LED and Laser Light Coupling Device and Method of Use

Abstract

Techniques for light coupling are provided. Specifically, systems and methods to provide coupling of light emitted from one or more LEDs with light received by an optical fiber are presented.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefits of and priority, under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/210,303, filed on Aug. 26, 2015, entitled “Diffusive Optical Fiber as Ambient Light Sensors, Optical Signal Transceiver, Proximity Sensor,” the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety, for all that it teaches and for all purposes.

This application is also related to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/214,362, filed on Sep. 4, 2015, entitled “Laser Charging and Optical Bi-Directional Communications Using Standard USB Terminals,” 62/212,844, filed on Sep. 1, 2015, entitled “Diffusive Optical Fiber as Ambient Light Sensors, Optical Signal Transceiver, Proximity Sensor,” 62/216,861, filed on Sep. 10, 2015, entitled “Diffusive Optical Fiber as Ambient Light Sensors, Optical Signal Transceiver, Proximity Sensor,” 62/193,037, filed on Jul. 15, 2015, entitled “Remote Device Charging,” 62/195,726, filed on Jul. 22, 2015, entitled “Remote Device Charging,” and 62/197,321, filed on Jul. 27, 2015, entitled “Device Communication, Charging and User Interaction.” The entire disclosures of the applications listed above are hereby incorporated by reference, in their entirety, for all that they teach and for all purposes.

FIELD

The disclosure relates generally to light coupling, such as systems and methods to couple light emitted from Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) with light received by an optical fiber.

BACKGROUND

Existing systems to couple light emitted from an LED or other largely incoherent sources to optical fiber are of low coupling efficiency. Typical coupling efficiencies of such relatively large numerical aperture light sources are well below 5%. In contrast, coupling efficiencies of lasers or other largely coherent light sources is commonly above 95%. It is advantageous to use LEDs rather than lasers as fiber optical light sources because LEDs are typically less expensive to operate and maintain. However, the use of LEDs as light sources in fiber optics has been limited because of the afore-mentioned coupling efficiencies. Therefore, there is a need for a system and method to couple light emitted from LEDs with light received by an optical fiber. This disclosure solves those needs.

By way of providing additional background, context, and to further satisfy the written description requirements of 35 U.S.C. §112, the following references are incorporated by reference in their entireties: U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2007/0031089 to Tessnow and U.S. Pat. No. 7,621,677 to Yang.

SUMMARY

The disclosure provides systems and methods to provide coupling of light emitted from one or more LEDs with light received by an optical fiber.

In one embodiment, an LED and light coupling device is disclosed, the device comprising: at least one LED configured to receive power and control signals, the at least one LED emitting a first light with a first numerical aperture; a light coupler in optical communication with the at least one LED, the light coupler receiving the first light and emitting a second light; and an optical fiber comprising an acceptance angle, the optical fiber in optical communication with the light coupler; wherein the light coupler alters the first light with the first numerical aperture to a second light with a second numerical aperture less than the first numerical aperture.

In another embodiment, a method of LED light coupling is disclosed, the method comprising: providing an LED light coupling device comprising: i) at least one LED configured to receive power and receive control signals, the at least one LED emitting a first light with a first numerical aperture; ii) a light coupler in optical communication with the at least one LED, the light coupler receiving the first light and emitting a second light; and iii) an optical fiber comprising an acceptance angle, the optical fiber in optical communication with the light coupler; engaging the LED light coupling device with a power source; providing power to the at least one LED from the power source; activating the at least one LED; emitting the first light to the light coupler; altering, within the light coupler, the first light wherein the first light with the first numerical aperture alters to a second light with a second numerical aperture less than the first numerical aperture; and providing the optical fiber with the second light.

In yet another embodiment, an LED fiber optics device is disclosed, the device comprising: at least one LED configured to receive power and control signals, the at least one LED emitting a first light with a first emission cone; a light coupler in optical communication with the at least one LED, the light coupler receiving the first light and emitting a second light; and an optical fiber comprising an acceptance angle, the optical fiber in optical communication with the light coupler; wherein the light coupler alters the first light with the first emission cone to a second light with a second emission cone less than the first emission cone; wherein a coupling efficiency between the first light and the second light is at least 95%.

