCHm, i.e. the LED Dm connected to the channel point NCHm is in open, according to the voltage of the connected channel point NCHm. The short detecting unit II 6 generates a second signal CS2 corresponding to the short of error state of the channel point NCHm, i.e. the LED Dm connected to the channel point NCHm is in short, according to the voltage of the connected channel point NCHm. The logic element 11 7 receives the first signal CS1 and the second signal CS2, and performs a logical operation to generate the detecting signal Sm.

In an embodiment, the open detecting unit 115 and the short detecting unit 116 can be realized by comparators. The first comparator (i.e. the open detecting unit 115) detects the voltage of the connected channel point NCHm, and compares the voltage of the channel point NCHm with the open voltage Vrefo to generate the first signal CS!. The second comparator (i.e. the short detecting unit 116) detects the voltage of the connected channel point NCHm, and compares the voltage of the channel point NCHm with the short voltage Vrefs to generate the second signal CS2. Then, the logic element 117 performs the logical operation on the first signal CSI and the second signal CS2 to generate the detecting signal Sm. In other words, each detector 114 compares the voltage of the connected channel point NCHm with at least one reference voltage (e.g. the open voltage/short voltage Vrefo/Vrefs) to generate the detecting signal Sm.

Here, the detecting signal has a first level or a second level. That is, the first level and the second level are used to indicate the normal state and the error state of the LED channel, respectively. For example, it is assumed that an NAND gate is used to realize the logic element 117, and the open voltage Vrefo is less than the short voltage Vrefs. When the LED is in the open, the voltage of the channel point NCHm is equivalent to 0 volts and less than the open voltage Vrefo, and the short voltage Vrefs is larger than the voltage of the channel point NCHni, so the first comparator generates the first signal CS 1 of logic 0, and the second comparator generates the second signal CS2 of logic 1. Here, the NAND gate (i.e. the logic element 117) outputs the detecting signal Sm of logic 1 (i.e. the second level). When the LED is in the short, the voltage of the channel point NCHm is close to the voltage of the LED Dm and larger than the open voltage Vrefo, and the short voltage Vrefs is less than the voltage of the channel point NCHm. Therefore, the first comparator generates the first signal CS I of logic 1, and the second comparator generates the second signal CS2 of logic 0. Here, the NAND gate (i.e. the logic element 117) outputs the detecting signal Sm of logic 1 (i.e. the second level). When the LED is in the normal operation state, the voltage of the channel point NCHm is between the open voltage Vrefo and the short voltage Vrefs, so the first comparator generates the first signal CS 1 of logic 1, and the second comparator generates the second signal CS2 of logic 1. Here, the NAND gate (i.e. the logic element 117) outputs the detecting signal Sm of logic 0 (i.e. the first level).

In an embodiment, the signal converter 130 can be composed of one or more logic element(s). Refemng to FIG. 6, taking 8 LED channels as an example, the driving circuit has S detectors to generate 8 detecting signals S1-S8. Each first logic element 132 receives two detecting signals SI, S2/S3, S4/S5, S6/S7, S8, and performs aggregation to generate first aggregation signals RES31, RES3O/RES2I, RES2O/RES1I, RES1O/RESOI, RESOO. Each second logic element 134 receives four first aggregation signals RES31, RES3O, RES2I, RES2O/RESI1, RESIO, RESO1, RESOO, and performs aggregation to generate second aggregation signals RES2I2, RES211, RES21O/RES2O2, RES2O1, RES200. The third logic element 136 receives the second aggregation signals RES2I2, RES211, RES2IO, RES2O2, RES2OI, RES200, and performs aggregation to generate the report signal with 4 bit BitO-Bit3, and outputs the report signal with 1 bit Bit0/Bitl/Bit2fBit3 respectively through 4 signal outputs N1/N2/N3/N4. Similarly, taking only 4 LED channels as an example; the report signal with 3 bit can be generated only through the aggregation of the first and the second logic elements.

In application, refernng to FIG 7, several driving apparatuses 100 is used to control the operation of the LEDs arranged in area, so as to display image. A processor CPU sends out a state determination signal ERREQ to each driving apparatus 100 in sequence, and captures the report signals BitO-Bit3 for all the driving apparatuses 100 in sequence. The number of the LED channels where the LED error (i.e. open/short, electric leakage, over-high temperature) occurs of the entire system can be known through the report signals BitO-Bit3. A companson table of the report signals and the meaning as shown in FIG 3 is preset in the processor CPU, so when the report signal is captured, the meaning represented by the report signal can be directly known from the comparison table.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A driving apparatus for reporting states of light emitting diode (LED) channels in a binary mode, comprising: a plurality of channel points, respectively for providing a plurality of LED channels; at least one controller, connected to the channel point(s), for controlling operation of the connected LED channel(s); a plurality of detectors, respectively connected to the channel point, for detecting a state of the connected LED channel to generate a detecting signal corresponding to the state of the LED channel; and a signal converter, for receiving each detecting signal and computing the detecting signals to generate a report signal with n bits in a binary mode, wherein n is an integer greater than 1, and the number of the channel points is less than 2'.

2. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to claim 1, wherein the number of the channel points is greater than or equal to 2n1*

3. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to claim I or 2, wherein the detecting signal has a first level or a second level, the first level represents a normal state of the connected LED channel, and the second level represents an error state of the connected LED channel.

4. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to claim 3, wherein the error state comprises over-high temperature.

5. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to claim 3, wherein the error state comprises an open.

6. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to claim 3, wherein the error state comprises a short.

7. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to claim 3, wherein the error state comprises electnc leakage.

8 A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to any preceding claim, wherein each detector is used for comparing a voltage of the connected channel point with at least one reference voltage to generate the detecting signal.

9. A dnving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to claim 8, wherein the reference voltage comprises an open voltage and a short voltage, and the open voltage is less than the short voltage.

10. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to claim 9, wherein when the voltage of the channel point is between the open voltage and the short voltage, the detecting signal has a first level, whereas the detecting signal has a second level, in which the first level represents a normal state of the connected LED channel, and the second level represents an error state of the connected LED channel.

11. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to claim 9 or claim 10, wherein each detector comprises: a first comparator, for companng the voltage of the connected channel point with the open voltage to generate a first signal; a second comparator, for comparing the voltage of the connected channel point with the short voltage to generate a second signal; and a logic element, for receiving the first signal and the second signal and performing a logical operation on the first signal and the second signal to generate the detecting signal.

12 A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to any preceding claim, wherein each detector comprises: an open detecting unit, for generating a first signal according to a voltage of the connected channel point, wherein the first signal corresponds to the open of the state of the LED channel; a short detecting unit, for generating a second signal according to the voltage of the connected channel point, wherein the second signal corresponds to the short of the state of the LED channel; and a logic element, for receiving the first signal and the second signal and performing a logical operation on the first signal and the second signal to generate the detecting signal.

13. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to any preceding claim, wherein the signal converter comprises: at least one logic element, for performing a logic aggregation on the detecting signal to generate the report signal; and n signal outputs, for respectively outputting the report signal with I bit.

14. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to any preceding claim, wherein each channel point is used to connect to at least one LED, and a voltage of the channel point corresponds to the state of the connected LED.

15. A driving apparatus for reporting the states of LED channels in a binary mode, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any of Figures 2 to 7 of the accompanying drawings.

15. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to any preceding claim, wherein each controller comprises: at least one switch, connected between the connected channel point and a ground; and a regulating unit, for controlling the turn-on of the switch.

16. A dnving apparatus for reporting the states of LED channels in a binary mode, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any of Figures 2 to 7 of the accompanying drawings Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows

I. A driving apparatus for reporting states of light emitting diode (LED) channels in a binary mode, comprising: a plurality of channel points, respectively for providing a plurality of LED channels; at least one controller, connected to the channel points, for controlling operations of the connected LED channels; a plurality of detectors, respectively connected to the channel points, each for detecting :* ::* a state of the connected LED channel to generate a detecting signal corresponding to the state of the connected LED channel; arid 0*IS a signal converter, for receiving each detecting signal and computing the detecting signals to generate a report signal with n bits in a binary mode, wherein n is an integer greater than 1, and the number of the channel points is less than 2 and greater than or equal to 2'. 0*S S..

2. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to claim 1, wherein the detecting signal has a first level or a second level, the first level represents a normal state of the connected LED channel, and the second level represents an error state of the connected LED channel.

3. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to claim 2 wherein the error state comprises over-high temperature.

4. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to claim 2, wherein the error state comprises an open.

5. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to claim 2, wherein the error state comprises a short. (5

6. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to claim 2, wherein the error state comprises electric leakage.

7. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to any preceding claim, wherein each detector is used for comparing a voltage of the connected channel point with at least one reference voltage to generate the detecting signal.

8. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to claim 7, wherein the reference voltage compnses an open voltage and a short voltage, and the open voltage is less than the short voltage.

9. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to claim 8, wherein when the voltage of the channel point is between the open voltage and the short voltage, the detecting signal has a first level, whereas the detecting signal has a second * "* level, in which the first level represents a normal state of the connected LED channel, and the second level represents an error state of the connected LED channel.

10. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to claim 8 or claim 9, wherein each detector comprises: a first comparator, for comparing the voltage of the connected channel point with the open voltage to generate a first signal; a second comparator, for comparing the voltage of the connected channel point with the short voltage to generate a second signal; and a logic element, for receiving the first signal and the second signal and performing a logical operation on the first signal and the second signal to generate the detecting signal.

11. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to any preceding claim, wherein each detector comprises: an open detecting unit, for generating a first signal according to a voltage of the connected channel point, wherein the first signal corresponds to the open of the state of the (j LED channel; a short detecting unit, for generating a second signal according to the voltage of the connected channel point, wherein the second signal corresponds to the short of the state of the LED channel; and a logic element, for receiving the first signal and the second signal and performing a logical operation on the first signal and the second signal to generate the detecting signal.

12. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to any preceding claim, wherein the signal converter comprises: at least one logic element, for performing a logic aggregation on the detecting signal to :*::* generate the report signal; and S...

n signal outputs, each for outputting the report signal with I bit. . .

13. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode S..

* according to any preceding claim, wherein each channel point is used to connect to at least "*. one LED, and a voltage of the channel point corresponds to the state of the connected LED. *S*I

14. A driving apparatus for reporting states of LED channels in a binary mode according to any preceding claim, wherein each controller comprises: at least one switch, connected between the connected channel point and a ground; and a regulating unit, for controlling the turn-on of the switch.