EP-4738238-A2 - DISPLAY APPARATUS

EP4738238A2EP 4738238 A2EP4738238 A2EP 4738238A2EP-4738238-A2

Abstract

A display apparatus comprising an optical wireless communication (OWC) apparatus and a display, the display comprising an array of elements comprising: a plurality of display elements comprising red, green and blue elements configured to display an image to a user; and a plurality of light-receiving elements configured to receive modulated light comprising a data signal from a further OWC device, wherein the OWC apparatus is configured to decode the received modulated light to obtain the data signal encoded in the received modulated light; wherein the light-receiving elements are distributed in the display in groups of one or more light-receiving elements, wherein one or more said groups are at least partially surrounded by display elements, such that the array of elements comprises a repeating arrangement of unit cells, each unit cell comprising at least one light-receiving element, at least one red element, and least one green element and at least one blue element.

Inventors

TSONEV, Dobroslav
CSAJAGHY, Istvan Phillipe Bernard
WALKER, DUNCAN JOHN WILLIAM
KARLSSON, Ivan Alf
WIECZOREK, Artur Witold

Assignees

PureLiFi Limited

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20180112

Claims (15)

A display apparatus comprising an optical wireless communication (OWC) apparatus and a display, the display comprising an array of elements comprising: a plurality of display elements comprising red, green and blue elements configured to display an image to a user; and a plurality of light-receiving elements configured to receive modulated light comprising a data signal from a further OWC device, wherein the OWC apparatus is configured to decode the received modulated light to obtain the data signal encoded in the received modulated light; wherein the light-receiving elements are distributed in the display in groups of one or more light-receiving elements, wherein one or more said groups are at least partially surrounded by display elements, such that the array of elements comprises a repeating arrangement of unit cells, each unit cell comprising at least one light-receiving element, at least one red element, and least one green element and at least one blue element.
A display apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein at least one of a), b): a) a modulation frequency of the received modulated light is between 100 KHz and 1 PHz and/or wherein a modulation frequency of the received modulated light is between 1 MHz and 100 GHz. b) the light-receiving elements are arranged in more than one light-receiving region, such that at least some, optionally each, light-receiving region is configured to receive light having a different wavelength, optionally further comprising signal collection circuitry for each light-receiving region configured to collect detection signals from each light-receiving element in the light-receiving region and further configured to synchronize collection of detection signals over the light-receiving region.
A display apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein at least one of a), b), c), d), e), f): a) wherein the display comprises one or more layers, optionally, wherein the display comprises a plurality of sub-layers that together provide display functionality; b) the plurality of light-receiving elements comprises a plurality of photodiodes; c) the plurality of display elements comprises a plurality of at least partially transparent display elements, optionally wherein the at least partially transparent display elements comprise at least one of transparent organic light-emitting diodes (TOLEDs), microLEDs, quantum dot LEDs or lightfield display elements; d) the display apparatus comprises a plurality of non-transparent display elements; e) wherein the array of elements further comprises a plurality of optical front end circuitry elements, optionally wherein at least one, optionally each, of the optical front end circuitry elements comprises: amplifying circuitry elements, buffering circuitry elements or multiplexing circuitry elements; f) wherein the red, green and blue elements are configured to transmit modulated light comprising an uplink data signal to a further OWC device.
A display apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein: at least some of the display elements are at least partially transparent; the display apparatus further comprises at least one light-transmitting device and/or light-receiving device positioned behind the display; and the at least one light-transmitting and/or light-receiving device is configured to transmit and/or receive light through at least part of the display.
A display apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein at least one of a), b), c): a) the apparatus further comprises a processor for processing signals representative of light received by the light-receiving elements to identify, compensate for and/or at least partially remove a component of the signals that is representative of light emitted by at least part of the display; b) the display apparatus is configured to at least partly compensate for optical effects arising from the display; c) the display apparatus further comprises at least one optical component configured to perform the at least partly compensating for optical effects of the display, , optionally wherein the at least one optical component comprises at least one of: a lens, a lens array, a microlens array, liquid crystal displays, polarizers, one or more filters, optionally, wherein the one or more filters comprise at least one of: an absorption filter; an interference filter; a Fabry-Perot filter; a dichroic filter; a band-pass filter; a tuneable filter; a plasmonic filter.
A display apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the compensating of the optical effects of the display comprises at least one of a), b): a) altering, by at least one optical component of the display, a value for at least one parameter of the light received by the light-receiving elements; b) performing, by a processor of the display apparatus, signal processing of light received by the light-receiving elements, wherein the signal processing comprises analogue or digital signal processing.
