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Dual-Purpose Offline LED Driver for

Illumination and Visible Light Communication
ARTICLE in IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS JANUARY 2015
Impact Factor: 1.76 DOI: 10.1109/TIA.2014.2330066

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406

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 51, NO. 1, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

Dual-Purpose Offline LED Driver for Illumination

and Visible Light Communication
Kumar Modepalli, Student Member, IEEE, and Leila Parsa, Senior Member, IEEE

AbstractThis paper presents a dual-purpose offline LED

driver with illumination control and visible light communications
(VLC). LEDs, due to their nonlinear IV characteristics, are
driven by constant current sources. The proposed dual-purpose
offline LED driver realizes a constant current source by a buck
converter without a capacitor using average current mode control.
VLC is implemented through variable pulse position modulation
scheme using a shunt switch in parallel to LED string. Conventional LED drivers are typically designed to perform illumination control with pulsewidth modulation (PWM) dimming
at low frequencies (< 20 kHz), which results in audible noise
due to the mechanical vibrations of inductors and piezoelectric
properties of ceramic capacitors. The proposed converter presents
an illumination control with PWM dimming frequencies above the
audible range. The detailed control and modeling of the proposed
dual-purpose LED driver using high-frequency model of LED
string is discussed. The effects of the phosphor on phosphor-based
white LEDs for VLC are reported. The proposed driver is experimentally evaluated on 110/120 ac mains with 450-lm output. The
linear characteristics of PWM dimming for data transfer of 2 Mb/s
are demonstrated. Detailed simulation and experimental results to
validate the operation of the proposed converter are presented.
Index TermsAverage current mode control (ACMC), dual-purpose LED driver, high-frequency pulsewidth modulation
(PWM) dimming, LED driver, lumen, spectral power distribution
(SPD), visible light communications (VLC).

I. I NTRODUCTION

OLID-STATE lighting (SSL) uses high-brightness LEDs

(HB-LEDs) as a source of general illumination. Unlike
conventional illumination sources such as incandescent, halogen, fluorescent, and compact fluorescent lamps, LEDs are
energy efficient and are free from hazardous substances such
as mercury. The HB-LEDs have longer lifetime compared with
all the other general illumination sources. The recent improvements in luminous efficacy, lifetime of LEDs, and benefits such
as energy savings made the HB-LEDs a ubiquitous replacement

Manuscript received October 30, 2013; revised March 23, 2014; accepted
May 6, 2014. Date of publication June 10, 2014; date of current version
January 16, 2015. Paper 2013-IPCC-821.R1, presented at the 2013 IEEE
Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, Long Beach, CA, USA,
March 1721, and approved for publication in the IEEE T RANSACTIONS ON
I NDUSTRY A PPLICATIONS by the Industrial Power Converter Committee of
the IEEE Industry Applications Society. This work was supported in part by
the National Science Foundation under cooperative agreement EEC-0812056
and in part by New York State under NYSTAR Contract C090145.
The authors are with the Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering
Department, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180 USA (e-mail:
modepk@rpi.edu; parsa@ecse.rpi.edu).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIA.2014.2330066

for the conventional illumination sources. LEDs behave as a

nonlinear dc load when directly connected to an ac source,
as compared with a resistive load offered by conventional
incandescent bulbs.
HB-LEDs, which are used as sources of illumination for
SSL, are semiconductor devices. Unlike other general illumination sources, LED lighting can be used for visible light
communications (VLC). LEDs being semiconductor devices
can be switched ON and OFF at faster rates. Human eyes cannot
perceive any flicker above 50 Hz due to stroboscopic effect.
Therefore, frequencies above 200 Hz are considered to be safe
and can be used for pulsewidth modulation (PWM) dimming to
control the illumination [1][5].
HB-LEDs modulated at high speed have the potential for
illumination and high-rate data communications by free space
propagation of optical waves known as VLC [6], [7]. Apart
from reducing the overcrowding of the radio-frequency (RF)
spectrum, VLC has numerous applications in smart buildings,
which require smart lighting to provide illumination control
and communications. In hospitals and aircrafts where electromagnetic interference is an issue, VLC can be used. VLC can
be also used for secured data transfer in defense and security
applications and for underwater communications where RF
communications is not possible. Accurate indoor positioning
systems in retail stores and enterprise markets can be achieved
using VLC [8].
Different power conversion topologies [9][11] for high
conversion efficiency, power factor correction (PFC) [12][14],
and illumination control with different dimming techniques
[14][16] are proposed to match HB-LED load characteristics.
However, none of the topologies support dual use of LEDs, for
VLC and illumination control. Hence, dual-purpose usage of
HB-LEDs introduces a new paradigm in designing offline LED
drivers. Conventional LED drivers operate to provide constant
current. Illumination control in conventional LED drivers is
obtained either by analog dimming, PWM dimming, or by
hybrid dimming [16] approaches. Due to numerous advantages
of VLC by using same HB-LEDs for illumination and VLC,
the next-generation LED drivers have to accommodate VLC
features along with illumination controls through dimming
[17]. Fig. 1(a) and (b) shows the block diagrams of conventional
LED drivers and next-generation dual-purpose LED drivers,
respectively, accommodating VLC and illumination control.
High-data-rate VLC systems with different modulation techniques using HB-LEDs have been implemented [18][22].
These VLC systems have been demonstrated for short distances. In addition, these systems do not support illumination
control with dimming, a necessary lighting requirement for

0093-9994 2014 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
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MODEPALLI AND PARSA: DUAL-PURPOSE OFFLINE LED DRIVER FOR ILLUMINATION AND VLC

407

Fig. 2. Block diagram of constant voltage fed dual-purpose LED driver.