In some alternative embodiments, the device and/or method of use further comprises: an electronic driver controlling the at least one LED; wherein the control of the at least one LED comprises power modulation; wherein the at least one LED is a surface-emitting LED; wherein the at least one LED is three surface-emitting LEDs; wherein the second light is received by the optical fiber within the acceptance angle of the optical fiber; wherein the light coupler comprises an optical integrating sphere; wherein the light coupler comprises a ball lens; wherein the light coupler is an optical sphere and the three surface-emitting LEDs are disposed at 0 degree, 90 degree and 180 degree radials about an equatorial circumference of the optical sphere, wherein a coupling efficiency between the first light and the second light is at least 95%.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 block diagram of the embodiment of the light coupling system;

FIG. 2 provides a representation of one embodiment of the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3a provides a representation of another embodiment of the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3b provides a representation of another embodiment of the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3c provides a representation of another embodiment of the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4a provides a representation of another embodiment of the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4b provides a representation of another embodiment of the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4c provides a representation of another embodiment of the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4d provides a representation of another embodiment of the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4e provides a representation of another embodiment of the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4f provides a representation of another embodiment of the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4g provides a representation of another embodiment of the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 provides a representation of another embodiment of the LED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 provides a representation of another embodiment of the LED/coupler/fiber components of a light coupling system; and

FIG. 7 provides a flow chart of a method of use of the light coupling system of FIG. 1.

It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale. In certain instances, details that are not necessary for an understanding of the invention or that render other details difficult to perceive may have been omitted. It should be understood, of course, that the invention is not necessarily limited to the particular embodiments illustrated herein.

To assist in the understanding of the present invention the following list of components and associated numbering found in the drawings is provided herein:

Number Component
100    Device
200    Electronics
210    Electronics First End
220    Electronics Second End
230    PCB
284    Electronics/LED Input/Output
300    LED Module
310    LED Module First End
320    LED Module Second End
330    LED Module Output
331    LED One
332    LED Two
333    LED Three
336    LED Shelf
341    LED One Output
342    LED Two Output
343    LED Three Output
351    Micro LED
361    Micro LED Output
400    Coupler
410    Coupler First End
420    Coupler Second End
430    Optical Nozzle
441    Ball Lens First
442    Ball Lens Second
450    Integrating Sphere
461    Ball Lens One
462    Ball Lens Two
463    Ball Lens Three
470    Integrating Hemisphere
480    Diffractive Element
486    Coupler Output
490    Focusing Lens
492    Reflective Lens
500    Fiber Optic
510    Fiber Optic First End
520    Fiber Optic Second End
540    Coating
600    Power Supply
682    Power Supply Power

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed techniques. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present disclosure.

Although embodiments are not limited in this regard, discussions utilizing terms such as, for example, “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” “establishing”, “analyzing”, “checking”, or the like, may refer to operation(s) and/or process(es) of a computer, a computing platform, a computing system, a communication system or subsystem, or other electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical (e.g., electronic) quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories or other information storage medium that may store instructions to perform operations and/or processes.

Although embodiments are not limited in this regard, the terms “plurality” and “a plurality” as used herein may include, for example, “multiple” or “two or more”. The terms “plurality” or “a plurality” may be used throughout the specification to describe two or more components, devices, elements, units, parameters, circuits, or the like.

The term “LED” means Light-Emitting Diode and refers to a semiconductor that converts an electrical current into light, and includes all available LEDs types such as surface-emitting LEDs and edge-emitting LEDs.

The term “light coupling” means providing or supplying light to or into a fiber.

The term “waveguide” means a structure that guides waves of light.

The term “coupling efficiency” means the efficiency of power transfer between two optical components.

The term “incoherent light” means light with frequent and random changes of phase between the photons resulting in a spread of light. I contrast, “coherent light” means a beam of photons that have the same frequency and are all at the same frequency, producing a stream or beam of light.

The term “numerical aperture” means a dimensionless number that characterizes the range of angles over which the system can accept or emit light.

