Lighting apparatuses and led modules for both illumation and optical communication

Abstract

Lighting apparatuses and LED modules capable of both illumination and data transmission are disclosed. An exemplifying lighting apparatus has a LED module and a modulator. The LED module comprises a plurality of LED cells connected as a LED chain having two conductive pads. The light emitted from the LED module is visible. The modulator provides driving current to the LED module to transmit data.

1 . A lighting apparatus capable of simultaneously providing illumination and data transmission to a receiver, comprising:
 an LED module capable of emitting visible light, comprising a plurality of LED cells connected as an LED chain having two conductive pads;   a modulator providing driving current to the LED module to transmit data through the LED module.   
     
     
         2 . The lighting apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the LED cells are of the same color. 
     
     
         3 . The lighting apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein a first group of the LED cells is capable of emitting a first color and a second group of the LED cells is capable of emitting a second color different from the first one. 
     
     
         4 . The lighting apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the LED module is a single chip, and the LED cells are arranged as an LED array on a monolithic substrate of the single chip. 
     
     
         5 . The lighting apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the LED cells are series connected. 
     
     
         6 . The lighting apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the number of the LED cells is around 3˜80. 
     
     
         7 . The lighting apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein an area of one of the LED cells is not more than 121 mil 2 . 
     
     
         8 . The lighting apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein an area of the monolithic substrate is between 1.21*10 2  to 1*10 5  mil 2 . 
     
     
         9 . The lighting apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the modulator is of a modem coupled to and powered by grid power lines and receives the data from the grid power lines. 
     
     
         10 . An LED cell module, comprising:
 a substrate;   LED cells monolithically formed on the substrate, wherein a first group of the LED cells is connected as a first LED chain, driven for illumination, and a second group of the LED cells is connected as a second LED chain for data transmission;   a first pair of conductive pads connected to the first LED chain and a second pair of conductive pads different from the first conductive pads, connected to the second LED chain.   
     
     
         11 . The LED module of  claim 10 , wherein the first pair of conductive pads and the second pair of conductive pads share a common conductive pad. 
     
     
         12 . The LED module of  claim 11 , wherein the common conductive pad is coupled connected to a first-type contact layer of the first LED chain, and to a second-type contact layer of the second LED chain, the first-type and the second-type contact layers comprises different conductivities selected from the group consisting of p-type and n-type. 
     
     
         13 . The LED module of  claim 11 , wherein the common conductive pad is coupled to a first-type contact layer of the first LED chain and to a first-type contact layer of the second LED chain, and the first-type is p-type or n-type. 
     
     
         14 . The LED module of  claim 10 , wherein one LED cell of the second LED chain occupies a cell area no more than 121 mil 2 . 
     
     
         15 . The LED module of  claim 10 , wherein at least one LED cell of the first LED chain is capable of emitting a first color, at least one LED cell of the second LED chain is capable of emitting a second color, and the first color is different from the second color. 
     
     
         16 . The LED module of  claim 10 , wherein all LED cells of the first LED chain are capable of emitting a first color, all LED cells of the second LED chain are capable of emitting a second color, and the first color is different from the second color. 
     
     
         17 . The LED module of  claim 10 , wherein the first LED chain comprises a first LED cell, the second LED chain comprises a second LED cell, and at least one of the first and the second LED cell comprises a wavelength conversion layer. 
     
     
         18 . The LED module of  claim 17 , wherein at least one first LED cell of the first LED chain and at least one second LED cell of the second LED chain are located in a column of the LED array, and the orientation of the at least one first LED cell is different from that of the at least one second LED cell. 
     
     
         19 . The LED module of  claim 10 , wherein the number of the LED cells in the second LED chain is smaller than that in the first LED chain. 
     
     
         20 . The LED module of  claim 10 , wherein the substrate has an area between 1.21*10 2  to 1*10 5  mil 2 .