Fig. 1. (a) Block diagram of conventional LED driver for illumination.

(b) Block diagram of dual-purpose LED driver for illumination and VLC.

VLC systems [17]. The IEEE 802.15.17 standard [23] supports various modulation schemes for VLC from 11.67 kb/s to
96 Mb/s depending on the type of LEDs. Variable pulse position
modulation (VPPM) of IEEE 802.15.17 supports both PWM
dimming and data transfer for HB-LEDs. In this paper, the VLC
is achieved by using VPPM scheme.
Traditionally, PWM dimming in LED drives is carried out
at low frequency below audible range < 20 kHz [15], [24].
PWM dimming with low frequency results in audible noises
due to mechanical vibration of inductors and piezoelectric
properties of ceramic capacitors [25][27]. Recently, different
high-frequency PWM dimming (> 20 kHz) techniques for LED
drivers using high-frequency series PWM dimming [4] and
with interleaved converters [26] have been proposed without
VLC. In this paper, using a shunt switch across the LED string
[see Fig. 1(b)], high-frequency PWM dimming and VLC are
achieved. To use a shunt switch across an LED string, it should
be supplied by a constant current source converter. In addition,
the converter should not have an output capacitor (across the
LED string). In this paper, the current source is realized by
a buck converter without an output capacitor. Elimination of
output capacitor for buck converter demands an additional startup circuit, and the same is reported.
In this paper, a current fed dual-purpose LED driver topology
with the following features for 450-lm output (equivalent to
40-W retrofit incandescent bulb) has been realized: illumination
control with high-frequency PWM dimming and VLC with
VPPM scheme.

In addition, it is to be noted that HB-LEDs when used

with the proposed topology are switched fast in the range of
megahertzs to transfer data using VPPM. Hence, the equivalent
models of HB-LED loads used in VLC are derived. This model
is used to analyze the dynamics of the converter for constant
current control.
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. Section II summarizes different possible approaches for the implementation
of dual-purpose drivers and their advantages. In Section III, the
proposed dual-purpose LED driver circuit with the methods for
improving power factor, modulation scheme for VLC, and the
required start-up circuit is discussed. Modeling of HB-LEDs
facilitating VLC and control of the proposed converter with
these loads is reported in Section IV. In Section V, simulation results of the converter are presented. Experimental setup
for the validation of the dual-purpose usage of the proposed
LED driver along with measurement results is discussed in
Section VI. Finally, in Section VII, this paper is concluded.
II. D UAL -P URPOSE LED D RIVERS
HB-LED drivers for VLC can be realized using constant
current source or constant voltage source and with an additional
switch to switch the LEDs ON and OFF. This section presents
the approaches for realizing a dual-purpose LED driver.
A. Constant Voltage Fed Dual-Purpose LED Drivers
Fig. 2 shows a constant voltage fed LED driver supporting
VLC. The constant voltage source (vo ) can be realized by
using any of the conventional power converter topologies such
as buck, buckboost, boost, and single-ended primary-inductor
converter [9]. To achieve VLC, the LEDs have to be switched
ON and OFF, and this can be realized through series switch
(S2 ). Switch S2 is switched ON and OFF in synchronization
with the data to be transmitted. This modulates the LED string
current, hence facilitating VLC.
B. Constant Current Fed Dual-Purpose LED Drivers
Fig. 3 shows a constant current source fed LED string
supporting the VLC. The constant current source, i.e., io , for
this type of drivers can be realized by using some of the

conventional power converter topologies such as buck and Cuk

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 51, NO. 1, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

B. Proposed Dual-Purpose LED Driver Topology

Fig. 3. Block diagram of constant current fed dual-purpose LED driver.

Fig. 4. VPPM scheme for different PWM dimming levels.

[9] (without an output capacitor). In this configuration, VLC is

achieved by placing a shunt switch (S2 ) in parallel with the current source. LEDs are switched ON and OFF by modulating the
switch (S2 ) in synchronization with the data to be transmitted.
HB-LEDs have nonlinear and negative temperature coefficient
characteristics. Therefore, HB-LEDs are to be preferably driven
by constant current sources rather than constant voltage source.
Hence, in this paper, the dual-purpose LED driver is realized by
using the constant current fed topology

III. P ROPOSED D UAL -P URPOSE LED D RIVER

Here, first, the modulation scheme used for VLC is summarized. Next, the proposed dual-purpose topology, its implementation, and the required start-up circuit are presented. Finally,
the methods to improve power factor with the proposed LED
driver are discussed.

A. VPPM
VPPM is a modulation scheme that is supported by the
IEEE 802.15.17 standard [23] facilitating both dimming and
data transfer for HB-LEDs. In this technique, the duty cycle
(pulsewidth) for logic 0 and logic 1 in the transmitted data is
varied based on the dimming level to control the brightness of
LED. Fig. 4 shows VPPM data transfer of {001} for different
dimming ratios from 20% to 80%. The illumination control
through VPPM scheme is achieved by varying the width of
transferred data pulse (dv Td , see Fig. 4). At the receiver, the
starting positions of the optical signals are used for encoding
(0s and 1s) the transmitted optical data in free space.