The term “emission cone” or “emitting cone” or “acceptance cone” means a defined geometric cone within which light will be accepted and outside of which light will not be accepted.

The term “angle of acceptance” means a defined geometric angle within which light will be accepted and outside of which light will not be accepted.

The term “fiber optics” or “optical fiber” means a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass/silica or plastic.

Before undertaking the description of embodiments below, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this document: the terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, interconnected with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, or the like; and the term “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, circuitry, firmware or software, or combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this document and those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

For purposes of explanation, numerous details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present techniques. It should be appreciated however that the present disclosure may be practiced in a variety of ways beyond the specific details set forth herein. Furthermore, while the exemplary embodiments illustrated herein show various components of the system collocated, it is to be appreciated that the various components of the system can be located at distant portions of a distributed network, such as a communications network, node, and/or the Internet, or within a dedicated secured, unsecured, and/or encrypted system and/or within a network operation or management device that is located inside or outside the network. As an example, a wireless device can also be used to refer to any device, system or module that manages and/or configures or communicates with any one or more aspects of the network or communications environment and/or transceiver(s) and/or stations and/or access point(s) described herein.

Thus, it should be appreciated that the components of the system can be combined into one or more devices, or split between devices.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links, including the communications channel(s) connecting the elements can be wired or wireless links or any combination thereof, or any other known or later developed element(s) capable of supplying and/or communicating data to and from the connected elements. The term module as used herein can refer to any known or later developed hardware, circuit, circuitry, software, firmware, or combination thereof, that is capable of performing the functionality associated with that element. The terms determine, calculate, and compute and variations thereof, as used herein are used interchangeable and include any type of methodology, process, technique, mathematical operational or protocol.

With attention to FIGS. 1-6, embodiments of the light coupling system 100 are depicted.

Generally, the device 100 comprises electronics 200, LED module 300, coupler 400 and fiber optic 500. Electronics 200 comprises electronics first end 210 and electronics second end 220. Electronics 200 may comprise an LED drive circuit. Electronics 200 receives power supply power 682 from power supply 600. LED module 300 comprises LED module first end 310, LED module second end 320 and communicates with electronics 200 by electronics/LED input/output 284. LED module 300 may comprise LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333. LED module 300 outputs an LED module output 330 (aka a first light) to coupler 400. Coupler 400 comprises coupler first end 410 and coupler second end 420, and outputs a coupler output 486 (aka a second light) to fiber optic (aka optical fiber) 500. Fiber optic 500 comprises a fiber optic first end 510 and a fiber optic second end 520. Broadly, LED module 300 emits non-coherent light (e.g. a “first light”) of large emission cone into coupler 400, wherein the coupler 400 alters the received light to a narrow or smaller emission cone (e.g. a “second light”) for receipt by the fiber optic 500. The coupler 400 alters the first light relatively large light emission cone to a narrower or smaller emission cone that is within the angle of acceptance of the fiber optic 500. Without the coupler 400 operating on the first light, most of the first light would not fall within the angle of acceptance of the fiber optic 500 (yielding a very low coupling efficiency, e.g. below 5%). In contrast, with the coupler 400, a high coupling efficiency is obtained, e.g. above 95%).

FIG. 2-5 provide various embodiments of the light coupling system 100 of FIG. 1. Most of the embodiments optically couple, through the use of one or more optical components, one or more LEDs so as to provide more focused light to a fiber optic.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, a series of two ball lens are employed as a coupler. More specifically, LED Module 300 emits LED module output 330 light from LED module second end 320 so as to be received by ball lens first 441, which in turn outputs light to ball lens second 442. Ball lens second 442 emits light as coupler output 486 to fiber optic 500.