A display apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein at least one of a), b), c), d), e): a) the display apparatus is configured to alter at least one property of light emitted by at least part of the display and/or to alter operation of the display during a time period in which light is received by the light-receiving elements; b) the display apparatus is configured such that the at least part of the display is turned off or has its intensity reduced for a short time period; c) wherein a modulation scheme used to encode the transmitted modulated light and/or a modulation scheme used to decode the received modulated light comprises at least one of: on-off keying (OOK), phase shift keying (PSK), M-ary pulse amplitude modulation (M-PAM), M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM) or orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM); d) wherein the plurality of light-receiving elements further comprises or forms part of at least one solar cell and the at least one solar cell is configured to detect light signals, wherein the light signals comprise communication signals or the at least one solar cell is configured to detect light levels wherein the light levels comprise ambient light levels; e) the received modulated light has a wavelength that is different from wavelengths of the visible light emitted by the display elements.
A display apparatus according to any preceding claim, the display apparatus further comprising a plurality of light-transmitting elements configured to transmit modulated light comprising a data signal from the OWC apparatus, wherein the OWC apparatus is configured to encode the data signal in the transmitted modulated light.
A display apparatus according to claim 8, wherein at least one of a), b), c), d), e), f), g): a) the light-transmitting elements are distributed in the display in groups of one or more light-transmitting elements wherein at least some of said groups are at least partially surrounded by display elements, such that each unit cell further comprises at least one light-transmitting element; b) wherein each unit cell comprises both at least one light-transmitting and at least one light-receiving element and the OWC apparatus is configured to be operated in half duplex or full duplex communication using the light-transmitting elements and light-receiving elements; c) wherein the light-transmitting elements are arranged in in one or more rows or columns within or at the edge of the display; d) wherein the transmitted modulated light has a wavelength that is different from the visible light emitted by the display elements; e) wherein the transmitted modulated light is non-visible light; f) wherein at least one of the light-transmitting elements has a different output power than at least one other of the display elements; g) wherein the plurality of transmitting elements comprises a plurality of LEDs and/or laser diodes.
A display apparatus according to claims 8 or 9 wherein at least one of a), b), c), d): a) the light-transmitting and/or light receiving device comprises at least one of a light based motion detector, a camera, a proximity sensor, a flashlight, a light level detector; b) light transmitted from the at least one light transmitting and/or light receiving device has at least one different property from light generated by the display; c) wherein the at least one light transmitting and/or light receiving device comprises or forms part of the optical wireless communications (OWC) apparatus configured to transmit and/or receive the light through the at least part of the display; d) wherein the display apparatus is configured to alter at least one property of light emitted by at least part of the display and/or to alter operation of the display during a time period in which light is transmitted and/or received by the at least one light-transmitting and/or light-receiving device through at least part of the display, optionally, wherein the at least one light- receiving device comprises sensor elements of a camera, and wherein the time period comprises a time period in which an image is acquired by the camera.
An electronic device comprising a display apparatus according to any preceding claim.
A pixel device configured to form part of a display apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the pixel device comprises said unit cell.
The pixel device of claim 12, further comprising at least one integrated light-transmitting element configured to transmit modulated light comprising a data signal to a further OWC device, wherein said unit cell further comprises the at least one integrated light-transmitting element, optionally wherein the display elements and the at least one of the light receiving and transmitting elements are integrated into one or more display layers.
A method of receiving an optical wireless communication data signal comprising: receiving with a display apparatus, modulated light comprising an optical wireless communication data signal, wherein; the display apparatus comprises an optical wireless communication (OWC) apparatus and a display, the OWC apparatus is configured to decode the received modulated light to obtain the data signal; the display comprises an array of elements comprising a plurality of display elements configured to display an image to a user and a plurality of light-receiving elements configured to receive the modulated light; and the light-receiving elements are distributed in the display in groups of one or more light-receiving elements, wherein at least some of said groups are at least partially surrounded by display elements, such that the array of elements comprises a repeating arrangement of unit cells, each unit cell comprising at least one light-receiving element, at least one red element, at least one green element and at least one blue element; and decoding the received modulated light to obtain the optical wireless communication data signal encoded in the received modulated light.
A method of operating a display apparatus according to claim 14 comprising: transmitting modulated light from the display apparatus to a further OWC device and/or receiving modulated light from the further OWC device by the display apparatus, thereby providing optical wireless communication with the further OWC device using the modulated light.