The proposed topology is based on the current fed dualpurpose LED driver (see Fig. 3) and is shown in Fig. 5. The
constant current source io in current fed dual-purpose LED
driver is realized by using a buck converter without an output
capacitor. The inductor current, i.e., iL , of the buck converter
is controlled through average current mode control (ACMC)
to obtain a constant current source. VLC and illumination
control are achieved by sending the data with VPPM modulation scheme to the shunt switch (S2 ). The shunt switch
(S2 ) operates at frequencies equal to the data rates (2 Mb/s).
The ACMC in the proposed circuit is realized by using PWM
controller (MAX 16841). VPPM data provided to the shunt
switch (S2 ) are optically isolated from the power circuit using
a high-speed optocoupler OP1.
Fig. 6 depicts the input to main switch (S1 ), VPPM data
input to shunt switch (S2 ), and the inductor current over
switching cycle Ts of main switch S1 . Unlike conventional
LED drivers, in the proposed topology illumination control,
information for PWM dimming is encrypted in the VPPM
modulation scheme. Hence, the PWM dimming is carried out at
frequency (fd = 1/Td ), well above the audible range frequencies (20 kHz), resulting in the elimination of audible noises due
to piezoelectric properties of ceramic capacitor and mechanical
vibrations of inductor.
The permissible input harmonics currents for offline power
converters are defined in the IEC/EN 61000-3-2 directive. The
harmonic current limits for lighting equipment comes under
Class C classification of IEC/EN 61000-3-2. Depending on the
input active power, i.e., Pin , consumed, Class C equipment has
two different limits, for 5 W < Pin < 25 W and Pin > 25 W.
The harmonic limits for offline LED drivers with lower input
active power levels (5 W < Pin < 10 W) can be easily met
with valley fill circuits [29], [30]. For input active power levels
(> 10 W), the harmonics limits can be met by using active
PFC techniques. The active PFC can be obtained by using an
additional power converter such as a boost converter at the front
end [31], [32]. The block diagrams of the dual-purpose LED
driver with passive and active PFC methods are shown in Figs. 7
and 8, respectively.

C. Start-Up Circuit of the Proposed Topology

The buck converter requires a high-side driver for driving
the main switch S1 . Conventional LED drivers are realized
using a buck converter consisting of an output capacitor Co
[see Fig. 9(a)]. During start-up, capacitor Co aids in providing the charging path to the boot strap capacitor Cboot of
the high-side driver from V DD. The start-up charging path
of the boot strap capacitor (V DD Rbs Dbs Cboot
RL L Co ) is shown in Fig. 9(a). Initially, the capacitor
Co acts as a short circuit, and hence, the boot strap capacitor
charges even when VLED (forward voltage of the LED string)
> V DD. The proposed dual-purpose LED driver uses a buck
converter without an output capacitor. Normally, the forward
voltage of the LED string VLED is greater than the V DD of
the high-side driver, and hence, the LED string acts as an open

MODEPALLI AND PARSA: DUAL-PURPOSE OFFLINE LED DRIVER FOR ILLUMINATION AND VLC

Fig. 5.

409

Proposed dual-purpose LED driver implementation.

Fig. 8. Block diagram of the proposed dual-purpose HB-LED driver for PFC
converter with front-end converter.

Fig. 6. (Top to bottom) Gate signals to main switch S1 , inductor current

iL , and VPPM data input for S2 over switching cycle Ts . Block diagram of
constant current fed dual-purpose LED driver.

additional circuit operates in such a way that, during the startup, the capacitor Cboot is charged from VR , unlike in the case
of the conventional LED driver. As VR > VLED + VB , during
start-up, the required charge for the capacitor Cboot is provided
from VR , and the charging path is shown in Fig. 9(b). The Zener
diode Dz acts as a protection circuit to clamp the voltage across
capacitor Cboot to Vz . The value of Rst is selected such that
low current flows through the path (VR Rst Dst Dz )
to avoid losses.
IV. M ODELING AND C ONTROL OF D UAL -P URPOSE
LED D RIVER

Fig. 7. Block diagram of the dual-purpose HB-LED driver with valley fill
circuit for PFC.

circuit during start-up. Thus, the boot strap capacitor Cboot of

the high-side driver for buck converter in dual-purpose LED
driver topology cannot be charged for start-up in a traditional
way [see Fig. 9(a)].
The start-up circuit to the high-side driver of a dual-purpose
LED driver using a buck converter without an output capacitor is shown in Fig. 9(b). An additional circuit consisting of
Rst , Dst , and Dz is added to the conventional circuits. The

Here, the analytical model of HB-LED load supporting VLC

with VPPM is derived. With the derived load model, current fed
dual-purpose LED driver topologies are modeled and controlled
to realize a constant current source.
A. Modeling of HB-LED Loads With VLC by VPPM Scheme
To model dual-purpose LED driver topologies, HB-LED
load models supporting VLC have to be derived. The highfrequency equivalent circuit model for HB-LED loads can be

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 51, NO. 1, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

Fig. 9. (a) Conventional boot strap start-up circuit with high-side driver (with an output capacitor). (b) Boot strap start-up circuit with high-side driver (without
an output capacitor).