Conventionally, in laser to optical fiber coupling, two equal size ball lenses are placed symmetrically between the laser source and optical fiber. This configuration does not work well with LED sources due to source to optical fiber core size ratio and incoherency. In FIG. 2, the light from LED sources directly couple with a smaller ball lens inside the polished metal cavity. The highly reflective metal cavity surface is used as the first stage beam concentrator to reflect light rays from LED source towards the small ball lens. The small ball lens has strong ray bending power due to its large curvature. The small ball lens uses this high bending power to coarsely focus the light rays toward the optical fiber core. Another large ball lens with less bending power provides fine focus to the light rays toward the optical fiber core area. The size ratio between the two ball lenses has a direct relationship with the LED size and fiber core diameter ratio. The optical materials of the two ball lenses are not limited to the same material.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3a, the LED module 300 comprises a micro LED 351. More specifically, micro LED 351 emits LED module output 330 light from LED module second end 320 so as to be received directly by fiber optic 500 at fiber optic first end 510. Such a configuration, devoid of a coupler 400, is termed a butt-coupling arrangement.

Note that the LED to optical fiber coupling efficiency may be dramatically improved by reducing the LED size from millimeter level to micrometer level that is on the same order as multimodal fiber core diameter. Micrometer size LED may couple with multimodal optical fiber directly (butt coupling) or by using micro lens on top of the LED. Micrometer size LED may be a single LED or an array of LEDs of any configuration. The potential coupling efficiency of micrometer size LEDs to multimodal fiber could reach 30%+ theoretically.

In some embodiments, The array of micrometer size LEDs could be configured with R G and B color micrometer size LEDs at any mixing ratio. The R G and B color light would be coupled into the multimodal optical fiber together. Color mixing may occur inside the optical fiber core area. A mixed RGB micrometer size LEDs coupling and color mixing mechanism may create any single color (RGB mixed) light output.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3b, a cross-sectional view of light coupling device 100 is shown. In this embodiment, LED Module 300 emits light so as to be reflected within a surrounding collar or cylinder-shaped coupler 400, wherein more focused light enters fiber optic 500 at fiber optic first end 510.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3c, a set of three (3) LEDs, i.e. LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333 are butt coupled (that is, placed against or adjacent the entry to fiber optic 500 at fiber optic first end 510), wherein the light emitted from the three LEDs enters fiber optic 500 and is focused or altered or redirected by optical nozzle 430. Upon leaving optical nozzle (which may comprise a metallic interior or inner surface), the received light has a lower or narrower emission cone so as to be received by optical fiber at a greater or increased coupling efficiency. Optical Nozzle 430 exterior surface may comprise an optically diffusive material. Interior of fiber optic 500 may comprise a coating 540, such as a transparent cladding material to facilitate total internal reflection of light within the fiber optic 500. Optical nozzle 430 may comprise a waveguide and optically clear material. In one embodiment, LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333 are selected from the primary colors of red, green, blue, that is three LEDs are provided, one each of red, yellow and blue emitted light.

Traditionally, LEDs have very low coupling efficiency because the conventional way to couple light from source to fiber is based on geometric imaging mapping in which the light source's image spatial information is preserved. Such an approach is limited by the principle of optical invariance or LaGrange invariance, in which the product of beam angle and beam waste is an invariant. The optical invariance shows the relationships between LED source size, acceptance angles (on both source and optical fiber), and optical fiber diameter. To solve this dilemma, one must break the source image's spatial information to improve the coupling efficiency: putting the light from LED sources through some lossless diffusive optical component would be the way to break the LED source spatial pattern, while simultaneously preserve the illumination intensity (energy) and optical wavelength (color spectrums). One such a lossless diffusive optical component is an integrating sphere.

The integrating sphere is a (nearly) lossless diffusive optical component. The integrating sphere is an optically hollow (transparent) sphere with its inner wall painted with highly diffusive white paints. The diffusive paints also have very reflectivity (>95%˜99%). The light (from LED source) entering the integrating sphere would scatter and bounce within the white diffusive sphere wall until it reaches an exit port (inserted optical fiber). This process is lossless (almost) and color spectrums maintained. Inside the optical clear sphere cavity, the illumination intensity is uniformly distributed in every direction. The light coupled into the exit port only relates to the sphere size to exit port surface size ratio. The diffusive and color spectrums maintained nature of the integrating sphere makes it to be the ideal optical color-mixing chamber.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4a, an integrating sphere 450 is a coupler. More specifically, LED Module 300 emits LED module output 330 light from LED module second end 320 so as to be received by integrating sphere 450. Integrating sphere 450 emits light as coupler output 486 to fiber optic 500 at fiber optic first end 510.