Description

Field The present invention relates to a display apparatus for an electronic device with at least one integrated opto-electronic component, for example a display apparatus for an electronic device with an integrated optical wireless communication transceiver. Background Many electro-optical components may require light reception and/or light transmission for their operation. Such components may include, but are not limited to, optical wireless communication (OWC) transceivers, light-based motion detectors, cameras, optical sensors, solar cells, proximity sensors, or flashlights. Electro-optical components that require light reception and/or light transmission for their operation may require a sufficiently unobstructed path between an optical detector or transmitter and an outside environment. Visible light captured by a sensor of a camera may require a substantially unobstructed path between the image that is being captured and the sensor. Infrared (IR) light emitted and received by a proximity sensor may require a sufficiently unobstructed path between the proximity sensor and incoming IR radiation in order to make a detection. An OWC transmitter may require a sufficiently unobstructed path to successfully emit radiation (for example, IR light) that is used for uplink (UL) communication. An OWC receiver may require a sufficiently unobstructed path to successfully receive radiation (for example, visible light radiation) that is used for downlink (DL) communication. In many known devices, electro-optical components are placed at or near the surface of an electronic device (for example, a mobile phone, tablet, laptop or other computer). For example, optics for a camera, proximity sensor, OWC transmitter or OWC receiver, or other light-receiving or light-emitting components, may be integrated at a surface of a user device into which the components are embedded. Electro-optical components may be placed towards the edge of a device to avoid blocking or being blocked by other components of the device. Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of a mobile phone comprising an integrated camera module and an integrated proximity sensor. A front surface of the mobile phone 10 (where the front surface is the surface typically viewed by a user) comprises a display screen region 12, a first bezel region 14 and a second bezel region 16. Each bezel region 14, 16 comprises a region of a front surface of the phone that does not provide display functionality. A camera 18 and proximity sensor 20 are integrated into the first bezel region 14 of the mobile phone 10. The display screen region 12 may comprise, for example, a display comprising a liquid crystal (LCD) layer and an array of LEDs positioned behind the LCD layer. The LEDs are configured to provide backlighting of the LCD layer (which does not itself produce light). Optics for the camera 18 and proximity sensor 20 are integrated at the surface of the mobile phone 10. As a consequence, the camera 18 and the proximity sensor 20 are integrated at the side of the screen (i.e. outside the display screen region 12) in a bezel region (first bezel region 14), where there is available space for components of the camera 18 and proximity sensor 20. An OWC module may be integrated into a bezel region of a mobile phone in a similar fashion such that light incident on the mobile phone may be collected by an optical detector of the OWC module. Light emitted by an optical transmitter of the OWC module may need to be able to escape from the device and radiate as desired by an optical front-end designer. Transmitter (TX) and/or receiver (RX) optics of the OWC device may be positioned at the surface of the bezel analogously to the camera 18 and proximity sensor 20 depicted in Figure 1. There may be limited space in the bezel regions 14, 16. The limited space in the bezel 14, 16 may put a significant constraint on the size of an OWC module and on additional modules that may be placed in the bezel. Recent phone designs have seen a tendency to decrease the size of the bezel region or regions, and it is thought that some designers may wish to eliminate the bezel entirely (for example, by creating a design in which the display screen covers the entirety of a front surface of the phone). It is known to provide a transparent solar cell module that may be integrated on top of a mobile phone screen such that the mobile phone may still be used as intended while energy is harvested by the solar cell. It has been suggested that the solar cell may potentially be used as an OWC detector. However, the nature of a transparent solar cell is that most of the light is passed through the solar cell, while harvesting only a small amount of the incident light. If this were not the case, then the solar cell would not be transparent, which may lead to a degradation of the display image emitted by the display underneath the solar cell. Solar cells may be too slow for the high-speed data rates used in modern wireless