Fig. 10. HB-LED equivalent circuit model for low frequencies and high
frequencies.

represented by its forward voltage Vf , dynamic resistance Rd ,

and capacitance Cd , as shown in Fig. 10. To transfer VLC
data by VPPM, these HB-LEDs loads have to be switched
ON and OFF with data rate frequency, i.e., fd (achieved by
modulating switch S2 placed in parallel to HB-LED loads).
The block diagram of the offline dual-purpose converter with an
HB-LED load supporting VLC by VPPM is shown in Fig. 11.
Modulating current in HB-LEDs loads using a parallel switch
S2 to facilitate VLC is possible only when the entire load (see
Fig. 11) is supplied by a constant current source converter
without an output capacitor. Hence, the control objective for

Fig. 11. Block diagram of a dual-purpose LED driver with HB-LED loads
supporting VLC.

any current fed dual-purpose converter is to realize a constant

current source. In addition, the load voltage (vLED ) of the
converter is pulsating at data rate frequency fd .
The instantaneous voltage of HB-LED loads supporting VLC
by VPPM (see Fig. 11) is

0,
t [0, dv Td ]
vLED =
(1)
Vf + (i iCd ) Rd , t [dv Td , Td ].
During the entire period of data transfer, i.e., Td , the current
i supplied to the load terminals L1 L2 from the converter remains constant (i = isw + iLED ). Hence, the load offered to the

MODEPALLI AND PARSA: DUAL-PURPOSE OFFLINE LED DRIVER FOR ILLUMINATION AND VLC

converter (as seen from the L1 L2 terminals of the converter) is a

constant current load with varying voltage vLED (1) at frequency
fd (fd = 1/Td ).
Typically, the constant current source realized from a converter operating at switching frequency, i.e., fs , will have
closed-loop bandwidth (fb ) fs /10. The data rate frequencies
for VLC (fd ) are much higher than the bandwidth (fb ) of the
constant current source realized (fd  fb ). Hence, the closedloop control of the converter provides enough attenuation to
the high-frequency load voltage variations (fd ). In other words,
the high-frequency load voltage disturbances are rejected by the
closed loop. Therefore, in modeling the converter for closedloop control, HB-LED string voltage (vLED ) averaged over
vLED ) is assumed as load voltage.
Td (
The dynamics of the capacitor current icd in the HB-LED
string are given as
iC d

d
(i iCd ) .
= Rd Cd
dt

(2)

The typical values of HB-LEDs capacitance Cd in the range of

0.51 nF and Rd in ohms result in a small time constant. Therefore, for averaging vLED over Td (Td  Rd Cd ), the dynamics
of icd can be neglected. Neglecting the dynamics of icd , the
effective load voltage seen by the converter is
vLED = (Vf + iL Rd )(1 dv ).

(3)

However, the average load voltage vLED across the HB-LED

(3) is dependent on dv (see Fig. 4). Depending on the desired
brightness level, dv in VPPM data is varied. The frequency
of brightness level variation depends on the interface reaction
time between humans and the brightness controller. Typically,
human-to-machine interface reaction time is of 0.150.3 s and
is much higher than Tb (Tb = 1/fb ). Hence, dv can be assumed
as constant. With dv = Dv , vLED is given as
vLED = (Vf + i Rd )(1 Dv ).

(4)

Therefore, the HB-LED loads supporting VLC with VPPM can

be modeled as a constant current load with voltage defined
as (4).
The current through the HB-LED string is defined as

0, t [0, dv Td ]
(5)
iLED =
i, t [dv Td , Td ].
The effective LED string current during the data transfer period
Td for a given brightness level is given as
iLED = i(1 Dv ).

(6)

B. Modeling and Control of the Dual-Purpose

HB-LED Driver
The HB-LEDs loads supporting VLC by VPPM are modeled
as a constant current source with voltage defined as (4). The
dynamics of the converter with these loads are to be modeled
for designing the desired closed loop that controls the converter
to provide a constant current source with bandwidth fb . In this

411

paper, a buck converter without an output capacitor is employed

for realizing this constant current source.
The dynamics of the proposed dual-purpose buck converter
with HB-LED loads are

diL
vR vLED , t [0, dTs ]
=
(7)
L
t [dTs , Ts ]

vLED ,
dt
where d = ton /Ts and Ts are the duty cycle and the switching
period of the buck converter main switch (S1 ), respectively.
All nonidealities such as inductor dc resistor, current sense
resistor, and Ron of the metaloxidesemiconductor fieldeffect transistor are neglected in representing the converter
dynamics (7).
The state-space average model of converter dynamics is
given as
R
d
Vf
diL
= d iL + vR
dt
L
L
L

(8)

where Rd = Rd (1 Dv ).
The steady-state operating duty ratio of the buck converter,
i.e., D, for a desired brightness level with dimming ratio Dv is
D=

(Vf + IL Rd (1 Dv ))
.
VR

(9)

From (9), it can be seen that, for a given constant current

output IL , the steady duty ratio D depends on the dimming ratio
Dv . Therefore, for different dimming ratios Dv or brightness
levels, the steady-state duty ratio D of the converter varies
and, hence, the input power (VR IR ) to the buck converter. In
conventional slow PWM dimming, the converter is switched
ON and OFF [15] with dimming frequency (200 Hz), and
the brightness level is varied by varying the width of converter
ON and OFF times. In the proposed approach, the converter is
always kept ON to produce a constant current for all brightness
levels, but the input power is varied depending on dimming
ratio Dv (9).
The steady-stage average LED current is given as
ILED = IL (1 Dv ).