In one embodiment, the integrating sphere may be made by combining two metal pieces, each forming a half sphere cavity. One half sphere has a large hole to host the LED active area, and the other has a small hole (exit port) to host the optical fiber. The inner sphere surfaces are painted with highly reflective, diffusive white paint. Light from an LED enters the integrating sphere, is diffused and mixed, and then exits to exit port to couple directly into optical fiber.

In one embodiment, an optical tapper replaces the optical fiber at the exit port. The optical tapper has a large surface area at the exit port end. The optical tapper's small end has the same size as optical fiber core surface. The optical tapper is used to increase the exit port size to improve the coupling efficiency.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4b, an integrating sphere 450 is a coupler. More specifically, LED Module 300, comprising LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333 each emiting respectively LED one output 341, LED two output 342 and LED three output 343, provide light to received by integrating sphere 450. The three LEDs are configured to generally direct light emissions to a common location on integrating sphere 450. Integrating sphere 450 emits light as coupler output 486 to fiber optic 500 at fiber optic first end 510. In one embodiment, LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333 are selected from the primary colors of red, green, blue, that is three LEDs are provided, one each of red, yellow and blue emitted light.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4c, an integrating sphere 450 is a coupler. More specifically, LED Module 300, comprising LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333 each emitting respectively LED one output 341, LED two output 342 and LED three output 343, provide light to received by integrating sphere 450. However, in contrast, to FIG. 4b, each of the three LEDs are positioned at 90 degree separated radials about an equatorial axis of the integrating sphere 450 (e.g., at a 0 degree, 90 degree, and 180 deg. radial). Fiber optic 500 is located at the remaining 270 degree radial. In one embodiment, LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333 are selected from the primary colors of red, green, blue, that is three LEDs are provided, one each of red, yellow and blue emitted light.

In one embodiment, the set of three LEDs, when mounted as depicted in FIG. 4c, serve to maximize thermal dissipation efficiency.

In one embodiment, the integrating sphere is used as a mix chamber to remove any unwanted laser sparking effect.

In one embodiment, the integrating sphere, when integrated with the red/green/blue LEDs discussed above (or any set of colored LEDs), is used as an optical color-mixing chamber to create any color at an exit port into an optical fiber. Variable color output into optical fiber is feasible by changing the individual intensity of input color LEDs' electronically.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4d, an integrating hemisphere 470 is a coupler and disposed on a PCB 230. More specifically, LED Module 300, disposed in the lower plane (i.e. a flat surface) of the integrating hemisphere 470, emits LED module output 330 light so as to be received by integrating hemisphere 470 and output to fiber optic 500. The exposed area on the flat surface of the half sphere would be painted with white, highly reflective, diffusive paint. This configuration reduces the integrating sphere size and increases the hosted LED active area surface or the number of LED on a plane surface. This configuration has advantages on thermal dissipating and LED's PCB layout.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4e, an integrating sphere 450 is a coupler and three (3) LEDs are mounted on LED shelf 336 within integrating sphere 450. The three (3) LEDs are LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333. Light emitted from integrating sphere 450 is provided to fiber optic 500 after passing through ball lens first 441. In one embodiment, LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333 are selected from the primary colors of red, green, blue, that is three LEDs are provided, one each of red, yellow and blue emitted light.

In one embodiment, the LED shelf 336 is a transparent PCB board structure.

In one embodiment, the LED/LEDs are placed at the center of the integrating sphere by a supporting rod. The supporting rod is used to wire the LEDs and dissipate heat. LED/LEDs may mount vertically to maximize the LED active area.

In some embodiments, ball lens first 441 is fitted to fiber optic first end 510, as depicted in FIG. 4e. Stated another way, a small ball lens is placed at the exit port. The optical fiber end is placed at the ball lens's focal point. The small ball lens is used to increase the exit port surface size and focus the light onto the optical fiber end. This may increase the exit port to optical fiber coupling efficiency.

In some embodiments, light received by fiber optic first end 510 is substantially within the fiber optic acceptance cone. In some embodiments, light received by fiber optic first end 510 is all within the fiber optic acceptance cone. In some embodiments, the coupling efficiency between the one or more LEDs of the LED module 300 and the fiber optic first end 510, as enabled by the coupler 400, is preferably greater than 90%. In a more preferred embodiment, the coupling efficiency is greater than 95%. In a most preferred embodiment, the coupling efficiency is greater than 97%.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4f, coupler 400 comprises diffractive element 480 and focusing lens 490. Light emitted by LED module 300 is received by diffractive element 480, which, generally, straightens the otherwise broad light cone emitted by LED module 300. Focusing lens 490 receives light from diffractive element 480 and focuses or narrows the received light so as to provide a narrower or tighter cone of light to fiber optic first end 510.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4g, a pair of LEDs, i.e. LED One 331 and LED two 332, emit light so as to reflect from reflective lens 492 so as to be received by focusing lens 490. Focusing lens 490 in turn transmits light to fiber optic 500 at fiber optic first end 510.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5, a set of three ball lens are configured to receive a set of three light emissions from three LEDs. More specifically, each of three (3) LEDs, that is LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333, emit respective LED one output 341, LED two output 342, and LED three output 343 to respective ball lens one 461, ball lens two 462 and ball lens three 463, wherein the three light emissions are focused into one merged coupler output 486 before entering fiber optic 510 at fiber optic first end 510. In one embodiment, LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333 are selected from the primary colors of red, green, blue, that is three LEDs are provided, one each of red, yellow and blue emitted light.

FIG. 6 provides a design for a diffusive optical fiber 500 which may, for example, be useful for illumination and display purposes. Any of the above disclosed coupling designs may be utilized at the paired ends of a fiber optic 500. In FIG. 6, each of two paired integrating spheres 450 direct light into opposing ends of fiber optic 500, as generated by each of two respective LED modules 300. Such a configuration increases the total amount of light coupled into the fiber core area, or provides a mix of color. In one embodiment, a mirror or other optical element (e.g. a ball lens) with high reflectance is disposed at one or more ends of the fiber optic. The excessive illumination light could be bounced back for second diffusive radiation along the fiber core.

Power supply 600 may be any power supply known to those skilled in the art, such as a standard wall outlet, a personal computer, or a laptop computer, and may be a wireless connection. Electronics 200 receives power from power supply used, among other things, to power and control the one or more LEDs of the LED module 300.

In one embodiment, the device 100 comprises its own power supply, such as a battery such as a lithium battery, so as to power the one or more LEDs and provide any set of functions disclosed above.

In one embodiment, a polished (inner surface) metal tube/cone could be inserted into the optical fiber or taper. The coned inner surface would guide the light from micrometer size LED or LED array towards the fiber. This approach may increase the accommodation of more micrometer size LEDs.

With reference to FIGS. 1-6, FIG. 7 provides a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of use of the light coupling system 100. Generally, the method 700 starts at step 704 and ends at step 728.

At step 708 of the method 700, the device 100 is engaged with power supply 600 and receives power supply power 682. The power is received by electronics 200 at electronics first end 210. At step 712, the one or more LEDs of LED module 300 are activated, which may comprise power on/off, frequency modulation, and power modulation. At step 716, light is transmitted by the one or more LEDs to the coupler 400. The light emitted by LEDs is generally of large or wide emission cone and/or large numerical aperture.

At step 720, the LED transmitted light is received by coupler 400 and processed to, among other things, focus the light to a narrower or tighter emission cone or smaller numerical aperture, wherein the processed light is transmitted. At step 724, the processed light emitted from the coupler 400 is received by the fiber optic 500 and transmitted through the fiber optic. The method then ends at step 728.

In the detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed techniques. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present techniques may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present disclosure.

Although embodiments are not limited in this regard, discussions utilizing terms such as, for example, “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” “establishing”, “analysing”, “checking”, or the like, may refer to operation(s) and/or process(es) of a computer, a computing platform, a computing system, a communication system or subsystem, or other electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical (e.g., electronic) quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories or other information storage medium that may store instructions to perform operations and/or processes.