(10)

From (10), it can be seen that average current in the HBLED string can be varied by varying the constant current
source produced by the converter (IL ) or with the brightness
information (DV ) encoded in VPPM.
Unlike conventional VPPM technique [23], with the proposed dual-purpose HB-LED driver, dimming levels below
20% can be also achieved by employing hybrid dimming approach [16]. For illumination levels up to 20% dimming, Dv
is varied to control the average current in the HB-LED string
with high-frequency PWM dimming. In case of illumination
levels, less than 20% of the constant current IL is reduced by
varying Vref through the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) of
the digital controller (see Fig. 5), keeping Dv constant (i.e., S2
ON and OFF times are kept constant).
For the scenario when there is no requirement for data transfer and dimming is required (e.g., without people in corridors
and utility rooms), the proposed driver can facilitate dimming.

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Fig. 12. Block diagram for the closed-loop control of a dual-purpose LED driver.

In this situation, switch S2 is kept in OFF-state (Dv = 0), and

the average HB-LED current is varied by varying IL through
Vref with the digital controller.
The control-to-output transfer function G(s) from iL (s) to

d(s)
for realizing a constant current source with HB-LEDs
loads facilitating VLC through VPPM is obtained by linearizing
(8) and is given as
G(s) =

iL (s)
Gdo

=

s
d(s)
+
1
o

TABLE I
L IST OF C OMPONENTS FOR THE E XPERIMENTAL S ETUP

(11)

where Gdo = VR /Rd (1 Dv ), and o = Rd (1 Dv )/L.

Due to the advantages of ACMC [28], this control approach
has been employed in realizing a constant current source for
dual-purpose LED drivers. The closed-loop block diagram of a
dual-purpose LED driver with ACMC is shown in Fig. 12.
is
The transfer function of the modulator vcomp (s) to d(s)
represented as Fm (s) (see Fig. 12). The current through the
inductor is sensed with low-side current sense resistor Rcs ,
and the corresponding voltage (
vcs ) is compared with vref .
The transfer function of the compensator C(s) is realized
with a transconductance (gm ) error amplifier and using the
components Cp , Cz , and Rz , as shown in Fig. 5.
The compensator transfer function C(s) is


s
+
1
z

C(s) = KI 
(12)
s sp + 1
where KI = gm /(Cp + Cz ), z = 1/(Rz Cz ), and p =
(Cp + Cz )/(Rz Cp Cz ).
The transconductance gm amplifier along with the modulator
Fm for realizing the average current mode controller is part of
PWM controller MAX16841 [33].
V. S IMULATION R ESULTS
The LED driver is designed for 450-lm output and 2-Mb/s
data rate. Illumination is controlled with the PWM dimming
information, i.e., dv , encoded in VPPM. The buck converter is
operated at 100 kHz with an input ac voltage of 120 V. The
list of selected components for the simulation and experimental
prototype is shown in Table I.
To have realistic estimates of the converter operation SPICE
models for S1 , S2 , and D, diode bridges are used in the
simulation. The PWM controller (MAX16841), high-side
driver (FAN7371MVX), and high-speed driver (FOD8001) (see
Fig. 5) are replaced with their behavior models for simulations. Simulations are carried out in LTSPICE. The LED string

TABLE II
L ED S TRING IV AND CV C HARACTERIZATION
PARAMETERS AT 0.33 A

consists of six HB-LEDs from Lumileds. The LED string is

represented by its high-frequency model (see Fig. 5). The
parameters Rd , Cd , and Vf of the LED string used in simulation
are extracted by plotting the IV and CV characteristics. The
extracted parameters of the LED string from IV and CV
characterization curves are shown in Table II.
The ACMC loop is realized using MAX16841. The compensator components Cp , Cz , and Rz are designed to have control
loop bandwidth of 10 kHz by using (12).
The simulation results are shown in Figs. 13 and 14. The
start-up transients for the closed-loop response of the inductor
current and the LED string voltage are shown in Fig. 13. The
steady-state average current of the inductor and the LED string
is maintained at 330 mA until VLC is enabled. The data transfer
through VLC is enabled at 5 ms by turning the shunt switch
(S2 ) ON and OFF in synchronization with data. In Fig. 13, it is
shown that, even after the data transfer is enabled, the average
current through the inductor remains the same. The average
current in the LED string after enabling the data transfer is

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413

TABLE III
L IST OF C OMPONENTS FOR VALLEY F ILL C IRCUIT

Fig. 13. (Top) Inductor current iL . (Bottom) LED string voltage vLED .

Fig. 15. Input current iin and input voltage vin of the dual-purpose LED
driver (top) without valley fill circuit and (bottom) with valley fill circuit for
450-lm output.

Fig. 14. (Top to bottom) Inductor current iL , LED string voltage vLED with
2 Mb/s and 50% dimming, and switching node voltage vx of the converter.

controlled depending on the dimming information dv encoded

in VPPM data (see Fig. 4).
Fig. 14 shows the inductor current iL , voltage across the
LED string vLED , and switching node voltage vx for 2-Mb/s
data transfer and 50% dimming control of the converter for
few switching cycles. The ACMC controls the dual-purpose
converter to produce a constant inductor current iL with bandwidth fb even in the presence of high-frequency variations in
the LED load voltage vLED . Hence, this validates the assumption that required attenuation has been provided by the closed
loop for these high-frequency disturbance in LED load voltage
variations vLED (1). The switching node voltage vx switching
between 0 and 170 V in Fig. 14 confirms the converter
operation with 120-V ac input.