Although embodiments are not limited in this regard, the terms “plurality” and “a plurality” as used herein may include, for example, “multiple” or “two or more”. The terms “plurality” or “a plurality” may be used throughout the specification to describe two or more components, devices, elements, units, parameters, circuits, or the like. For example, “a plurality of stations” may include two or more stations.

It may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this document: the terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, interconnected with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like; and the term “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, circuitry, firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this document and those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

For purposes of explanation, numerous details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present techniques. It should be appreciated however that the present disclosure may be practiced in a variety of ways beyond the specific details set forth herein.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links (which may not be shown connecting the elements), including the communications channel(s) connecting the elements, can be wired or wireless links or any combination thereof, or any other known or later developed element(s) capable of supplying and/or communicating data to and from the connected elements. The term module as used herein can refer to any known or later developed hardware, circuit, circuitry, software, firmware, or combination thereof, that is capable of performing the functionality associated with that element. The terms determine, calculate, and compute and variations thereof, as used herein are used interchangeable and include any type of methodology, process, technique, mathematical operational or protocol.

Moreover, while some of the exemplary embodiments described herein are directed toward a transmitter portion of a transceiver performing certain functions, or a receiver portion of a transceiver performing certain functions, this disclosure is intended to include corresponding and complementary transmitter-side or receiver-side functionality, respectively, in both the same transceiver and/or another transceiver(s), and vice versa.

While the above-described flowcharts have been discussed in relation to a particular sequence of events, it should be appreciated that changes to this sequence can occur without materially effecting the operation of the embodiment(s). Additionally, the exact sequence of events need not occur as set forth in the exemplary embodiments. Additionally, the exemplary techniques illustrated herein are not limited to the specifically illustrated embodiments but can also be utilized with the other exemplary embodiments and each described feature is individually and separately claimable.

Additionally, the systems, methods and protocols can be implemented to improve one or more of a special purpose computer, a programmed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuit element(s), an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a hard-wired electronic or logic circuit such as discrete element circuit, a programmable logic device such as PLD, PLA, FPGA, PAL, a modem, a transmitter/receiver, any comparable means, or the like. In general, any device capable of implementing a state machine that is in turn capable of implementing the methodology illustrated herein can benefit from the various communication methods, protocols and techniques according to the disclosure provided herein.

Examples of the processors as described herein may include, but are not limited to, at least one of Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 800 and 801, Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 610 and 615 with 4G LTE Integration and 64-bit computing, Apple® A7 processor with 64-bit architecture, Apple® M7 motion coprocessors, Samsung® Exynos® series, the Intel® Core™ family of processors, the Intel® Xeon® family of processors, the Intel® Atom™ family of processors, the Intel Itanium® family of processors, Intel® Core® i5-4670K and i7-4770K 22 nm Haswell, Intel® Core® i5-3570K 22 nm Ivy Bridge, the AMD® FX™ family of processors, AMD® FX-4300, FX-6300, and FX-8350 32 nm Vishera, AMD® Kaveri processors, Texas Instruments® JacintoC6000™ automotive infotainment processors, Texas Instruments® OMAP™ automotive-grade mobile processors, ARM® Cortex™-M processors, ARM® Cortex-A and ARM926EJ-S™ processors, Broadcom® AirForce BCM4704/BCM4703 wireless networking processors, the AR7100 Wireless Network Processing Unit, other industry-equivalent processors, and may perform computational functions using any known or future-developed standard, instruction set, libraries, and/or architecture.

Furthermore, the disclosed methods may be readily implemented in software using object or object-oriented software development environments that provide portable source code that can be used on a variety of computer or workstation platforms. Alternatively, the disclosed system may be implemented partially or fully in hardware using standard logic circuits or VLSI design. Whether software or hardware is used to implement the systems in accordance with the embodiments is dependent on the speed and/or efficiency requirements of the system, the particular function, and the particular software or hardware systems or microprocessor or microcomputer systems being utilized. The communication systems, methods and protocols illustrated herein can be readily implemented in hardware and/or software using any known or later developed systems or structures, devices and/or software by those of ordinary skill in the applicable art from the functional description provided herein and with a general basic knowledge of the computer and telecommunications arts.