To provide 450-lm output, the input power required by the

converter is 5.8 W. For this power level, Class C harmonic
limits of IEC/EN 61000-3-2 can be easily met by using valley
fill circuit. As shown in Fig. 5, a valley fill circuit consisting
of Dv1 , Dv2 , Dv3 , Cv1 , Cv2 , and Rv is added to the designed
converter. The list of additional components used in the simulation of the dual-purpose LED driver with a valley fill circuit is
shown in Table III. SPICE models of the respective components
are used in simulations.
Fig. 15 shows the input current iin and the input voltage
vin without and with valley fill circuit for the proposed dualpurpose offline LED driver with 120-V ac input. The power
factor with the valley fill circuit is 0.88, and hence, the class C
limits of IEC/EN 61000-3-2 for the equipment with active input
power (Pin ) 5 W < Pin < 25 W are met. If the offline dualpurpose LED driver has to be designed for higher input power
levels, then the Class C limits can be met by using active PFC
with an additional front-end converter instead of a valley fill
circuit.

VI. E XPERIMENTAL R ESULTS

Here, first, the experimental setup demonstrating dualpurpose operation is presented. Next, the efficiency and loss
distribution of the dual-purpose LED driver with the temperature rise of switch S2 under different PWM dimming levels are
discussed. Finally, the driver is characterized using the lumen
measurement for different dimming ratios.

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Fig. 17.

Block diagram of the experimental setup to validate VLC.

Fig. 16. Experimental prototype of the proposed dual-purpose LED driver.

A. Experimental Setup and VLC Optical Measurements

A prototype of the proposed dual-purpose LED driver has
been built with the same components that are used in the SPICE
simulations (see Table I). The laboratory prototype is shown
in Fig. 16.
The experimental prototype does not contain any digital
controller (see Fig. 5). The reference Vref to control the constant current IL was provided by an external source. An arbitrary waveform generator generating continuous pattern of
{0101010 . . . .} is used to emulate the VPPM data (see Fig. 5),
and the data are directly given as input at the node VLC
out (see Fig. 5). The desired dimming ratios are obtained by
varying the widths of 0s and 1s from the data generator to
suit the VPPM technique. To validate VLC, the optical signals
transmitted in the free space have to be detected. In this work,
an avalanche photo diode (APD110A2) from Thorlabs is used
as a receiver for experimental validation. In real-time systems,
high-speed photo diode receivers are used as receivers [8]. The
APD outputs an equivalent output voltage proportional to the
optical power depending on its responsivity. The APD selected
for the experiment has an optical bandwidth of 50 MHz. The
strength of the transmitted optical signals in VLC depends
on the distance at which the optical detector is placed. For
the present experimental setup, all the optical measurements
are taken at a distance of 1 m from the luminaire. The block
diagram used for the experimental setup is shown in Fig. 17.
The average current mode controlled buck converter for the
designed prototype is operated with switching frequency fs
of 100 kHz and with ac input of 120 V. For experimental
verification, the electrical and optical measurements are taken
for data transfer rates of 2-Mb/s. The illumination control is
achieved by varying PWM dimming from 20% to 80% using
VPPM scheme. Fig. 18 shows the measured inductor current
iL , switching node voltage vx , LED node voltage vLED , and
APD voltage at 50% dimming for 2-Mb/s data transfer.
Fig. 19 shows the zoomed version of Fig. 18 without the
switching node voltage waveform. In Fig. 19, it is shown that
the rise times of the APD voltage and the LED node voltage
vLED are different. The smaller rise and fall times in the
optical response when compared with the electrical response

Fig. 18. (Top to bottom) Inductor current iL , switching node voltage vx ,

LED node voltage vLED , and APD voltage with data rate of 2 Mb/s for 50%
dimming of LEDs.

Fig. 19. (Top to bottom) Inductor current iL , LED node voltage vLED , and
APD voltage with data rate of 2 Mb/s for 50% dimming of LEDs.

(characterized by time constant Rd Cd ) are attributed to the long

decay times of phosphor in phosphor-based white LEDs.
Although the blue LEDs in phosphor-converted white LEDs
have optical 3-dB bandwidth of 78 MHz, with the phosphor
conversion, the optical 3-dB bandwidth of white LEDs is limited to 23 MHz [7]. Therefore, lower rise and fall times in
the optical response are detected in APD voltages. To validate
that the phosphor-based white LEDs have lesser 3-dB optical

MODEPALLI AND PARSA: DUAL-PURPOSE OFFLINE LED DRIVER FOR ILLUMINATION AND VLC

415

Fig. 20. (Top to bottom) Inductor current iL , LED node voltage vLED , and
APD voltage with data rate of 2 Mb/s for 50% dimming of blue LEDs.
Fig. 22. (Top to bottom) Inductor current iL , switching node voltage vx ,
LED node voltage vLED , and APD voltage with data rate of 2 Mb/s and 80%
dimming of LEDs.

Fig. 21. (Top to bottom) Inductor current iL , switching node voltage vx ,

LED node voltage vLED , and APD voltage with data rate of 2 Mb/s for 20%
dimming of LEDs.

response and lower optical rise and fall times, the entire LED
string of the prototype has been replaced with blue LEDs from
Lumileds, and the same experiments are carried out for 50%
dimming and 2-Mb/s data rate. It is shown in Fig. 20 that the
APD voltage (optical response) of blue LEDs has faster rise
and optical fall times than that of phosphor-based white LEDs
(see Fig. 18).
Figs. 21 and 22 represent the measured inductor current iL ,
switching node voltage vx , LED node voltage vLED , and APD
voltage at 20% and 80% dimming, respectively, with 2-Mb/s
data transfer for phosphor-based white LEDs. It should be noted
that, in VPPM scheme (see Fig. 4), the dimming ratio cannot be
reduced to lower than 20% or to a high dimming ratio greater
than 80% for phosphor-based white LEDs because, in either
of the cases, the optical receiver will be unable to differentiate
between 0s and 1s due to their lower optical 3-dB bandwidth.
From all the above waveforms, it can be seen that the inductor
current iL is constant even with the high-frequency variations in
the LED load voltage vLED (1). It also validates the assumption
that closed-loop control of the buck converter rejects the highfrequency load variations and that the converter effectively
considers only HB-LED voltage vLED (3) as load voltage.

Fig. 23. Variation of average LED current with PWM dimming percentage
encoded in VPPM scheme for 2 Mb/s.

Fig. 24. Efficiency of the proposed dual-purpose LED driver versus PWM
dimming percentage for 2-Mb/s data transfer.

Fig. 23 shows the variation of measured average LED current

with the PWM dimming percentage dv encrypted in the VPPM
data sequence of {0101010 . . . .} for 2-Mb/s data transfer. In
PWM dimming, the peak current of the LED is kept at the
nominal drive current of 330 mA. The PWM dimming is carried
out at 2 MHz as its information is encrypted in VPPM data is
transferred at 2-Mb/s. In addition, it is shown in Fig. 23 that the
average LED current ILED varies linearly with the dimming
ratio Dv or percentage.

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 51, NO. 1, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

Fig. 25. Variation of input power Pin , output LED power PLED , total losses Plosses , and losses in switch S2 with different dimming levels.

B. Efficiency of the Proposed LED Driver With VLC and

High-Frequency PWM Dimming
The electrical efficiency variation of the proposed LED driver
prototype for different dimming ratios Dv or brightness levels
is shown in Fig. 24.
The efficiency elec is measured by using the average power
measurements and is given as

elec

PLED
=
=
Pin

1
Td

T
d

vLED iLED dt

0
1
T

T

vin iin dt

VF IL (1 Dv ) + IL2 Rd (1 Dv )2
=
T
1
vin iin dt
T


(13)

where T = 2/fl , fl is the line frequency, and Td = 1/fd , where

fd is the frequency of transmitted data.
The driver is designed to produce 450-lm. As shown in
Fig. 24, 100% dimming refers to the condition without VPPM
data (Dv = 0), where switch S2 is kept OFF. The input power
of the designed LED driver for 100% dimming illumination
level is 5.8 W. It produces 450-lm with efficiency of 88.6%
(i.e., with no dimming and data). Different LED drivers [12]
[14], [30], [31] without VLC have been proposed. However,
none of them show the efficiency variations of LED driver
with different PWM dimming levels. The efficiency variations
of LED drivers (without VLC) with different PWM dimming
levels for slow and fast PWM dimming were reported in [4]
and [15], respectively. The efficiency of the proposed dualpurpose LED driver with high-frequency PWM dimming is
approximately the same as those reported in [4] and [15].
Fig. 25 shows the variation of input power Pin , output
LED power PLED , total losses Plosses , and shunt switch S2
losses PS2 with different PWM dimming percentages for
2-Mb/s data transfer. The input average power Pin is equal
to the sum of PLED and Plosses (PS2 + Pother ), where PS2
are losses in S2 , and Pother are other losses of the converter
(i.e., Pin = PLED + Plosses (PS2 + Pother )). With the variation
in the dimming percentage, Pother remains almost the same
(expect the losses in the diode bridge), as the same RMS current
flows through the components such as RL and Rcs and the

change in losses due to S1 and D are negligible due to constant

switching frequency. The losses in PS2 will increase with the
decrease in the PWM dimming ratio as the switch S2 is ON for
more times during Td . This increases the RMS current Isw(rms) ,
2
Rdson losses. The average
hence resulting in more Isw(rms)
input power (VR IR ) of the buck converter is reduced with
the dimming ratio Dv due to a decrease in PLED (PLED =
IL (1 Dv ) (Vf + Rd IL (1 DV )).
The total loss Plosses distributions of the converter for 80%
and 50% dimming at 2-Mb/s data rate transfer are shown in
Fig. 26. It is shown in Fig. 26 that most of the losses are
contributed due to the diode D (see Fig. 5); this can be reduced
by using synchronous buck topology.
The lower efficiencies of the converter with low dimming
ratios (light-load condition) are due to relatively low Pin
compared with Pin at higher dimming ratios and negligible
increase in S2 losses. The shunt switch S2 used in the prototype
(BSN20-7) has a typical Rdson 2 . By using shunt switches
with low Rdson , the PS2 losses at low dimming ratios can
be further reduced, hence improving the efficiencies of the
converter at low dimming ratios.
C. Thermal Measurements
Another important parameter that has to be monitored is the
temperature rise in S2 for different dimming ratios. Fig. 27(a)
shows the top view of the printed circuit board (PCB) with
LEDs. As the shunt switch S2 is operated in megahertzs, to
avoid parasitics due to high frequency switching, switch S2 has
to be placed near the LED string [see Fig. 27(a)]. The placement
of S2 near the LED string will affect the temperature rise in
S2 . Hence, it is important to measure the temperature rise in
switch S2 .
The steady-state variation of S2 case temperature is measured for different PWM dimming ratios or brightness levels
with ambient temperature of 25 C. Fig. 27(b) shows the side
view of the PCB with LEDs and heat sink. The heat sink is
placed at the bottom of the PCB, as shown in Fig. 27(b). The
steady-state temperature variations of the S2 case (C) and LED
thermal pad (T P ) for different PWM dimming levels are shown
in Fig. 28. The temperature measurements for each PWM
dimming level are measured approximately for time intervals
of 1 h. It is shown in Fig. 28 that LEDs dissipate maximum
amount of heat when driven with full current (330 mA), with

MODEPALLI AND PARSA: DUAL-PURPOSE OFFLINE LED DRIVER FOR ILLUMINATION AND VLC

417

Fig. 28. Steady-state temperature variations of S2 case (C) and LEDs thermal
pad (TP) with different PWM dimming ratios Dv and 2-Mb/s data transfer for
25 C ambient.