Moreover, the disclosed methods may be readily implemented in software and/or firmware that can be stored on a storage medium to improve the performance of: a programmed general-purpose computer with the cooperation of a controller and memory, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, or the like. In these instances, the systems and methods can be implemented as program embedded on personal computer such as an applet, JAVA® or CGI script, as a resource residing on a server or computer workstation, as a routine embedded in a dedicated communication system or system component, or the like. The system can also be implemented by physically incorporating the system and/or method into a software and/or hardware system, such as the hardware and software systems of a communications transceiver.

Various embodiments may also or alternatively be implemented fully or partially in software and/or firmware. This software and/or firmware may take the form of instructions contained in or on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Those instructions may then be read and executed by one or more processors to enable performance of the operations described herein. The instructions may be in any suitable form, such as but not limited to source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, and the like. Such a computer-readable medium may include any tangible non-transitory medium for storing information in a form readable by one or more computers, such as but not limited to read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; a flash memory, etc.

It is therefore apparent that there has at least been provided systems and methods for light coupling. While the embodiments have been described in conjunction with a number of embodiments, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations would be or are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the applicable arts. Accordingly, this disclosure is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, equivalents and variations that are within the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

Claims

1. An LED and light coupling device comprising:

at least one LED configured to receive power and control signals, the at least one LED emitting a first light with a first numerical aperture;

a light coupler in optical communication with the at least one LED, the light coupler receiving the first light and emitting a second light; and

an optical fiber comprising an acceptance angle, the optical fiber in optical communication with the light coupler;

wherein the light coupler alters the first light with the first numerical aperture to a second light with a second numerical aperture less than the first numerical aperture.

2. The device of claim 1, further comprising an electronic driver controlling the at least one LED.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the control of the at least one LED comprises power modulation.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one LED is a surface-emitting LED.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one LED is three surface-emitting LEDs.

6. The device of claim 4, wherein the second light is received by the optical fiber within the acceptance angle of the optical fiber.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the light coupler comprises an optical integrating sphere.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the light coupler comprises a ball lens.

9. The device of claim 5, wherein the light coupler is an optical sphere and the three surface-emitting LEDs are disposed at 0 degree, 90 degree and 180 degree radials about an equatorial circumference of the optical sphere, wherein a coupling efficiency between the first light and the second light is at least 95%.

10. A method of LED light coupling comprising:

providing an LED light coupling device comprising: i) at least one LED configured to receive power and receive control signals, the at least one LED emitting a first light with a first numerical aperture; ii) a light coupler in optical communication with the at least one LED, the light coupler receiving the first light and emitting a second light; and iii) an optical fiber comprising an acceptance angle, the optical fiber in optical communication with the light coupler;

engaging the LED light coupling device with a power source;

providing power to the at least one LED from the power source;

activating the at least one LED;

emitting the first light to the light coupler;

altering, within the light coupler, the first light wherein the first light with the first numerical aperture alters to a second light with a second numerical aperture less than the first numerical aperture; and

providing the optical fiber with the second light.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising an electronic driver controlling the at least one LED.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the control of the at least one LED comprises power modulation.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the control of the at least one LED comprises power modulation.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one LED is a surface-emitting LED.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one LED is three surface-emitting LEDs.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the second light is received by the optical fiber within the acceptance angle of the optical fiber, wherein a coupling efficiency between the first light and the second light is at least 95%.

17. The method of claim 10, the light coupler comprises an optical integrating sphere.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the light coupler comprises a ball lens.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the light coupler is an optical sphere and the three surface-emitting LEDs are disposed at 0 degree, 90 degree and 180 degree radials about an equatorial circumference of the optical sphere.

20. An LED fiber optics device comprising:

at least one LED configured to receive power and control signals, the at least one LED emitting a first light with a first emission cone;

a light coupler in optical communication with the at least one LED, the light coupler receiving the first light and emitting a second light; and

an optical fiber comprising an acceptance angle, the optical fiber in optical communication with the light coupler;

wherein the light coupler alters the first light with the first emission cone to a second light with a second emission cone less than the first emission cone;

wherein a coupling efficiency between the first light and the second light is at least 95%.