Fig. 26. Total power loss Plosses distributions of the converter for (top) 80%
and (bottom) 50% PWM dimming.

Although the losses in S2 are increased at low dimming ratios,

it is shown in Fig. 27 that the worst case temperature rise of
S2 is at 80% dimming. This is due to the effect of switch S2
being placed near the LED strings [see Fig. 27(a)].The power
output of the LEDs PLED at low dimming ratios or brightness
levels results in lower temperature for the thermal pad of LEDs.
Hence, at low dimming ratio, the rise in case temperature of
S2 is lower even with higher losses in S2 . Therefore, it can be
concluded that the rise in case temperature of S2 with VPPM
scheme is dominated by the LED thermal pad temperatures.
D. Lumen Measurements
The PWM dimming linearity with average LED current
measurements for different dimming percentages is shown in
Fig. 23. Apart from showing the PWM dimming linearity
with average LED current, the dual-purpose LED driver has
to be characterized for PWM dimming linearity with optical
measurements (output lumen measurement). The setup for the
lumen measurement of the LED driver with the integrating
sphere is shown in Fig. 29(a). Fig. 29(b) shows the measured
lumen output for different dimming levels for 2-Mb/s data
transfer and high-frequency dimming. It is shown in Fig. 29(b)
that the dimming linearity is maintained over all the dimming
ranges from 20% to 80% using VPPM. Fig. 30 shows the
normalized relative spectral power distribution (SPD) curves
measured from the integrating sphere with varying dimming
ratios from 20% to 80%. It can be seen that the magnitude
of the peak power for blue component ( 440 nm) of the
SPD curves linearly reduces with the dimming ratio without
shift in blue component, hence preserving the PWM dimming
properties even at high-frequency dimming (2 MHz).
VII. C ONCLUSION

Fig. 27. (a) Top view of the PCB with temperature measurement points for
the case temperature (C) of S2 and thermal pad (TP) of LEDs. (b) Side view of
the PCB with LEDs and heat sink and the ambient (A) temperature measuring
point.

maximum lumen output, and without VPPM data (S2 OFF).

At low dimming ratios, switch S2 is switched ON for more
2
Rdson losses (see Fig. 25).
times, resulting in more Isw(rms)

A dual-purpose offline LED driver providing both illumination control and VLC using VPPM scheme has been presented.
The proposed LED driver is realized by using a constant current
source and a shunt switch in parallel to the LED string. In
this paper, the constant current source is realized by using
ACMC through a buck converter without an output capacitor.
The same approach can be applied on the converters such as
to implement dual-purpose LED drivers. The HB-LED
Cuk

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 51, NO. 1, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to sincerely thank the Smart Lighting
Engineering Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for supporting this paper.
R EFERENCES

Fig. 29. (a) LED driver with integrating sphere for lumen measurement.
(b) Measured lumen output versus dimming percentage for 2-Mb/s data transfer
and high-frequency (2-MHz) PWM dimming.

Fig. 30. Relative SPD for different dimming ratios, normalized with 80%
dimming radiant flux.

load models are derived for constant current fed dual-purpose

LED drivers. With the proposed topology, PWM dimming
is carried out at frequencies greater than the audible range.
The effect of phosphor in phosphor-based white LEDs on
VLC and illumination control with high-frequency dimming
is experimentally validated. The PWM dimming linearity is
experimentally verified with lumen measurement. VLC with
illumination control is demonstrated at a distance of 1 m by
using an APD as an optical receiver. In addition, the concept
of current fed dual-purpose LED driver with high-frequency
dimming can be employed to LED drivers based on dcdc
converters, such as for automotive LED lighting.

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419

Kumar Modepalli (S11) received the M.Tech. degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, India, in 2007.
He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree
in electrical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute, Troy, NY, USA.
From 2007 to 2011, he was a Switched-Mode
Power Supply Designer for various applications in
the power electronics industry. He is currently working on high-frequency dual-purpose offline lightemitting diode drivers for smart lighting using
wide-bandgap semiconductors. His research interests include design and control of efficient acdc and dcdc power converters for different applications,
low-power energy harvesting, renewable energy systems, and analog integrated
circuit design for switched-mode power converters.

Leila Parsa (S00M05SM10) received the Ph.D.

degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M
University, College Station, TX, USA.
In 2005, she joined the Electrical, Computer,
and Systems Engineering Department of Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, where she is currently an Associate Professor. Her research interests
are in design, analysis, and control of electromechanical energy converters and power electronics
converters for various applications.
Dr. Parsa was the recipient of the 2010 Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute School of Engineering Research Excellence Award, the
2009 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, the 2007 IEEE
Industry Applications Society Outstanding Young Member Award, and the
2006 IEEE Industry Applications Society Transactions Paper Award.